Devin crossed the line. Nik didn’t wait to attack; he was immediately upon Devin. Devin dodged the first kick, and was across the circle before anyone knew where he went. Nik paused as he stared at Devin. No one in the room but Arianna was sensitive enough to feel the change. They all sat and reevaluated the day human. Each tried, in his own way, to see why he could be better than a night human. Nik stared for a few more moments before trying again. This time, Nik aimed low. Devin again dodged, and, in the process, used Nik’s momentum to toss him from the ring. Nik sat outside the ring, ready to enter again. He hadn’t been expecting the day human to fight better than a night human.
“Devin’s win,” Arianna said quickly, to keep Nik from continuing the fight. Nik paused and looked down to see he was sitting a foot outside the ring. Shock was all that was registered on all the faces watching. All the night humans had discounted Devin when it came to the fighting.
Devin walked back to his spot next to Manuel, who was now fuming at the idea that Devin was stronger than any night human there. Devin ignored the other men. He’d grown used to being underestimated, as he had been his whole life.
“We will be posting the top six contenders for the fights that will be held next. The preliminary fights will be held starting Wednesday, and the final fights will be at the end of the week,” Arianna explained, dismissing the men. She wanted them to leave so that she didn’t have to go anywhere near them and feel them pull at her. They all stood still, shocked that Devin won so easily.
Arianna rose and the men finally understood that they were dismissed. Most turned immediately to their retainers, who had entered, and were all now consulting, mostly talking about Devin. Devin ignored the chatter and walked away from the group, passing the men as he went. Each would stop their conversation to stare at him as he passed. No one left the room, and Arianna had to continue past them to leave.
Arianna held her breath as she walked by the first man. The sickly feeling of Nik’s night human essence reached out for her involuntarily. Arianna felt queasy as she passed, and knew that the next one would do the same. Not pausing to deal with all the emotional feelings storming her, Arianna ran by the men and out into the long hallway. She paused at her own hall. Andrew was in her room, pacing. She just couldn’t face him yet. What Rhys had said was true. Arianna was never given a choice about with whom she fell in love. Now she had one.
Chapter 19
Thomas was right behind her as she took off running to the front door. She needed to get away. She scanned the grounds with her now perfect eyesight, since she had been enhanced with all the night human skills. Someone at the tournament had even better sight than she once had, which was impeccable, or so she thought. There was nowhere she could go to be alone. Just outside the walls of the estate were groups of various night humans who had arrived to wait, hoping that their leader would win.
Pausing, Arianna heard the hit before anyone reacted, and she immediately ran back inside to the doorway of the training room. Turner was already beside Devin, pulling him out of the crowd. Gabriel was in full baku form, chasing the offender out of the house. Ken and Patrick were close behind to back him up as Gabriel tried to catch the person who had just stabbed Devin. Manuel was lucky that Gabriel was too concerned about Devin to pursue him any further than the wall of the grounds.
“Take him to my room,” Arianna ordered, appearing beside Turner, who was now carrying Devin. A trail of blood led down the hallway as Turner rushed to her room.
“What happened?” Molina asked, as Turner laid Devin on the floor just inside the doorway.
Gabriel was already opening his wrist to smear blood on the biggest wound. The flesh started to pull together, but blood was flowing out quicker than the skin was mending.
“He needs my blood,” Arianna said, kneeling beside Devin and reaching down to cut open her own palm.
“Ari, no,” Devin replied, trying to talk, but coughing up blood. The wound was through the right side of his chest cavity, and was bleeding excessively into his lungs.
“Why can’t I?” Arianna complained, pushing away Devin’s feeble protest. “You’re the only one allowed to save anyone around here?” Arianna asked, certain that his pride was the reason he was protesting. Gabriel stared at Devin, understanding as did the other people in the room. Andrew pulled Arianna back and quietly told her the truth.
“If you feed him, you will turn him into a night human,” Andrew replied. “He doesn’t want to be one of us.”
Shock hit Arianna immediately. It was possible to turn day humans into night humans, but she was never told how it was done. Arianna stared back down at Devin, who was losing blood slower now, but still losing too much to live longer than the night. His choice was die or become a night human with her blood. He was choosing to die. Her way of life was something he didn’t want.
“If you feed a day human blood from someone powerful that has also drank from them, they will turn into that type of night human. It might not happen with a normal night human, but, Ari, you’re a purebred. Your blood will change him.” Andrew motioned to Turner, who pulled her back.
“But then what? We just let him die?” Arianna asked. Shocked that Devin would choose death over what she was made her stand still. Turner didn’t even have to use any force to hold her. Arianna twisted in his arms and begged him with her eyes. He couldn’t let his best friend die.
“I can’t save him either,” Turner replied. “Not since the first day I drank from you. My blood could do the same thing to him.”
