Becoming A Legend Part 9

"From what I can tell, with the a.n.a.lysis we've done so far, those people that attacked Patrick and Ken were some sort of hybrid. They had multiple night human antibodies in them," Gabriel explained. Andrew opened up his arms to allow Arianna to sit with him. He needed her close as much as she wanted to touch him.

Arianna wanted to refuse, but could not. She climbed into his arms before asking, "Antibodies?" Devin had mentioned it once in his lectures, but he lectured so much she often forgot little details.

"It's similar to when you get sick. Your body builds up antibodies to fight off the sickness, and then they remain in your blood to do it again if you get re-infected. Night human transformation works similar to that. It's like a disease that your day human body recognizes and makes antibodies for. That's why you can only be one type of night human. They aren't compatible. Once you have one night human type in you, you cannot be another. Like when you get sick with something like chicken pox, you build up antibodies and then can't get it again." Gabriel's explanation was almost as lengthy as Devin's, but at least this time, Arianna understood it a bit more. Arianna processed the description.

"Doesn't everyone normally have multiple antibodies? I mean, once you feed on someone that's a different night human? Baku feed on tengu all the time. Logically they would have both baku and tengu antibodies then," Arianna deduced, unconsciously snuggling closer to Andrew even though she was trying to keep her distance.

"No, if you feed on someone, you don't get their antibodies in your blood. That part is filtered out. You were the first one we ever saw that had both baku and dearg-dul antibodies. That's why we knew you were special," Gabriel explained.

"And these people, are they like Arianna?" Andrew asked. He moved her closer and wrapped his arms around her. Arianna didn't fight it. She was excited to hear that there were more people like her, but scared at the same time. Would they be friends or enemies? She had four clans of night humans to protect now. She could use friends more than enemies.

"No, they are not like Arianna," Gabriel answered. Arianna was disappointed and relieved at the same time. "We had some tissue to a.n.a.lyze along with the blood. You got a few cells in the sample you took. It came back that they both were one clan's cells. They were only one type of night human, yet they had multiple night human antibodies."

"If that's not possible by feeding, then how?" Arianna leaned back against Andrew, who began playing with her hair. Tingles went down to her toes, but Arianna concentrated on Gabriel, waiting for an answer.

Everything kept getting more complicated and confusing the longer she was a night human. First, she was an oddity, and now, everyone was trying to copy her. These new people seemed dangerous. If they could actually copy her genes, would they succeed? Would that mean the end of the peace around her? While the baku and dearg-dul had been fighting for decades, it wasn't always so. There were wars that included other clans. Devin refused to talk about anything outside the Randolph and Grace histories until she actually learned them completely, but Arianna always got a glimpse from the histories about other clans.

"Injecting?" Andrew asked, bringing Arianna back to the conversation at hand.

"No, that has been tried for centuries. It has to be something else. We need to get one of them alive to get our answers." Gabriel stood and paced to the windows. "It will be hard since they are so protected, but we need to figure this out, for our clans' sake and for Arianna."

"Will they be back?" Arianna hesitantly asked. She was bringing turmoil to her clans by just existing.

"No doubt," Gabriel replied, not turning back to her.

Arianna stared out the window. She wanted to be outside, watching dawn arrive, but she had promised Andrew that she would stay inside with Gabriel while he was gone. As Andrew ran further away, she felt like a part of her was missing. His touch had been constant for three days now; it was weird to feel him so far away. She watched, in her mind, as he ran to his destination. The link was never gone once she tasted someone's blood, but now she felt something more with him. Andrew met Devin on a train, and they leapt from it easily, along with Turner. It would take Andrew less than thirty minutes to return with them, but it felt like an eternity. Arianna continued to pace from window to window waiting for him to return.

Having Devin and Andrew both in the house at the same time would be a bit awkward, but Arianna needed to have them all close. At least Turner had quit his pursuit of Arianna in a romantic sense, and was happy to be her best friend, but that didn't make anything easier between Andrew and Devin. Her feelings for Andrew were strong, but in the few alone moments she'd had with Devin, she found that it was just as strong with him. Arianna literally felt like she was being pulled in half.

