Becoming a Legend (34 page)

“
Mori thinks we have thirty minutes, tops, before he gets here,” Turner reported, looking around the table and then glancing between Devin and Arianna. Molina and Thomas joining them at the table was a good distraction for Turner. There were strong vibes coming from Arianna that everyone wanted to avoid.

“
And Gabriel?” Devin asked Andrew. Devin avoided Arianna’s sad and hateful glare also.

“
Said to wait for the brother to show up. Seems they now owe us, and Gabriel is going to use that to get Arianna to safety,” Andrew replied, wrapping his arms around Arianna to support her. She was light headed again. The poison still wasn’t completely out of her system, but she ignored the feeling.

“If they owe us, then he should keep his mouth shut,” Arianna spat out. She needed someone to vent her anger on. The Katsulas guy that they had saved wasn’t the real problem at the moment. He was just the catalyst.

“I wish it was that easy,” Thomas replied. Molina nodded. “You’re worth way more than a life in their eyes, and probably the eyes of everyone else.”

“Then that won’t work? Saving their child isn’t worth my freedom?” Arianna was shocked. Night humans valued their children so little.

“No, afraid not,” Turner answered this time. He had seen her struggle over the last year. Being raised by day humans made her who she was, but it also made her sensitive to the life of being a night human. She didn’t value power like everyone else; she valued life. It was the one trait he hoped would never change.

“W
e will implement plan three,” Devin replied. Everyone nodded their heads
yes,
but Arianna. She didn’t know plan one or two let alone three.

“
Do we get to question our guest first?” Thomas asked. Arianna’s head began to pound.

“We should just leave him here,” Turner replied.

“But he could have information we could use,” Molina added, siding with Thomas in the escalating argument.

“We don’t have time to mess around with it,” Devin answered his side on the argument. Voices were rising as they all disagreed and an argument broke out.

“Stop,” Arianna barely whispered. “Everyone just stop.” Arianna closed her eyes and leaned back into Andrew’s chest; he held her upright. The pounding continued, her vision was starting to blur and both were throwing off her thinking.

“
Ari?” Andrew asked softly as he stroked her face. “I can take you back to your room where you can rest. You still aren’t completely better.” Andrew hated to see her in pain. Her pain was his, and he felt it beating loud and clear.

“
No, that’s just it. I want to be better now,” Arianna complained. Arianna paused and caught her breath as they all quieted but continued to argue. “I want to be the legend.”

Everyone around the table stopped and
stared at her. While they thought she already was, until she drank the blood of the five keepers, she would not truly be the legend for everyone else. By becoming the legend, she would have to accept her fate. Only Devin seemed to understand wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

‘
Ari, you don’t need to be the legend to get better,’
Devin pleaded, trying to save her from the destiny she was choosing.

“
I have my lycan,” Arianna replied, ignoring Devin. Turner nodded. To him she was always allowed to make her own choice, no matter Devin’s judgment. “Along with my tengu, baku, and day human. All I need is my dearg-dul and there are currently several in the house. I have everyone I need. I just will use some blood from everyone, and then we can do this.” Arianna tried to fake a strength that wasn’t there.

“
Is it safe?” Andrew asked Thomas, who began typing on his laptop.

“
Mori got the lab to work out all the details months ago, but kept it to himself,” Thomas replied, reading the screen. “It should be safe, and it should work as long as we follow his guidelines. The blood needs to be pure from each kind.”

“Meaning?” Andrew asked. He wasn’t about to let Arianna take any risks, even to get better.

“All the keepers must not have any of their own.” Thomas continued to read. “So Nelson is out, but Seeger or Mica should be fine.”

“Seeger and Mica are not fine.
That would only work if she were able to take their blood. There’s no dearg-dul she can use, so this isn’t a point we need to talk about.” Devin knew all too well that Arianna had a problem drinking blood from random people. She refused after changing last year to the point of stopping her forced transformation just because she didn’t like the blood available. Arianna moved to protest but Devin continued, “Arianna, would you drink either of their blood?” Devin asked, already knowing the answer. Arianna gave it some thought as she searched the house. While Seeger did smell strongly attractive to her because his blood overflowing with love for her, something was off with it. It wasn’t true love but more a love of the creature she was. She wouldn’t be able to drink his blood. She knew the hidden ingredient that made blood right for her was love. She looked beside Seeger and found Mica guarding him. While Mica was nice and attractive, she never felt anything but friendship from her dearg-dul guard. It wasn’t love like the friendship with Thomas. Thomas was the love of a sibling. It was stronger than friendship like Mica. She wouldn’t be able to drink Mica’s blood either. Arianna sighed. She wanted, for once, to prove Devin wrong.

“
No, neither will work,” Arianna replied, defeated.

“Then
we need to just keep doing what we’re doing. We feed her from Andrew, and she will get better. It will take longer, but it will happen. Mori said the numbers are getting better,” Devin replied, closing the matter. Devin stood to indicate they were through.

