Winning the Legend (22 page)

“The only one who will end up embarrassed
will be you,” Turner replied. “But I don’t mind. Your loss, not
mine.” Turner lined up on his mark across from Devin.

“Begin,” Serge said, interrupting the trash
talking.

Turner charged across the pit to land his
first blow, which Devin easily blocked. Turner smiled as he backed
up to try again. Without Devin using night human blood, it was
obvious that Turner didn’t plan to transform either. It was
strategically better this way, as no one would get a good idea how
either fought with night human blood in them. Gabriel stood on the
sidelines, watching the fight and mentally talking to each guy. He
was doing his best to protect Devin who was, contrary to what he
told everyone, not completely better. Turner attacked again, and
Devin knew exactly how he was going to move. This time he used
Turner’s momentum to score a point for himself.

Arianna observed as the flag was raised each
time Devin touched Turner. Turner was scoring a few points here and
there also, but it was obvious to everyone watching that Devin
would win. Arianna searched Turner’s feelings and was surprised to
find he wasn’t even mad. The old Turner would have been starting to
break now, knowing that he was losing, but the new Turner was
controlled, and actually enjoying the match. Quickly, the ten
minutes ended with two very winded keepers returning to Arianna’s
side. Neither had taken out the other, but that was never their
intent. When one was coming close to landing a final blow, Gabriel
would tell the other.

“Match to Devin Alexander,” Serge reported,
scribbling in the notebook where he was keeping the official
record. “Last two competitors,” Serge said finally looking up from
his book. “Rhys McKinny and Nik Katsulas.”

Both men stood, and Rhys purposely bumped
into Nik on his way to his line on the floor. Something was said
between them, but Arianna couldn’t make out the exact words. She
tried to understand what Rhys kept saying under his breath as he
moved to his spot. Sidhe magic was too new for Arianna to learn.
They were words Arianna couldn’t understand. Nessa sat behind her
brother in his spot as his retainer and could hear everything
clearer. Arianna looked to Nessa for an explanation.

‘He just cursed
him,’
Nessa told Arianna, who was still
staring at Rhys.
‘In Gaelic.’
Arianna nodded her head. That would explain why
she couldn’t understand what he had said.
‘Nik doesn’t stand a chance now. He should have just agreed
to not fight like my brother told him. Rhys wanted an easy win. Now
Nik is going to find out the painful way why you don’t go against
what Rhys says,’
Nessa explained more,
hinting at the evil truth behind her brother’s rule.

‘So what? Rhys will always
win just because he can do magic?’
Arianna
asked as Nik walked to his spot. From the way Nessa talked, Nik
didn’t stand a chance now.

‘No, he needed to touch Nik
to activate the curse. Most sidhe magic has to be done by touching
someone or setting up a spell. That all takes time. Just stay away
from my brother when he is calm, and you’ll be fine. Once he’s
fighting, he doesn’t have time to set traps. That’s all done
beforehand,’
Nessa explained, never taking
her eyes from her brother.

“Ready?” Serge asked. Nik and Rhys both
nodded. “Begin.”

Instantly each man transformed into his
night human form. The anticipation in the crowd of men watching
grew at the sight. Now they’d see a real fight. Nik’s hair grew
redder, and his normally almost black eyes were flecked with a
greenish blue now. Rhys, on the other hand, didn’t change
physically, but somehow become even more beautiful than he already
was. He almost glowed enticingly in the dim light of the
competition floor. Most of the people identified the physical
changes, but now with her new senses, Arianna saw the hidden
changes as well. Rhys was internally stronger, his rib cage fusing
to form an internal shield around his heart, which limited the most
direct way to kill a sidhe. Rhys didn’t move as Nik began his
attack. Nik ran across the field and hit Rhys directly across the
body, cutting through his shirt and skin from left shoulder to
right hip with his long poisoned claws. Arianna gasped at the
brutality, even though she should have been used to it by now. It
shocked her even more that Rhys hadn’t even moved. He was a
completely still target.

