Winning the Legend (4 page)

Arianna broke her stare from the first
arrival and nodded to one of the maids.

“Sirs,” the young girl said, barely above a
whisper. “I can show you both to your rooms.”

Arianna turned back to look outside the
door. There would be more coming, but she didn’t see any at the
moment. Even without turning around Arianna sensed the stare of
Rhys’ retainer. The older man watched Arianna as she exited the
entryway and turned to go down the opposite hallway. It was creepy
to be watched, but she knew that it would be her life while all the
men arrived and gawked at her. Arianna easily followed the thread
binding her to Andrew and found him waiting in the hall. He
wordlessly took her hand and led her to her own rooms.

‘I don’t know if I can do
this,’
Arianna said as soon as their hands
made contact. Everything about Andrew felt right, and touching his
skin calmed her excessively beating heart. Rhys and his retainer
made it all more real. She needed to protect her people, but this
was going to be the hardest thing she even could imagine
doing.

‘Trust that Thomas is
right,’
Andrew replied.
‘He would have never let you come here if the
odds were not in your favor.’

‘I just hoped that no one
would show up.’
Arianna was disappointed.
Andrew snaked his hand from hers and around her waist. She needed
more comfort.

‘With a prize like you on
the line?’
Andrew raised an eyebrow as he
opened the doorway.
‘I doubt we’ll be able
to keep any of them away.’

Andrew pulled her through a sitting room
filled with couches and chairs that faced the roaring fireplace.
The side room had a lush king-size bed in the middle of the room.
Everything was tinted in deep blues and purples, and they were
surrounded with an abundance of luxury textures. Again Arianna
began to miss her home. She wanted her old, ratty comforter. That
was soothing, not this. This was odd and nothing was natural here.
Andrew drew Arianna with him as he sat down on the bed.

‘You look so tired.’
He brushed a few stray hairs off her
face.

‘You’re just trying to get
me into bed with you,’
she protested, as
he pulled her down next to him.

‘
And why not?’
Andrew smirked. Arianna playfully batted his arm.
Andrew knew how to distract her, and was trying his best to do
it.
‘Yes, I am.’
He smiled at her and winked.
‘So
that you can get some sleep before this all begins. You need your
strength.’
They had traveled the whole
daylight hours they normally slept.

‘I need more than
strength.’
Arianna snuggled up to his
chest and pulled at the buttons on his shirt so that she could
touch the smooth skin beneath her hands.
‘I’m going to need some luck, too.’

‘That’s why I’m
here,’
Andrew replied as she closed her
eyes.
‘I’ll provide all the luck you
need.’

‘Mmm hmm,’
Arianna nuzzled close and was immediately to
sleep.

* * * * *

Arianna didn’t sleep as long as she wanted,
but there was nothing she could do about that. The rest of the
competitors had arrived as one large group, chasing the scent of
Turner. It was easier to sleep with one strange scent in the house,
but when she was bombarded by multiple new people at once, she
begrudgingly had to wake up. Her defensive response kicked in the
moment they all entered the house. Andrew was beneath her, still
awake when she opened her eyes and smiled at him. He had also
sensed all the people that arrived. His smile was a little more
forced with the strain of everyone in the house. Arianna climbed up
so that she was nose to nose with him and softly kissed him without
saying a word. Andrew relaxed a little and pulled her closer to
him.

Alone time was rare these days. With
training and running around, she was only alone with Andrew when
she was sleeping. Now adding twenty or more people to the estate,
she wouldn’t be alone outside her room. Andrew slid his hands down
her arms leaving goose bumps in their wake. Arianna shivered a bit
at his touch.

“Um,” a male voiced coughed from the corner
of the room. “I’m not sure we have time for that right now.”

Arianna’s head snapped up defensively even
though there was only one person that was able to sneak around the
house so silently. Gabriel was sitting across the room from the
bed. He smiled at Arianna as he looked up from his book. He had
been there for a while. Arianna blushed, knowing that her uncle saw
her kissing Andrew. Andrew’s hands moved back up her arms over the
skin that was still sensitive from a moment ago. Arianna sat up and
smacked him. He had known all along that Gabriel was there, and was
still tempting her.

