The Legend of the Blue Eyes (24 page)

“Actually, she’s going to take private
lessons at school. We’ve arranged it so that she doesn’t have to be
there until the ten o’clock class,” Devin explained, stepping into
the room in time to follow Lilly out of it. Turner motioned for
Arianna to join him and she complied while easily falling instantly
to sleep.

Waking from her peaceful
dream, Arianna reluctantly sat up and rubbed her eyes. She was
happy to be home, but now she was beginning to worry.
What will I tell my friends?
What private classes will I have? Who is my new teacher? Who
was the man I left at grandfather’s estate? Would he be safe there
alone with him?
Automatically, Arianna
closed her eyes and began to search. Her senses passing over the
hundreds of miles between her and her grandfather, she found what
she was listening for: the steady beat of grandfather’s heart as he
sat in his office. He was fine. Arianna opened her eyes and
sighed.

“Ari?” Turner repeated, as he tapped her
face.

“What?” she asked, swatting as he continued
to tap.

“What were you doing?” he asked, knowing the
answer.

“I just wanted to make sure everything was
alright with my grandfather,” she replied, looking on the floor for
her shoes.

“You listened all the way to Randolph
Manor?” Arianna nodded, and Turner sighed.

“That’s what phones are for,” he replied,
picking up one of her shoes.

“I suppose,” she thought, grabbing the
second shoe on the bed. “I didn’t think of that. It just comes
natural to hear everything.”

“How much blood did you use up?” he asked,
knowing she couldn’t answer.

“I’m fine,” she replied, trying to move her
legs over the side of the bed to stand. Arianna stared as her legs
did not move.

Turner instinctively picked her up and
placed her on his lap. “You need to feed.”

“But,” Arianna complained, but it would make
no difference. Turner and Devin knew more about her new body than
she did.

Arianna complied and bit down gently on
Turner’s neck. By taking only a little blood, she was able to move
again. She hurried to get dressed, and make it outside to the
waiting car before Devin could yell at her for being late. As the
door opened to the tinted-window car, Arianna smiled, moving to sit
beside her uncle.

“You were listening to your grandfather?” he
asked. Arianna nodded, ready to be scolded again. “That’s a pretty
good range,” he added with a smile, as Devin and Turner sat in the
front of the vehicle. Gabriel lifted her chin and looked into her
eyes. “You need to feed more,” he said quietly. “Take as much as
you need,” he said setting his own wrist on her lap. “I can always
get more blood. I’m not picky.”

Devin grunted up front to cover his
laugh.

As predicted by Devin, they were late.
Walking into the empty hallways, Arianna smiled. She really was
home. Though she disagreed with all the strict rules of her private
school, it was still home.

“Your lessons will be in the auditorium,”
Devin said, directing Arianna across the empty school common
room.

“Don’t I need to tell them I’m here?”
Arianna asked as they walked past the front office windows. No one
rose to stop them or ask for a late note.

“No,” Molina replied. “Your tutor is
waiting.”

Arianna opened the large doors and stood in
shock in the doorway. “Mr. Wallace?” she asked.

Mr. Wallace, one of the youngest teachers in
the school, sat on the stage dressed in his normal plaid sweater
vest and wire-rimmed glasses. When he noticed Arianna, he quickly
stood up and hopped off the stage.

“Hello, Miss Arianna,” he replied with a
slight bow. “And Turner.”

Arianna turned around and stared at Turner.
“You know him, too?” she asked both men. Arianna turned back to Mr.
Wallace. She could faintly smell the scent of dearg-dul blood.
“You’re a dearg-dul?” she asked. Arianna hadn’t returned to school
since she had changed. Closing her eyes, she looked around the
school. Mr. Wallace wasn’t the only night human. “And there’s
more?”

“I’m glad you have at least figured out how
to tell people apart,” Mr. Wallace commented. “So, should we begin
today’s lesson?”

For two hours, Arianna sat in the dimly-lit
auditorium with Mr. Wallace and Turner. Carefully they explained
how to tell how powerful a night human was. Arianna found all their
lengthy explanations useless, as she still couldn’t understand. As
her lesson was finishing, Mr. Wallace made one last attempt.

“Why don’t we make this very simple? Let’s
just compare Turner and I,” he explained. “You already know which
one of us is more powerful, but is there any other way you can tell
the difference? They don’t have to be the same ways we see things.
I’m beginning to see you have your own way of doing what the rest
of us do.”

Arianna stared at Turner,
seated on her right, and Mr. Wallace, on her left. There were many
differences she knew immediately: dearg-dul or wolf, younger or
older, brown hair or blond, glasses or no glasses. Arianna closed
her eyes. They were not trying to have her find an outward
difference, but rather, some sort of internal difference.
Who is more powerful?
Arianna continued to keep her eyes closed as she thought.
Dearg-dul and lycan were different based on the scent of the blood.
Arianna concentrated harder and compared the blood.

The ringing bell easily brought her back to
reality.

“Well, we will continue this tomorrow,” Mr.
Wallace added.

“But don’t I have another lesson this
afternoon?” she asked.

“Not with me. I was told you have a second
tutor coming after lunch,” Mr. Wallace replied.

As Arianna followed Turner back down the
auditorium rows, she stopped and turned around, searching for a
very soft sound she heard near the stage door. Glancing around the
room one last time before leaving, she couldn’t find the person she
thought she just heard enter. All the doors were shut, but Arianna
was sure of what she heard.

Outside the auditorium, the commons room was
beginning to fill with students heading to lunch. Arianna hurried
over to her two best friends. Standing beside Tish, Arianna sighed.
It was good to be home. Tish reached up and hugged her friend,
sighing herself at finally getting the third wheel back to their
trio.

