Winning the Legend (15 page)

Arianna placed a hand on his arm as he
fiddled with his glasses. “No. You did your part. You can’t enter
the rooms. If they catch even a scent of you, they’ll suspect you
and accuse you of plotting against them. This is my house, and they
should expect to sense my presence. Andrew is close enough to me
all the time, so no one will be able to tell the difference between
our scents.”

Thomas blew out a defeated sigh. “I just
want you to stay safe. You’re family to me. And besides, if Vanessa
is right, if you are here to save our kind, then we need you alive
to do that.” Thomas strained a smile. It was like sending her into
enemy territory unprotected.

“Nothing will happen to me,” Arianna
reassured Thomas. Andrew returned and nodded to Arianna.

“I won’t let anything ever harm her,” Andrew
told Thomas.

Thomas nodded. The large, white baku before
him was a menacing sight. Andrew’s muscles bulged like a body
builder’s. He was massive and just as cunning as any of those men.
From the strength demonstrations, none of them compared to Andrew.
Arianna was completely safe with him, but even that wouldn’t stop
Thomas from worrying. So far, nothing had gone according to plan,
from the moment Arianna lost control and attacked Devin. Thomas had
more and more strategies drawn up since that was the only thing he
could do to keep her safe.

Arianna followed Andrew as he led the way to
the competitor hallway and rooms. They passed both Turner and
Devin, who were pacing the passages. She hesitated as Andrew opened
the doorway to the first room. They didn’t have time to take blood
and then inject it without anyone realizing what was going on. If
it really worked to change her completely, the others would notice.
They were just lucky so far that no one noticed the first change.
She would have to feed on each man. Arianna looked across the room
at Nik Katsulas. When he wasn’t smirking or sulking, the youngest
competitor was actually not as ugly as she first thought. He looked
much younger without a scowl, and his dark hair messed across his
head. Silently, she walked across the room and looked down. Andrew
had his hands on each side of Nik’s face keeping him in deep sleep
for Arianna so her bite would not wake him. Arianna bent down and
took Nik’s wrist. She moved closer to bite him, but stopped.

‘I can’t do this,’
Arianna complained. These men were all repulsive,
even with their blood already flowing in her veins.
‘I can’t take blood from anyone but my
keepers.’

‘You’ve already taken his
blood. It should be easier,’
Andrew
replied. He liked the thought that she despised taking blood from
these men, but she needed more to complete the
transformation.

‘Well, it isn’t,’
Arianna responded, still staring at the sleeping
guy.
‘It’s like coffee,’
she explained, moving Nik’s arm closer and
smelling the blood. Her baku was raging to bite down and taste the
blood of the sleeping victim, but Arianna kept her baku side in
check by dropping Nik’s arm.
‘Plain coffee
smells so good, but then you catch a whiff of chocolate coffee.
Nummy smelling. But then tasting coffee? It doesn’t taste at all
how it smells. Chocolate coffee does not taste like
chocolate.’
Andrew smiled, but did not
move.

‘Ari, you have no choice in
this matter. Drink the coffee,’
Andrew
ordered with a grin.
‘And if you need a
little something later to get the taste out of your mouth, you know
where to find me. I’m sure I don’t smell like coffee.’
Andrew winked at her, and Arianna couldn’t stop
the blush spreading on her cheeks.
‘We
need to do this soon. You know we have nine more people to go
to.’

Arianna sighed and picked up Nik’s arm
again. Andrew caught her eye and kept her focus on him. She looked
into Andrew’s eyes and felt the love transfer out of him. She
smelled his blood stronger than Nik’s. He definitely wasn’t coffee.
She scrunched up her nose in protest, yet did as Andrew told her to
do. Biting down, she release blood into her mouth and forced
herself to swallow. Nik’s blood was as bad as she imagined it
tasting.

‘Maybe I would have done
better with the younger brother,’
Arianna
added as they left the room with Nik peacefully sleeping. Andrew
had made Nik move into a deeper sleep to keep him out as they moved
on to the next room without a scratch left on their sleeping
victim.
‘At least he idolized me. That’s a
bit like love. Bet he would have tasted better.’

