Becoming a Legend (32 page)

M
ini bubbles of memories floated past Arianna with pictures of all her time with Molina. Most of the memories were from the past year, but others also followed. Molina had been watching over Arianna for years before Arianna even knew about night humans. Memories of Arianna’s much simpler day human life floated by. Soon she was surrounded by how Molina saw everything happen. The past year together was now surrounding her. Emotions began to pour off the bubbles floating around her.

‘
Do you feel that?’
Andrew asked in barely a whisper. Andrew was beside Arianna watching all the scenes also, and sensing all the feelings.

‘
It’s love, isn’t it?’
Arianna replied. It wasn’t the same type of love she felt from him, but it was love.

‘
She loves you like a sibling,’
Andrew replied, pushing a memory closer to her. Being an only child, Arianna had never felt that kind of love before. Andrew did. There was no bitterness behind his words but inspiration that there could still be that kind of love without a blood bond.

Arianna looked
at the scene before her. From Molina’s view, Arianna was riding the bus in her pre-night human days. Arianna was slumped over, wiping away tears discreetly. Jackson had yet to board and Molina was having a hard time sitting still on the bus, she wanted to go comfort her. Arianna’s pain was also Molina’s pain. Molina wanted to know who would cause her so much pain and beat the crap out of them. Arianna was the little sister Molina missed dearly.

Arianna could remember the day herself
, but didn’t know anyone saw her. Molina had been watching her for some time before she ever entered the night human world and obviously already knew most of those lonely days where Arianna felt lost without having family around. It wasn’t the same to be raised by Aunt Lilly and Uncle Dean, no matter how much they loved her.

‘
I think this is the one you want to see,’
Andrew interrupted the movie playing before Arianna.
‘I will leave this to you now. I think I need to go back out and talk with everyone. Devin is getting anxious for you to find out what you need to know, or he doesn’t want you in his head. I don’t know which it is, but I’ll keep him company until then.’
Andrew’s presence disappeared.

Arianna picked up the bubble that was pushed
toward her. The world in Molina’s mind changed, and she was now melting into a scene at her grandfather’s mansion. The walls of the residential area of Randolph manor swirled into view.

A loud crash in the next room brought her violently into the world
through Molina’s eyes. Molina looked up from the tracking devices. They had more problems than just that Arianna was missing, which they knew was going to happen, it was just a matter of when. There was a baku on the property. He had hidden himself well, but Mori still picked up a slight trace. They didn’t know who the baku was, but to be missed by all the Randolph security meant he was strong, very strong, possibly Gabriel himself. Molina stood and crept near the doorway downstairs. Something inside her warned to proceed with caution. Another crash covered up the sounds of the door opening. Molina kept moving downstairs. More crashes came as Molina paused outside the room Devin was in with Randolph.

“
When you’re done destroying our home, we can continue talking.” Lord Randolph’s voice was ice, cutting through the hostility in the air.

“
They took her,” Devin said, the despair evident in his voice. “I told her I’d keep her safe, and they took her.” Steely-emotioned-Devin was actually breaking down.

“
This was one of the scenarios that we knew could happen. Seeger has been plotting for years to get the dearg-dul behind him.” Lord Randolph was calm and didn’t even seem to worry over his granddaughter’s disappearance. It was odd. Everyone on her team was extremely worried, but Randolph was not.

“
What if they do something to her? It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have left her alone.” Devin was now over his violent outburst and on the verge of tears. This shocked Molina as she had never seen any sort of emotion from the boy since the first day he came into the Randolph manor.

“
Her uncle will find her,” Randolph assured Devin. “No need to worry. It’s kind of his specialty.” This was the first time Molina was hearing that Arianna had an uncle. When she had asked why Devin had found Arianna in baku territory only a night ago, he gave a reply that it was where her parents had lived. Arianna assumed that the baku took Arianna’s dearg-dul mother in after Randolph kicked her out. Molina didn’t know that meant there were actual relatives still alive.

“
But she didn’t finish the feeding when she turned,” Devin replied. This Molina agreed with. Somehow, Arianna stopped feeding on Devin when she was starting to affect him. No one had ever not finished the turning. Arianna was the first. “She might run out of blood before anyone can find her.”

“
She won’t die that easily,” Lord Randolph dismissed Devin’s worry and began to pick up the larger objects that had been tossed around the room.

Devin
wanted to complain but stopped. No one questioned Lord Randolph.

“
Now, I need to take care of some more business before we dispatch the imposter.” Lord Randolph was dismissing Devin. “You’re certain she had blue eyes?” he asked Devin one last time.

“
Yes, positive,” Devin replied. Blue eyes? Molina was startled. She hadn’t even thought to look at Arianna’s eyes when she transformed. “Did you know she would?” Devin asked.

“
I suspected because Gabriel said he thought she was a baku,” Lord Randolph answered. He was always the most honest with Devin, and only Devin. Molina’s mind began to race at the possibility. First, they had suspected that Arianna was the dearg-dul of legend. Second, Randolph just said Arianna was a baku. That confirmed Arianna was the dearg-dul of legend.

“
And what does that mean?” Devin asked. “People whisper about the blue eyes coming soon, but I have never known what it means. And no one has ever answered me when I ask.”

“
Because to speak of it means death,” Lord Randolph replied, waving his hand in the air as if death wasn’t a problem. “I have ordered that anyone who actually speaks the prophecy will be put to death.”

“
Is it that bad?” Devin asked. Molina had heard whispers of the legend; even she didn’t know the truth. All anyone would say was a blue eyed dearg-dul would join the clans together through mending the clans with five keepers by their side. No one actually knew what it all meant.

