Becoming a Legend (17 page)

“
Then we need to plant someone as a mole,” a third voice argued.

“I’m
already on that,” Seeger replied. “My son is coming next week to stay here at the manor. I’m going to get him a job close to the brat and make sure she falls for him.” Arianna pulled in the anger she was trying to contain for Seeger. First, he killed her grandfather and got away with it, and now, he was calling her a brat. No one liked her being in power even though Devin did the majority of the work. It was the symbol of her that they disliked. None of the men liked coming in second to a teenage girl who was more than twice as powerful as the next in line. They couldn’t even challenge her.

“
Can he actually do that? She’s pretty attached to the Winter boy and Randolph’s dog,” the first voice added.

“
Don’t worry about Michael,” Seeger replied. “The boy won’t even know what hit him. He already thinks she’s his soul mate. He’s so easily fooled. All I had to do was feed him some lies about her. He will want to confirm what I say, but then he will do anything to win her over.”

“
Maybe you should have him come early if Turner and Devin are gone this week,” the second voice suggested.

“We have some work to do first, but he will be here soon
,” Seeger replied as all the men finally stood to leave the room. One man paused next to him as the rest exited.

“
Do you think, once he gets her to fall for him, he will still be loyal to us? He already wants to marry her. That’s problem enough. What if the other clans come for her before Michael can act?”

“
My son is my son. He knows what comes first,” Seeger laughed.

“
And he will be able to kill her?” the voice asked Seeger. Arianna tried to remember which man was talking, as she knew Devin would ask, but she could not.

“
Of course,” Seeger replied. “She will be weakened from the poison, and he knows who’s in charge. Since she won’t marry, we need to get rid of her before we lose the clan to an outsider.”

Arianna relayed everything back to Devin, Turner
, and Thomas. Slowly she stood and listened for more, but no one continued to talk. She stretched and yawned. Unfortunately, it was true that she wasn’t feeling well. Turner wrapped an arm around her and ushered her to her room. His strength was just what she needed after finding out Seeger wasn’t planning to stop just with her grandfather’s death. She was next on his list.

“
We need you to stay awake,” Turner said quietly. Arianna’s head snapped up, and she looked to ask why, but kept silent. Devin had fed her what to say to the men word-for-word, but hadn’t explained anything. She didn’t know what they were doing from then on, and didn’t get a chance to ask.

As they entered her apartment, Molina began setting up equipment around the room. They ushered Arianna into the dining room and continued to set
up various sound muffling machines. Molina whizzed about and her purple spikes of hair bobbing about kept Arianna’s interest even though her tiredness was setting in. Molina was in a hurry, but she stopped to smile at Arianna with all the concern of an older sister. Fortunately, Molina had been a part of her team for the past year as Arianna was otherwise surrounded by male guards and keepers. While Molina was tough as nails, she was also a girl. The only girl Arianna could go to for any advice or just for girl time when the testosterone got to be too much for her to handle. Arianna and Molina had a special bond being female in a male world.

“
That should be good,” Molina added for the men in the room as Arianna saw she was already done.

“Do you feel okay?” Molina asked quietly.

“Umm, sure.” Arianna sat back and closed her eyes.

“Sorry,” Molina added even more quietly, and Arianna didn’t know if she actually heard it or not.

“Nelson, go check with Mori that we’re safe to talk.” Molina was always in charge but even she had a soft spot for Arianna. Molina sat beside Arianna and felt her head for a fever.

“
Safe?” Arianna tried to suppress a yawn. Nelson returned to the room and nodded. Arianna closed her eyes and laid her head on the table. It was surprisingly comfortable.

“
Ari.” Turner nudged her face gently. “Ari, please stay awake. Don’t make me pinch you.” Arianna smiled but didn’t raise her head.

“
We need to talk now, and don’t have much time,” Devin added. Arianna still didn’t move. She was too tired. “Ari, please open your eyes,” Devin pleaded. He reached over and stroked her hand. Momentarily, she felt the zing and tingle that she typically felt only with Andrew. It zapped her upright and she looked over to him. Devin was already across the room, standing by Patrick, waiting for something.

“As you thought, s
he has more than triple the amount of any of us. Not only was she breathing it in for weeks like we were, but feeding on you guys gave her even more toxin,” Molina explained, holding Mori’s report.

“
My father just landed on the roof,” Patrick added to Devin. Arianna peered over at him, but he didn’t meet her gaze. They were again making plans without consulting Arianna. She rubbed her eyes and then decided to just rest her head again. They weren’t talking to her anyway.

Arianna could
, for once, sense something from Devin, and it was worry. She opened her eyes and stared at him. Worry was etched all over his face. It wasn’t like Devin to be worried.

“
What?” she asked groggily, trying to stay awake. “What toxin, and what’s going on?”

“
Someone has been poisoning us here. I’d give you two guesses, but I think you only need one.” Devin kneeled before her. He took her hand and held it on his chest. She felt everything inside him. He was concerned and didn’t want to worry her. He was also determined to get her better.

“
I’m so tired. Is that from the toxin or because I’m hungry?” Arianna temporarily forgot that she fed already today. Arianna reached over and pulled him to the seat next to her.