Andrew silently laughed and opened the door
to the next room. One after one, Arianna drank from the competitors
again. None were appetizing, but there was nothing she could do
about it. By the time she got to the last two rooms, she couldn’t
bring herself to do it. Andrew had to put a drop of his own blood
on each man’s arm before she would even go near them. She needed
their blood, and if this was really the only way, she needed to do
it. Finally reaching the last room, Arianna paused. She sensed
Nessa inside. She was agitated and pacing the room. They had not
drugged her as she wouldn’t object to giving more blood. She was
the one that wanted this to all happen to begin with.

Arianna pushed open the door, but stopped.
Placing a hand behind her, she stopped Andrew before he attacked at
the scene. Gabriel lay sprawled on the floor, unconscious, and
dripping blood from a head wound. Rhys stood in the corner of the
room, mentally scolding his younger sister. His scolding stopped as
he finally noticed Nessa’s eyes on Arianna.

‘Gabriel?’
Arianna sent out mentally to her
uncle.

“He surprised me,” Rhys said. His voice was
deep, but crisp, just like it had sounded the first week he
arrived. Arianna was still amazed at Nessa’s transformation into
her brother. She had perfectly imitated Rhys. It was hard now to
even see Rhys as himself and not as Nessa. “I didn’t mean any harm.
He is unhurt.”

“And the blood?” Andrew seethed behind
Arianna. She kept her body pressed to his, trying to send him
calming waves.

“Ah, your mate,” Rhys replied. “I mean no
offense,” Rhys continued, looking to Andrew now. “I was surprised
and reacted without thinking. Wouldn’t you do the same if you found
someone in your room that wasn’t supposed to be there? We aren’t
exactly all friends on a weekend retreat here.”

“And the blood?” Arianna asked again. Rhys
was so far being truthful, but she saw behind the illusions he
cast.

“He hit his head on the way down.” Rhys
pointed to the coffee table beside Gabriel that had a bit of
Gabriel’s blood on it also.

Arianna’s eyes flicked to the transformed
Nessa for confirmation on the reason Gabriel was on the floor.
Arianna made a small step toward Gabriel. Nessa wanted to respond,
but couldn’t without telling her brother why Arianna knew her. Rhys
caught Arianna’s glance and smiled.

“
So, that’s what this is
about?” Rhys asked, waving his hand for Nessa to drop her disguise.
Nessa returned to the young girl with ringlets. “You’ve met my
sister?”

“Yes.” Arianna kept her slow pace, inching
over to Gabriel. He might just have been attacked in self-defense,
but that didn’t mean Arianna trusted he was all right. She needed
to see for herself. Rhys had to be really good to catch the old
baku off guard.

“And my naïve little sister told you about
her crazy idea? That you’re the chosen one?” Rhys asked, teasing
his sister. Arianna looked to Nessa. She was turning a bright shade
of red. It didn’t help her embarrassment that Devin and Turner were
right behind Andrew, and entering the room now. Everyone was there
to see her be called a fool by her brother. “Which version did she
tell you? Was it that you’re the hero who can save the world? Or
was it the one where you are the one who will rule over us all? My
little sister has such a grand imagination.”

Rhys sounded more sarcastic than anything.
This was a completely new side of him that Arianna had not seen
yet. So far he had been charming when Nessa was pretending to be
him and even more so once they switched back. During the power
demonstration he was in full charisma mode, but now he was more
condescending.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,”
Arianna replied calmly as she made it over to Gabriel.

Arianna bent down and touched the old man.
His head wound was already healed, and no longer bleeding. Gabriel
would be fine, but the situation wasn’t ideal. Rhys’ change in
attitude made her wonder about the sidhe king. He was acting more
foe than friend at the moment, and Arianna could see the fear in
Nessa’s eyes. It was clear that the siblings didn’t share a loving
relationship.

“My sister has been raving for years about a
special night human that would save us all. My grandfather filled
her head with these lies and stories when we were children.
Unfortunately, Nessa is very impressionable, so I ask you to
forgive my sister for filling you with hope that you can do magic.
I assume you’re here to try my blood, to see if that will allow you
to do sidhe magic.” Rhys waved his hands about in the air, making
fun of his own ability.

“I don’t know what Nessa told you over the
years, but maybe you should have listened to her,” Arianna replied.
She didn’t take too kindly to Rhys’ attitude toward his sister.
Nessa kept her eyes cast to the floor.