"I heard that Seeger suggested you choose a mate," Gabriel said quietly as he watched her pace. Arianna hesitated just a moment before turning to him. She got her emotions in check before looking at him. Being told by Seeger to do something was one problem, but the absurd suggestion she get married at seventeen was hard to fathom.

"Yes, what does that mean?" Arianna faced her uncle, finally looking into his eyes. "Is he really suggesting I get married? Or is it just a boyfriend thing?" She had been wondering this ever since Seeger suggested it. Arianna couldn't believe Seeger was actually suggesting she get married. She suddenly sensed that the three boys were on the move. Arianna felt their speed pick up. She began to pace again, waiting for her keepers to return.

"Marriage. It might not be a bad idea," Gabriel added for himself.

"What?" Arianna stopped and faced her uncle. "Are you serious? I'm seventeen. I still don't even have my driver's license. Marriage?"

Gabriel smiled and chuckled. "I'm not suggesting you go to Vegas this afternoon with one of the boys. I'm suggesting you select someone you can say is going to be your fiance. I'm suggesting getting engaged. A very long engagement, if you'd like. Then you might not have to deal with all the proposals. Devin is overloaded with paperwork as is." That much was true.

"Oh," Arianna said, not agreeing or disagreeing while she sat beside her uncle. He had seemed to age ten years in the past year alone. Arianna looked at the lines on his face, and then down to his hands. Gabriel was only a few years younger than grandfather was. "And how do I do that? Am I not caught in a political battle? If I choose a baku the Grace family will be happy and the Randolph estate upset, but the reverse would be true also. How can I actually choose someone and not upset the other? I can't even choose Devin because he's allied with the Randolph family."

"Ahh, my great niece is growing wise in her ways," Gabriel praised her as he put an arm around her and hugged her for comfort. "That's the exact problem Seeger is trying to force you into. He knows that there isn't a dearg-dul you're interested in, and you have a great chance of choosing a baku. Then he can rally the clan to get rid of you. If you are going to choose a dearg-dul, he wants it to be his son. You don't have to let him win this one."

"I don't?"

"Nah. Play his game and say you'll choose fiance, but that you need time to complete your selection of keepers first. And even better, tell him you want to open selection from the other clans. He won't want to rush you if you threaten to open the selection. Devin can ignore all marriage requests for the next year, and by then, you'll have your license and be eighteen."

"Doesn't Seeger still win?" Arianna pouted. She hadn't even had a date beyond the keepers she had constantly at her side. She was too young to get married. Just the idea frightened her. That was one lesson Devin made sure she understood. There was no such thing as divorce in the night human world. When you chose to wed, it was forever, no matter how long you lived, or what the person turned out to be like.

"Nope. Seeger wants a marriage, not the legend to be complete. He wants you and your power. Seeger is trying to force his son on you to get power in the Randolph house." Gabriel relaxed and watched the young woman next to him. She had grown up in the last year.

"Then why is he intent on killing me?" Arianna asked.

"Well, I think someone like Seeger is happy to get the power any way he can. He has many plans in place. I'm going to a.s.sume here that while killing you is his top option, even he doubts his son will be able to do that. So, his second plan is to get Michael to marry you. It would lead to the same results, but you might make more of a fuss alive than dead." The keepers were more than halfway home now.

"How come they always bug me about the keepers each time we meet? How does that fit into his plan?" Arianna wondered.

"To wear you down to being open for the whole marriage proposal. If you complete the legend, it will give you power, not him." Gabriel laughed to know she was going against what Seeger wanted by actually doing what he asked.

"Marriage," Arianna said the word with a bit of disgust. "Yeah, I'm not very open to marriage at this point. Forever is a very long time." Arianna felt Andrew nearing with Devin and Turner close behind. Forever was a very long time, but somehow she felt it would not be enough time when it came to Andrew and Devin.

"But you will need to be soon," Gabriel sighed. "Sooner than you will ever want to be. Night humans typically marry young. There's no guarantee how long you'll live. I'm ancient, and so was your grandfather, but your mother and father were not that young to die. Unfortunately, that's how our life is. And besides, everyone will want you to produce an heir soon."