“I thought your aunt was finally going
delusional. Well, what is the scoop?” Mary Ellen asked. “Your aunt
said you weren’t returning, and then calls us not even a week later
to say you are home and coming back to school today.” They had
already been called earlier in the morning by Lilly explaining that
she was back. Mary Ellen reached up and pulled Arianna beside her
in a hug. All three girls hugged and giggled to finally be back
together.

“Devin talked to my grandfather and arranged
for me to come back here three days a week, and spend four days a
week with him,” Arianna replied.

“You look beat,” Tish replied, patting her
friend’s head. “You need a nap.”

“We flew in this morning,”
Arianna sighed.
And I drank too much
blood
, she wanted to add.

“Are you going to tell us all about those
two cute boys with you?” Mary Ellen pointed to Devin and Turner,
who were sitting on the edge of the room, glancing over the
students filling the room.

Arianna yawned and nodded. “Where should I
start?” she asked, laying her head on the table.

“Are they available?” Tish asked, smiling
and waving to Turner as he approached.

“Ari?” Turner asked quietly. “You should get
some sleep before your next lesson,” he suggested. Tish and Mary
Ellen stared at Turner, who was bent over Arianna whispering
closely into her ear.

“But I want to stay here with my friends,”
Arianna complained. “It’s been weeks since I’ve seen them.”

“Ari,” Devin whispered, and she nodded as
she stood. Unfortunately, Devin was always right.

“You guys have to come back with me after
school. Maybe then I can answer your questions,” she said, as she
was dragged away by Turner, down the hallway to the choir and band
rooms. Tish and Mary Ellen just winked and smiled at Arianna, who
began to blush at their reactions.

“But why the music room?” Arianna asked, as
Devin opened the door for her.

Arianna peered in the room. She hadn’t taken
any music classes, and had never actually entered either the choir
or band rooms before. In the corner of the room, four boys sat
quietly talking. Scowls crossed their faces at the sight of Devin,
who didn’t seem to care or notice. As soon as Arianna followed
behind him, their faces changed from anger to curiosity. Arianna
hurried to follow Devin, turning past the director’s office and
into a dim hallway.

“Soundproof rooms,” Devin explained, opening
the door to a practice room and pushing Arianna and her newly
appointed keeper inside the room. It was safer for him to keep
watch with his experience around baku being greater than Turner’s
experience. “Of course they won’t be soundproof to you, but it
should help some. I’ll be outside the main doors. You should be
safe here. Molina and I will stand guard outside the rooms. I don’t
exactly trust all the students here. Get some rest. You’re
tired.”

Turner softly closed his eyes and lowered
his heart rate. In the choir room outside, the four boys that they
had passed were still sitting and waiting. One was a purebred baku,
and the other three his guards. Turner kept the information to
himself as he didn’t want Arianna to be unable to get some rest.
His heartbeat slowed until it was near the rate of a sleeping
person. Turner had only been successful twice before in being able
to fool people into believing he was asleep, but Arianna didn’t
need to be fooled, just comforted. Arianna relaxed and was
instantly asleep. Turner tried to relax along with her but was
intent on listening to the choir boys.

With a slight creak, the door to the
practice room opened. Turner kept his eyes closed and relaxed as
the person neared. Turner could barely hear the boy move. Suddenly,
Turner reached in front of his own face. The air had been
broken.

Covering Arianna’s ear to keep her asleep,
Turner held her in his arms as he glared at the student standing,
leaning against the wall, just out of Turners grasp.

“What do you want?” Turner whispered. “Isn’t
it taboo to feed on a sleeping baku?”

“Oh, you know your lessons. Glad they still
teach about my kind in your private schools,” he replied. “I only
want the same as you, to touch and hold such a beautiful creature.
She’s absolutely magnificent.”

“Arianna isn’t a creature- she’s a person,”
Turner replied. “And she’s not for you to touch.”

“You’re pretty good,” the boy said, moving
from one side of the small room to the other in the blink of an
eye. “So calm. I suppose one little yell, and her guard will come
running. The question is, do you think you could get a yell out
before I get you?” the young man taunted Turner.

“If all you wanted to do was mock me, save
it for later. Arianna needs to get some sleep.” Turner closed his
eyes again, ignoring the boy standing in the room. The school was
neutral grounds. The baku wouldn’t start anything here.

“Do you feel it?” he asked. “Even at your
level?”

Turner opened one eye and looked at the
student. Although the boy’s dark, curly hair flopped over his face,
Turner could see the expression of awe across it.

“She’s truly amazing. I didn’t know that
after she became a dearg-dul that her power would increase so much.
I wonder what will happen when she becomes baku?” The boy moved
closer and squatted in front of Arianna, who was still sleeping. He
was now close enough for Turner to touch, but Turner ignored him.
Turner kept his arm around Arianna. The boy wasn’t going to harm
her. “We have all been anxious to meet her.”

“Well, your kind and our kind don’t mix too
well, so I hope you won’t be disappointed,” Turner replied.

“You think you can keep her to yourself?”
the boy asked, instantly bouncing back to the door. He moved as
silently as Gabriel. “You know, I also do a little dearg-dul
studies on the side. Doesn’t the blue-eyed legend state she must
have five companions: each a different race?” Turner tried to not
pay attention him, but it was true. “Oh, so you do know. Someday,
whether you like it or not, she will choose someone of my race to
stay beside her. And even worse, she’ll have to choose a tengu
also. Can you handle that, wolf? Your sworn enemy as a friend to
your precious savior? She doing to him what you wish she’d do to
you?” Turner couldn’t stop the anger starting to rise in him.

Arianna’s finger’s slightly tickled Turner,
subsiding his anger. Yawning, she opened her eyes. “Is nap time
over?” she asked Turner, ignoring the boy standing in the corner.
Turner looked at his watch.