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softened until the triad could actually speak
without yelling.
You ve got it all wrong. Cornelius was no
more a villain than I am, Damien said. Sabine
must have faked the video. The commune is a
haven for vampires most are castoffs that have
nowhere else to go. She had a personal vendetta
against Cornelius. He was her maker and her
greatest weakness. As long as he survived, he
could always call her back to him.
But I heard you cry out! Trish exclaimed.
Well, yeah. Violet, he said, as he nodded at
the woman in his embrace, has a way of doing
that to a man when she s fucking him.
How was I supposed to know? You had me
blocked out.
A man s got a right to some privacy. We
agreed, remember? Need-to-know basis. I had
three days to assess the situation three days. If I d
had anything to report before then I would have
let you know. Instead you overreacted and
stormed in like some overbearing naked freaks of
nature, killing people.
At that, the girl sprang to life again.
Murderer! she screamed as she tried to escape
Damien and claw at Remy with outstretched
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hands. Damien grappled with her until he had her
hands pinned in one of his. His free arm wrapped
around her waist.
Well, you could have stopped us you know,
Trish said. As soon as you heard the gate
splinter, you could have broken away from your
little, she motioned to Violet, encounter and told
me I was wrong.
Violet is not an encounter, Damien yelled. He
then took a deep breath and continued more
calmly. I couldn t. I didn t hear you.
A deaf man could have heard us, Remy said.
Maybe, but not an unconscious one.
You slept through that? Trish asked.
Yeah, I did.
No woman s that good, Remy said.
Yeah, well, I suspect she drugged me. Not sure
why. He looked down into Violet s upturned
face. Doesn t matter. I ll never leave her.
You ve seen the way she s acted here. She ll
kill you in your sleep. We re better off locking her
up, Remy said.
No. She s likely to kill you. I m not to blame
for her father s death.
We are one and the same, Trish reasoned. If
she hurts one of us, she hurts all of us.
Then we ll just have to keep her away from
you.
You would leave us for her? Trish asked, hurt
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Casey Pendelton
etched into her face.
No. I would leave you for all of us. To keep
you safe. To be with her. To keep what is left of
the peace.
But the triad& Trish said.
Haven t we done enough damage as a
threesome? Like it or not, the Council used us and
more people died. How many of our vampires
were destroyed to kill an innocent man? Damien
demanded.
Twelve, Remy admitted, failing to meet
Damien s eyes. Twelve did not survive.
Even with the best intentions, we ve got no
right to play God. So it s best if I leave. If all of us
just go back to our normal lives and leave things
alone. We can t trust the Council to be honest, he
looked from Remy to Trish, and we can t trust
each other enough to act in good faith.
Trish looked away. Any time Damien or Remy
were in danger, she knew she would do it again.
She would react out of fear and anger.
Where will you go?
Nowhere. Someone needs to give these people
the guidance Cornelius can t. They trust Violet
and through her, they ll trust me. Dammit, I ve
never taken responsibility for anything in my life.
Maybe it s time.
Damien looked older, like he had aged several
lifetimes in hours. The determination on his face,
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the logic of his words was more than Trish knew
how to fight. They did owe these people
something and good intentions or not she kept
hurting people. Russell. Her mom. Even Eric s
death had been her fault. If she had been paying
attention, she could have stopped Damien and
Remy from taking his life.
Damien also made a good point about their
good intentions. In the perfect world, they would
know a lie from the truth. Instead, they had to
depend on instincts. Hers were flawed, so flawed.
Maybe this could be a new beginning for her as
well.
She looked at Remy, just looked at him, as if he
were the last bit of sanity in her insane world. She
knew the answer, knew what had to be done, no
matter how much it hurt.
You are right, Damien. We are dangerous. I
thought if we shared the power we could balance
each other out and reduce the odds of human
error. I was wrong. Tears stung her eyes. I love
you, you know. Maybe not in the same way I love
Remy, but letting go of you will hurt like hell.
Damien s words flowed out to the triad. She is
my world. From the moment I saw her, I had to have
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