Winning the Legend (16 page)

“Just you and me alone,” Rhys demanded, like
the king he was.

“I don’t think so,” Devin replied from the
doorway. “First you attack Gabriel, and then want to be alone with
Arianna?” Turner stood side by side with Devin, echoing his
hostility.

“Then I won’t give her my blood, and Nessa
won’t be allowed to, either,” Rhys replied, as if it didn’t matter
to him either way. It did matter to him, but Andrew wasn’t about to
get between Devin and his prey. Devin could be as deadly as any
night human.

‘Devin, we need his blood
to complete everything,’
Arianna turned
her back to Rhys to look over at Devin as she spoke to him in their
minds.

‘Not that badly. We can
wait and get it from Nessa. She’s more than willing,’
Devin replied, still only watching
Rhys.

‘Nessa cannot go against a
direct order from her brother,’
Arianna
quickly relayed what Nessa was telling her mentally.
‘He is a king, and they must all obey
him.’

‘She already went against
the law of the sidhe.’
Devin glanced to
Nessa. She was looking only at her brother while conversing with
Arianna. Rhys wouldn’t expect her in the least to side with
Arianna. Sidhe tended to be a very loyal clan in general.
Insubordination was not expected. That was why Devin didn’t trust
the sidhe girl. She was actually a pro at deception.

‘She says this is
different,’
Arianna replied again.
‘
She said she can break the law, since
it’s written by the council, but she cannot break her pledge to
follow her brother’s word.’

‘So be it, then we don’t
use his blood,’
Devin glared at Rhys, who
was now sitting across the room pretending like he didn’t know the
conversation that was going on was about him.

‘Remember what Mori
said,’
Arianna pleaded. She needed Rhys’
blood to complete the transformation.
‘He
said I’m almost stabilized. Almost. I need the blood from everyone
to not become that monster you fear.’

Devin sucked in a breath as her words hit
him. She used the one argument he couldn’t go against. He did fear
her becoming a monster. Not because he feared it would happen, or
who she would be, but because it meant he would have failed her. He
couldn’t be the man she wanted. He couldn’t prevent the competition
that was now going on. All he could do now was protect her from
herself. In his hesitation, she had won. Andrew also saw it.

“But I’m not leaving,” Andrew replied. Rhys
moved to object at the same time as Arianna. “As her mate, I get a
say in this. And I am staying.”

‘Andrew,’
Arianna began to protest, feeling like she was
losing her chance to finally get her night human powers under
control.

‘Wait for it,’
Andrew replied, without taking his eyes from
Rhys.

Rhys wanted to push harder to get everyone
out the room, but Andrew was right. In sidhe tradition, especially,
Andrew had a claim. He couldn’t deny her mate. Rhys waited a few
more tense minutes. “Fine, the baku mate can stay.”

‘How’d you know?’
Arianna asked Andrew, as she turned back to stare
at Rhys.

Andrew didn’t reply. Devin looked to Andrew
and nodded, again doing their male-bonding by silent talk. Devin
turned and helped Turner escort Gabriel out of the room, who was
still a bit dizzy. Arianna wondered if the blade was poisoned, but
she would have to wait to help him later.

“I may be leaving the room, but don’t think
I am going far,” Devin threatened Rhys.

“Nessa, you too,” Rhys ordered his sister.
She looked as if she wanted to object too, but she could not.

Nessa walked behind Devin and left the room.
Andrew walked across the room and sat on one of the couches while
still glaring at Rhys. Arianna followed tentatively behind Andrew.
Andrew wasn’t happy, and the hate leaked out him. She moved next to
Andrew and stepped only as far away as their bond would let her
without breaking it. Any further and Andrew might snap. He didn’t
do well controlling his anger while in touch with Arianna; he would
not last a minute with the connection broken.

