Winning the Legend

by B. Kristin McMichael

  “Okay, first off.” Andrew set her down nicely and began to pace. He wasn’t actually mad. He was more concerned than anything. “Never do that again. Night humans cannot go without blood, ever. Got that? You need to feed. That’s why I’m here. You can feed on me any time you wish. Please don’t be afraid to.” Arianna stared at the lacy pillows that were still tossed on the floor. It would have been easier if he were mad. Now she didn’t know how to respond.

  “Second,” Andrew continued, but stopped his pacing to kneel between Arianna’s legs so that she was forced to look at him. “Your drinking my blood doesn’t, in any shape or form, affect my abilities. I either feed more before or after feeding you, so it is just the same in the long run. Unlike you, I can feed on any type of blood and there isn’t any limitation to how much. The day you actually got me while we sparred had nothing to do with blood but more to do with you.”

  “Even I know I’m not that good yet,” Arianna complained. It was true, even if she didn’t like to hear it said out loud. Andrew’s fighting abilities were amazing. She needed more than a month to compete on equal grounds with him.

  Andrew shook his head in frustration. She was better than she gave herself credit for. “Do you know how sexy you are in just a sports bra and little shorts?” Arianna’s cheeks were flaming red now. She hadn’t considered what she wore was the reason Andrew hesitated.

  “But I wore that every time I trained,” she countered, wanting him to admit it was the blood taking instead.

  “And every time I trained I had it under control,” Andrew replied. “Except for that one day. Maxim had been more persistently trying to draw your attention, and had made extra comments to me about how good you looked. Yes, I could see how good you looked. And the more he talked, the more I thought about you and not the fight that was going on. And he was there trying to get your attention.”

  “So I got you because you were distracted by my body?” Arianna finally started to believe him.

  “Yes.” Andrew let out a loud sigh as he pushed her back on the bed and climbed next to her while removing his own shirt. “I’m always distracted by you. Luckily I’ve had years of training to ignore my more primal night human side, and I can function normally. But you always bring this out in me.”

  Arianna was thinking of a reply, but was stopped as he pushed her shirt up and began to lightly kiss her now-exposed stomach. He shifted up to her neck and kissed her more. Arianna giggled at his light-as-a-butterfly touch on her skin. Every touch now was magnified ten times from the blood she had taken. Arianna threaded her fingers through Andrew’s dark wavy hair as his lips met her own. Andrew’s feelings and her own merged, and she experienced everything in the room with crystal clarity. She pulled him closer. They weren’t even in their night human forms, when they typically couldn’t keep their hands off each other. The pull of Andrew’s love was greater than ever. There was no way she would marry one of those other men. She only ever wanted to be in the arms of the man holding her now. Andrew sighed and flipped to his back beside Arianna.

  “I need to catch my breath,” Andrew said, but that was code for things were done. Andrew refused to let things progress too far in case their plan failed and she was forced to marry one of the competitors. Andrew planned just as much as Thomas did.

  “What if I don’t want you to catch your breath?” Arianna countered, lying on her side beside him.

  “Don’t tempt me.” Andrew instantly turned and pinned Arianna to the bed. She was more tempting than ever now that the competitors were gone and they were truly back to being alone.

  “Should I tempt your baku instead?” Arianna asked, changing into her night human form. Andrew’s grip weakened. Her night human form was irresistible. Andrew remained day human and let her overpower him so that she straddled him on the bed. Her night human form flickered but remained.

  “You didn’t take enough blood,” Andrew coaxed, relieved that he had won this fight of wills. He wasn’t going to be able to say no to her for too much longer. She was everything he ever wanted.

  Arianna sighed. Andrew was right and she knew it. All her enhanced senses faded slightly. She had gone too long without blood and not taken enough from Turner and Devin. Andrew turned his head slightly, giving her complete access to his neck. Arianna hesitated. She didn’t want to affect Andrew’s strength again, but she wanted to believe that his strength decline during training had as much to do with her as it did her feeding. Andrew smiled, sensing that he won this argument. Arianna leaned down and kissed his neck gently before biting down.