Andrew reached over and sliced his palms with his own finger. Squeezing his hand, he dripped blood on the wound. Skin began to knit back together, quicker than with Gabriel’s blood, but still not as fast as Arianna’s blood would have worked. Arianna watched from Turner’s arms as Andrew forced Devin to drink some of his blood, too. Devin’s external bleeding stopped. Reaching down, Andrew tapped Devin’s forehead, putting him to sleep. Devin didn’t fight it, and knew it was best to be asleep while he healed. Gabriel reached down and took the sleeping Devin into his arms.
“Leave him here,” Arianna begged. She couldn’t let him go back to the competitor quarters knowing that they had all stood back and let Manuel stab Devin. Even though she had felt the hit immediately, others there had to have seen what Manuel was doing and had chosen not to stop him. “All of you stay here,” she added, looking to Gabriel, Patrick, Ken, and Turner in turn.
“Devin made me promise that if he were injured, we would never use your blood to heal him,” Andrew told her as he moved to comfort her by wrapping his arms around her. She shrugged him off, as he reached for her. His night human form pulled at her. While it was different in feeling than the others, it reminded her of the competitors and their pull toward her. This draw to her was proving to cause more problems than anything.
Arianna looked one last time at the now sleeping Devin. He didn’t want to be like her. She didn’t want to be like her, either, but he would prefer to die rather than change into a night human. Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes. If even he didn’t want to be like her, then she must really be a monster.
“Keep him safe,” she whispered, and ran back out the doorway and away from the people all staring at Devin. All he had ever tried to do was save her, and the only way she could ever repay him was to let him die. If Andrew hadn’t been around, Devin might not have lived through such a fatal hit.
Arianna ran back outside and knew where she wanted to go. She stopped on the front steps and pointed up to Thomas, who was right behind her. He looked up to where she was pointing and nodded. No words were needed for him to understand. He bent down and scooped her into his arms before taking flight. Once at the top of the house’s turret, he bent down and set her on the roof. It wasn’t too steep, and Arianna easily walked to the edge to sit down.
“Would you like me to stay?” Thomas asked.
“No, I need to think,” Arianna replied. Thomas nodded and glided back down to the ground.
A new conflict began as she realized that Rhys told her the truth. She now did get a choice, but did she want it? Every single man below was potentially the same as Andrew and Devin to her now. While most were completely despicable, and she couldn’t wait until they were gone from her lands, a few had been nothing but nice and willing to try to win her over. In reality she didn’t know much about the men, because she would never have a reason to before. Now she did.
Turner walked over as silently as possible from the spot Thomas had dropped him on the roof above Arianna, yet she still heard each step. The new blood was all mixing and enhancing her senses even more than she had expected. Turner paused behind her, waiting to see if she would reject his presence or not.
“Why did you back off trying to win me over?” Arianna asked, patting the spot next to her. Relived that he wouldn’t have to find his way down from the tower so soon, Turner sat beside Arianna. “Your night human essence calls to mine just like everyone else’s.”
Turner smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Ahh shoot, you caught me being chicken,” he kidded.
“Really,” she pressed, knowing that he was only teasing.
“I knew I wasn’t the one for you. We may be compatible, just like you are now with everyone down below, but that didn’t change that Devin calmed your heart with just a touch when you would black out. I couldn’t do that,” Turner admitted his failing. “There’s more to being compatible than just being someone’s mate.”
“So, you just gave up chasing me?” Arianna asked. The men below weren’t going to give up that easily, even if she asked them to.
“More than anything, I want you to be happy. Even if it isn’t with me,” Turner replied, always the good guy. Turner deserved someone wonderful. Some wonderful girl that Arianna could never be.
Arianna stared at him as he watched the sky as he always did when having a serious conversation. He could never look someone directly in the eyes when he talked about something that was important to him. He was still the same rust-brown-haired, easy-go-lucky guy she had met a year ago. While everything around her changed, he did not. Something in her life was stable, and that something was Turner. She already knew it; he always would be.
“I’d rather step down and be your best friend, than lose out to Devin or Andrew and never see you again. You’re not a prize, but a person. A good person who deserves to be happy,” Turner explained.
“Then why are we here?” she asked. “This competition isn’t about my happiness.”
“It isn’t?” Turner raised an eyebrow as he teased. “I thought every girl wanted to be swooned over by a dozen men at once.”
“A dozen bloodthirsty, kill-each-other men?” Arianna replied. That was the best description. Not a single man down there would hesitate to attack and kill another if they could do so without repercussions.
