Winning the Legend (30 page)

“And the health? The strongest always leads,
and heals those that need it,” Nik smirked, thinking he had a valid
point.

“Not an issue either,” she answered.
“Hospitals. They seem to work for day humans just fine.”

Nik laughed. “You expect a day human to be
able to treat us?” A few of the men still undecided laughed with
Nik.

“Sure why not? If the right medicine is
used, anyone can heal,” Arianna replied. The men still stared at
her like she was speaking another language. Some even scoffed at
her reply. She seemed to talk about dreams that would never be
reality in the night human world.

“I think you’ve been a day human too long.
Let me educate you a bit.” Nik took a haughty tone with Arianna
that brought a growl out of Andrew. Arianna placed a hand on his
arm and physically calmed his growing anger. “That’s not the way it
works for night humans. We are a bit different, if you couldn’t
already tell. We don’t go to hospitals, as there is nothing they
can do for us. We don’t need medicine to heal, we need blood.”

“Maybe you do, but we don’t.” Arianna
motioned for Gabriel and Turner to come near. Turner was fairly
undamaged by the fight, but still had a swelled eye from a good
punch he took. Gabriel held out the vial of clear liquid to
Arianna. She carefully opened it and dropped a drop into Turner’s
mouth. Instantly his eye went back to normal, and all the minor
cuts and scrapes pulled together. The men standing around were all
shocked, including Nik Katsulas, who never lacked for something to
say.

“We’ve modified what it is in my blood that
heals people, and now can heal just about anything. Severe wounds
take a bit more than a drop, but for everything else a drop is
enough. I’d call this medicine.” No one had anything left to argue
with her. Awe settled over the crowd.

“So, as I was saying,” Arianna broke the
silence. The people standing around that fought beside her already
were in awe of her, and now so were the rest of the people. “No
need to decide anything now. Go home and talk with your people
about my offer. I ask that those present who are not leaders talk
as well. A world free of all this conflict would benefit not only
leaders, but the people they protect, too.” Arianna doubted that
many of the families would be so willing to give up power, but her
demonstration was more for the followers that they brought with
today. They would see the truth and demand change.

Arianna reached over to Andrew, who pulled
her in close to him. He would never lose her. The battle was done
and they were still together. They were connected, and no one would
take her away. She would be his forever. Arianna smiled up at him,
and then nuzzled into his hug. Together they found true happiness.
Arianna didn’t sense the change in Rhys behind her before Devin had
already moved to absorb the slash meant for her back.

Chapter 32

Nessa didn’t hesitate as she struck back,
landing a fatal blow on her brother. He had just tried to kill
Arianna by attacking from behind, after she granted him his life.
Quickly, without looking at what she had just done, she kneeled
beside Arianna over Devin’s body. Arianna stared in horror at the
slash across Devin’s chest and midsection that cut through muscle.
He was bleeding heavily all over the ground as the blood continued
to seep out of him.

“Save him,” Nessa demanded.

“I can’t,” Arianna said, still staring in
shock at him. Devin smiled weakly up at Arianna and Andrew standing
behind her, giving her hand one last squeeze.

“What do you mean you can’t? You just made
Turner’s wounds instantly disappear. Where is that vial? Give it to
me, and I’ll save him,” Nessa ordered.

Arianna didn’t look up from Devin’s face. He
was dying, but not even mad for it being so. In fact he was
actually at peace. He didn’t fear death like everyone else did. He
had expected to die years ago, and this had all been a great
adventure.

“The medicine was made from my blood. I
can’t use my blood because I promised him,” Arianna said through
tears.

“You let him save your life, and now won’t
save his?” Nessa was angry, yet ready to beg if needed.

“Devin doesn’t want to be one of us,” Andrew
replied as Arianna could no longer talk.

“What do you mean?” Nessa knew precious
moments were fading away. Soon Devin would be dead. It didn’t take
much to kill a day human, even one as strong as Devin.

“Arianna is a pureblood and pureblood
dearg-dul can create another by feeding on a day human and then
giving them their blood. If Arianna gives her blood to Devin now,
he will turn into a dearg-dul. He asked us never to allow that,”
Andrew replied, watching only Arianna now.