  Chapter 12

  Two days later, after sleeping off the large amount of blood she had taken from three different people, Arianna sat beside Andrew in the empty dining hall for dinner. She had been missing home quite a bit lately and would give anything to have a meal cooked by Captain Lou, the head chef in her aunt and uncle’s diner. It had been a few nice, quiet days without the competitors. Rhys had stayed behind, but she had yet to see him. She was essentially alone with her own family. Devin and Turner entered the room, joking like normal. It had only taken a day for them both to recover, but Arianna wasn’t recovering quite as well. Her power continued to fluctuate as much as it did when she had only partially turned a year ago.

  Devin sat down across from Arianna and examined her as he talked with Turner. He was analyzing every part of Arianna as he always did. He’d been studying her for years and now he felt that he needed to look closer since he missed the fact that she wasn’t feeding.

  “And then my brother was completely soaked,” Turner explained. “And of course it was my fault, but how could he blame me without admitting that he was the cause.” Turner laughed as he ended his story abruptly, realizing that Rhys was entering the dining room. Rhys sat alone by the windows on the other side of the room.

  ‘Ari, you need to feed more,’ Devin said to her only. ‘I can tell you aren’t doing it again.’

  ‘I am,’ Arianna complained. ‘I’m just a bit off. I think I went too long between feedings. Yes, I get it. You can stop scolding now. I think I am just getting sick or something.’

  ‘Not possible. After drinking the five’s blood last month, you can’t get sick,’ Devin reminded her of the mess that started everything. Arianna was the night human of legend and to be so needed the blood of five different night human keepers. With the five’s blood, she would never get sick and would become the most powerful night human ever. Unfortunately, she now doubted that legend since she did kind of feel sick and was nowhere close to being able to save everyone by being all-powerful.

  ‘Why do you keep refusing? Can’t you see Turner and I are fine? Stop being a martyr.’ Devin brought her attention back to their conversation.

  ‘I am feeding,’ she insisted. Devin was good at lecturing, but she was telling him the truth. If he didn’t want to believe her, then Arianna didn’t need to sit around being analyzed by him either. She stood abruptly and joined Rhys at his table. Andrew let her walk away as he glared at Devin and began his own silent conversation with him.

  “Life is not so swell as the only princess at the ball?” Rhys asked, making room so that Arianna could sit beside him with her back to her keepers. Rhys hit the nail on the head with his assumption.

  “Not really,” Arianna replied as Andrew stood and moved closer, but not right next to her. “Why does everyone want to tell me what to do all the time?”

  “That’s just men in general,” Rhys replied. “They can’t help themselves.” Rhys gazed outside as if someone were out there also watching in.

  “Why’d you stay here alone?” Arianna asked, following his gaze, and also looking for the mystery person.

  “I wasn’t needed back at home,” he replied. “My retainer went back to take care of everything. Nothing left for me to do then, so I was ordered to stay here.”

  “Ordered? Aren’t you the leader?” Arianna asked. Rhys was acting strangely, but then again all the men competing were eccentric.

&nbs
p; “Not ordered,” Rhys quickly corrected, turning his attention back to Arianna. “They asked me to stay here as they felt it would confuse everyone if I returned. I’ve pledged to win this tournament and free you. If I return home now before the tournament is done, they will consider that a failure and a disgrace. I cannot disgrace my people,” Rhys gave his long-winded explanation. It didn’t sound very logical, but Arianna let it go.

  “Don’t you miss your home?” Arianna asked. She was greatly missing her home by now, having been gone for over two months.

  Rhys shrugged. “Sometimes you don’t get a say in things even when you are in charge, am I right?” Arianna nodded. Rhys was stuck much like she was. Both were a bit homesick and there was nothing either could do about it.

  “Ari, we need to go back to feed you,” Andrew said, softly touching her back to get her attention.

  “Yes, boss Devin has declared that, hasn’t he?” Arianna grumbled as she stood and followed Devin. Rhys smiled weakly. He seemed to understand her situation completely. Being in charge didn’t mean others would not feel the need to tell you what to do.