“At least I’m glad to see that even asleep
you realized the threat of all the extra people in the house,”
Gabriel commented as he stood up. Arianna jumped up and hugged her
uncle. It had been a month since he dropped her off at the wurdulac
estate. Gabriel and his immediate family were her last living
relatives.

“Then they are all here now?” she asked into
his chest. She already knew the answer but still hoped that her
senses were wrong.

“If you mean all your people, then yes. I
brought Nixon and Nelson along with Turner and myself. Thomas just
arrived.” Arianna pulled back and smiled at the older man. He
continued to age. He looked older than the last time she saw him.
“If you mean the competitors, there are still two not here yet, and
they only have five more minutes. We better get to the meeting room
soon. Everyone is waiting in the dining hall, and it is time to
greet all your unwanted guests.” Gabriel offered her his arm, and
she reluctantly took it. This was no longer something that was
going to happen in the future. This was happening now.

Chapter 5

Arianna stared at each of the men before
her. The oldest was the dragur Jan Larsen, at thirty-two. Arianna
cringed inwardly that he had arrived on time. It was bad enough to
be forced to marry someone in the room, but someone fifteen years
older than her who had already been widowed with children of his
own was a stretch. Arianna was thankful that at least none of the
leaders over thirty-two had come, just their sons and grandsons.
The youngest was Loan Durand at eighteen, only a year older than
Arianna. Arianna looked back to the clock hanging above the opened
doorway arch leading into the hallway. Two more minutes and the
uruku night human, Nate Childs, would be late and disqualified.
Everyone waited in anticipation for Arianna to begin talking. She
sat still, watching the clock. As the hands converged and struck
midnight, Arianna nodded to Thomas who proceeded to close and lock
the gate.

Twelve competitors lined up before Arianna
with their retainers right behind them. Each man participating was
allowed one person on the grounds to watch over the event, and to
help care for them. These men ranged even more greatly in age from
the youngest, the vrykolakas Nik Katsulas’ younger brother Polo
whom Arianna had helped a month ago, to the oldest, Arianna’s great
uncle Gabriel who was there as the retainer for both Devin and
Turner. It helped to not only have Turner and Devin there, but also
Gabriel, his son Patrick, and Patrick’s tengu Ken. Of the
twenty-five men in the room at least five were already on Arianna’s
side. While not good odds if everyone else ganged up on them, it
would work to their favor since everyone else wouldn’t get along.
Traditionally, the clans had always fought and were in disagreement
on every issue. She could easily see that the lines were still
drawn between the men.

“For the duration of the games, there will
be strict security—including the need for permission to exit and
enter the property. Nate Childs didn’t make it by the appointed
time, and thus the first contender is eliminated.” Arianna walked
back over as Thomas entered the room. The men all stood and watched
Arianna like a piece of meat. Her every movement captivated
them.

“He is about two miles out and should be
here soon,” Thomas added. “Would you like to greet him or would you
like us to take care of it?”

Arianna looked over to Andrew, and he shook
his head no. “You will need to take care of it. Please be careful;
he won’t react well to being told he is out.”

“I can help if you’d like,” Rhys offered
from the end of the line. His retainer didn’t seem to agree, but
Rhys didn’t even look back. In typical leader quality, he ignored
the person sent there to help him.

“Okay,” Arianna hesitantly agreed. Rhys had
to have some motive for being so helpful, but since he offered she
wasn’t going to turn down the extra strength.

All the men present were strong. Each man
was either the head of their clan or the next in line. Rhys was no
exception. He was the current head of the sidhe people, and had
been leading them since he was fifteen. Ten years of running his
clan had only made him a stronger force to deal with. If he wanted
to offer to break the news to another family head, she wouldn’t
stop him.

