The Legend of the Blue Eyes (32 page)

“Is that you, old friend?” Lord Randolph
hoarsely whispered.

“Who else could break into your house
successfully, old man?” Gabriel replied. “And I brought your
granddaughter.”

“Ari?” Lord Randolph whispered.

“Grandfather,” Arianna replied, before
breaking into tears at the sight of her grandfather, who had been
so strong, lying withered on the floor, unable to move, or even
open his eyes. “I’m here. How do we help you?” she begged.

“Arianna, listen to me now,” he paused to
breathe. He straightened his frame slightly and opened his eyes as
he spoke, showing the last flicker of the man he had been for a
lifetime. “I’m an old man, and I’ve lived a long time. I’ve seen
more than I ever wanted to see and lived more than one lifetime. I
regret not staying to protect you, but that was never in the cards
for me. I have trained Devin to do that, as he will be able to
stand by you always. Follow his orders, and those of your uncle
here, and you will be safe.” The regalness of the man before her
faded as he slumped back down.

“I entrust her to you now,” he spoke to
Gabriel. “Now, go help Bran. The Tricity isn’t ready to be without
him.” Lord Randolph pointed to a plate nearby that was smeared with
his blood. Gabriel stood and took the plate across the room to
where Lord Winter lay unconscious. He opened the large man’s mouth,
and smeared the blood inside. Gabriel returned to Lord Randolph’s
side and heard more metal clanking as the main doors to the
apartment were flung open.

Turner rushed across the room to his father
and knelt beside him. Devin did the same to Lord Randolph.

“It’s time to keep your promise,” Lord
Randolph whispered to Devin. He coughed before speaking again.
“Please, take her away. She doesn’t need to see this.” Devin nodded
and followed this one last order from Lord Randolph.

“He will be awake in a few minutes. He will
be fine now,” Gabriel said to Turner, who was still holding his
father’s hand. “Please join Devin and Arianna.” Turner stood and
nodded, looking back at his father before helping Devin to pull
Arianna into a standing position.

“But,” Arianna began to complain. Gabriel
tapped her forehead, and Arianna slumped into Devin’s arms.

Arianna awoke to the commotion around her.
The ballroom was filled with people rushing to help the wounded
that were crying out. Devin was in one corner with an injured
human, while Turner was running back to him with more bandages.
Arianna stood and slowly walked through the mess of people. She
could only faintly hear her grandfather’s heartbeat. He was still
alive. Gabriel was near him. Arianna listened as she walked into
the hallway without Devin or Turner noticing.

“You should see it,” Gabriel said quietly.
“She is magnificent. Everything we hoped for.”

“I wish I had the chance,” Randolph replied
quietly.

“Now, with it complete, we don’t need to
worry any longer. She had complete control. It’s truly
amazing.”

“Only Tiffany and Travis could make a child
that unique.” Randolph paused. “I think the time is near.”

“It’s been a good run, old man.”

Arianna heard a shuffling sound beside her
that brought her back to the situation around her. A cook was
sitting on a table, the flowers that used to sit there were smashed
on the floor beside it. Her leg was completely mangled, and someone
had placed a tourniquet around her thigh to stop the bleeding.
Arianna paused and stared at the woman, he scent was familiar. She
smiled, despite her state, as people rushed between them. Two
transformed dearg-duls rushed past, toward another down the
hallway. All the blood was affecting the dearg-duls at the estate,
but Arianna was still human. The blood didn’t affect her at
all.

“They are alright,” the cook said to
Arianna.

“Who?” Arianna asked.

“Lilly, Dean, and Captain Lou,” the cook
replied. Arianna stared at the human, wondering what she was
talking about. “I talked to Lou just a few minutes ago. He
recognized the smell of gas before the building blew up and took
everyone out.”

“What?”

“You didn’t know yet?” the
cook asked. “Sorry. I thought someone had told
you
—
the diner blew up. No one had any
contact, but Lou finally called me. He said he couldn’t get through
to anyone else and that I should relay the message to you. I
haven’t been in any state to find you this way.” She pointed at her
leg.

“The diner blew up?” Arianna asked, sitting
beside the cook in shock.

“Yes, the attack was planned well on all
fronts. They were trying to perform a complete take-over. I think
they were targeting you at the diner, and here they were going to
kill both Lord Randolph and Lord Winter. At least, that’s what Lou
thinks.” Arianna stared at the cook. “I suppose you don’t remember
me. I’m Lou’s wife.” Arianna continued to stare at the woman. She
smelled exactly the same as Lou. The cook laughed, and then
grimaced at the jostle of her injured leg.

“Don’t you need to get some help?” Arianna
asked, concerned about the wound running from her thigh to her
calf.

“Nah. There are people more hurt than me. I
can wait.” The cook pointed around the room. Many of the injured
were bleeding worse than her.

“If you wait, won’t you lose your leg?”

“It’s not that bad. After they get to
tending to the critical people, I’ll get my own little bag of
dearg-dul blood and in a week or two it will be back to normal.”
The cook didn’t seem to mind her leg as she waited.

“Dearg-dul blood?” Arianna wanted to know
she heard correct.

“Yep. Haven’t you noticed how you can drink
blood from humans and not leave a mark? There’s a healing ability
in night human blood that can heal, not only their own kind, but
day humans also,” the cook explained, leaning back against the
wall. “I’m not going to die from this wound. Therefore, I sit here
and wait for my turn.”

“Can I test something?”
Arianna asked the cook who nodded her head
yes
, although she didn’t know what
Arianna was referring to. Arianna pricked her finger and dropped a
drop of blood on the wound running down the cook’s leg before the
cook could get out a protest. Turner came running from the ballroom
with Devin and Molina close behind. Nixon and Mica came from down
the hallway as Nelson ran up from the other direction.

