TrueSide [The Forgotten Vampires, Book Three] Page 2

  Riley shouts for the others in the mansion, of which there are only five of us. I'm glad Stanley's not here because I still suspect him of plotting against Riley, even if my senses cleared him as the attacker. He'd love to see Riley go down in flames.

  Trish, Walton, and Daeshawn all enter the dining room in silence, not saying a word. Trish takes a seat opposite me, and she's in her usual black dress with silver jewelry. Even if she's Stanley's girlfriend, she hasn't been that bad, but I know she'll give a report of this to Stanley himself. Daeshawn has swapped out his sneakers for black dress shoes, and Walton, an older Nightside whose mutation woke later in life, is already wearing a tan vest with a pocket watch hanging off the front. He's also on my business committee, helping to run the town and deal with the bankers, because he's the most mild-mannered Nightside I've found so far.

  We're all seated a moment later, and the High Council motions for Riley to move to the end of the table. He does, nodding. “My apologies. I wasn't expecting guests so soon. What brings you here?” Riley sits at the head of the table.

  “You must have some idea,” the woman says. “Or maybe not, as you are not of the advanced age we expected. I'm Stella Barden, assistant head of the High Council. I have been a member of the High Council since 414 A.D.”

  Assistant? This powerful woman is just an assistant? If she's that, then what is the leader like?

  “Ah. Yes. Stella Barden,” Riley says in recognition. He's clearly heard the name before, but this is his first time meeting her. My senses have cooled back down, but I can tell. There's a bit of fear under Riley's words, and I hope these High Council people can't hear it.

  “And this is Urdasa.” She points to the guy with dreadlocks. “And Jorgen. And Sven.” She finishes with introductions. “We are here because we received word of a new coven here in Moon's Peak.”

  I gulp. Dominic must have fled and told these High Council people that a bunch of Nightsides came in and took over. They won't enjoy having a new coven of the servant class here.

  “Yes,” Riley says. “I am the master now.”

  “I can see,” Stella says. It's clear she's going to drive the conversation and the big guys are here to be silent and intimidating. “There are some unusual circumstances here.” Slowly, she studies each of us at the table. Even Trish cringes and Walton, of course, will not argue.

  “There are, and I am still working things out,” Riley says, casting me a warning glance through the corner of his eye. But he can't do much, sitting at the head of the table. I just hope the High Council thinks he's being condescending towards me. “I haven't yet created any new Truebloods, but I will soon, but for now, I am keeping control of this coven.”

  The High Council is here because we Nightsides are. And we’re trouble.

  Pressure builds again, now rising on the fear bubbling up through my chest.

  I grip the bottom of the table with my palm, focusing as hard as I can on the wooden texture and the cherry smell coming out of it. No. Do not even try. If Dominic had that mental wall and knew when I was trying to control him, then these people will have mental bunkers around their minds. I'll have no chance. If I lash out, I'll just make them mad.

  “Now, tell me. You are a former Beaumont, correct? You must be if you are occupying their mansion.”

  “Yes. I am,” Riley says.

  Shit. They’re getting dangerously close to figuring out what he did.

  “Dominic Beaumont is your father, then. He has gone missing.” Stella stares down her nose at Riley.

  I take my fingernail and drive it into my thigh, ripping through the fabric and focusing on the pain. I blink, and the pressure in my head lessens.

  “Yes, he has. It has been a tough time,” Riley says.

  “I highly suggest that you bring in more Truebloods and train them well, considering your father's recklessness,” Stella continues. She looks sadly around the dining room. “Your servants are well-mannered, and that is good. Unlike your father, perhaps you can follow Trueblood law and advocate for the well-being of all Truebloods around the world.”

  Riley nods. “Yes. My father was reckless.”

  “I can see why he chose you as his heir,” Stella says. “The Riveras spoke highly of you. However, it is unusual for a Trueblood so young to take over an entire coven.” Stella's tone drips with suspicion.

  They know the Riveras? I hold back my shock. Of course the Riveras, having made truces with Truebloods in the past, would know about the High Council and probably wouldn't resist them. Maybe the Riveras even let these people into town. Ugh, they should have warned us.

  “It is unusual,” Riley says. He gives away nothing more. “I know that there is much to do, and I am handling this one task at a time. We have already taken over the running of this town and the Beaumonts’ former assets.”

  I breathe out. Maybe there's a chance these people don't know Riley stole his father's blood and became more powerful. Mr. Rivera, after the air got cleared of Riley's wrongdoing, wouldn't have thrown Riley under the bus completely. He'll never be warm towards us, but he's still willing to work with us, and he has no liking for Dominic.

  “One task at a time,” Stella repeats. “You are the only Trueblood here, correct?”

  Riley doesn't pause. “Correct.” Maybe lying to the High Council is punishable by death.

