Becoming a Legend (20 page)

“How come
they always bug me about the keepers each time we meet? How does that fit into his plan?” Arianna wondered.

“
To wear you down to being open for the whole marriage proposal. If you complete the legend, it will give you power, not him.” Gabriel laughed to know she was going against what Seeger wanted by actually doing what he asked.

“Marriage,” Arianna said the word with a bit of disgust. “
Yeah, I’m not very open to marriage at this point. Forever is a very long time.” Arianna felt Andrew nearing with Devin and Turner close behind. Forever was a very long time, but somehow she felt it would not be enough time when it came to Andrew and Devin.

“
But you will need to be soon,” Gabriel sighed. “Sooner than you will ever want to be. Night humans typically marry young. There’s no guarantee how long you’ll live. I’m ancient, and so was your grandfather, but your mother and father were not that young to die. Unfortunately, that’s how our life is. And besides, everyone will want you to produce an heir soon.”

“
Are you kidding me? I’m only seventeen,” she squeaked before sighing. Kids were definitely not on her mind. She didn’t want to have a family for years, if ever. Even just the thought was horrifying. Arianna was beginning to see that no one cared that she was only seventeen. She wasn’t an adolescent in this world. Here she was grown up already.

Turner burst through the door first
, running over to her to catch her and throw her in the air. Turner’s night human strength was always present even in his day human form. To him, day human Arianna was as light as a doll. Arianna laughed for the first time in a week as he caught her. Turner was always full of energy and laughter, and it was just what Arianna needed. Devin and Andrew followed close behind. Turner continued to hug her before reluctantly setting her down. His feelings for her hadn’t changed, but he understood she wasn’t meant for him. In time, he hoped to find the right person for him too, but for now he would just relish the time he could hold onto her, even though her heart belonged to someone else.

“
You look so much better than the last time I saw you,” Turner said, brushing her messed-up hair off her face. “I didn’t know if we could save you this time.” Turner’s concern poured off him, and Arianna needed to hug him again to reassure him that everything was fine.

“
Aren’t I supposed to be doing the saving?” she teased back and hit his arm playfully. His serious smile turned into laughter as he pulled back, pretending to be hurt.

“
I think I win that point,” he added, running away before she could argue over whether he surprised her or not. Devin approached Gabriel and sat beside him. As usual, Devin didn’t openly hug her like Turner, but she felt the overwhelming relief from him as well.

“
Enjoying your break?” Gabriel asked Devin.

“
Break?” Arianna asked Gabriel, pushing into their conversation.

“
Yeah, a forced break. I had to pretend to not be doing anything, which can be hard. There will be so much more waiting at home when we finally get back,” Devin complained. He was both strained and relieved at the same time. “I couldn’t even bring anything with me in case someone could trace us that way. So yes, I’m on a break.”

“Can you start back up now since we’re connected to Mori?”
Arianna asked, sitting next to Devin so that he could also see that she was doing better. Even though he wouldn’t do anything to show his concern in front of other people, Devin was just as anxious as Turner. Her closeness seemed to help him a bit.

“
We want to keep all unnecessary communications with the manor to a minimum, to keep you hidden here until you feel better,” Devin explained. “Therefore, I’m not doing anything while we’re gone. Molina is still in your apartment with Thomas, and can contact us if needed. So far, she hasn’t needed to.” Arianna couldn’t tell if the relief was from not being needed, or seeing her up and around.

Gabriel stood and looked to Andrew.
“I’ll do the patrol now. Nice job getting them here. I couldn’t have done better myself.” Gabriel patted Andrew on the back as he left the cabin. Gabriel was relieved that Andrew finally showed his intentions with Arianna. It would be helpful for Gabriel to have such a capable baku protecting her when he couldn’t.

“
Make sure to teach her,” he called over his shoulder as the door shut behind him.

“
Teach me what?” Arianna asked. Since she was the only female in the room, Gabriel’s remark had to be about her.

“
How to look for lies,” Andrew replied.

SEVENTEEN

“Y
ou want me to be a human lie detector test?” Arianna asked incredulously after Andrew had outlined the processes to her. She would go inside the minds of people and look to see if they were lying about where they had been and what they were doing. She would become her own security camera, just with a bit of sneaking into someone’s mind.

“
Yes,” Andrew replied, trying to keep a respectful distance between himself and Arianna now that Devin was back. “We need to be sure you’re safe. Mori doesn’t have any leads on how those toxins got into your apartment, let alone your room. He has cameras everywhere and still doesn’t know.” Andrew waited for his statement to sink in. Arianna’s smile turned around, and she stared at him more. “It has to be an inside job.”

“
Everyone with access to my place is sworn to protect me before they can serve in the estate,” Arianna replied, shocked that Andrew was actually suggesting someone she knew well had turned against her.

“
Yes, and at that time they were fighting for you. We can’t be sure everyone is now. Loyalties change. Objectives change,” Andrew replied, looking to Devin for support. It was obvious that they were on the same page as Devin took over the argument.

“Ari. I know everyone loves you and is your friend, but we can’t be sure that they wouldn’t hurt you. The only people we can be certain of are your keepers. You would know if one of us betrayed you,” Devin replied.