Rhys stood and walked cautiously toward
Arianna. He stopped before her and kneeled. As a sidhe, he had
never allowed someone to take his blood. They were above normal
night humans. It was wrong to allow another night human to bite
them, but a day human giving blood willingly was fine. Rhys had
never imagined a moment when he would willingly give his blood
away, but now he was kneeling at Arianna’s feet. There was
something different about this girl. He would be willing to give
her anything as long as she would be his alone. Rhys cocked his
neck to the side, exposing the veins running down it.

Arianna looked back to Andrew. It was way
too personal to take blood from someone’s neck, and they both knew
it. Andrew was barely containing his rage. Arianna reached down and
took Rhys’ arm instead. There was no way she was drinking from his
neck. Rhys watched, questioning her with his eyes.

“May I?” She indicated to the vein throbbing
in his wrist.

Rhys tried to hide his disappointment.
“Yes,” he whispered in anticipation as her mouth neared his
wrist.

Arianna bit down and drank his blood
quickly. Every moment her mouth was on Rhys’ wrist, Andrew became
increasingly more hostile. Arianna closed the puncture wounds and
jumped back to keep Andrew from rushing over to attack Rhys. Andrew
didn’t like the situation one bit and wouldn’t have lasted much
longer if she hadn’t stopped. Rhys remained kneeling on the ground
with a grin on his face. The sensation of her drinking his blood
had been actually pleasant.

“Um, thanks,” Arianna said, breaking Rhys
out of his thoughts and back to reality. Rhys jumped up and walked
over to her.

“No, thank you,” he said, leaning down and
kissing her on the forehead before either Andrew or Arianna
reacted. Andrew jumped out from behind Arianna and his hands
reached for Rhys’ throat. Arianna hastily intercepted him and
pushed him back. She couldn’t let Andrew kill Rhys.

‘Not now,’
Arianna pleaded silently. She received no
enjoyment from drinking any of the men’s blood, but it was
necessary to do at this point.

Andrew glared at the sidhe king. His anger
was still boiling, so Arianna stroked his face to get his
attention. Andrew turned his stare to her. She was using her baku
senses to calm him, as he often did for her.

“We are finished here.” She nodded over to
Rhys before taking Andrew’s hand and pushing him to the door. Her
guards were all waiting for them in the hall.

‘I’m not finished with
him,’
Andrew replied, following her, ready
to turn back at any moment if Rhys put up a fight to keep her there
longer.

“Princess,” Rhys said, enjoying the scene he
was creating. Andrew was bothered by the fact that it meant more to
Rhys than Arianna knew. It meant that Andrew could feel what he
felt, even if Arianna didn’t.

“What now?” Arianna asked, watching Nessa
return to the room to stand beside her brother.

“You should ask Nessa what else the legend
states,” Rhys cryptically replied, grinning from ear to ear.

‘Nessa?’
Arianna didn’t like how Rhys sounded, and was
sure it wasn’t something Andrew would want to hear.

‘By drinking the blood of
the clans, you now will be bound to them all. You no longer have to
have Andrew as your mate. If you choose, you can feel the way you
do about him with each person you drank the blood from.’
Ness shyly looked out the window rather than meet
Arianna’s eyes. Nessa had been afraid that if she told Arianna this
the first time, Arianna would never consent to becoming the person
she had been waiting for.

‘As in… I can now bind to
you?’
Arianna asked, confused.

‘Or my brother,’
Nessa replied. Arianna didn’t need to look at
Rhys to see him smiling. Now it made sense. It explained what
Andrew started feeling once she took Rhys’ blood. Arianna continued
to pull Andrew away.

Chapter 18

That day Arianna didn’t get much sleep. Too
much was floating around in her mind. Andrew lay napping beside
her. Arianna waited until she was certain that he was completely
out before getting up and leaving the room to sit outside for most
of the sunlight hours. All of the other night humans were sleeping
at this time, so she was blissfully alone.

Rhys had gotten to her with his sisters
revelation. Could it be true that she might feel for someone else
the way she felt for Andrew? What she felt for Andrew was real, yet
part of her wondered about the bond. Was that what made everything
so much more intense? Would she feel the same without it? Was it
the bond, or was it love that Arianna felt with Andrew? She wanted
it to be love, but what if Rhys was right? What would happen if she
experienced that with every man she drank from yesterday? They were
all horrible men and she didn’t want to feel that way. Even more
so, she didn’t want what she felt with Andrew to be just the
bond.