“Then you save him. You did it before,”
Nessa replied. She wanted to slap sense into Arianna and Andrew to
save Devin. How could they just let him die?

“None of us can,” Turner said from Nessa’s
other side. “We all took Arianna’s blood to defend her today. We
all carry her blood within us. Any of our blood will turn him into
a night human now.” Turner spoke the truth they all knew. No one
Arianna loved could save Devin, and all the night humans not
changed around her didn’t have the power to save someone from such
a wound.

“So that’s it? You’ll just let him die?”
Nessa was shocked. She stood up and wanted to scream, but did not.
They were doing what Devin wanted, yet it seemed wrong. His life
was slowly fading. She had to be able to do something. Nessa wanted
to run, jump up and down, or just fly away. It was too unreal to
comprehend. Even as all-powerful as Arianna was, she couldn’t save
Devin.

“It’s okay,” Arianna whispered. Nessa
couldn’t tell if her words were meant for her or for Devin. “He’s
says to tell you he will be fine. He’s been waiting for this day
for over ten years.” Andrew’s hands tightened on Arianna’s
shoulders.

Devin looked up to Nessa briefly before
closing his eyes. He didn’t even acknowledge the pain he was in. It
had to be tremendous, but then again, Devin was tough. He was a
warrior; he wouldn’t show pain. Nessa knew warriors. The elite
sidhe families were always warriors. She was raised as a warrior. A
warrior would not fail in the end. And Devin didn’t fail. He saved
Arianna. Nessa looked back down at him. It wouldn’t be long now
before he was dead. Her tears were already forming. Devin didn’t
fail, but she did. She told Arianna she would keep everyone safe
from Rhys. She told everyone she could handle him. She was
complacent and let Rhys attack. This was her fault.

Devin rested like he was sleeping as his
life slowly slid away. For once in her life, Nessa cursed her sidhe
blood. It wasn’t strong enough to save someone. Devin deserved to
be saved. Nessa never really cared what happened in the night human
world she was raised in, and couldn’t wait to get out. But Devin
cared about this world and he wasn’t even one of them. He deserved
to live long enough to see Arianna change it into a place that even
Nessa would be happy to be part of. One of the sidhe warriors who
had come with Rhys moved from Rhys’ dead body to Nessa.

“Can you bear to be with him forever?” the
older man asked.

“What?” Nessa asked.

“If you bind a human, you will bear the
weight of the wound with him. Together, you can both survive, but
alone he will die,” the man replied before moving back to Rhys’
body. Nessa looked up at the man. She remembered him from her
childhood, but could not recall his name. She searched his face.
Was he telling the truth? Could Nessa deal with Devin forever?
Forever was a long time.

Nessa knelt at his side. It wasn’t much of a
choice if the man was correct. She could bind her life to Devin’s
forever, and he would live. Or choose not to and watch him die.
Devin could be a bit hard to deal with, but he deserved to live. He
deserved to watch the world change. He was still needed here.

“Devin,” Nessa said quietly, and looked to
Arianna for a response. “You need to be willing for this to
work.”

‘Tell her I’m fine with
dying,’
Devin told Arianna.

‘But I’m not fine with
it,’
Arianna replied.

‘You have Andrew. He will
take care of you. You don’t need me.’
The
weight of death was calling to him. It wouldn’t be long
now.

‘And you deserve to get
your life back. You can’t just be the hero and expect us to not
care when you die. Suck it up and bind to her or I will never
forgive you,’
Arianna threatened, feeling
death call for him.

Devin paused for a moment. It was peaceful
in the dark. Death wasn’t as scary as everyone made it out to be.
He really was fine dying.

‘I can’t let you
die,’
Arianna replied.
‘We will do this with or without your consent. You can’t stop
us anyway.’

Devin laughed mentally. That was the
stubborn Arianna he knew from his childhood. She was back. She was
strong enough to protect herself and everyone else. She didn’t need
him around anymore.

‘I do too need you,’
Arianna replied, reading his thoughts now.
‘You’re my keeper. I am begging you. Please just
bind to Nessa and get better.’

‘And you can’t just let me
go?’
Devin couldn’t fight her on this. He
would, and always did, do exactly what Arianna wanted, especially
when she begged.

