Becoming a Legend

by B. Kristin McMichael

  “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.

  “What 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 larger 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 excellen
t 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.

  “What plan do we follow?” Arianna asked Devin. He still studied her to make sure there were no lasting effects from the poison. Devin didn’t reply, but continued to stare at her. Arianna stared back. After a few moments, when Devin was finally convinced she was fine, he turned back to the table.

  “I guess we move on to plan six.” Everyone nodded except Arianna. Again, he was using cryptic code talk that didn’t include her.

  “Which is?” she asked impatiently.

  “Mori, set it all up,” Devin directed everyone back to the computer. With one click, Mori was back on the screen.

  “It will take me a minute,” Mori replied from the computer.

  “And this is?” Arianna asked.

  No one added any more information as she waited only a moment for Mori to finish whatever he was doing. Devin nodded to Andrew, who’d quietly slipped away and had returned with a bag packed for Arianna.

  “Ready to go, princess?” Andrew asked. Obviously everyone knew what plan six was and were all doing their part now, forgetting about Arianna’s obvious lack of knowledge.

  “I’m not going anywhere until I know exactly what’s going on,” Arianna demanded, and thankfully she had the strength to back up her demands. Andrew hesitated and deferred to Devin for an explanation. Devin had an endless amount of additional plans but none of them included Arianna refusing.

  “Let her stay until I make the call. As long as she’s not in the picture, they won’t know the difference. Then she needs to leave immediately. Go to the second option and keep her hidden. I’ll tell Gabriel, and we will go back to the Randolph estate,” Devin replied.

  “Wait, what’s going on, where are we going?” Arianna was thoroughly confused by now.

  “We need to get you out of here before they find you. We are going to inform them that you’ve decided to take a vacation and will be returning soon, so all inquiries need to be in a written format. That way we can continue to stall them,” Turner replied, quickly understanding that she wasn’t happy without knowing what was going on. “You hide for the time being, and we stall them as we prepare for war. They will not attack if they don’t know where you are.”

  “No, I can’t run. Who will lead the clans?” Arianna was worried, not just about the dearg-dul but also Gabriel. More people had challenged him before she took over. His authority was basically cemented with her presence. Without her around, he would be back to having to defend his position and thus hers.

  “Yes, you will run, and you will stay safe. Andrew will make sure of it. Now that you’re healed, you should be able to keep up with him. Hopefully he can keep up with you. We will stall the clans and keep them in order. No one but us will know that you’re hiding.” Devin moved back to the computer.

  “And we will be leaving you guys here?” Arianna asked, looking around the room. These guys, and the ones in the other room guarding the hostages, were her family.

  “Yes, the more of us that go, the easier it will be to find you. For now it will just be you two,” Turner added again as Devin was typing into the computer. Arianna worried for the people she would have to leave behind. She was the strength of the group, whether she knew how to use it or not.

  ‘They can take care of themselves,’ Andrew added for Arianna’s benefit.

  “Connection is up,” Mori replied from the computer. Across the screen flashed multiple faces.

  “Minimize them all so we can see them all at once,” Devin directed Mori. Mori followed his orders.

  Several men stared back at the screen. Their own connection showed a blank screen. The men ranged in ages from not much older than Arianna to her great uncle Gabriel’s age.

  “Who are they?” Arianna asked.

  “Sidhe, vrykolakas, brujería, draugur, gangshi, uruku, lamia, loogaroo, and obayifo.” Devin pointed to each man as he named which night human they were. None of it made sense to Arianna, but she nodded anyway.

  Devin reached over and pulled Arianna closer to him. She felt the surge of needing his touch just like Andrew once she was close enough. A bit of his love was seeping through the closed doors in his mind. Devin kissed her forehead before pushing her out of the picture.

  ‘I’m doing this for you,’ he said before hitting the button to turn on the connection. ‘You leave when I click off. I need you to stay safe.’

  “I thought this would be the easiest format rather than having everyone running around causing trouble on our grounds. We’ve had two recent incidents and over a dozen in the past year of clans coming, uninvited, on the grounds of either the Grace or Randolph clans,” Devin said to the men staring back. “Miss Arianna has decided to take a vacation and will be away for several months. Since I know you all are seeking an audience with her, we wanted to ask you to formally present your case in written format so that we can assess them all in good time. Personal invitations will only be made to those we deem worthy of meeting her in person.”

  “Impossible,” an older grey-haired man replied. “You will never give us the time of day. After avoiding us for the past year, are we to believe you will actually read our letters? Since you contacted us, I will gladly formally issue the right to challenge.”

  Devin smiled at the older man. “If you check the records, a challenge can only be issued during a person to person meeting. This doesn’t count.”

  ‘This isn’t going to work,’ Arianna complained to Andrew. ‘I’m past my birthday. They will follow me and try to issue a challenge.’

  ‘And we will keep them away from you,’ Andrew replied, pulling her close into his arms, hoping that his strength alone would take care of her.

  ‘And I’ll have to spend my life hidden,’ Arianna added. Andrew’s arms brought comfort, but she still felt the dread of life running away. And the moment I return, there will be war, she added to herself.r />
  The men all started arguing over each other and none of the conversations could be made out. Several men could be seen as lifelong enemies; others were acting like old friends. Some were more guarded in their dislike, but what Arianna could tell, there wasn’t a single clan in power of more than their own group right now. None even held two clans, let alone four. As the old man Arianna only met weeks ago raised his hand, everyone stopped talking.

  “I believe you have a guest right now,” the man said to the group. They all immediately quieted down, eager to hear his words. “I think my grandson Polo would like to say something.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. We found him in a bad condition from fighting with someone on our grounds, which he illegally entered. We needed to give him time to heal, and we thought it was best to do that asleep, so he cannot speak at the moment.” Devin looked over the screen to Andrew, and Andrew nodded with a smile. “He will probably be out for at least another half an hour or so. We might need to keep him under longer. He was outside during the midday sun. You know how taxing that can be.” Devin faked his concern and pleasantries for the men on the screen.

  “That can’t be correct. Polo contacted me and said that he was with you guys,” the man retaliated.

  “You must have heard him wrong. He was only slightly conscious when we rescued him. He passed out before he even made it back to the house here where Lady Arianna was,” Devin replied. No one on the screen was satisfied. Arguments began to grow as several of the men agreed. Slowly the arguments simmered down for someone else to talk now.

  “Speaking for the chosen one, if you disregard our ways, it will mean war. We will not stand to be put aside or have our traditions ignored,” a younger, thirty-something man with golden hair replied. Several of the younger men all nodded with him. The older men were slower to follow. They had lived through wars that the younger men had not.