“Yes. You should work on your anger, and when to use it,” Riley says. “Powerful emotions bring out your mental powers. We know that now.”
I let my muscles relax. “This Convening. There's got to be something we can do,” I say. What's the point about arguing about my flaws anymore? I don't have magic blood to help me overcome mine. Riley got it easy.
But to my shock, Riley smiles. It's sly, but his confidence is back. “Did you just hear what I said?”
“Yes. I did,” I say.
“I get why you're angry. But if used right, I think it can be productive,” Riley says. “But we can't be normal here. You can't. I can't. We have a coven to run and keep alive. That's the way it is. Your powers are still growing, Olivia.”
I swallow as a tingle sweeps over my body. And that's not just because Riley looks like a gorgeous devil in that suit.
“You want me to grow them more and do something horrible again?” I ask.
Riley nods. “Yes. But in a controlled manner.” Slowly, he approaches, almost like a cat, and his predatory walk makes my body tingle as I scan him from head to toe. I've always loved seeing Riley in that suit, and he rocks that confidence. “You know where your anger comes from now, and your fear, too. Both make your powers explode, and we're both still young with lots of time. Most young vampires of either type aren't working on their powers, whatever they are. We've both got a head start, and the High Council doesn't know what to expect. They think we're incapable.”
A pause stretches out. “Yes. That’s true. But we still have two problems,” I say, not wanting to elaborate when Trish, Walton, and Daeshawn are having their own quiet conversation in the kitchen about how defiled they felt, looking like servants.
We've got to keep this coven under control, find the killer, and survive the Convening. I imagine being surrounded by dozens of powerful Truebloods, and I know even I won’t have the chance to escape. If they discover I'm not a good little slave, then I'll never see daylight again.
He nods. “I know. We have a month to work on them. We can find my father and the rest of the exiled Beaumont coven and stop them from dropping an anonymous call about what I did. There's a chance they'll have no say if they speak to the High Council, or that they'll get killed for breaking Trueblood law, but my father may try to get word of recent happenings to them.” He's careful not to say my theft of his blood, because others are in the room, and we can't include anyone from the mansion in these conversations. Not even the Nightsides I semi-like.
Any of them could be the Originator, and that person will be even more dangerous than Dominic, especially since we don't know their endgame other than casting Riley out. Or what part they had in Dad's actions.
Riley reaches out for an embrace, and I pause before I take it, despite wanting to dive in. Then he kisses me on the forehead, casting tingles down my spine. I wrap my arms around him, a gray ugly duckling in the arms of a god, and I let my ear rest on his chest.
Then he leans down to my ear, parting my hair with his fingers. The motion lights up my skin and sets a fresh wave of fire, and I shudder an anticipation of what he's about to say.
“I don't want them to hear us. We need to train again, find your father, and find mine. And we need to hatch a plan for the Convening, to make sure we're voted in and get out alive. That starts now.”
He finishes his plotting with a kiss to my ear, and then he pulls away.
CHAPTER FOUR
Riley only embraced and kissed me to pass along information.
Despite the danger, I can't stop thinking about the fake kiss as he leaves me standing in the sitting room. Sure, Riley only pushed me aside to save all of our lives. I would have done the same to him if it meant the difference between life and death.
But Riley kissed me to pass on a message.
He's been giving me occasional pecks on the cheek here and there, as we've been scrambling around the mansion during the past week to straighten out the mess that Dad left. But has he kissed me with any passion since I almost killed Dominic?
Were the other quick pecks on the cheek just for show, or just to convince me to lower my stress levels so I didn't explode again? Dad's already looked at me with horror. And now Riley must be, too. It's not a good feeling, like I don't deserve to invade these peoples' lives.
And I don't know how to make it go away.
I retreat upstairs to gather my thoughts at Riley's suggestion, and I open the door to the master bedroom that, until a couple of days ago, held Dad's stuff. But Riley suggested we move into it, clean it out, and make it our own so we could get into the mindset of being in charge. And he had a point there. I stop in the doorway and eye the bed that we moved from our old room down the hall. Our long mirror. Our closet full of the best clothes we pulled out of the downstairs wardrobe, the same one where we found our dance getups. But we haven't dressed up for any dances or even for a date.
I wonder if we're ever going to do that again.
I've held my emotions back until I've reached the bedroom, and now that I'm here, I shut the door with a click and lean against it, trying to hold my tears back. The world is falling apart and I don't even know who to blame anymore.