  “I’ll repeat that you need to make more Truebloods as soon as you can. I am not insulting you by implying that you do not have control here, but it is always a good idea to have strength in numbers. That strategy has worked for our kind for hundreds of years now, and we cannot abandon it.”

  So this is why Mr. Rivera let Riley go after he attacked Mr. Logan.

  There needed to be one Trueblood here to deal with this High Council. Who knows what would have happened if Riley weren’t here?

  Riley squirms a bit in his chair. He's not pleased about this task. “Of course.”

  And I'm not pleased, either. The undertone is there. Control these Nightsides of yours.

  Then Stella lifts an empty glass and peers inside of it, almost as if she's bored. “Your father may have had numbers in his coven, but he did not control his Nightsides well, and it's clear that was his undoing. He did not control his anger well, either. He and the coven have been unstable since the death of Hazel, his former bride. Since then, we at the High Council have worried that he would go over the edge, and we're not surprised to hear that he jumped off two cliffs at the same time.”

  I stiffen and remove my fingernail from my thigh, which throbs.

  She's insulting Riley and warning him not to go down the same path. Talking about seeing why he's apparently his chosen heir was just a backhanded, manipulative compliment. Already, she's compared Riley to the failed leader.

  Things aren't going well.

  And I can't even defend him.

  “I will do better than my father,” Riley insists, almost defensively.

  “I hope that you do,” Stella says. “It is unusual to have someone so young take charge, and especially from a fled leader who broke Trueblood law and killed humans he is in charge of. Your father also failed to control the Nightsides in his charge and paid dearly. Mike and Ella Rivera could confirm both rumors. I hope that for your sake, we find your new coven to be legitimate.”

  We're being judged.

  Riley stiffens, too. “Yes, Ma'am.” He has no power here.

  And neither do I.

  Just that thought sends the mental steel out, and instantly I sense the impenetrable walls of the ancient vampires. Dominic had a shield of electricity around his mind that only came down when Lily stunned him into oblivion. These vampires have entire castle fortresses around their minds, and I feel like a fly banging into a mountain. I've got no chance with these people.

  Stella rises. “I sense something.”

  I retract and fight to keep my expression neutral.

  “You sense something?” Riley gets out of his chair as well, looking around the room a
s if for an intruder. He pauses on me for a split second, less than that, before turning to Stella. “What do you hear?”

  Stella turns away from me, much to my relief. “I will repeat our orders to gain control. You have one month before the Convening.” She doesn't waste any words.

  I force my shoulders to stay down as the pressure flees, finally. I look to Walton and Daeshawn as if I'm confused. But Jorgen eyes Walton, who is apparently the oldest one here. The only thing that's saving me is that I'm young and not expected to even have any mind magic yet.

  “The Convening is in one month?” Riley asks.

  Stella snaps her fingers, and the other Truebloods rise. “Yes. All covens must attend. You must understand that our laws preserve the Truebloods' existence in this world. They are harsh for a reason.”

  “Then we will attend,” Riley says with a nod. “And we will attend on the dot. I will not be my father.”

  Stella leans close to Riley. “For your sake and for the sake of your Nightsides, you had better.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  The Truebloods leave quickly, and Riley stands at the front door to watch them go, hands behind his back as if he's in the military. The heavy wooden doors swing shut behind them, and no one acts as the doorman after that exchange.

  What just happened?

  No one dares to speak as the Truebloods enter a car outside and the frosty night air stops whooshing through the front doors. Car doors slam, and the tension rises even though the High Council are leaving from their polite visit. I want to kill them for treating Riley like this, for dumping even more stress onto us, for insulting Riley and calling him a failure before he's even had the chance to prove himself. Everyone's like my father, just letting things fall on those of us who haven’t even graduated high school yet.

  At last, the car's engine purrs and the Truebloods pull out of the parking lot of the mansion.

  I stand there in the entry hall, far away from Trish, Walton, and Daeshawn, who linger in the dining room.

  “What the hell was that?” I ask.

  Riley turns and rubs his eyes. “This is not good, Olivia. For many reasons.”

  “I can see that,” I say. “They were horrible to you.”

  “You almost lost control.” He narrows his eyes.

  My heart thumps. We're about to fight again. The entryway, despite the big chandelier hanging overhead, seems to darken.

  Yes. There's a lot of darkness here.

  “I was holding back, the best I could,” I say. “And that's the truth. But I can't stand to see you get treated like you're a child, because you're not one anymore.”

  Riley swallows as he draws closer to me. He takes a slow breath. “You probably held back, but these High Council vampires are even older than Dominic. They sense everything. I can't blame you for being angry.”

  “Why didn’t they kill us all?” I ask.

  Riley’s shoulders drop but his hair hangs in his face. “In most Trueblood covens, there are Nightside servants and slaves. Treating them like slaves helps prevent the development of their mental powers, in most cases. By letting your father escape, Dominic must have pissed off the High Council. Doing anything that endangers Truebloods or the balance we have with the hunters pisses the Council off. That's why they were also mad about Dominic killing humans who aren't transients. He could have exposed us to the world, and his actions resulted in the hunters going after the coven.”