"Are you kidding me? I'm only seventeen," she squeaked before sighing. Kids were definitely not on her mind. She didn't want to have a family for years, if ever. Even just the thought was horrifying. Arianna was beginning to see that no one cared that she was only seventeen. She wasn't an adolescent in this world. Here she was grown up already.

Turner burst through the door first, running over to her to catch her and throw her in the air. Turner's night human strength was always present even in his day human form. To him, day human Arianna was as light as a doll. Arianna laughed for the first time in a week as he caught her. Turner was always full of energy and laughter, and it was just what Arianna needed. Devin and Andrew followed close behind. Turner continued to hug her before reluctantly setting her down. His feelings for her hadn't changed, but he understood she wasn't meant for him. In time, he hoped to find the right person for him too, but for now he would just relish the time he could hold onto her, even though her heart belonged to someone else.

"You look so much better than the last time I saw you," Turner said, brus.h.i.+ng her messed-up hair off her face. "I didn't know if we could save you this time." Turner's concern poured off him, and Arianna needed to hug him again to rea.s.sure him that everything was fine.

"Aren't I supposed to be doing the saving?" she teased back and hit his arm playfully. His serious smile turned into laughter as he pulled back, pretending to be hurt.

"I think I win that point," he added, running away before she could argue over whether he surprised her or not. Devin approached Gabriel and sat beside him. As usual, Devin didn't openly hug her like Turner, but she felt the overwhelming relief from him as well.

"Enjoying your break?" Gabriel asked Devin.

"Break?" Arianna asked Gabriel, pus.h.i.+ng into their conversation.

"Yeah, a forced break. I had to pretend to not be doing anything, which can be hard. There will be so much more waiting at home when we finally get back," Devin complained. He was both strained and relieved at the same time. "I couldn't even bring anything with me in case someone could trace us that way. So yes, I'm on a break."

"Can you start back up now since we're connected to Mori?" Arianna asked, sitting next to Devin so that he could also see that she was doing better. Even though he wouldn't do anything to show his concern in front of other people, Devin was just as anxious as Turner. Her closeness seemed to help him a bit.

"We want to keep all unnecessary communications with the manor to a minimum, to keep you hidden here until you feel better," Devin explained. "Therefore, I'm not doing anything while we're gone. Molina is still in your apartment with Thomas, and can contact us if needed. So far, she hasn't needed to." Arianna couldn't tell if the relief was from not being needed, or seeing her up and around.

Gabriel stood and looked to Andrew. "I'll do the patrol now. Nice job getting them here. I couldn't have done better myself." Gabriel patted Andrew on the back as he left the cabin. Gabriel was relieved that Andrew finally showed his intentions with Arianna. It would be helpful for Gabriel to have such a capable baku protecting her when he couldn't.

"Make sure to teach her," he called over his shoulder as the door shut behind him.

"Teach me what?" Arianna asked. Since she was the only female in the room, Gabriel's remark had to be about her.

"How to look for lies," Andrew replied.

SEVENTEEN.

"You want me to be a human lie detector test?" Arianna asked incredulously after Andrew had outlined the processes to her. She would go inside the minds of people and look to see if they were lying about where they had been and what they were doing. She would become her own security camera, just with a bit of sneaking into someone's mind.

"Yes," Andrew replied, trying to keep a respectful distance between himself and Arianna now that Devin was back. "We need to be sure you're safe. Mori doesn't have any leads on how those toxins got into your apartment, let alone your room. He has cameras everywhere and still doesn't know." Andrew waited for his statement to sink in. Arianna's smile turned around, and she stared at him more. "It has to be an inside job."

"Everyone with access to my place is sworn to protect me before they can serve in the estate," Arianna replied, shocked that Andrew was actually suggesting someone she knew well had turned against her.

"Yes, and at that time they were fighting for you. We can't be sure everyone is now. Loyalties change. Objectives change," Andrew replied, looking to Devin for support. It was obvious that they were on the same page as Devin took over the argument.

