Arianna picked up a dagger and tossed it across the room at a target with just a flick of her wrist. She didn’t even look to see where it hit as by now she already knew it would be dead center. Half the men gasped in shock at the accuracy of her throw. Everyone in the room assumed that she was a helpless female, since she had such strong men around her to protect her. Rhys openly clapped for her, and smiled. Arianna quickly bowed to him, as he was the only one, aside from her own clansmen, without his mouth on the floor.
“Get the point?” Arianna asked. “Practice today, and we will compete tomorrow outside. It is worth one third of your points for the first competition.” Arianna gathered the courage to look at the face of each man. They were now eagerly looking at the weapons.
‘Are you sure we should leave them around weapons?’ Arianna asked Thomas. They were not a threat to her, but they might be to each other. She sensed murderous contempt coming off several men aimed for each other.
‘Once you are out of the room, we don’t care who they throw knives at,’ Thomas explained that her safety always came first.
‘Really? Because we are leaving Devin, Turner, and Ken in that room,’ Arianna looked over to Devin. He didn’t seem worried at all.
‘Devin can take care of all three of them.’ Thomas replied.
Arianna left the men standing around in the practice room. Her security team of Molina, Nelson, Nixon, and Jackson all stayed in the room to oversee it. Andrew followed diligently behind her as she stopped at the hallway behind the training room. He was determined to go anywhere she went. The retainers failed to notice her arrival aside from Rhys’ retainer, who stood and offered her his chair. Arianna shook her head as she stood beside her uncle, instead.
‘Everything safe while they were sleeping?’ Arianna asked.
Gabriel did not take his focus away from Devin and Turner in the room in front of them. ‘Yes. We moved them all into one room as planned, and Patrick and I can then take turns watching while they sleep. We won’t let anything happen to them.’
Arianna bent down and hugged the man sitting next to Gabriel. Patrick was her second cousin, and even though he was as old as her own father would be, he was the closest she would ever have to a real cousin. Patrick smiled up at her while Gabriel watched over everyone.
“Good to see you, cousin,” Patrick said.
“And you,” Arianna replied. A couple of the retainers looked over at her and Patrick as they talked. One even seemed surprised to hear the greeting. Relations and party politics were kept very close to home within the night human communities. Most knew only the relationship between the head of the clan and the next in line.
“Ken’s wings are feeling good?” Arianna asked. Just over two months back Arianna had healed Ken beyond what anyone imagined she could do. Ken was a tengu, which was evident when he unfurled his large, black wings, which were normally tucked away just like Thomas. When Ken and Patrick were attacked, more than likely by, or ordered by, someone in the room in front of them, Ken’s wings were ripped from his back. Ken kept his wings outside his body now, but they were tucked close. Arianna couldn’t tell if they were actually functional.
“Yes,” Patrick replied with appreciation. “Never been better.” Arianna sensed around the room of retainers, searching for the one that was listening the most or had an increased heartbeat. One of these men knew who ripped off Ken’s wings. Plan number forty-two was to see who was actually hostile toward Arianna. Whoever attacked Ken and Patrick was considered hostile.
‘The first man on the left, and third man, and Rhys’ McKinny’s retainers are all interested in this conversation,’ Arianna noted for Thomas. He looked to Andrew, who nodded in agreement.
“Glad to hear that. Did you guys fly here, then?” Arianna asked, still talking about Ken’s wings to be certain she was right. She was correct. They easily singled themselves out. She couldn’t be sure on Rhys, though, as his retainer had not stopped staring at her since he arrived.
“Oh yes, Ken was able to fly as fast as I ran. It was good to see that they healed so nicely. It’s as if nothing ever happened,” Patrick emphasized the event one last time before nodded to Arianna. ‘He really is great. We could never repay you. Even coming here isn’t repayment enough. We owe you our lives. Thanks,’ Patrick added for her only to hear. Arianna leaned over and hugged her cousin one last time before leaving with Andrew and Thomas close behind. Thomas had seen what they needed to know for now. Gabriel would keep watch over the retainers for more clues.