“Oh no, she got you, too,” Rhys said in mock
despair, flopping his hand over his heart for emphasis. “At least
you guys don’t believe her?” Rhys turned to Andrew, who was still
watching him and waiting to pounce if he made one questionable
move. Devin just stared at the sidhe, not replying. That was enough
for Rhys. “You do believe her,” Rhys replied, astonished that they
would believe his sister’s stories.

“Some people have more faith in me than my
own family does,” Nessa whispered, moving across the room to
Arianna. She helped Arianna shift Gabriel to a sitting position as
he finally opened his eyes. Nessa looked up, trying to plead a
silent apology to both Arianna and Gabriel.

“Man, that kid has some right hook,” Gabriel
rubbed his jaw. He wasn’t upset about the situation. It was his own
fault he had been hit.

“Sorry about that,” Rhys replied from across
the room. Arianna couldn’t tell if he was sincere or not. The
threat in Andrew’s eyes was obvious, and Rhys kept away.

“Did you finish here?” Gabriel asked
Arianna, trying to figure out how long he had been out.

“You too?” Rhys was now really surprised.
Gabriel was ancient and well-known. How could Nessa convince
someone with as much experience as Gabriel?

“Me too, what?” Gabriel slowly moved to his
feet, leaning on both Arianna and Nessa.

“Apparently Rhys doesn’t know that what
Nessa was saying was true,” Arianna explained to Gabriel.

“It can’t be,” Rhys replied, brushing off
Arianna’s belief in his sister. “They’re just myths, fairy
tales.”

“Really? Then why can I see the knife in
your hand? It wasn’t the table that caused the cut on my uncle’s
head, was it?” Arianna asked. She let Nessa support Gabriel as
Arianna moved quickly to stop Andrew before he did something they
all would regret. “However, we’re not here to fight with you. I
just need a little more blood from your sister to complete the
transformation.”

“That can’t be,” Rhys whispered, dropping
the knife to the floor with a clank. “These were all just old
tales.”

“It can, brother,” Nessa replied, handing
Gabriel off to Devin before using her sidhe speed to instantly
appear at Rhys’ side. “Grandfather was right. Now she’s here
because she needs more blood, yours or mine.” Nessa had been
tracking Arianna as she moved from room to room, and had been
oblivious to the others. She would have stopped her brother from
attacking Gabriel if she had known he would be coming first.

Rhys recovered from his shock and studied
Arianna. He now saw Arianna in a new light. His grandfather had
often told tales of how the night humans were too divergent in
race. Rhys was a young boy, and thought they were just tales, even
though they were fascinating. As he grew into a man, he believed
his grandfather had been senile in his old age, and was just
telling stories. Grandfather had said, as new traits arose, these
new types of night human branched off until it got to the point
that they could never be what they were once before. Grandfather
had explained it all like a scientific theory, but Rhys, like
everyone else, thought the old man was crazy.

“More blood?” Rhys asked his sister, who was
the only one who had supported their grandfather’s theories over
the years. Her faith in the old man never wavered. “As in you gave
her some before? You know that’s against sidhe law.”

“What?” Arianna asked. She knew enough from
her year in the night world to understand that you didn’t go
against clan law. Most of the time doing so meant death, and even
if one was exiled, that still typically meant death, as no other
clan would take you in.

“Sidhe are not allowed to be fed on,” Rhys
replied, still watching Arianna. She was a new marvel to him. She
saw past his spells. She was amazing.

“She had pathadh. I couldn’t let her starve
to death. And she needs more,” Nessa replied. “Since I already
broke the law, I might as well do it again.” Nessa shrugged. She
walked over to Arianna and lifted up her wrist.

“No,” Rhys replied with a twinkle in his
eyes, swatting his little sister’s arm away. “I’ll feed her.”

Chapter 17

Andrew paced behind Arianna. He didn’t take
well to bending to the requests of strangers, especially those that
looked at Arianna with longing in their eyes. Andrew could see what
the sidhe leader was feeling without having to enter his mind.
Arianna seemed a bit more oblivious to it. Andrew wanted to scream
at her to wake up, but it wouldn’t do any good. Arianna always
tried to find the good in people, even when there was none.