The Legend of the Blue Eyes (33 page)

“Child, child,” Randolph comforted the small
child as he hugged her. “You will never be alone. You have so many
people that care about you. And remember, Devin promised he would
watch over you some day when I am gone.” Arianna looked up to the
camera before smiling. Quickly, she jumped off her grandfather and
ran over to the camera. The camera shook as the person holding it
tried to dodge the child running after them.

“And that’s why I’m going to marry him,”
Arianna declared before the camera dropped to the ground. Feet
momentarily blocked the view as a young Devin ran from Arianna.
Lord Randolph slowly stood, and walked over to the camera while the
two children ran around the ballroom.

“You are special. You have the power to
change the world, and I am too old to stay around to see it happen.
Good luck my child. Your destiny awaits,” Lord Randolph said to the
camera. “And know that I love you, very much.” The computer screen
was momentarily black before the loop restarted at the beginning.
The same scene began again. Arianna watched the loop continuously
until there was a knock at the door. Devin let himself into the
room.

“They have all arrived,” Devin commented.
Arianna stared at the screen and nodded. “If you want to wait, we
can deal with this tomorrow,” he added. “I can tell them you’re too
tired.”

“It won’t change anything, will it?” Arianna
asked, finally looking up. “I’ll still have to deal with them?”
Devin nodded. “Then we deal with it now.” Arianna looked down one
last time at the child dancing with her grandfather. She smiled and
closed the laptop.

“I love you too,” she whispered in the
direction of the closed computer before accepting Devin’s
outstretched hand.

“We do this together, right?” she asked,
wavering slightly.

“Together,” Turner replied from behind
Devin, offering his hand also.

Arianna left the room, not looking back.
Destiny was waiting.

Coming
Soon
—Book 2:
Becoming a Legend
by B. Kristin
McMichael

Chapter 1

Arianna Grace stepped on the brake harder
than she expected, and the occupants of the car all jerked against
their seat belts. Arianna blushed as she put the car into park. She
had officially been driving with her driving permit for three
months now, but she still couldn’t step softly enough on the brakes
to keep everyone from lurching forward each time.

“Sorry about that,” she said with a giggle.
Thomas Collins scowled in the back seat, having been jerked from
the book he was studying. Thomas’ one year stint as Arianna’s
personal guard was coming to an end in less than two weeks, and he
was anxious to get on with his life. Part of getting on with life
included getting his grades back up so that he could get into a
good college.

“Stop apologizing,” Andrew Lucan said,
flipping his dark curls out of his face. “Everyone is a bit choppy
when just learning to drive. Arianna nodded, though not completely
reassured. Legally, Andrew was old enough, at eighteen, to be
teaching her how to drive, but he was really only a year older than
Arianna.

“So, do you have a date for your birthday
party at Gabriel’s yet?” Andrew asked as nonchalantly as he
could.

“No, are you asking?” Arianna teased.

“Only if you’d say yes,” he replied. Andrew
looked across the movie theater parking lot that they were now
sitting in. After concentrating for only a few seconds, Andrew
looked back to Arianna, who refused to look in the same
direction.

“You didn’t tell him you were out with me?”
Andrew asked.

“Um, no,” Arianna replied. Thomas’s head
snapped up from the back seat.

“Not again,” Thomas complained quietly to
himself.

“Ari, how is he ever going to trust me if
you keep running around behind his back to see me?” Andrew asked.
Technically there was no running involved, since they were driving,
but Arianna didn’t think it was appropriate to add that.

“He’s never going to trust
you,” Arianna wanted to elaborate as to the reason for that, but
she had promised Devin she wouldn’t. Arianna glanced over to Devin
Alexander. He looked perfectly relaxed, leaning against his car,
staring down the road they had been driving on. His sandy blond
hair drifted perfectly over his sky blue eyes. To the outside
world, he was just a teen waiting for someone, probably to meet up
with at the movie. A cool, collected teen standing around on a
brisk spring day in just a t-shirt and jeans
—
his normal attire. But Arianna knew otherwise. His arms
crossed his chest loosely, but his hands were pressed against his
biceps a little too tightly. His thoughtful, aloof look was
actually masking his worried, but angry, look. He seemed to be
leaning against the car, but he was actually very tense, and he was
ready to spring across the parking lot in an instant.