Once back in her room, Thomas opened the locked cabinet across from her bed and turned on the multiple TVs inside it. Easily the training area was now in complete view for Arianna to watch over everything that happened while she was gone from the room. Thomas, along with Mori, had rigged the whole house to have video for Arianna’s benefit. While she could listen and feel almost as much as the videos could see, this way made it possible for everyone to watch alongside her.
“Who do we think was responsible for Ken’s wings?” Arianna asked. She had studied all the competitors, but the retainers were the ones to give the most away.
“The closest one was Manuel Vasquez’s retainer, his father Earl Vasquez. And the other was Chet Barret’s retainer. We have two possibilities as to whom he is,” Thomas replied. They were still working on a few of the men to figure out who they were. It wouldn’t take long, as the entire house was bugged. With just a first name to go on, they were still searching for details.
“And Rhys?” Arianna added. Rhys’ retainer had not taken his eyes off of Arianna since he arrived. Something was off about the man, even if Rhys seemed to be completely fine.
“I doubt he was involved,” Andrew replied. He had seen how Rhys and his retainer watched Arianna. “Those two just can’t seem to keep their eyes off you no matter what. He was watching you from the point you entered the room, not just during the conversation with Patrick.”
Arianna smiled over at Andrew as he sulked. He didn’t like having Arianna prance around for all these men. Arianna reached over and took his hand in hers. Warmth spread up his arm. She could tell him a hundred times over not to worry, but it would do no good. Andrew would always worry. Arianna wanted to take his concern away, but the only way that would happen was if the competition was done and she could truly be his. Andrew twined his fingers with hers. That would have to do for now.
Thomas pointed back to the screens distracting them from each other. “Now it’s time for the real show. When the cat is away, the mouse will play.” The men on the screen all were finally gathering the courage to grab a weapon and practice.
Devin walked over to the table with Turner and Ken beside him. No one in the room made to move toward either the tables or the targets down the other side of the hallway while Devin moved. No one wanted to be the first to show their strength or weakness in front of the other men, but more than that, Devin was intimidating. The men all knew who he was, as he had already made a name for himself in the night human world beside Randolph, but none actually believed a day human could be so powerful. Devin led the way back to the target next to the north wall. They would have the best view looking down at the other targets from their vantage point.
“Guess I should go first,” Ken said, shrugging his shoulders. He wasn’t actually the best for competitions, but he had been training alongside Devin and Turner all month to make a good run at it. Ken easily tossed the knife across the distance. It hit the target with a thud and stuck on the edge of the inner ring near the bull’s-eye.
“Is that the best you can do?” teased Turner. Ken could do better, but since he threw off the mark, Turner decided to play along also and throw his off a little. Hitting a target was a piece of cake for them now.
The room silently watched Ken and Turner take turns until they used up the knives they had grabbed. Soon all the men stopped standing around and joined in by grabbing various weapons and choosing targets. Their suspect in the attack on the Grace lands, Manuel Vasquez
, took the target right next to the trio. Being that there were less targets then men, Rhys joined Manuel at the target. Manuel did not look pleased to see the sidhe next to him, but he didn’t move either. He had chosen his spot for a reason.
Devin, Turner, and Ken ignored the other competitors. Turner and Ken were actually making a game of not hitting the target exactly. When they had no knives left, Devin walked to the target and retrieved the knives, pulling them out one at a time. Manuel took his first shot and missed the target wide, toward Devin who was gathering the knives. Devin didn’t acknowledge the knife that came fairly close to him as he walked back to Turner and Ken so that they could throw more.
“Vasquez,” Molina said from behind the stout man as he stood to throw a second knife. “If that hits someone, accidentally or not, you will be removed from the competition.”