“
No, but I never want her to learn of it. I have collected the verses over the years from the dearg-dul, lycan, baku, and tengu. I have begun trying to acquire the rest from the other nine clans. With some bartering, by the end of the year, I should have the whole prophecy,” Lord Randolph explained as he began to tap his cane on the floor.

“All of the
dearg-dul who are older than my daughter had heard of the rumor that a blue eyed night human would be born with the power to save or destroy us. The child will need blood from five different types of human to become an all-powerful night human able to do what no one else can,” Lord Randolph explained. “You can read what we’ve found later.”

“
Arianna will be a savior to the night humans by drinking the blood of five different humans?” Devin asked, letting go of his breath at the same time Molina did.

“
That, or the death of us,” Lord Randolph replied. “Once she has the blood of five keepers, she cannot be killed by poison or disease and her power will be off the charts. She will either save us or destroy us—if we do not destroy ourselves. I don’t want her told of this. She will stay my grandchild only, no legend.” A siren began wailing in the background.

Molina immediately jumped up and returned to the stairs to make a rather noisy entrance.
Arianna was the night human of legend sent to save them all, but Lord Randolph would never let that happen. What would happen to the night humans if Arianna didn’t save them? Molina thought of the small, fragile girl she watched for a year. Was she strong enough to save them? Would she even want to after her rather brief introduction to their world? Arianna may not want to save the night humans, but Molina was sure: she would save Arianna by any means necessary.

“
Lord,” she said, entering the room that was now trashed by Devin. She knelt at Lord Randolph’s feet. Shattered glass lay around the corners of the room, and a large metal plate had a dent in it. Molina didn’t acknowledge the mess as it wasn’t her place to say anything.

“
Yes,” Lord Randolph said.

“
Mori has spotted a baku on the grounds. He’s making his way into the underground compound. He must be strong as we were barely able to detect a blip, but Mori is sure that’s where he’s headed,” Molina replied. Randolph didn’t seem to care too much at the mention of the baku.

“There’s
your answer.” Lord Randolph took a blade off the wall and tossed it to Devin. “Go rescue the princess, but keep her hidden until I expose the fake at tonight’s changing. Tell Gabriel I say hello, if you get the chance, and kill him, too, if needed.”

Arianna faded out of the memory and back to the room. Molina sat
, staring across the room at Jackson. He sat silently, waiting for the verdict on Molina as did the rest of the room. Andrew already knew the answer, but gave nothing away.

“
She’s telling the truth. She won’t hurt me now or ever,” Arianna replied. “So what does that mean?” Arianna asked Devin, who was standing behind her. “Will you be honest with me?”

TWENTY-EIGHT

The room emptied after they unbound Molina.
She gave Arianna a weak smile, asking for forgiveness that would take time to come by. Jackson took Molina’s hand and led her away, a much more intimate gesture than Arianna was used to. Andrew stopped, the last one to leave the room. He held her hand and kissed the tips of her knuckles.

‘Do you need me to stay?’
he asked, concerned that she was not going to be happy with what she found in Devin’s mind.

‘
No, we need to be alone. Devin is never open to me unless we’re alone,’
Arianna replied, kissing his hand as he held hers. Andrew was her strength now, but she needed to do this. She needed to know what was hidden in Devin’s mind. She needed closure.

‘
No matter what he tells you, it doesn’t change anything between us. I still choose you,’
Andrew replied cryptically before leaving.

Arianna waited for everyone to be out of listening distance
, besides Andrew who seemed to know everything already. Arianna wanted the truth for a change. She turned back to Devin and looked him over.

“W
ill you finally be honest with me?” Arianna crossed her arms across her chest, ready to challenge Devin with whatever excuse he had.

“
Yes,” Devin replied simply.

“
Really?” Arianna dropped her defensive stance. Devin wasn’t ever completely truthful. Arianna didn’t think he had it in him to be so.

“
Just let’s move to the closet. The closets in these homes are soundproof for safe talking since all night humans have sensitive ears. It’s much easier than soundproofing each room.” Devin led the way into the walk-in closet. It was filled with empty shelves. Devin leaned against the wall and slid down until he was sitting. The strong front he always displayed was gone. He was back to being just Devin. Arianna missed
just
Devin. He was never around when she needed him, and she was seeing less and less of him. Devin was becoming more of the soldier Randolph trained him to be. Arianna moved closer so that she could reach out and touch him, but did not. After learning that Andrew was her mate, she felt it was cheating to even touch Devin, despite the fact that he loved her and that part of her loved him too.

“
Go ahead, look inside my mind,” Devin urged her. They both remained close, but not touching. It was different now for both of them.

Arianna focused and easily entered his mind. Where Andrew found resistance when
he was teaching her how to enter minds using Devin, now she found nothing but an open door. His mind was still quite blank compared to Molina, but this time all the doors had handles. Arianna moved to the first door and opened it. The room was filled with memories. Arianna looked around at all of them, memories of Devin’s childhood. Memories floated out the door as she moved to the next room. The door, this time, opened on its own. Memories of his training surrounded her. She felt the pain and anguish that went behind the making of the man that was Devin. Before her floated a memory of Devin around the age of ten. She watched as he faced off against a larger, fully-transformed baku. It took everything inside him to fight the man, but in the end, Devin had his first kill. Anguish followed the triumph he felt after Randolph let him finally be alone. Baku were the enemy, but still they were people. That feeling died as he did it again and again. Soon there were new memories. The doors all opened except for the last door, but she was too surrounded to go near it anyways. As with Molina, Arianna looked around and became confused as to where to even start.