"Ari. I know everyone loves you and is your friend, but we can't be sure that they wouldn't hurt you. The only people we can be certain of are your keepers. You would know if one of us betrayed you," Devin replied.

"My keepers are Andrew, Turner, and you?" Arianna looked around the room. "Not including Thomas, though, as he's not here. Do you suspect him?"

"All of your keepers are safe," Devin replied. "Thomas needed to stay behind to be our eyes and ears at the manor. But even so, you need to check all of us to be sure yourself. So listen to Andrew, and learn how, please."

"Why can't Andrew just do it?" Arianna asked, still not understanding why she had to invade her trusting friends' minds without them knowing. It seemed a bit wrong to do so with people who trusted her.

"First off, they're sworn to you. Therefore, you have permission to enter their minds. You may at any point ask us anything, and we have to answer. Second, Andrew doesn't have your power to do it from afar," Devin explained. Luckily, Turner wasn't choosing sides on the argument and just sat next to Arianna supporting her as Devin and Andrew argued with her. Devin and Andrew waited for her to understand. A long stretch of silence continued as she thought. Finally she took a deep breath.

"I can't just invade their minds," Arianna continued to complain. "It's like an invasion of privacy or something. I don't want people in my head, why would someone want me in theirs?"

"Ari," Turner finally stepped into the conversation. "Someone is making you sick. Someone has already broken your trust. We need to be sure who it is and who it isn't, so that we don't punish people who are innocent. Right now it's coming down to someone who has access to your apartment. That leaves Gabriel, your keepers, and your guards. There's no one else that can come and leave without permission. Even the maids need permission and are watched over."

"They are?" Arianna asked. She had never been around when someone cleaned her rooms. There was too much still in her world she didn't know.

"Yes, they are watched by me or someone else," Devin replied. "We can't risk your safety. Your grandfather trusted everyone employed in his house. See where that got him? We learned our lesson from that one, and we now trust no one but your guards and keepers." Lord Randolph's trust led to his death when someone poisoned his food a year ago.

"Just give it a try," Andrew tried to coax Arianna. He reached over and took her hand in his. s.h.i.+vers tingled and rippled from where they made contact. Arianna tried not to show her surprise. After being alone with him for three days, she had begun to ignore it, thinking it was her mind playing tricks, but now with Devin and Turner back, it was Andrew alone that did that to her. "You don't have to pry into their personal, deep, dark secrets. The one betraying you should have their thoughts on the surface. It won't take much prodding."

"Promise?" Arianna asked, staring at Andrew. He nodded solemnly. Searching friend's minds was not something she wanted to do.

"Then how do I do this?" she asked, reluctantly giving up the idea that she really had a chance to change their minds.

"I'll show you with Devin, and then you can try with Turner," Andrew explained. He reached over and p.r.i.c.ked her finger with the tip of his sharp baku nail as he momentarily changed to his night human form and pressed it to Arianna's hand.

'With a blood connection you can watch inside my mind easier as I do this,' he explained.

"Devin may we enter your mind?" Andrew asked.

"Yes," Devin replied.

'You need permission from anyone that's not pledged to you,' Andrew explained. 'They aren't pledged to me, so I need to ask. You don't.'

'So Turner is an open book?' Arianna asked, opening her eyes and looking at Turner next to her with his arm still on the couch behind her.

'To you yes, but me no. But all I have to do is ask.' Andrew paused and looked over at Arianna. She seemed to be following him thus far.

"I'd prefer none of that secret talk as you try to enter my mind," Devin said, breaking into their private conversation. Andrew nodded, and Arianna was shocked by how everything was changed between Andrew and Devin. There was no hostility in Devin's comment or Andrew's reply. There was only a bit of shallowly-hidden jealousy behind tremendous amounts of respect both ways.

"We will go into his mind. I'm sure we will find resistance, but since he's given us permission, we'll be able to enter without hurting him," Andrew explained. Andrew could think of how he'd had the same lesson years ago. Lucan didn't ever ask permission, and taught Andrew that it was unnecessary if you have the person trapped and can make a blood connection. The resulting procedure wasn't harmful for the baku entering the mind but to the person whose mind it was, it was terrible.