Andrew raised an eyebrow to question
Arianna, but chose to not vocalize his opinion. “So, you will be
back next week?” Andrew asked, avoiding the subject of Devin.

“Yep, as soon as I can get away from the
Randolph estate.”

“That will give you one more day to practice
before your test?”

“Yes, if you can help me just a bit more. I
really want to get my license before I turn seventeen, but two days
after will have to do,” Arianna complained. Everything that had
happened in the last year had made it impossible for her to find
any time to practice driving. She knew the theory well enough from
classes she had taken before she even turned sixteen, but
experience was a whole other area left untouched. She only saw her
guardians Dean and Lilly a few days a week, and they were always
busy with the diner they owned. The rest of the week, she was
living at her late grandfather’s estate, and there was no reason to
drive anywhere when there were chauffeurs to drive anything that
had more than two wheels.

“Yes, but you must promise me, next time you
will tell Devin,” Andrew nodded across the empty parking lot.

“Why? He doesn’t tell me where he’s going,
why should I tell him?” Arianna was always stuck between Devin and
Andrew. Neither really trusted the other.

“Ari,” Andrew sighed. “I need you to behave.
Devin will never trust me if you insist on sneaking around like
this.” Andrew was a night human, baku to be exact, and Devin was
not. Trust was hard to come by, being that a night human killed
Devin’s family when he was a kid.

“And what do you need his
trust for?” In the baku community, Andrew ranked just below Arianna
and her uncle Gabriel. Andrew didn’t reply, so Arianna changed the
subject. “The answer to your question is
yes
.” Andrew still didn’t reply, but
she could sense the happiness behind his scowl. “So, I’ll see you
next week?” Arianna asked awkwardly.

“Yes, same time, same place,” Andrew added.
He reached across the seat before she could open the door and
slightly touched her face. She was getting used to the surge of
emotion she felt at the touch of skin, but his was always stronger
than most. On her previous birthday, Arianna became a night human,
a very special night human. While night humans were classified into
four distinct races, Arianna was a mixture of two, and she was the
only one like that who existed. Arianna wanted to break eye
contact, but in doing so, he would just send even more emotions her
way. Arianna reached up and touched his hand. He smiled at the
emotions he read from her, knowing that his need of her was
reciprocated.

Arianna opened the door and stepped out of
the vehicle. She closed the door and turned to begin her trek
across the parking lot to the person waiting for her. Thomas
followed Arianna; he didn’t want to get between them when they
began to communicate with their eyes only. Devin remained casually
leaning against the car, now staring at Andrew as he drove
away.

“Next time, tell me before you change your
plans,” Devin said, opening the back door of the car for
Arianna.

“You are not my parent,” Arianna argued, not
getting into the car. Arianna’s parents were dead for crossing the
line between the races of night humans. One had been baku and the
other dearg-dul, Arianna was a mixture of both.

“How am I supposed to keep you safe if you
don’t listen to me?” Devin gripped the car’s door to keep from
moving forward.

“If you haven’t noticed by now, I can keep
myself safe,” Arianna complained. Devin stood, holding the door
open for her. Thomas waited behind, not moving until Arianna did.
Arianna sighed as she got no response from Devin and slid into the
seat.

“Can’t you just let me protect you?” Devin
asked, exasperated by his attempts to keep her safe. She ignored
him. Thomas slid into the seat beside Arianna.

“And what would you have said if I told you
I was going to go driving with Andrew?” Arianna asked, already
knowing his reply.

“Absolutely not. He isn’t safe, and we both
know that.” Devin started the engine. “Baku cannot be trusted, and
that family is especially unsafe.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Arianna
replied. “His uncle isn’t safe, but Andrew is. He would protect me
with his life if he needed to.” Devin sighed. They’d had the same
argument the week before, and possibly the week before that as
well. Arianna opened the door before Devin could move the car out
of park. “I’ve changed my mind. I don’t think I need a ride home
after all.” Arianna raced from the car, across the parking lot, to
the bus that was pulling up to the bus shelter. Thomas was close
behind, sans books.