“What happened?” Turner asked, examining
Arianna to find the source of her blood loss.

“Nothing,” Arianna replied. “I just wanted
to see if my blood worked like dearg-dul blood on humans.” The
group heaved a collective sigh of relief.

“Of course your blood works like a
dearg-dul’s,” Molina replied. “I thought we’d already tested that
theory.”

“Then why don’t we use my blood to heal
everyone?” Arianna asked.

“Because your blood is much too valuable,”
the cook replied, everyone looked to the now-healed cook. “Everyone
made it out of the diner,” the cook reported to Devin, who nodded
his response.

“But, if one drop can heal a wound like
that, why can’t I help at least some of these people?” Arianna
complained.

“One drop, diluted in water, could heal a
lot of people,” Turner guessed.

“It’s against the rules,” Molina replied,
putting an end to their train of thought.

“But,” Turner began his protest.

Arianna involuntarily shivered as she felt
grief overcome her, not to Molina’s response, but from someone
close. Arianna closed her eyes and began to wander the estate with
her senses. Arianna paused at her grandfather’s apartment. Gabriel
was all alone in the room. One tear trickled down her face as she
reopened her eyes. She looked straight across the group around her
into Devin’s eyes. Devin nodded, as the conversation around them
continued to argue over why she couldn’t use her blood.

“Is this your decision?” Devin asked,
interrupting the arguing.

“Yes. I want to use my blood to help,”
Arianna replied.

“But Lord Randolph’s order…” Molina tried to
remind Devin.

“We follow the orders of the leader of the
family, correct?” Devin asked in reply. Molina nodded in confusion.
“Then we will follow her orders.” The group stopped, and all turned
to Devin for an explanation that wasn’t needed.

“We won’t let her overuse her blood,” Devin
replied to Molina, who was still in shock. Devin offered his hand
to Arianna, pulling her away and back down the hallway, to the
ballroom.

Turner ran and grabbed the closest pitchers
of water.

“One drop in each,” Devin explained.

“Just one?” Arianna asked.

“Your blood is more powerful than all the
dearg-duls in this room,” Gabriel replied, coming up behind her.
“One drop is more than enough.” Arianna followed their orders while
not looking directly at Gabriel. Devin and Turner hurried around
the room, pouring water into the glasses of the injured people.

“I need to leave now,” Gabriel said quietly
to Arianna. “I told Patrick and the others to head back, and I must
meet them there. All sides have been attacked.” Arianna wanted to
protest, but remained silent as she still couldn’t look him in the
eyes. “Everything is changing, and I’m needed at home to make sure
it is alright. I’ll check on Lilly and Dean when I get back.”

“Is he really gone?” Arianna asked.

“Yes,” Gabriel replied.

“What does one do when a night human dies?”
Arianna asked, still unsure of the world she was living in.

“Celebrate their lives and remember every
moment you spent together.” Gabriel placed his arm around Arianna
to comfort her. “And the answer to that question is: nothing.
Dearg-duls turn to dust and are gone in the wind.” Gabriel took
Arianna’s hand and placed a ring in it. “He lived a long life,
regretting only the loss of you and your mother. He did his best to
make amends.” Gabriel nodded to Devin, who was still circling the
room. “They’ll take care of you.” Arianna nodded. “You are in
charge now, here and back home too. Don’t worry about home for now,
as I’ll be there to take care of everything. I’m never too far
away.” Gabriel vanished as fast as he had appeared.

Turner returned with two more clean pitchers
of water. Arianna nodded and pricked her finger another time.

*
* * * *

Arianna was glad to return to her own room
after the long day dealing with the injured. Opening the door to
her apartment, Arianna paused, catching the faint scent of her
grandfather. She looked absently across the room to the stairway.
He was already gone, but there was something of him that lingered
on.

“Why don’t you go get some rest?” Devin
suggested. Arianna nodded. “I’m sure the council will all be
arriving soon. This is only just beginning.”

Arianna opened the door to her room and
stared around the neatly organized space. The whole mansion had
been in chaos all afternoon, but her room looked like it hadn’t
been touched. On her desk, a small laptop computer was playing the
same clip over and over. Arianna paused to stare at the new
addition to the room before scanning for any intruder. Arianna
walked closer to the computer before sitting down. She could
faintly sense her uncle, and didn’t fear that the computer was part
of a stunt to kidnap her. The screen loop began again. Reaching
over, she turned up the sound.

In the main ballroom of the Randolph manor,
a small blond-haired girl ran across to an older man. The child
giggled and laughed as she caught up to the man. The man reached
over and placed the young child on his own feet. As they whirled
around the room to the sound of a familiar tune, Arianna finally
caught a close look at their faces; it was her grandfather and
herself. She watched her younger self gracefully dance around with
her grandfather, giggling at every chance. As the song ended, her
grandfather paused near enough for the camera to pick up their
conversation.

“Papa, again,” the young Arianna
demanded.

Lord Randolph laughed. “I am an old man,
child. One dance is enough for me.”

“Again,” she demanded, the stubborn child
that she was.

Lord Randolph plopped unceremoniously to the
ground and lay on his back, giving up.

“Really, I’m old and tired,” Randolph
complained. Young Arianna climbed up onto her grandfather’s lap and
stared intently at the old man.

“Hmm,” she paused and pushed a bit on his
wrinkles in his face. “Nope, not old,” she determined, and Randolph
laughed, much more happily than Arianna remembered hearing.

“I am old, child, even if you do not think
so.”

“You can’t be old. Old people die. If you
die, then there would be no one to take care of me,” young Arianna
began to sniffle.