  Riley's dropping his grace, and he looks more like the old Riley I met before my mutation awakened.

  “I didn't know about this High Council,” I say, forcing my pulse to slow.

  Riley motions me out of the entry hall and into the grand sitting room, an area with an arched ceiling and leather couches. We're away from the other Nightsides now, letting them absorb what happened. Riley plops down on a couch. “They exist for a reason. They formed a long time ago to make sure Truebloods could continue to survive in a world of human laws and civilizations. That meant rules, and lots of them, meant to keep the hunters off our backs and meant to keep us hidden. I just didn't think they'd come here, but I should have expected it. Any coven with a Trueblood in charge is under their rule.”

  I gulp as a spike of ice jabs down my spine. “If my father had been in charge instead—”

  “We would have been dead before sunrise,” Riley says, pulling me down to the couch as his fingers caress my arms. “The Riveras saved us by telling them I'm Dominic's legitimate heir. But to my knowledge, he never chose an official heir, or someone to take his place if he got killed or exiled.”

  I think of the old vampires I murdered when I saved Riley. Yes, Dominic would have chosen one of them to take over when he screwed up. Not a kid.

  “Now what?” I ask. “What are we supposed to do about this Convening?” At least the subject has changed from my lack of control to that, even if it could kill us.

  Riley lets go of my arms and sits up straight on the couch. “The Convening is an annual meeting of all Trueblood-led covens,” he explains, running a hand through his hair. “All leaders have to go. Any new covens have to be voted in as legitimate, or they're destroyed. To be legitimate, a coven has to be led by a powerful Trueblood, the Nightsides have to be under control, and the coven can’t break any of the other laws.”

  “But we can look like we're under control,” I say, straightening. “I'll play dutiful servant when they're looking, and work on my mind powers more before we go.”

  Riley tightens his lip and looks right into my eyes. He slowly straightens, too, so we’re inches apart. “But I broke a very important rule. And word could reach the Convening before we even get there.”

  The large sitting room seems to close in, and the potted plants look like they're about to fall in on us. The ceiling seems to lower as I understand what Riley's saying.

  He violated a rule, all right.

  A rule that, when broken, leads to execution.

  He took Dominic's blood and stole his place without permission.

  And Dominic's still out there, and he of all people will know of Riley's position.

  “Shit,” I say, rising. “What are we going to do?”

  Riley gets up, too, and stares at the grandfather clock as if it holds answers. But when he seems to find none, he turns to me. “I'm already suspect for being so young and having a coven full of Nightsides. We need to figure it out because we don't have long. And what's worse is that we haven't found the Originator yet. That's another danger. The Originator, whoever it is, can do damage at the Convening. I don't know what his plan would be, but he wants me gone, whoever he is.”

  I pace around the room as panic builds. Everything's set against us right now, and I don't know what to do. “I can't control those High Council vampires. I felt their walls. They're way more powerful than Dominic's are.” How can the Nightside Prophecy even be true, with that going on? Nobody's going to enslave those predators.

  “And they could find out I took an ancient’s blood,” Riley repeats. He paces with me, stopping at the window and pulling the dark curtains shut.

  He pauses there, not looking at me, and I know he's thinking of how I controlled him again.

  “Riley, I know that was bad, what I did,” I force. “I'm going to keep working on it so it doesn't happen again.”

  “I would have taken Dominic's blood on my own because I didn't have a choice, if I wanted to survive and not turn into a monster,” Riley says. “But the High Council won't care about that. They're all about the greater good of our kind at the expense of individuals. They'll gladly sacrifice me and the rest of this new coven to keep the Truebloods safe.” His grip tightens on the curtains and he won't look at me. Riley might be wiser than what he used to be, or at least able to think more clearly and logically, but his emotions are the same.

  I can't blame him. I drove him to do something that can get him killed, and all because I wanted to lash out. So I punish myself by saying, “Don't lie. You're still upset. I can tell when you
turn away from me in your sleep.”

  Riley goes completely still, as in, he stops breathing. “Olivia. You're observant. I'm still mad in my dreams, but I'm trying not to be when I’m awake.”

  There. It's out.

  He's still angry on some level, and he should be.

  “I've got anger issues. It's my responsibility to work on them. And I take responsibility.” Who else is going to overcome my rage at Dad? That's where it all starts, and I know it. Riley wasn't afraid to say what we both had to face.

  Riley lets go of the curtains and slowly lowers his arms to his side. His copper gaze softens as he turns. He seems deflated and resigned. Riley, who has only become more powerful since curing himself of the poisoning, has lost confidence for the first time since it happened. He's still vulnerable.

  “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.”