Winning the Legend by B. Kristin McMichael
‘My hand went through the wall,’ she said, explaining her surprise.
Andrew smiled back wickedly. He now had a better plan. Arianna’s new abilities would come in very handy. He couldn’t wait to try it out.
‘Uh oh, what are you thinking?’ she asked. Andrew was smiling. Baku were great silent hunters, but even they were limited. Arianna had no limitations to her control now.
‘How about we do just that? We go through the wall and then hide in the bathroom the same way Nessa did in the room earlier,’ Andrew replied. ‘But I’ll need a little of your blood first.’ Arianna understood the real reason he was smiling beyond the thrill of the hunt. Andrew had yet to taste her blood. Even as they were trying to find out what was going on, Andrew could find a way to turn the situation into something more.
Arianna held up her wrist. It was the best plan, even if she was hesitant over being bit. The guys never seemed to mind when she used them as food, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to be food for someone else. Andrew smiled back and took her arm. He had been waiting for a long to do what he was about to do now.
‘I’ll be gentle. I’ll only knock you out for a moment,’ he promised, licking the spot he was going to bite. His tongue caused more shivers than his touch. Arianna nodded to him as he reached up and touched her forehead, gently sending her into sleep. Baku could only feed on sleeping victims. He needed Arianna to sleep even to take just a little blood. In only a moment’s time, she woke. Andrew was smiling, more mischievous than ever, and looking around her. It was no longer that their night essences intertwined. They were actually the same. Arianna wanted to ask more, but the voices on the other side become more heated in their discussion.
‘Can you go through now?’ she asked. Andrew nodded, still gazing at her like he wasn’t finished with his meal. ‘Then I suppose we need to do this.’
Andrew reached over and took her hand. ‘Your blood tasted better than I could have ever imagined.’ Arianna blushed and wanted to let go, but he wouldn’t let her. ‘I’m not sure on the illusion thing, so you might have to hide us both.’
Arianna nodded and stepped toward the wall. As she touched the hard surface, it gave way. It was like walking through gelatin as she passed through the solid wall. Andrew grinned as she pulled him behind her. The voices were immediately loud enough to overhear. Arianna silently made her way to the doorway and hid both herself and Andrew behind the door. She concentrated and matched the wall exactly. Anyone passing wouldn’t see her. Physically she would still be there; so as long as no one entered, they would be fine.
“But you said you could get your council’s support,” Nik complained, pacing the room.
“And so did you,” Rhys added, just as irritated.
“I’m not the head of my family. I asked, and tried to get my dad to support it, but he said no. If we do this, we are on our own.” Nik was now pacing a wider arc.
“Then we do it on our own.” Rhys was confident, but Nik was not.
“And how you propose that? We can’t fight off everyone here.” Nik sulked, still pacing.
“Do we need to?” Rhys replied, lounging on the couch. He was upset that Nik didn’t pull through, but Rhys was confident he would get what he wanted. Rhys always got what he wanted. It was good to be king.
“Yes, because no matter how enticing she is I’m not willing to die for a girl.” Nik kicked the bathroom door in as he passed by it. Arianna now had a perfect view of the living room. Thankfully they were well hidden from view.
“If you support me, then I promise we’ll split the girl between us,” Rhys replied. “All I’m asking is that when the time comes that I need an ally, you’re it.” Nik paused in his circling of the room and nodded. He wanted Arianna as much as any other man in the competition, he just needed to be smart enough to outwit the sidhe he was working with.
“You have it,” Nik replied. “Polo is outside the gates, informing our supporters of the plan.” Nik finally stopped walking around the room and stood in front of the relaxed Rhys. “You better not go back on your word,” Nik added. He was being as threatening as the shorter and younger Nik could be.
“Never,” Rhys replied, giving a solemn bow to Nik that hid his sarcasm. “A sidhe cannot lie once they’ve given their word.”
Nik seemed satisfied as he walked out of the room without a backward glance. Rhys picked up a glass on the coffee table and took a gulp. He gently placed the glass back on the table and closed his eyes.