“My keepers are Andrew, Turner, and you?” Arianna looked around the room. “Not including Thomas, though, as he’s not here. Do you suspect him?”

“All of your keepers are safe,” Devin replied. “Thomas needed to stay behind to be our eyes and ears at the manor. But even so, you need to check all of us to be sure yourself. So listen to Andrew, and learn how, please.”

“Why can’t Andrew just do it?” Arianna asked, still not understanding why she had to invade her trusting friends’ minds without them knowing. It seemed a bit wrong to do so with people who trusted her.

“
First off, they’re sworn to you. Therefore, you have permission to enter their minds. You may at any point ask us anything, and we have to answer. Second, Andrew doesn’t have your power to do it from afar,” Devin explained. Luckily, Turner wasn’t choosing sides on the argument and just sat next to Arianna supporting her as Devin and Andrew argued with her. Devin and Andrew waited for her to understand. A long stretch of silence continued as she thought. Finally she took a deep breath.

“
I can’t just invade their minds,” Arianna continued to complain. “It’s like an invasion of privacy or something. I don’t want people in my head, why would someone want me in theirs?”

“
Ari,” Turner finally stepped into the conversation. “Someone is making you sick. Someone has already broken your trust. We need to be sure who it is and who it isn’t, so that we don’t punish people who are innocent. Right now it’s coming down to someone who has access to your apartment. That leaves Gabriel, your keepers, and your guards. There’s no one else that can come and leave without permission. Even the maids need permission and are watched over.”

“
They are?” Arianna asked. She had never been around when someone cleaned her rooms. There was too much still in her world she didn’t know.

“
Yes, they are watched by me or someone else,” Devin replied. “We can’t risk your safety. Your grandfather trusted everyone employed in his house. See where that got him? We learned our lesson from that one, and we now trust no one but your guards and keepers.” Lord Randolph’s trust led to his death when someone poisoned his food a year ago.

“
Just give it a try,” Andrew tried to coax Arianna. He reached over and took her hand in his. Shivers tingled and rippled from where they made contact. Arianna tried not to show her surprise. After being alone with him for three days, she had begun to ignore it, thinking it was her mind playing tricks, but now with Devin and Turner back, it was Andrew alone that did that to her. “You don’t have to pry into their personal, deep, dark secrets. The one betraying you should have their thoughts on the surface. It won’t take much prodding.”

“
Promise?” Arianna asked, staring at Andrew. He nodded solemnly. Searching friend’s minds was not something she wanted to do.

“Then
how do I do this?” she asked, reluctantly giving up the idea that she really had a chance to change their minds.

“I’ll
show you with Devin, and then you can try with Turner,” Andrew explained. He reached over and pricked her finger with the tip of his sharp baku nail as he momentarily changed to his night human form and pressed it to Arianna’s hand.

‘
With a blood connection you can watch inside my mind easier as I do this,’
he explained.

“
Devin may we enter your mind?” Andrew asked.

“
Yes,” Devin replied.

‘
You need permission from anyone that’s not pledged to you,’
Andrew explained.
‘They aren’t pledged to me, so I need to ask. You don’t.’

‘
So Turner is an open book?’
Arianna asked, opening her eyes and looking at Turner next to her with his arm still on the couch behind her.

‘
To you yes, but me no. But all I have to do is ask.’
Andrew paused and looked over at Arianna. She seemed to be following him thus far.

“
I’d prefer none of that secret talk as you try to enter my mind,” Devin said, breaking into their private conversation. Andrew nodded, and Arianna was shocked by how everything was changed between Andrew and Devin. There was no hostility in Devin’s comment or Andrew’s reply. There was only a bit of shallowly-hidden jealousy behind tremendous amounts of respect both ways.

“
We will go into his mind. I’m sure we will find resistance, but since he’s given us permission, we’ll be able to enter without hurting him,” Andrew explained. Andrew could think of how he’d had the same lesson years ago. Lucan didn’t ever ask permission, and taught Andrew that it was unnecessary if you have the person trapped and can make a blood connection. The resulting procedure wasn’t harmful for the baku entering the mind but to the person whose mind it was, it was terrible.

“
It won’t hurt him at all?” Arianna asked in disbelief. Poking around in someone’s brain didn’t sound pleasant.

“
Probably not,” Andrew replied. He couldn’t be completely sure. “He does resist most everything else, so I hope not.” Devin didn’t seem to mind either way if it hurt or not.

“
And he gave us permission,” Arianna added hopefully.

“
Not quite willingly,” Andrew replied, looking over at Devin.

Devin was a closed book in Andrew’s mind. Devin had spent so many years training to contain his emotions that he could never really give anyone permission to enter based on that alone. While Devin did say yes, he could never really let go enough to mean it. Andrew turned back to Arianna to continue their lesson.

“First, clear your mind,” Andrew explained. Arianna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Andrew followed suit and shut his eyes to clear his own mind.

“
You’re not going to start humming now, are you?” Turner asked, trying to lighten the mood. “I might have to leave if you start humming. She’s a really bad singer, and I doubt her humming is any better.”

Andrew smiled slightly.
“I haven’t heard her sing yet. Maybe we should hum.” Arianna reached over and playfully punched Turner and then Andrew.