  Arianna followed Andrew to her rooms. She was trying her best to keep her anger away from Andrew and aimed just at Devin. It made things easier to blame Devin for her changing powers, than to wonder if she had caused it by not feeding for a month. It was easier to just blame Devin for everything in general.

  “Come here,” Andrew pulled Arianna to the couch by the burning fireplace. Arianna smiled and melted into his arms. He was safety and comfort. He was truly her home now. “Devin said he can tell you are strained by not enough blood. What have you been doing?” Andrew asked.

  “Nothing, I swear. I’m not even practicing now. I’m doing nothing to use my blood up,” Arianna insisted.

  “Devin thinks you must be doing something or that I’m not really feeding you each night like we tell him,” Andrew stroked her head as she leaned on him. “He thinks I’d lie to him if you’d asked.”

  “Would you?” Arianna sighed. Just his touch was intoxicating.

  “Yes, but that’s not the point,” Andrew replied, getting back on subject. “Since I know I’m feeding you, and you aren’t doing anything to use your blood, somehow it must not be working.”

  “Is that even possible?” Arianna asked, now becoming worried at the prospect. “Is it possible for the blood to stop working? And from you of all people? You’re my mate.” Arianna blushed as she said it out loud for the first time. Andrew beamed and his love grew even greater. She never wanted to call him that, but he loved to hear it.

  “I’m your what?” Andrew asked, getting off the subject himself. It was too good an opportunity to pass up.

  Arianna closed her eyes to respond. It was hard enough to tell him without his look of absolute devotion. “You are the love of my life.” She waited for him to laugh, but he did not. Instead he crushed his body to her, pulling her close enough to kiss her as much as he pleased. Arianna giggled, not expecting that reaction. He pushed her back, pinning her to the couch as he assaulted her with kisses.

  Arianna quickly sat up, feeling Rhys’ presence outside the doorway. Rhys paused before knocking. Before his hand hit the wooden door, Andrew had moved and was standing directly in front of Rhys. Rhys backed up two steps, feeling the anger roll off of Andrew.

  “How did you get into this wing?” Andrew demanded, shifting into his full, imposing baku form. His muscles expanded to twice their normal size as his skin paled. Arianna stood just behind him, and while she had to stop him, she wanted to see his baku. It had been over a week since he had transformed, and part of Arianna missed him.

  Rhys held up his hands. “Since I’m the only person in the house, the guards don’t stay at their posts all night. I saw them leave and thought maybe it was my chance to talk to Arianna. I came only to help her.”

  “You’re purposely trying to get her alone?” Andrew demanded. The hulking baku was quickly becoming uncontrollable.

  ‘Stand down,’ Arianna ordered Andrew. As his clan leader, he had to do as she said, but as her mate he wouldn’t if he thought she were in danger. Arianna finally noticed how that could be a problem.

  ‘He’s here sneaking into your wing of the house. This is too dangerous to back down from,’ Andrew replied, explaining why he was still fuming.

  “With what?” Arianna asked Rhys, stepping beside Andrew and placing a hand on his arm. Andrew’s anger dampened slightly, but he was still fully alert, ready to attack Rhys if he made even a slight move. “Stop being my mate and look carefully.” Arianna pointed to Rhys. There wasn’t a bit of emotion to make Andrew as mad as he was. Rhys didn’t have any romantic feelings toward Arianna. Andrew, as a baku, should have at least noticed that much. Andrew was just reacting to what he thought was going on, and not what he was actually feeling in Rhys.

  “I can help,” Rhys offered.

  “Are you offering to get rid of all the other competitors?” Arianna asked, cocking her head to the side to get a full view of Rhys from around Andrew, who had moved a few steps in front of her. That would be a grand offer, but one she couldn’t accept.

  “That I can’t help with, though I truly wish I could,” Rhys replied. He had thought that would be fun also, but the sidhe clan would never allow that. “I can help with your newest problem with blood and fluctuating powers.” Arianna’s head snapped up. How did Rhys know she was having problems with her blood intake?