“Come on out now,” Rhys said to the empty room.
Arianna’s heart beat faster, knowing they were caught. She couldn’t move as she was frozen in place. Rhys sat up from the couch and turned toward the bathroom doorway. He waited patiently. Arianna debated what to do. Should she just appear? Could she appear while keeping Andrew hidden? All hell would break loose if Andrew appeared in Rhys’ room. He could barely stand to be civil in front of everyone, and so being behind closed doors would be a problem. Rhys gaze passed over her.
“Stop playing games, Nessa,” Rhys added as Nessa peeled herself from the wallpaper. She had been hidden right next to Arianna and Andrew. Nessa turned and pulled on the bathroom door, securing Arianna’s hiding spot before she walked back toward her brother. Arianna swore that Nessa knew where she was hidden, but it seemed like Rhys did not.
“I’m the one playing games?” she asked, plopping down on the couch and picking up the glass her brother was drinking from. She took a whiff, made a sour face, and placed it back on the table. “What about you? What game are you playing?”
Rhys rolled his eyes as he lay back down to lounge on the couch. He was relaxed and enjoying his time at the competition. So far everything was working just as he wanted it to. Arianna was being swayed by his words. Soon she would be asking him to take her away.
“The game I was sent here to play,” Rhys replied, closing his eyes.
“You promised me.” Ness couldn’t contain the anger in her voice.
Rhys’ eyes snapped open as he sat up. “Promised you?” He sneered. “I didn’t promise anything. You talked, and I nodded. You should know that isn’t a promise. Our word is only good if we are looking directly in each other's eyes and we repeat the sidhe oath.” Rhys didn’t do that with Nik, Arianna noted.
“Our people don’t want this,” Nessa replied, trying a different tactic, as she couldn’t stop the tears from trailing down her cheeks. Rhys was once the older brother she looked up to. He was the shining light for the sidhe people. He was kind and compassionate. She was proud to call him her brother. Everyone loved him. He was respected, not feared. Nessa had seen him change over the years, but she just didn’t want to believe it. Now, there was nothing left of the brother she’d loved.
“Our people are foolish. The power in one drop of that half-breed’s blood will save our clan. When war starts, as it will—do not deny that little sister—we will have the key to winning. Our people will be the strongest, and it will all be due to Arianna. She can sustain an army, and we will be unstoppable,” Rhys proudly defended his choice.
“And this meeting with Katsulas? Is this because you know you can’t win on your own?” Nessa was beginning to get angry. He had promised her. He was a peaceful king.
“Katsulas is the insurance plan,” Rhys replied without explaining further. “But I doubt I’ll need that. I’ve already explained to Arianna what you did not: she now can choose anyone as her mate, and will love them just as much as she loves that big white chicken who’s too afraid to enter this competition.”
Arianna grabbed Andrew’s hand to keep him beside her and hidden. They both knew Rhys was talking about him. Andrew was close to losing it and taking out his aggression on Rhys for showing himself to be the jerk he was all along. Rhys’ kind face and beautiful eyes were all a façade. He was as evil on the inside as most of the other man competing.
“And you think that will get her away from him?” Nessa asked. She understood the bond between Arianna and Andrew better than anyon
“Yep. I saw it in her eyes. Did you see how she ran out tonight? I was telling her the truth. Everyone around her always lies to her, so she appreciates my truth. When she returns and sees all the men hungrily waiting for her, I can swoop in as the knight in shining armor.” Rhys leaned back on the couch and stretched out.
“And you think I’ll stand by and not tell her what’s going on?” Nessa countered.
Rhys sat up and was instantly across the room to his sister, his fingers wrapped around her throat. “I doubt I need to tell you this, sister, but if you are not with me, you are against me. As your king, I forbid you to tell Arianna or her friends about this. If you find a way around it, consider yourself banished.” Rhys let go and was instantly back, relaxing on the couch while his sister sputtered and coughed, trying to catch her breath. His fingers left red indents on her throat.