“
Except they’re not,” Thomas added as he typed more. “They are slowly plateauing. She needs the five bloods to get better. We need another human blood in the five to make it work. It doesn’t have to be a dearg-dul. Could we use the Katsulas boy? He’s a different kind of night human. The legend never stated it must be the five she rules over.” Arianna shook her head no again. While his blood did smell a bit different, it wasn’t something she could drink. “Maybe you’ll change your mind when his brother gets here.” That was a possibility. Arianna felt the brother in the distance as he ran to their place. He felt different than his brother, and it was a possibility, but Arianna feared meeting him when she was not at full strength.

“
We can’t wait that long,” Arianna said. The older brother was on his way. His intentions were to come to get her, and not his brother. If she were too weak, it could cost her any of her guards or even her keepers, who were now the only family she had left. Mori said the Katsulas’ brother was just below Andrew in power, but not by much. Arianna needed strength now.

“
I can give my blood,” Molina replied from across the table. Everyone around the table turned to stare at her. Keepers were always of the opposite sex. No one had considered Molina.

“
My love for you is like a sister. It should work,” Molina explained. Molina would not look around the table. What she was suggesting after being the cause of it all wasn’t acceptable to Devin or Turner. Thomas considered the offer more, knowing that Arianna needed to get better. “And I haven’t made a keeper of my own yet, so my blood is pure.” Molina had yet to taste Jackson’s blood.

Arianna nodded.
It was a simple solution. There was nothing repulsive in Molina’s blood. Molina loved her like a sibling. Arianna had her five keepers.

‘
You don’t have to do this,’
Devin pleaded.
‘It’s always your choice. We can find another way.’

“I’m
choosing this,” Arianna said to Devin, but also for the sake of her friends gathered around the table. “I’m making my choice now. I’m taking control of my own destiny.” Everyone nodded. They couldn’t deny her taking control. Andrew beamed behind her. He had been waiting for her to take control since the first day he met her. Arianna had more strength than anyone he had ever met. She just didn’t know it.

“W
hat do we do first?” Arianna asked, looking to Thomas who was still on the computer. “I get to snack on each of you now? Does it have to be in a certain order?”

“No feeding needed.” Thomas looked relieved. “
Mori said all it should take is one drop of blood from each of us. We mix it together and then you drink it,” Thomas explained, closing the laptop. It was straightforward.

“
Ahh shoot, I don’t get to bite you,” Arianna teased, and Thomas gladly nodded. He didn’t ever want to be bitten by a night human, but he would do anything to keep Arianna safe.

“
Hey,” Thomas complained. “I never said…”

“
No you just cringed every time she’s ever fed in your presence,” Turner replied, joining in teasing Thomas. Arianna looked between them. Even Turner and Thomas had found a middle ground and were now somewhat friends.

Andrew shimmered away and returned before the argument was even over. He held a small glass of water in his hand. Setting it on the table, everyone stopped talking. Andrew leaned over and poked his finger. A drop of blood fell into the glass and mixed to be invisible in the large
r amount of water.

“
Will this really work?” Arianna asked as Thomas stood and added a drop to the glass.

“
Yes, Mori said the scientists are sure,” Thomas reassured her as he passed the glass to Turner. Turner added a drop before passing it to Molina who followed. At last the cup with only a slight hint of color in it stopped in front of Devin.

‘You’re
sure?’
he asked Arianna.

‘
Yes,’
she replied.
‘This is my choice, not my destiny.’

Devin added a drop to the glass and handed it to Arianna. Arianna looked at the slightly rose
-colored water. To day humans there wouldn’t have been a difference, but Arianna’s excellent eyesight told her otherwise. Her sense of smell agreed, and she was sure it would work. With her five keepers around her, Arianna lifted the glass and drank it.

THIRTY

All five people sitting around the table stared at Arianna, waiting for a sign. She looked from face to face and could read the desperation. Molina wanted forgiveness for her involvement in poisoning her. Thomas wanted Mori to be correct. Turner wanted to be the one to save her. He’d have preferred to do it on his own, but was settling for everyone’s help. And Devin wanted to save Arianna from the fate she now chose. Only Andrew wasn’t waiting for something. With her sitting so near to him, he could already tell. The poison was gone the instant she finished the drink. While five drops of blood wouldn’t be strong enough to heal anyone else, something was completely different with her. She was special.

Arianna’s world came back in full color. It was as if she had been walking around in a haze for months. Everything was so much crisper in color, texture, sound, and emotion. She didn’t even have to look at each person to know what they were feeling. She didn’t have to move to feel Andrew’s hand on her back. She already felt it. The cloud that had been over her was lifted

“Finally,” Andrew said, nuzzling into her hair as he pulled her to him and a collective sigh of relief came from the table.

“
Do you feel any different? Are you still feeling unwell? Does your head still hurt?” Thomas asked, studying her in that same scientific way as he always had.

“
Not really different,” Arianna replied. She stretched her arm and wiggled her fingers to make a point. “Just not tired anymore. My head isn’t in a fog.” Arianna looked around the room using her night human vision while still in day human form, she hadn’t been able to do that since Turner taught her how over six months ago. Everything was clear now. “And I feel in control. Really in control. The last few months I’ve felt like I couldn’t regulate the night human within me. Now I’m in charge.” Arianna looked at her hand resting on Andrew, and she could see her night human essence, which was still wrapped around him desperately.

‘
Well, almost in control,’
she added only to Andrew who smirked in reply.