Nik fell to his knees instantly as blood
dripped from him, letting out a horrific scream. No one knew where
to look. Rhys shirt was ripped, but no blood came from him where
the cut should have been. He stood tall. Rhys was completely fine.
He didn’t even move. He just smiled.

“I think that’s the match,” Rhys said to
Serge. Serge looked back to Nik who was on the ground, bleeding
profusely and unable to stand. “And don’t blame me. I wasn’t the
one going for a kill shot.”

“Match to Rhys,” Serge said. “Someone get in
there and fix that boy up. We still have more matches to get done
today.”

Polo ran across the field to his brother.
Carefully he pulled the shirt off. Nik was cut exactly where he had
hit Rhys. The wound was deep, but not life threatening. Arianna
looked back to Rhys, who was unconcerned with the injured man on
the ground. His ally’s health did not worry him. Rhys had told Nik
not to actually fight him, but to give him the match. Nik didn’t
listen, and this was his punishment. Polo placed a salve across the
wound, which began to knit back together before he helped his
brother stand.

“That’s the first round. We will have a
second round after lunch,” Serge replied. “Arianna, Devin, and Rhys
are all tied for first place with one win each.”

Chapter 24

After eating and resting a bit, everyone
returned back to the fighting grounds. Again the men watching and
competing were the only audience. The thought of a real audience
was actually starting to scare Arianna more than the competition
after the earlier, easy, win. Everyone would come and gawk. She
didn’t find fighting a sport, but the people waiting couldn’t wait
to come on to the grounds to see everything. There would be even
more pressure to fight in front of them.

Arianna’s guards were posted all around the
estate, but the people she had transformed in the past week were
near the grounds. If Rhys planned to make a move during the
fighting, she had to be prepared. They weren’t sure when Rhys
planned to make his move. He’d been smart enough, so far, to not
trust his sister in telling her all the details. At least Arianna
hoped he would give Nessa a little bit of a warning before
striking, but either way Arianna was ready for that fight. It was
just much harder now, pretending she didn’t have powers that she
did now. If the men sitting around watching knew what was going on,
her plans could be derailed.

“Arianna, will you please start the choices
again?” Serge asked, waving her forward.

Arianna leaned back momentarily against
Andrew’s knees, trying to give him a sense that she would be all
right. He was confident in her ability, but after Rhys’ display he
worried that the sidhe would go for blood, no matter what he felt
for her. With Loan done, Arianna had a fifty-fifty chance of
drawing Devin or Turner now. It was just that Andrew didn’t like
the odds that she would draw Nik or Rhys. Both coveted her too much
to back down from a fight and take a loss. They understood that
their loss would be her gain, and possible freedom. While Rhys was
still somewhat delusional that he would be winning Arianna over
regardless of the fight, Nik’s only chance stood in winning the
competition, and he was already one loss down.

Arianna took the card and glanced at it
before handing it to Serge. She sent calm vibes to Andrew, and he
immediately relaxed from his tense,
ready-to-spring-across-the-grounds-and-whisk-her-away state of
panic that was starting to set in.

“Devin,” Serge read for the crowd. Arianna
felt the disappointment all around. Again, she wouldn’t be
fighting. Devin couldn’t fight her even if he wanted to. He was
bound to her as Turner was, and they could not, as keepers, fight
her.

Arianna stood on her line and waited. Devin
didn’t even rise from his seat as he called out. “Match to
Arianna.” Serge nodded and marked it down in his book.

“You could have at least stood to meet me,”
Arianna teased, jogging back across the fighting area and sitting
back down next to Devin.

Devin smiled. “And what, walk all the way
over there? You’re asking a man, who was recently on his deathbed
to exert unnecessary energy. I’m tired and ready for bed. No need
to waste any more energy than needed.”

Arianna playfully punched his arm. She saw
beyond the teasing, but pretended not to. It wasn’t like Devin to
be so lighthearted. He was also relived that he didn’t need to
actually fight this time around. It meant one more day of rest
before he would have to test how much better he had gotten since
the attack.

“I made him use too much energy,” Turner
remarked from beside her.