“Well, there is that, but just look at all the hunks you can choose from: the giant who was in high school when you were born—we all need a sugar daddy.” Arianna grinned even though she didn’t want to. “And the green guy. That trick would always be the life of the party. Wait, with all their blood in you now, do you turn green?” Turner teased her. Even when combining the blood, she didn’t have any new physical characteristics. “Oh yeah, and if you want, you can choose that one guy who glows in the dark. You have several choices. You’d never need a nightlight.”
“How is green any worse than the pale muscle men that surround me daily?” Arianna replied. Her life was already filled with weird creatures that she had never imagined before entering the night human world.
Turner nodded and pretended to contemplate it. “So, are you saying you prefer your men a bit pale, maybe a bit hairy or even with wings?”
“That’s the problem,” Arianna replied, growing serious again. “I don’t know what I prefer. I never really had an option and now I wonder. Would I still pick the same if I had been able to choose?”
“And you have that option now, huh?” Turner finally realized the problem she was facing. Arianna sighed and leaned against him. He was great at reading her mind. “And you’re scared to make a decision.”
“I wasn’t exactly given a choice with Andrew and Devin. They decided for me.” Arianna spoke the truth.
“Did they?” Turner asked rhetorically. “Did you truly not choose?”
“Why do you say that?” Arianna asked.
“Look at us now,” Turner explained, pushing Arianna up so that they were separated. “Yes, my night human reaches for you just like everyone else’s, but does yours reach for mine?” Arianna looked down. She noticed what he meant. It was one-sided.
“You are always going to come across people that want you and who you are. That doesn’t mean that just because they want you that you have to, or will, want them back. That isn’t something you can just decide on a whim. It’s something that just is. Andrew just is. Devin didn’t need to be a night human to see that,” Turner replied.
“When you wake up in the morning, who is the first person you think of?” Turner asked.
“Andrew,” Arianna whispered.
“And when you go to sleep at night?” Turner didn’t need to let her answer, and just continued. “When you don’t feel well and need comfort? When you want to get away, who is always right there beside you? Devin may understand your night human, and its needs, but who is the one that you have let in enough to truly understand you?”
Arianna smiled and turned to hug him at the same time. “You’ll always be my best friend,” she added, and he grinned in return while rubbing her back.
“And you’ll always be the one I let get away.” Turner kissed the top of her head.
Chapter 20
Arianna pulled away from the hug quickly, and looked down at the ground. Someone was moving across the lawn fast, and was almost hidden from view. It seemed very suspicious. Turner sat still and tried to spot what she was looking at. She pointed below, following the person with her finger. He was working on all the enhanced skills that came from the new blood, but some came more naturally to Arianna. Arianna reached over and took his hand, creating a blood bond that let him into her view.
‘Who is it?’ Turner asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Arianna replied. ‘But we need to go take care of this. If people are sneaking around my estate, something is going on. I’ll tell the team.’
Arianna looked down below, and Thomas was already ready for her, coming up rapidly from the ground.
‘Time to go find out what’s going on.’ Arianna nodded to Turner before sliding off of the ledge and into Thomas’ arms. Turner hung down from the ledge and scaled the wall to meet her on the ground.
‘Polo Katsulas,’ Gabriel said, informing Arianna who it was that had left the estate.
‘Follow him, and I’ll check out Nik,’ Arianna replied.
Turner nodded to Andrew, who appeared from the shadows as they entered the estate.
‘Molina is also hidden,’ Andrew informed them. Everyone beyond Devin was ready to find out what was going on. Arianna’s blood in Turner and Thomas made things even easier as Andrew no longer needed a blood connection to talk to them mentally. ‘Turner, go from the other direction in case Nik is leaving too, and Ari and I will go in to see what is going on.
Ari can completely mask her essence now, so you won’t feel us.’ Turner nodded.
‘And Devin is safe?’ Arianna asked as they began their stealthy walk through the deserted hallways.
‘Patrick is guarding him while Ken is keeping up with Gabriel,’ Andrew replied, before raising a hand to stop her movements.
Arianna melted back into the same shadow as Andrew to watch Nik exit his room. He looked down the hallway before moving to Rhys’ door. He didn’t knock, but just let himself into the room. Arianna listened, and heard multiple heartbeats which meant that it was occupied before Nik entered.
Andrew took Arianna’s hand and led her to the room next to Rhys’. No one was inside, and they made their way to the bathroom, which had an adjoining wall. Andrew walked over and placed his ear on the wall to listen. He faintly heard talking, but everyone was in the other room not the bathroom that back into the wall they were pressed against. Arianna placed her hand next to Andrew’s, with her face toward him. Two distinct voices were talking, but they couldn’t hear clear enough to make out words. She strained harder to listen, and soon her hand sunk into the wall. Jumping back quickly, she almost knocked Andrew over with her surprise, and did knock over a bottle sitting on the counter. Andrew caught the bottle which was only inches from hitting the floor.
‘What?’ he asked, worried that she discovered something upsetting.
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