Rhys followed Thomas out the door and to the
front gate. Arianna followed them with her senses, but didn’t
physically leave the room. She knew what was happening outside as
much as any of the other men in the room. She felt the temper flare
and the anger behind the muffled words being yelled. She also felt
the immediate calm come over the man as his rants faded. Nate
dismissed his retainers and followed Thomas and Rhys back into the
estate. Thomas knew that if needed they would need the men as
hostages. Any competitor eliminated could remain at the competition
to watch, but they couldn’t keep their retainer around. Arianna
waited for them to return. Nate Childs was alone behind Thomas, and
his anger had been calmed. The men in the room were more or less
uninterested in the proceedings outside, as they were content to
watch Arianna as she waited.

“Now that everyone has returned, I’ll lay
out the rules for you and explain how this is going to work. You
may choose to proceed by my rules, or you may leave the
competition,” Arianna continued.

“This isn’t a position that you can take,”
an older retainer complained from behind one of the contestants.
Arianna knew who the heads of the family were, but not the
retainers. They knew who would be competing, but not who they would
bring with them.

‘His grandfather,’
Devin informed her. Devin, of course, knew who
everyone was in the room.

Arianna moved over a bit to view the older
man. He looked nothing like the man in front of him, and it was
hard to believe that he was actually his grandfather. The retainer
was old and grayed with pale, blotchy skin. Dark, beady eyes stared
at her as he challenged her authority. His ward was light bronze in
coloring and only shared a nose shape with his grandfather. Loan
Durand stared at her, trying his best to apologize with his gaze.
His mix of ethnicity gave his eyes an almost amber color that
complimented his caramel-toned skin.

“Actually, yes, I can do this any way I
choose,” Arianna replied. She was getting used to old men
complaining that she was calling the shots after a year of dealing
with her own council of dearg-duls. Not a single one liked to hear
her having an opinion.

“These games are to be arranged and held by
the head of the family. They make the rules, not the girl being
competed for,” the retainer replied. His hawk-like gaze tried to
bore his point into her. Arianna didn’t even flinch. He didn’t
intimidate her.

“Then we completely agree,” Arianna replied
and moved back to sit down. Loan let out a sigh of relief that she
wasn’t going to argue with his old-fashioned grandfather. The man
caused enough problems for the Loogaroo night human family since
Loan’s father replaced the older man.

“So to continue-” Arianna began again.

“No, we don’t agree. Here you go again,
telling us what to do. Where is the head of the Randolph family,
and why is he not here to oversee this?” the man demanded.

Andrew growled, trying to keep his night
human in check at the man’s rudeness. Obliviously the older man was
used to getting his way. Arianna was grateful that Andrew was never
allowed into the dearg-dul council meetings. She doubted her
council would remain intact if she did bring him along.

“You are speaking to the head of the
Randolph family,” Devin replied from down the row. He was also sick
of how Arianna was treated. They all thought she was a prize, but
he couldn’t wait until they finally realized that she could easily
crush them into submission with her strength.

“Not possible. Where is Randolph?” the man
asked, not even deeming Devin worthy enough to look at.

“I am the current head of the dearg-dul,
lycan, baku, and tengu,” Arianna replied, letting a bit of her
power break forth as Gabriel did to command the baku into
submission. There was only one thing night humans respected;
strength. “My grandfather is dead, in case you didn’t get the
update. And trust me, if he were alive, I know what his solution
would have been to this mockery of clan rules. Not a single one of
you would have been left alive.”

Arianna stared from face to face as she
talked. Several of the men were cocky enough to think they would
have outlived her grandfather had he come looking for them, but the
majority knew that Lord Randolph had risen to power based on his
own cunning and strength. If he had ordered them dead, they would
have been dead. Even the older man knew he was no match for the
former Lord Randolph. Lord Randolph was the first to ever control
more than one clan when he won the lycan over with favors that
brought them more land and power. The night human world was
secretive, though, and none beyond her clans had been told of her
grandfather’s passing.