After spending most of the day outside,
Arianna returned to bed with only two hours to go before everyone
else would be up, ready to watch the preliminary matches.
Everything was well planned, but at this point Arianna didn’t even
want to see the men competing for her. She had enough thoughts
darting around her head without having to possibly deal with
feelings for people she already hated.

The men were fed and wandering around the
practice room by the time she arrived. Each one looked up and
stared at her as she entered. By taking their blood the night
before, the changes inside her that transformed her into a new
night human grew, but now she also noticed the changes in the men.
They were no longer looking at her like she was a prize to hold on
to and control, but as a prize each and every one of them wanted to
win and make theirs. Arianna shuddered at the thought.

“We will do a preliminary match today before
taking another week-long break,” Arianna explained. Thomas had
already set up the practice room accordingly. “It’s really simple.
You’ll be paired up randomly by drawing a name out of a basket.
Everyone gets to participate. From these fights you’ll get the last
points to make it into the competition next week.” All the men
readily agreed to anything Arianna said.

“Rules are simple. Two competitors in this
circle. First one pushed out, or knocked out, loses. Two minute
time limit. Time starts when second competitor enters the ring. Any
questions?” Arianna asked, looking from face to face.

“Are we allowed to draw blood?” Nik asked.
Even behind his usual smug, annoying mask of arrogance, Arianna
felt his longing toward her. Things had certainly changed. It made
her want to gag. Nik was still Nik, no matter his change in
emotions.

“No,” Arianna replied, looking away and
trying to ignore the feelings he was sending her way. “Clean hits
only. Any blood draw disqualifies you, and you will receive no
points.”

Arianna took a seat with her back to the
one-way mirror to watch the fights. She was behind the competitors
but in front of the retainers behind the glass. All of the
retainers watched her. Even they had felt a change in their charges
this morning. By being behind the competitors, she only had to bear
a few backward glances. Andrew and Thomas were both close behind,
flanking her on both sides, but they were not enough to deter the
men from being curious. Even her people could sense the change in
the men. Only Arianna knew why the competitors had a change of
heart, and she wasn’t about to share that with Andrew, who would
probably blow up.

“Jan Larsen, you may pick first.” Arianna
held up a basket with names in it. Jan stepped up and reached in
without breaking eye contact with Arianna. He stared at her as if
he was trying to figure out the puzzle of his new emotions. Andrew
didn’t respond with anger, as he saw the questions in the man’s
eyes. Jan was truly confused.

“Ken Wilson,” Jan replied, finally breaking
eye contact and stepping away from Arianna.

Ken stepped into the ring with Jan, and
smiled meekly at Arianna. The tengu didn’t stand a chance against
the giant. Jan smiled as his opponent shrank in his shoes standing
before him. Larsen grew in size, and kept the growth within the
ring. He barely left any room for Ken who looked over to Arianna
for her approval before stepping out of the ring before the large
man could touch him.

‘Sorry Ari,’
Ken apologized. Arianna had already told him not
to fight if he were matched with someone that could accidentally
hurt his healing wings.

‘Ken, it’s not your fault.
Luck of the draw,’
Arianna replied. She
didn’t want to have to attach his wings again and certainly not in
front of all these men. They would just see it as one more
advantage to winning her. Jan shrunk back down and returned to the
line of competitors, happy with his easy victory.

“Nate Childs,” Arianna called the name of
the first eliminated competitor. He was more than overly ecstatic
to be entering the competition now. His smile grew until it
crinkled the corners of his eyes. Nate was another young
competitor, and still had some baby fat in his face. Arianna held
the basket out for him.

“Manuel Vasquez,” Nate read the name and
sounded disappointed at his draw. His confidence was slowly fading.
Both eliminated competitors knew that this was the one and only
chance they would have to earn any points to get back into the
competition.