“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.
“Okay, fine. Back to business.” Andrew opened his eyes and stared at Devin. Arianna moved effortlessly into Andrew’s mind. She saw Devin through Andrew’s eyes and now found the respect they had for each other even stranger.
“To enter there’s always a barrier, and with a little push,” Andrew paused, and she felt mentally he was moving into Devin’s head. “Okay, a bit more than a little push in his case. You’re in.”
“Um yeah,” Arianna replied, wanting to leave his mind and check on Devin. It was more than a little push. Devin had a brick wall up. Luckily, Andrew was stronger than that.
“Do you feel all the memories floating around here?” Andrew asked, bringing Arianna back to her lesson.
“Yes, but nothing is really floating, it all seems like a big pile of mush. How do you know which one is being hidden from you?” Arianna questioned, focusing around the room.
“Think of it this way instead. It’s not a pile of mush but a bunch of individual balls.” Arianna saw all the feelings and memories ball up. “Now let those balls float in the air because really memories are weightless.” All the balls moved up. “And it’s easier to sort through.” Hundreds of tiny balls floated around them like bubbles.
“These are all current memories?” she asked in awe.
“Yes,” Andrew replied and let her take her time looking around. The room was filled with memories even though the walls were lined with locked doors.
“And how do we know which one is hidden from us? Do we have to go digging through it all?” Arianna wanted to reach forward and touch a memory to see if it would pop like a bubble, but without hands there was nothing she could do.
“No,” Andrew replied. “Look closely around at the balls. Most of them reflect one color, right.”
“Um hm.” Arianna was entranced by the colorful, floating balls. Once he explained, Arianna could see exactly what Andrew described. Every ball had a light blue shine to it.
“But what about the one a few back on the left. Do you see it? It’s not the same color.” Andrew was right, there was one a bit different, almost yellow in color, fl
oating just beyond the first row. “So, now we just will hands to appear and reach over and take it.” Once Andrew’s hands were cupped around the yellow colored ball, images began to flow.
Devin sat at the kitchen table in Gabriel’s house with Turner, Thomas, and Andrew. Thomas and Turner were dressed in tuxes from Arianna’s birthday party. Andrew was sitting shirtless just like Arianna remembered. Muffled noises came out of everyone mouths until it began to clear up.
“How often has this been going on?” Andrew demanded. He looked visibly shaken.
Devin wanted to feel that grief that was pouring out of Andrew, but he couldn’t. Grief wasn’t an emotion Devin had time to feel. “About two months now. We’ve tested her for every poison we can find, but nothing has come up. Mori has been working all day and through the night trying to figure it out.”
“And so, what? You’re just going to let her wither away? Can’t you see she’s sick?” Andrew’s word stung. Devin had known Arianna was sick way before anyone else had. He had immediately started tests under the guise that the scientists were working on looking for the life-extending cure her blood was. Every time a new test came back and there was nothing wrong with it, Devin lost another piece of sanity. It was his job to protect her and he couldn’t even do that in her own home.
The image abruptly ended as Andrew let go of Devin’s mind.
Arianna was back on the couch and her first lesson was done. She could now enter people’s minds and look for secrets. She could find the one hurting her, but would she be happy with what else she found?
EIGHTEEN
Arianna sat on her bed and concentrated. It was easy to get into Turner’s mind. He was an open book and didn’t keep any secrets from her. She had a hard time finding anything that was a different color in his thoughts. He actually had to think of something to make one appear. Turner truly kept nothing from her. Andrew would be easy also, but Arianna was nervous to go into his mind. Everything was always more powerful with Andrew. He kept the majority of his emotions in check, but she was too in tune with him to not feel the ones that leaked out occasionally. She fiddled with the bedcover more as the boys talked in the other room. Somehow, they were now all friends when it hadn’t been like that a week ago.
“I’m not getting any younger,” Andrew called to the bedroom, trying to inspire her to try. She hadn’t yet, and he knew. He had once put down the barrier and let his uncle into his mind. He could remember the foggy feeling that something wasn’t quite right. Beyond the haze, no one could tell what or why the other person saw.
“I know, I know,” she yelled back. She took a deep breath and tried to push the butterflies flying around in her stomach away. Focusing on Andrew’s eyes in her mind, she easily found her way into his thoughts. She entered and found no resistance; it was as easy as he told her it would be. She stopped as she waited for his thoughts to bubble up.
“Any day now,” Andrew called from the living room breaking her concentration.
“Hey,” she yelled back, stomping over to the closed door. “I was just doing it, and you broke my attention. Can’t you three just be quiet for a few minutes?” She marched back over to her bed and sat back down rather noisily to make her point.
‘Were you really in?’ Andrew asked, amazed at how different it felt from when his uncle entered his mind.
‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘Didn’t you feel anything?’ Turner and Devin had both felt her enter their minds.
‘Not at all. Interesting side effect.’ Arianna waited for him to explain more. He did not.
‘Why?’ she finally asked.
‘Try again; we can talk later. When we get a free moment after everyone is back, I can explain it more.’ Andrew brushed off her curiosity. Blowing her hair out of her face in frustration, Arianna wanted to keep talking now. She was going to yell at him mentally, but he spoke first.
‘Later, I promise,’ Andrew coaxed. The conversation was done.