Manuel glared up at Molina, who actually stood a few inches taller than him in her heeled boots. She looked down at the angry man, waiting for him to protest. He didn’t as he turned and hit the mark on the target perfectly with his next two throws.
Rhys stepped up next and followed suit. All three knives hit the target easily. It wasn’t much to ask any of the night humans present to hit the mark. Arianna made out bits from their minds as they all wondered how she would choose a winner as they made an easy game of it. Rhys retrieved the knives and handed them to Manuel to practice again. Looking around the room, he found Molina scolding another competitor about throwing too close to someone else. Manuel took his chance and threw the blade toward Devin as he collected knives again. The knife flew toward Devin but veered off its course at the last moment, when it hit the original target. No one in the room but Manuel seemed to notice how the knife changed course mid-air.
“Did you see that?” Arianna asked Thomas, who was already standing and talking on his phone to Mori.
“Replay that on screen three,” Thomas asked Mori.
Arianna stood and watched the screen again. The knife was clearly heading toward Devin, but changed course and ran back to the original target. The knife actually changed directions while it was flying in the air, which is physically not possible.
“Impossible,” Arianna said in awe while the screen replayed the throw.
Someone had saved Devin. Devin hadn’t seen it coming, or that was he almost hit. Andrew was watching the current room alongside the replay. Manuel was now fuming and looking around the room for the night human that deflected his perfectly aimed throw. Devin was well guarded, and Manuel would get very few chances to attack the one man that stood between all of them and Arianna. Manuel stopped pacing as he looked at the one-sided mirror, presumably communicating with his retainer. Arianna listened into their conversation by focusing on Manuel. Her new eavesdropping capabilities were about to come in handy.
‘Who could have done that?’ Manuel asked his retainer.
‘I’m not sure who would have even wanted to do that,’ the retainer replied.
‘What the hell are you doing here if you aren’t going to help?’ Manuel growled back.
‘I’ll have to look at the knives later. I should be able to tell from the residue,’ the retainer humbly added. ‘Besides, who would sabotage you is the least of our worries. I think the girl knows we attacked the tengu.’ Manuel’s concentration snapped back down to look around the room and the guards, who were now all watching him.
Arianna returned to the conversation in her own room between Thomas and Andrew.
“It’s got to be Rhys,” Thomas said as they watched the knife veer off course for the fifth time in a row. “Mori, can you go back to when they all came to the tables.” The screen blanked, and the playback began again at the men taking the knives. Rhys followed Manuel to the table, but didn’t take knives of his own. The video sped up, but slowed again as Rhys took the knives.
“We can’t see his face from here,” Arianna commented as Rhys was at the target removing the knives.
“And neither could anyone else,” Thomas guessed. Mori changed the view to what they expected. Rhys’ mouth was moving ever so slightly as he touched each knife.
“It is sidhe magic,” Arianna assumed. She had yet to see what all the night humans could do, but her crash course over the last month taught her the basics about each clan.
“I think we might have an ally,” Thomas said, as the clip played a second time.
Chapter 8
Late morning approached as the men finished their training, or for most, their pretend training. At supper they all stood around quietly, contemplating their strategy or silently communicating with their retainers. There were far too many conversations going on at once for Arianna to discern any particular one from the others. Devin had managed to go the whole training session without throwing a single knife, which had all the retainers wondering about him. Devin had made himself into a legend as Randolph’s right-hand man for the past five years. It was only last month that the majority of them found out Devin was only a day human. Now they wanted to see firsthand how a day human would compete with their night human prodigies.
After supper, Arianna joined Devin and Gabriel in the library to go over clan business. While the other clan heads gathered around their own computers to get business done, they all kept a close eye on Arianna. She quickly regretted agreeing to them all sharing a room, they were going to be a distraction.
‘Seeger has been insisting Michael be sent here to watch over everything, and report back to the council,’ Devin said mentally to Arianna, as he scanned more papers and pointed to the email up on his computer screen.