Arianna climbed onto the bus, and found a
seat located at the back. Thomas stood hesitantly nearby, wondering
if he should sit beside her or not. Arianna smiled up at him.

“I won’t bite,” she said. This was her usual
comment when he wouldn’t come near her. Tengu were not very
trusting of dearg-dul, and since Arianna was part dearg-dul, he
always hesitated with her. “At least not without asking first.” She
grinned at him. Thomas sat beside her. He had watched her for a
year, and he knew that was true. He just could not stop the basic
instincts that every tengu had around dearg-duls.

“I wish he could see Andrew the way I do,”
Arianna added, staring off to the street as the sky began to dim
and street lights flickered on. Arianna felt both Devin and Andrew
turn back to follow the bus. Running away was never really an
option when she was the sun that everyone gravitated around.

“You know, he never will let you be alone
with him, so why do you keep pushing his buttons on the issue?”
Thomas asked. “I think Devin could be persuaded to let you be near
Andrew if you had more guards, and not just me. You could have had
someone else come with us.”

“They all kind of hate Andrew,” Arianna
replied.

“Turner seems to be able to control himself
around him,” Thomas added.

“Yeah, but the two of them in one car is way
too much tension for me.” Turner and Andrew had both made their
intentions for her affections obviously clear. “Have you ever been
crushed by love? And jealous love at that?” Thomas laughed. Arianna
smiled at the sound. Thomas was serious most of the time, and his
laugh was something Arianna never grew tired of.

“Then your stint as my protector is almost
done. One more week and you’re free. What’s next?” Arianna asked
trying to change the subject to calm herself down.

“Fixing my grades. I think I need to get
extra credit in every single class,” Thomas replied, pushing up his
wire-rimmed glasses to stare out the window with her.

“Sorry about that. I bet spending half the
week away didn’t help much this year,” Arianna replied.

“Nah, it was fun,” he added. “I just found
it was easier to slack since the dog was setting such a good
example for me.”

“You always blame Turner for
everything.”

“Well he’s almost always at
fault,” Thomas added. Arianna couldn’t disagree. Turner brought
trouble everywhere he went, and slacking off of school work was his
style. “Let me restate that
—
not almost. I
actually think he is at fault every single time I can remember.”
Arianna laughed. The war between Turner and Thomas was more
personal than just the difference in their night human forms. Lycan
and tengu never got along. It was why they each sided with the baku
and dearg-dul. Arianna figured the dislike came from the food
source. Baku and dearg-dul needed blood to survive and were thus in
constant competition for day humans, while tengu and lycan could
use blood, but preferred meat to survive, and so they were also
always in competition for food.

“And after high school?”

“It will be college. I’ve already been
accepted into three colleges, just not my favorite.”

“So, once you get away from this crazy life,
what will you do?” Arianna asked. Getting away wasn’t an option for
her. She was born into her life, and she couldn’t change her
destiny if she tried. Her grandfather was the head of a family of
dearg-dul, and she was the sole heir to it. The baku based their
leadership on strength, so she was the head of the clan simply by
being twice as powerful as the next baku in line. Thomas could hear
a slight hint of jealously in her question.

“Med school,” Thomas replied. Arianna turned
back, shocked to hear the answer. “What? I don’t seem like the
doctor type to you?”

“Not really,” Arianna replied. The bus
stopped at their stop, and Arianna led the way off. “More like the
mad scientist type.”

Turner was standing outside the diner that
was run by Arianna’s aunt and uncle. Arianna gestured to Thomas to
be quiet. She walked quietly behind Turner and jumped on his back.
Turner laughed as he caught her in mid-jump and twirled her upside
down. Arianna slid out of his grasp and twisted to land on her
feet. Turner swept her back up and locked her in his arms. It had
become a game to practice sneaking up on Turner. He had the best
senses of anyone else in her protection unit, and if she could beat
him, then she would be able to sneak up on anyone.