‘Fine,’
he answered, hoping the darkness would take him swiftly as
the alternative wasn’t going to be pleasant.

“He agrees,” Arianna told Nessa, who
immediately swiped the fresh blood off his chest before feeding him
her own.

The deep cut began to close on Devin as a
matching cut broke open on Nessa. She gritted her teeth as her own
night human blood began to knit the skin back together. It was way
more painful than she had been expecting. The cut was deep, and
tissue and muscle were torn. Pain filled her. She gaped in awe of
Devin. He was much stronger than she ever expected.

Chapter 33

Arianna looked up from her book as she sat
in her own, poison-free bedroom back at her Aunt Lilly and Uncle
Dean’s apartment that had been thoroughly clean since she ran away
from the night human world a month ago after her guard Molina had
been poisoning her everywhere they lived. Devin was standing in the
doorway with a packed bag.

“We will only be gone two weeks,” he said
with Nessa pouting behind him.

“I told you that I can do this myself,”
Nessa replied. It had been one week since the tournament ended and
Devin was back to full health. Several night humans had died in the
fight, but none were Arianna’s own. Everyone she had transformed
fared better than the rest. They even healed quicker from the cuts
and bruises they got.

“You’re not going home to your parents alone
to tell them that you killed your brother and bound yourself to a
day human,” Devin answered, not looking behind himself at Nessa.
“Everything is in order for the next two weeks. You should be fine.
Gabriel has said he’ll be around to check on you and will travel to
the Randolph estate with you when you head back.”

Nessa tapped her foot impatiently. Arianna
smiled. Devin was going to have his hands full keeping track of
her. Arianna hopped up from her comfortable spot, and ran over to
hug him as he turned to leave.

“Thank you for saying yes to living,” she
said quietly. It was easier now to hug him. There were no lingering
feelings between them. Arianna knew that the bindings changed
everything. The door that he voluntarily kept locked was now
permanently closed in his mind. Devin patted her back and nodded to
Andrew behind her, who was still lying on her bed.

“I already regret it,” he teased as he
nodded to Nessa by the door, who was growing more and more
impatient.

“Have a fun trip.” Arianna winked.

“Like having teeth pulled,” he replied,
opening the door and motioning for Nessa to move through it. She
balked at his offer to hold the door and waited for him to go
first. Devin sighed and passed through the door. Nessa turned as
she shut the door and smiled sweetly at Arianna.

“Don’t drive him too nuts now; I still need
his help getting everything organized for elections,” Arianna
replied.

“Ahh, but then there would be no fun in this
trip.” Nessa grinned at Arianna as Devin stood below on the stairs,
waiting for her. Nessa winked at Arianna and turned to sulk as she
walked down the stairs.

Arianna walked back to her bed and laid back
down, using Andrew as a pillow.

“Do you think they’ll both survive this?”
Arianna asked. Nessa and Devin had done nothing but fight the whole
time they were supposed to be recovering.

“Oh, I think they’ll be fine,” Andrew
replied. Behind all the anger and temper tantrums, there was so
much more. He’d seen it back at the competition. Nessa was just the
type of girl Devin needed. Andrew brushed back Arianna’s hair and
kissed her forehead. Arianna was just the type of girl he
needed.

“What was that for?” Arianna asked. Andrew
had been silently watching her.

“For being you,” Andrew replied.

The world needed Arianna and the change she
would bring. Now that it was happening, soon Andrew could have
Arianna all to himself. It would take a few more weeks to arrange
everything after Devin returned, but thanks to Arianna, the night
human world was shifting. She was bringing night humans together
physically and mentally. Two more clans already decided to join
her, bringing the clans up to eight of thirteen. Two more were
voting that week to decide whether they wanted to join or not. All
the lesser clans had joined immediately. There was peace now, and
freedom. Night humans were joining together and making their own
way in the world. Soon Arianna could be just a normal teenager
again. She could go back to school with her friends for her senior
year. She could go to movies and hang out at the mall. She no
longer needed to the blue-eyed legend. Her role in changing the
world was almost over. They might never know the exact words behind
the legend, but that was the best part. They didn’t need to know.
She was making her own fate now.