“Did you put Vasquez up to attacking Devin?” Nessa whispered, as that was all the voice she had left.
“No, I greatly appreciated it. Two more out of the equation in one blow. There’s no way Arianna will heal Devin with the chance that she will turn him, and the older baku took off after Vasquez. Vasquez doesn’t stand a chance.” Rhys smirked, enjoying the cards falling in his favor.
Nessa couldn’t stop the tears that were now running down her face. “What happened to you?” she asked. The brother she grew up with was not the man that was in front of her now.
“I stopped thinking the world was filled with rainbows and saw the truth. It’s ruthless out there, sister, and I plan to stand on the top of the heap when the shit begins to fall.” Rhys closed his eyes, relaxing, and Nessa knew the conversation was done.
Nessa shook her head, and headed into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She looked over to Arianna and Andrew and nodded. They had all the information she was going to get out of her brother. He wasn’t going to do as he promised. It was up to Arianna to fight back on her own, and Nessa was going to help her.
‘Banishment or not, I am with you,’ Nessa said to Arianna. Arianna nodded and took Andrew’s hand, disappearing into the wall. She started to calculate her own plan of attack. If Rhys thought his tricks would work, she’d have to show him a few tricks of her own.
Chapter 21
Arianna looked around the room at her friends and followers who gathered in the small space. She had called everyone together for an emergency meeting. The room hadn’t seemed so small until everyone started to pack into it. Nessa sat alone in the corner, watching everyone. She couldn’t add to the conversation, but she was completely behind Arianna. Devin was still injured and laying in Arianna’s bed, but at least now he was awake. Andrew’s blood had cured him for the most part. It would still be a few days before he was completely back to normal, but he was alive now, and that was all that mattered.
“Gabriel, what did you find?” Arianna asked her uncle as he was the last one to arrive in her room. He shut and locked the door behind him. Arianna appreciated the thick walls that kept her room isolated and sound-proof from the rest of the estate.
“Polo Katsulas was meeting with a group of people outside the walls. They are waiting for the final tournament where outsiders can witness the last matches.” Arianna squeezed Andrew’s hand to keep the growl from coming out of his mouth so that Gabriel could continue. “I followed as close as I could, but that meant I couldn’t make out everything. When Ken was spotted, Polo snuck back to the grounds. From the little they talked, and what I could see, Polo was confirming an army attack that is being laid down for their followers.” The war Arianna was trying to avoid by playing this stupid game to win her was going to come anyways.
Arianna nodded. “That’s what I expected after our find. Rhys has been making plans with Nik to take me by force no matter the outcome of the tournament.” All the faces stared back at her for only a moment before they turned, with hateful glares, to Nessa. She was the little sister to the enemy.
“Um.” Thomas hesitated to ask. “Should she be in here?”
“Nessa doesn’t support her brother. She won’t be telling him anything. I have her here more as a consultant of what is going on. She cannot speak to confirm that Rhys is making plans because Rhys has forbidden her to tell us, but don’t think she won’t help us. This is just as bad for her as it is me. She will be seventeen in less than a year, and Rhys won’t hesitate to use her for his gain. Nessa has as much stock in us succeeding to put an end to all of this as we do,” Arianna explained, but Thomas didn’t look completely convinced.
“And how do we do that? Put an end to all of this?” Thomas replied, eyeing Nessa suspiciously. He was taking up Devin’s role of not trusting while Devin was in no shape to argue with anyone.
“By making your own, better army,” Nessa answered.
“So we go to war?” Thomas asked. He knew better than anyone this was what Arianna wanted to avoid.
“No,” Nessa replied. “You show everyone that you have the stronger forces, and no one will challenge Arianna ever again.”
“And how do we show people that? If we march our people down here, every clan will send their own here too. We would be inviting war,” Thomas rationalized.
