Winning the Legend (19 page)

“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 anyone. It was the kind of bond she had always
wanted.

“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 tournament.