  “What do you mean?” Andrew demanded. He was still seeing Rhys as a threat, but that didn’t dissuade Rhys in the least.

  “I can see it. This happens often to the sidhe.” Rhys ignored Andrew and his hateful stares. He spoke directly to the partially-hidden Arianna. “You have pathadh; unquenchable thirst.”

  “Pathadh?” Arianna questioned the term she had never heard before.

  “Yes. It’s a thirst for blood that cannot be sated,” Rhys explained, keeping his distance from the still-volatile Andrew. Helpful or not, Andrew didn’t trust Rhys.

  “But I’m not really hungry. That’s not the problem,” Arianna replied, moving to stand beside Andrew now as he was finally controlling himself and his urge to protect her. Arianna hoped he was seeing that Rhys wasn’t a threat.

  “You may not feel the thirst, but you feel how your body cannot get enough blood. That’s why your night human powers are all over the place since your abstinence from blood. That’s why you cannot feed enough to stop the fluctuation.” Rhys waited for his words to sink in. He was correct. Devin had noticed she was having problems, and Andrew could not explain why Arianna wasn’t feeling content with all the blood they had fed her in the past few days.

  “Okay. Let’s just say that you’re right,” Andrew entered back into the conversation. Rhys didn’t even glance at Andrew, but stared only at Arianna. “Hypothetically speaking of course. What does one do for this problem to correct it?”

  “Blood of another species,” Rhys replied, finally looking at Andrew and waiting for his attack. Andrew moved toward Arianna, but she kept him still by gripping him harder.

  ‘We cannot attack a contestant in this game, or all my rights are forfeit,’ Arianna reminded him. Andrew wasn’t sure he could hold back now. It was hard enough to watch Arianna feed on Devin or Turner, but this stranger, who had been watching Arianna for a week, was hard to even consider.

  “And I suppose you are offering?” Andrew mocked Rhys.

  “I do happen to be the only night human around that she has not taken the blood of,” Rhys replied, not afraid of Andrew. He stood his ground even though the massive baku was only restrained by Arianna’s single hand. Even Rhys knew that that wasn’t enough to keep Andrew chained down if he chose to attack.

  “You’re free to search my mind. I’m not a threat to you or your relationship with the princess. Trust me. I’m not interested in her in the least. She’s not exactly my type,” Rhys replied.

  Andrew wasn’t satisfied with words alone. He needed to see that Rhys was not
a threat.

  “You’ll just let me just enter?” Andrew asked in disbelief.

  “Yes, and you’ll see I’m only here to help Arianna,” Rhys replied, waiting for Andrew to enter his mind.

  Andrew calmed his anger and easily entered Rhys’ mind. He took a few deep breaths, and it only took him looking at one thought to know that Rhys was speaking the truth. Rhys wasn’t interested in Arianna in the least. Pulling back out immediately, Andrew stared back over at Rhys.

  “Are you convinced now?” Arianna asked Andrew. She had already had faith in the sidhe without having to go looking in his mind. Rhys had made his intentions clear with his emotion alone that he wasn’t interested in Arianna. Rhys was offering friendship, the same as Thomas, and didn’t look at Arianna in the way that all the other competitors did.

  “Yes, but-” Andrew began, turning to Rhys. He had seen enough to need some answers.

  “Please let her feed first, and then I will explain. I promise,” Rhys replied, holding up his wrist for Arianna.

  “And it’s safe?” Devin asked from the shadows with Thomas and Turner right behind him. Devin somehow always knew exactly when he needed to be somewhere, and Thomas and Turner were not far behind.

  “Yes,” Andrew replied. “Rhys won’t harm Arianna.”

  Arianna looked to each of her keepers and saw that they trusted Andrew completely. No one moved to stop her as she watched Rhys’ blood flow inside the veins. It was close to impossible for Arianna to drink blood from someone that did not love her. Rhys wasn’t emitting love, rather camaraderie. He was feeling the same way, trapped in the night human world, just as Arianna felt. Arianna hoped that would be enough. She closed her eyes before biting down and beginning to drink his blood.