“
Both. And we can’t feed you. Mori thinks even our supply of fresh blood has been tampered with. Andrew didn’t come back with us because we didn’t want to expose him to the toxin. We are all poisoned right now.” Arianna felt the yearning in Devin. His thoughts barely peeked through his normally blocked mind. Arianna used the last bit of her energy to pull herself over onto his lap. Devin relaxed a little. He nodded to Molina who took her arm and began to draw a tube of blood. Arianna didn’t even refuse like she normally would have. There was little fight left in her.

“
Turner and I are leaving to go to Tricity and will stay there until the toxin leaves our blood. Thomas and Molina are going to stay here and will need to detox later. Thomas is the least affected by the poison, so he was the best choice. And you will be going to your summer home.”

Arianna
’s eyes shot open. She had only been without Devin once since she had changed into a night human, and she remembered the dread of being without him. Yes, he could drive her nuts and was closed off most of the time, but Devin knew better than anyone how to take care of her. Could she really do the night human thing without him? She clung as tight as she could to him.

“
But,” Arianna complained. Devin gently placed a finger on her mouth to silence her. She felt his disappointment at being away from her, too. “No, I can’t be without you,” she replied, after his finger moved. Tears began to catch in the corners of her eyes. “I can’t.” Arianna normally wouldn’t cry in front of so many people, but the threat of Devin being taken from her made the tears unstoppable.

“
Ari, the only way we can keep you safe is to stay away. Gabriel is on the roof. He will take you to Andrew,” Devin wiped the tear away. “Andrew will take care of you. I promise, you’ll be fine.”

“
You trust him that much?” Arianna asked, wondering now what had occurred while she slept at Gabriel’s house.

“
With your life? Completely,” Devin replied. “He will never harm you.”

FIFTEEN

Arianna felt weightless in Gabriel’s arms as he jumped from the roof of the Randolph estate. While her body had completely shut down again, her mind hadn’t. She sensed her connection break from Devin as they pulled further away from him, and couldn’t help the tears that came. Gabriel continued on through the city, carrying her tucked tightly against him. He moved as quickly as Andrew, but with more elegance that came from years of practice. With Gabriel’s masking, no one knew she had left the estate. She listened for alarms or any other indication, but there were none. Gabriel stole her from her house, and no one knew the difference. She knew that was partly due to the vial of blood left behind with Thomas and Molina, but it was still scary. Arianna had been taken once before, but at least this time, she was partially willing to leave with her abductor. Gabriel would never hurt her.

Gabriel slowed as he carried her onto a train. Arianna
heard the sounds, and sensed the smells, but couldn’t muster the energy to open her eyes. No one stopped the large man as he walked on. He was good at avoiding people, and those who crossed his path were normally terrified and wouldn’t say a word against him. Gabriel touched her forehead and whispered. Arianna’s world and consciousness began to dim. He had known all along she was still awake, and now put her to sleep. Arianna couldn’t decide whether she was willing or not, but she didn’t really have much of a choice as her mind shut off.

Some time later
Arianna woke to dim light filtering through the curtains. It took a moment to realize she wasn’t in her normal bed. The smells were all wrong, except for one. Outside her room, Andrew was waiting. He didn’t move as her eyes adjusted from sleep, and she looked around the room. The room was white, sterile, and unlived in, but it was her home by ownership. She’d been to this place only once; yet, she knew where she was. She owned over a dozen homes now and only had lived in two in the past year. Andrew waited, ever so patiently. Arianna slowly sat up and felt the dizziness that always followed after being put to sleep by a baku. Normally, she would recover through her sleep, but in her weakened state, she had not. Andrew was instantly next to her, lowering her head back to her pillow.

“
Don’t try to move yet,” Andrew said quietly as he laid her back down like she would break at any sudden movements. “Gabriel said he put you to sleep. You might feel a bit light-headed for a little while. Most of your senses are that of a day human right now.” Arianna felt the worry pour off him. “You don’t look too good.” Andrew felt her hands first, and decided they didn’t feel right; so he pressed his fingers to her forehead next.

“
I’m fine,” she said, her voice croaking as she spoke. She knew that she shouldn’t worry so much for him, but she couldn’t help it. She reached up and touched his face to reassure him and take away a bit of his anxiety. He smiled meekly and nodded, still not letting go of her. He held her gently in his arms. It was betraying Devin to find comfort in his arms, but everything about Andrew felt right, as if the space she was resting in was made just for her. “I just need a moment to recover. I’ve been a little sick you know,” she teased, but it didn’t ease his worry. “How long this time?” The stronger her voice got, the less he fretted.

“
Three days,” Andrew replied, gently stroking her face. Arianna couldn’t force herself to stray away from his touch. It was addictive. Arianna was conflicted, but too weak to do anything about it, or even consider why everything felt just right with Andrew and Devin. “Devin should have never let you back in that house if he thought that they were poisoning you.” Anger radiated from Andrew. Andrew was the complete opposite of Devin. Where Devin had a controlled atmosphere everywhere he went, Andrew’s emotions showed through as if he were made of glass.

“
Devin didn’t know for sure. He thought I’d be safe spending my time in my room. He didn’t know it was in my room too. How they got to my room is going to be a problem, but I’m here now. Time for recovery.” Andrew reluctantly nodded and helped her sit up slowly. The dizziness was fading. Andrew took her hand and placed it on his chest, which was bare as it always was when he spent time between his day and night human forms. The connection kept them both concentrating, and ignoring the strain of sitting up for Arianna. Touching Andrew felt natural, right, even if she was betraying Devin.