“By taking her blood,” Nessa answered. She didn’t move from her spot. The hostility rolled off of everyone. “If everyone here drinks Arianna’s blood, they will change into the superior night human. You will get all the good aspects from all the clans, and none of the side effects. Each one of you’ll be worth ten of them. By numbers they can outnumber you, but by ability, you will be unmatched. Arianna needs to make a new race of night humans, a new race she will be queen of.”
“So we bleed her dry?” Turner asked sarcastically, as he was, for once, siding with Thomas on the issue of Nessa not being on their side. She was talking about using Arianna like the weapon everyone else wanted to use her for.
“No,” Nessa sighed. She had always found her family to be bothersome, but this was worse than normal. Everyone here was on edge and ready to jump at any chance to let out their frustrations. “All it would take is a vial of blood or so per person. You can take up to one pint without hurting her, and she can easily replace the blood by feeding. That one pint should allow you to change at least fifteen people. Ask your scientist.”
Everyone turned back to Molina, who had Mori on her headphone. She spoke briefly and then turned back to the room full of staring eyes.
“Mori agrees. He said that one ounce of Arianna’s blood should completely change anyone into the new night human race,” Molina replied. That was more than enough blood to change all of the people in the room.
“And we trust that it’s safe? That by changing, we will really out power everyone sent here to take Arianna? Nessa is the sister of the person spearheading it all,” Thomas added.
Molina opened up the laptop on Arianna’s desk and turned it on. She logged in and brought up Mori back at the Randolph estate.
“Hi, everyone.” Mori pushed up his glasses, and avoided looking directly at the computer. Mori was shy and never joined any functions. He was fortunate his job as the computer specialist allowed him to stay hidden away from everything. That was how he’d like to be right now, but he knew showing was better than telling.
“Will this work?” Molina asked directly. She knew better than anyone how to deal with the most antisocial member of Arianna’s protection team.
“Um, yes,” Mori replied. “We’d already been considering this option, and Harry and Jon worked through the night analyzing numbers. They decided that one ounce should be enough for a grown human to completely change. The change should take only a matter of minutes, and then stabilize after two days.”
“And it is safe to take a pint of blood from me?” Arianna asked since she was going to be the blood donor. Somehow, voluntarily giving her blood to everyone didn’t upset her as much of the thought that all of the other competitors wanted to do the same if they won her in the tournam
“Oh yes, even normal day humans can have a pint of blood taken and not have any adverse effects,” Mori replied, looking up at Arianna. She was the only one he would actually look into the eyes of. He trusted her completely. “You should immediately feed afterward and then rest two days before any more blood can be taken.”
“How do you know this will work?” Turner asked. He had to be protective of Arianna with Devin weak and bedridden for the moment.
“Um,” Mori replied shyly. “I tested it myself, and found out I am part tengu.” Dark black wings snapped open behind the dearg-dul. Mouths dropped around the room. “Seems that whatever family traits are most prominent will come out. So, for Arianna, her father being baku and her mother dearg-dul, those will be her traits. Seems I have a great-grandmother somewhere that was tengu and hid it from the family as she didn’t pass on any of her genes, so she thought, and the rest of my family was dearg-dul. I’m not one hundred percent sure how to use them yet, but they are completely functional and not just for show.”
No one knew how to reply. Mori’s new black wings flapped behind him. There was still tension between the clans that Arianna was the head of no matter if she thought nothing of it. Years of hate and anger were still present. No one knew how to approach a life without being very well defined as one type of night human or another. Everyone feared the hidden skeletons in their own family history.
“So, you’re saying I might sprout wings like the bird?” Turner asked in disgust.
“I highly doubt it,” Mori replied. “With all the hate between tengu and lycan, I doubt your family history has a background with tengu.” Mori logically stated his answer. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if you turn into an albino wolf. Now that would be cool.”
“Besides,” Thomas replied. “We already took enough blood to change, and neither of us turned into a sidhe.”
“Oh, this should be fun,” Devin said quietly from his bed. He was actually smiling at Mori comments, knowing that Turner would find being anything except lycan an insult.