"It won't hurt him at all?" Arianna asked in disbelief. Poking around in someone's brain didn't sound pleasant.

"Probably not," Andrew replied. He couldn't be completely sure. "He does resist most everything else, so I hope not." Devin didn't seem to mind either way if it hurt or not.

"And he gave us permission," Arianna added hopefully.

"Not quite willingly," Andrew replied, looking over at Devin.

Devin was a closed book in Andrew's mind. Devin had spent so many years training to contain his emotions that he could never really give anyone permission to enter based on that alone. While Devin did say yes, he could never really let go enough to mean it. Andrew turned back to Arianna to continue their lesson.

"First, clear your mind," Andrew explained. Arianna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Andrew followed suit and shut his eyes to clear his own mind.

"You're not going to start humming now, are you?" Turner asked, trying to lighten the mood. "I might have to leave if you start humming. She's a really bad singer, and I doubt her humming is any better."

Andrew smiled slightly. "I haven't heard her sing yet. Maybe we should hum." Arianna reached over and playfully punched Turner and then Andrew.

"Okay, fine. Back to business." Andrew opened his eyes and stared at Devin. Arianna moved effortlessly into Andrew's mind. She saw Devin through Andrew's eyes and now found the respect they had for each other even stranger.

"To enter there's always a barrier, and with a little push," Andrew paused, and she felt mentally he was moving into Devin's head. "Okay, a bit more than a little push in his case. You're in."

"Um yeah," Arianna replied, wanting to leave his mind and check on Devin. It was more than a little push. Devin had a brick wall up. Luckily, Andrew was stronger than that.

"Do you feel all the memories floating around here?" Andrew asked, bringing Arianna back to her lesson.

"Yes, but nothing is really floating, it all seems like a big pile of mush. How do you know which one is being hidden from you?" Arianna questioned, focusing around the room.

"Think of it this way instead. It's not a pile of mush but a bunch of individual b.a.l.l.s." Arianna saw all the feelings and memories ball up. "Now let those b.a.l.l.s float in the air because really memories are weightless." All the b.a.l.l.s moved up. "And it's easier to sort through." Hundreds of tiny b.a.l.l.s floated around them like bubbles.

"These are all current memories?" she asked in awe.

"Yes," Andrew replied and let her take her time looking around. The room was filled with memories even though the walls were lined with locked doors.

"And how do we know which one is hidden from us? Do we have to go digging through it all?" Arianna wanted to reach forward and touch a memory to see if it would pop like a bubble, but without hands there was nothing she could do.

"No," Andrew replied. "Look closely around at the b.a.l.l.s. Most of them reflect one color, right."

"Um hm." Arianna was entranced by the colorful, floating b.a.l.l.s. Once he explained, Arianna could see exactly what Andrew described. Every ball had a light blue s.h.i.+ne to it.

"But what about the one a few back on the left. Do you see it? It's not the same color." Andrew was right, there was one a bit different, almost yellow in color, floating just beyond the first row. "So, now we just will hands to appear and reach over and take it." Once Andrew's hands were cupped around the yellow colored ball, images began to flow.

Devin sat at the kitchen table in Gabriel's house with Turner, Thomas, and Andrew. Thomas and Turner were dressed in tuxes from Arianna's birthday party. Andrew was sitting s.h.i.+rtless just like Arianna remembered. m.u.f.fled noises came out of everyone mouths until it began to clear up.

"How often has this been going on?" Andrew demanded. He looked visibly shaken.

Devin wanted to feel that grief that was pouring out of Andrew, but he couldn't. Grief wasn't an emotion Devin had time to feel. "About two months now. We've tested her for every poison we can find, but nothing has come up. Mori has been working all day and through the night trying to figure it out."

"And so, what? You're just going to let her wither away? Can't you see she's sick?" Andrew's word stung. Devin had known Arianna was sick way before anyone else had. He had immediately started tests under the guise that the scientists were working on looking for the life-extending cure her blood was. Every time a new test came back and there was nothing wrong with it, Devin lost another piece of sanity. It was his job to protect her and he couldn't even do that in her own home.