Arianna leaned her head on Turner’s
shoulder. All this talk of sleep was getting to her. She was tired,
too, from not sleeping well for the past few days, but happy to be
surrounded by her friends. They kept her from going crazy from all
the stares of the other men. It was beginning to freak her out, but
Turner, Devin, Thomas and Andrew all formed a protective cocoon
around her. They were just what she needed.

“Brenton,” Serge called to Turner. “You’re
next.”

“Be right back,” Turner said, kissing the
top of Arianna’s head and earning a stand full of growls from the
other men competing. Turner didn’t even notice or, rather, didn’t
care. Reaching Serge, he took the card, looked at it, and gave it
back to him.

“Nik,” Serge read. Everyone watched Nik
stand, looking for lasting effects from the previous match. Serge
wasn’t about to let him fight if he appeared to be too hurt.

Nik walked back to his own mark, facing
Turner. His injury was wrapped and beginning to heal, but after
tasting his blood, she could sense that it was still leaking
beneath the tight wrappings. He didn’t show any weakness in front
of the group, but his brother’s face was etched with worry. Polo
smelled his brother’s blood as well. Arianna wanted to tell Turner
to go easy on Nik, but she also wanted Turner to win no matter
what.

Turner didn’t wait to be told to start
before he transformed into his intermediate wolf form. It wasn’t a
full moon, and he would be limited to the partial transformation.
The lycan could only transform into a full wolf on the full moon.
It wouldn’t matter much beyond the power that his full wolf had. In
partial transformation, Turner was a fighter to reckon with, as
most of his training was done in partial wolf form, anyway. The men
watching seemed to be impressed by the young wolf, as his partial
transformation was only a step away from complete. Not many lycan
could transform so far between full moons. Turner was, in his own
right, an impressive night human.

Nik waited until Serge was ready before
entering his own night human form. While he wasn’t as pale as the
dearg-dul, nor as beautiful, the dearg-dul were the closest night
human form to the vrykolakas. Both had been the images used for
years to depict the undead. His flesh smoothed, and his form grew
only a few inches, but his sight was impeccable in this form. Now,
thanks to his blood, so was Arianna’s. She knew that the bindings
wouldn’t hold long. Nik wouldn’t last ten minutes. He was still
injured, but that wouldn’t stop him. Nik’s teeth grew, and his face
became grotesque with fine, but fearsome, features.

“Begin,” Serge commanded.

Turner didn’t wait for Nik to move as he
flew across the floor. It was strike or be hit. Turner landed the
first blow, but Nik turned to take the majority of the punch to his
shoulder and not to his injured chest. Turner was going for his
wounded chest. Arianna wanted to turn away. It didn’t seem fair.
She knew how hurt Nik really was beneath his bandages. Nik wasn’t
throwing too many hits in return, but doing his best to protect the
injury that he was too proud to admit. Again and again, Turner
attacked. Sometimes landing a direct hit, although not where he was
aiming. The rest were blocked. After two minutes, Turner had more
than three times the score than Nik, who was bleeding profusely
under the wrappings across his chest.

Arianna turned to Polo, who was no longer
watching the match.

‘Call it,’
Arianna told him mentally. Polo looked up to her.
He was scared and defeated. Retainers each held the ability to call
a match if they feared their competitor would die.

‘He won’t let me,’
Polo replied. He was begging her with his eyes to
do it for him.

‘Each minute he’s out there
it’s getting worse,’
Arianna tried to
reason with Polo as Nik took another blow that forced him to the
ground. The blood was seeping through layers of his dressing. Soon
it would show through his shirt. Arianna already smelled twice as
much blood than she had a minute ago, and it was getting worse.
Even without another hit, the blood would be seeping out
soon

‘And if I stop the match,
he will kill me,’
Polo replied.

‘Turner, keep him moving,
but don’t hit him. Another direct hit may kill him. We don’t need
to start a war with the Katsulas family,’
Arianna quickly told Turner as he dodged a blow. Nik was
getting slower and sloppier with his punches.

‘And so I just dance with
him? Just call the match,’
Turner replied,
moving to the far end of the fighting grounds. He couldn’t refuse
Arianna’s order, but also couldn’t fake fighting without at least
hitting his opponent.