‘And to try to sabotage everyone else?’ Arianna replied. Seeger would not be sending his son here to just watch. That had never been Seeger’s style. Michael Seeger would an even worse distraction than the competitors.
‘I figured that much as well.’ Devin looked up to her. “Yes or no?” The men around the room looked over to Arianna and Devin. Most of the men brought their retainers to help settle business, but none of the retainers spoke out loud to their Lords.
“No, of course not. I don’t need to babysit Michael for him.” Arianna took the computer from him and typed back her own reply.
While Lord Seeger had been much more agreeable now that she might be married off to another clan, he was still not her friend in all of this. She figured his plan was to kill her rather than let another clan claim her. Maybe he would go for disowning her as not being a true dearg-dul if she married someone else. His possibilities were endless, since he was just as ruthless as her grandfather had been, and even more power hungry.
Devin went back to reading through the daily mail. Arianna added her opinion every now and then, but mainly let him do his job. He had been slowly training her on everything, but it bored her enough that she was easily distracted. She wasn’t the only one in the room that was bored. A bored Rhys was doing his best to distract her with funny faces, while his retainer took care of everything for him. He seemed as unneeded as Arianna was. Arianna wandered over to the window to watch the early morning sun as Gabriel was now in conference with Devin over joint issues.
“Not up for politics much?” Rhys asked, leaning against the windowsill so that his back was to the outside and his face to Arianna. This was the first time she was without Andrew, and that seemed to be ideal for every man in the room who were all thinking the same thing. Rhys was just the first to act, and now no one else had a shot.
“Not really,” Arianna replied, looking outside and not at the sidhe night human before her. It wasn’t that he wasn’t nice to look at. He was younger than many of the competitors, and closer to her age than the dragur Lars, but her heart would always belong to Andrew. Now it was like she didn’t even notice anyone else. “You either?”
“Nah, he takes care of most of it.” Rhys nodded to his retainer, who didn’t even notice them talking.
“Where’s your mate?” Rhys asked, glancing around the room.
Startled, Arianna looked up at Rhys. He wasn’t loo
king at her now, but outside, as she had been. He was as perfect as Arianna imaged a fairy to be. His skin was flawless. A bit pale, but not deathly white. His head was topped with the same corn-colored, blond hair as her own. In fact, even his eyes were the same color blue as hers. Somehow Rhys looked like he was her brother more than some man contending for her hand in marriage.
“My what?” Arianna asked, trying to be sure she heard him correctly.
“Oh, are we not supposed to know?” Rhys asked. He talked now in more hushed tones as the look on her face told him he was correct. “I can tell that the man following you all the time, the dark-haired one, is your mate. Did you not know that?” Rhys was genuinely interested because he had been told that Arianna was actually very new to the night human world.
Arianna shrugged. “He gets even more bored with all this than I do.” Arianna didn’t deny or confirm what Rhys said. Rhys smiled back at her. He didn’t need her to admit what he already detected with his own eyes. Arianna looked back outside, and they stood in silence for a few minutes, both lost in their own thoughts.
“Then is it true what you told me at breakfast?” Arianna whispered as if they were sharing a big secret.
“That I’m not here for you?” Rhys whispered back.
“Yeah,” Arianna replied. She had been thinking about it all day. Could Rhys really be on her side?
“I made a promise to my sister that I would not pursue you romantically. She is going through the same thing right now, being forced to marry before her birthday, and she begged me to not put you through a forced marriage. If I win, you are free to say yes or no. My people are actually divided on the issue. Some would love to have your power, but others would rather stay out of night human politics.” Rhys shrugged, and ran his hand through his hair. All signs were pointing toward him being on her side. He didn’t seem to be lying.
“And you? What do you want?” Arianna asked, still watching out the window at the trees with the birds in them. It was springtime, and everything was coming back to life while Arianna’s own life would drift to an end if this did not work the way she wanted.