Arianna closed her eyes and began to focus again. It was even easier the second time, to melt right into Andrew’s mind. Arianna waited for the bubbles to appear, but they were almost instantly there as soon as she entered Andrew’s mind. The room filled up, and she took her time looking around. If he wasn’t going to tell her when she wanted, she wasn’t going to hurry up and get this over with like they wanted. Like Turner’s mind, there wasn’t much hidden from her. She moved through the bubbles and glanced at the surface of one. She saw a tiny scenes playing before her. All around her were times they spent together. Andrew seemed to be thinking of her as much as she was of him. Moving through the memories and thoughts, she finally found one that was different. Willing her hands to appear, she reached over and grabbed it gently. Arianna felt her hands around the bubble but was being careful not to break it. Holding it up, she viewed the tiny scene. It was an older memory. Arianna hesitated. She didn’t want people running around in her mind, and yet here she was in Andrew’s. He didn’t seem to mind as the room was filled with more memories and thoughts than Turner and Devin combined. Arianna gently touched the small bubble and entered into Andrew’s memory.
Green shrubs and white clothed tables began to form from the messy haze of the memory. Focus slowly brought the scene in around her. Arianna recognized the yard as her uncle’s yard and the same set-up that had been used for her when she turned into a baku the previous year. She watched the scene unfold from Andrew’s perspective.
He gazed over the crowd of waiting people from the raised platform. A girl lay asleep in the bed, waiting to be food. Arianna felt his hand move around pretending to fake the pain that was supposed to be going through his body as he looked at the girl, Elisabeth. Elisabeth was only two years younger than him. Andrew knew her. They had secretly met several times. She was his half-sister. The child his father produced to be Andrew’s meal on this very night. Andrew scanned back through the crowd of faces. His uncle stood toward the back, smiling. At that instant, Andrew knew too. It hadn’t been in secret. His uncle knew who the girl was. No one else knew, but Edward Lucan did. Edward Lucan was enjoying his nephew’s horror at realizing he would kill his only remaining immediate relative.
Andrew walked over to the sleeping girl. She actually smelled delicious. Andrew reached down and bit into her. He would drink enough to convince everyone and then stop and pretend to pass out. It was the only way to convince his uncle that he had just turned. Andrew bit down and began to drink. The blood was better than what he had been using for the last year to quench his thirst. His world began to fade, and he was, for the first time since his family’s death, happy. He would not have to fake passing out after all. The world turned dark, and he closed his eyes to dreamless sleep.
When he finally opened his eyes again, he gazed up at the ceiling of the room. His uncle was in the next room arguing with Gabriel. They always argued. Andrew sat up and snuck over to the window. He saw the stage, but not Elisabeth. Her scent was coming from inside the house now. Andrew stood up finding himself completely energized. He snuck out into the hallway and down the hall to the room where Elisabeth was. His uncle didn’t hear through his argument. Andrew opened the door, wanting to check on his half-sister and only family Andrew had left. She was lying on the bed. He crept closer silently and suddenly stopped. Elisabeth was dead.
Arianna felt herself jerked back through the memory to her room in the cabin where Andrew had his arms around her. Tears were dripping down her face. Arianna felt the tears that he never shed. Fourteen-year-old Andrew never was allowed to shed tears for the last of his family. He would have to live the rest of his life knowing he killed her, intentional or not. Andrew rubbed her back to soothe her as the tears kept falling.
“They fed you your sister?” she whispered.
“Gabriel didn’t know. I found out later. That what he was yelling about. Shhh,” Andrew replied, patting her back as more tears came down. “Don’t cry. That’s all in the past. No one can change it now.” Arianna buried her face in his chest and tried to stop t
he tears, but they wouldn’t. She hadn’t just seen the scene from Andrew’s eyes, but felt the agony that went with it when he found he had killed his sister. Arianna searched for words to comfort him.
“That’s the only type of memory I will ever try to keep from you,” Andrew said into her hair as he kissed the top of her head. “I don’t want you to feel the sadness that has been my life. I only plan to have happy memories from here on out, if you let me stay by your side.” Andrew kept his strong arms around her as her sobs died down.
Turner stood in the doorway, watching as Arianna composed herself. He didn’t know what the memory was, but could understand from the conversation that Arianna had seen something horrific. Devin stayed on the couch, not moving. Both boys understood; it was now Andrew’s time to take care of her.
“Gabriel will be back in an hour with Jackson first, and then he’ll go back and get Nixon,” Devin informed Arianna from the living room. “Mica and Nelson will come tomorrow. You will need to check them as soon as you can. Whoever did this will try to hide it; hence, we need to know.”
“Mmm hmm,” Arianna said though the leftover sniffles.
“Is that my cue to hide?” Andrew asked Devin, and Devin nodded. Andrew stood to shut the door. “I think she needs a nap after all that,” he said to Devin and Turner before the door closed. Neither objected. Andrew returned to Arianna’s side and laid her across his chest. Her eyes fluttered shut at the sound of his heartbeat. She was exhausted, physically and mentally.
“Sleep, my love,” Andrew said quietly. Arianna lifted her head and smiled at him. She wanted to reassure him she was all right after what she had seen. He kissed her forehead in return. Andrew wiped away the last of her tears as she lay back down and instantly fell asleep.
* * * * *
Arianna’s mind came awake before her body as she lay there sleeping on Andrew. He lifted a piece of her hair and twirled it around his finger. She felt a tingle begin in her hands as they awoke and the feeling of his skin beneath her began to send a different kind of tingle down her arms. Andrew’s arms were comfort to her. Noticing she was awake, he easily picked her up and slid her on top of himself. He smiled as they were now face to face. Arianna was about to talk, but he put a finger on her lips to indicate to be silent. Confused, she looked around the room and then finally heard the new voice in the mix in the living room.
Becoming a Legend Page 14