"Patrick," Arianna approached carefully with Andrew right behind her. Thomas swooped down and stood to her other side. Patrick was concentrating so hard on trying to reach his father that he didn't notice her approach. "Patrick," she said again, a bit louder, but still trying not to startle the man. She wasn't sure that he would recognize her. The gore on him was a mixture of blood from several people, and he was covered in it. "Are you alright?"

Patrick finally looked up. Relief lit up his face at the sight of her. He tried to stand, but the moaning body he was holding kept him on the ground.

"You're covered in blood," she said. "Yours?"

"It's mostly Ken's," Patrick indicated to the pile of clothes and blood in his hands. "We were attacked by outsider night humans not from around here. They were working together, though neither of them spoke. It was an ambush. I don't have enough blood in me to help him. Please, save Ken."

Andrew reached down and took the limp body from Patrick's arms. He meant to examine the tengu, but wasn't sure where to start in the mess of blood and torn clothes. He gingerly turned the body over to find the source of the fresh blood that was still coming out. Startled, he turned back to Patrick.

"Where are his wings?" Andrew asked.

'Wings?' Arianna looked at Ken, unsure if she ever could tell that he was really a tengu.

'This is Patrick's tengu,' Andrew replied, carefully turning over the bloodied man. Thomas gasped at the long cuts down the man's back where his wings should have been. Thomas knew personally what it meant to lose your wings, death.

'Will a drop of blood be enough to heal this?' Arianna looked at the men with her for an answer. Ken wasn't dead yet, but even so, he wouldn't live to see the next day with the blood slowly seeping out of him. Arianna felt that the life within him was growing fainter. She recognized the feeling as the terror she felt earlier.

"You can't heal a tengu once they have lost their wings," Thomas said quietly.

Patrick despaired over his dying friend. Andrew held onto Ken's body, checking him over for other wounds. He had a few scratches that were minor but bleeding. The only major problem was the wings.

"Ari, can you give him a drop of blood?" Andrew asked. Arianna was hopeful that meant Andrew thought he could be healed. "It won't keep him from dying, but it will give him a few more minutes. We need to know more about what happened." Andrew nodded to Patrick, who was visibly lost. Arianna heard Patrick's plea to his father, who wouldn't be responding until he caught Lucan. Patrick was no longer listening to them while he called for help. Arianna p.r.i.c.ked her finger and dropped a drop of blood into Ken's mouth. Wounds across his body started to pull together. Andrew pushed Ken's b.l.o.o.d.y and sweat-drenched hair out of his face.

"See, my blood heals," Arianna replied hopefully.

"You can heal wounds, but this is much more," Thomas replied, looking down at the broken man. The worst fate for a tengu was to lose their wings. It was a painful and agonizing death. "The wings of a tengu make them a night human, just as the fur Turner grows. It contains the essence of what we are in one vulnerable spot. Without them, we cease to exist."

"Ken," Andrew asked quietly, not wanting to jar the pained man from his acceptance of death. "Can you hear us?"

"Yes," he responded in a barely audible croak. His raspy voice broke Patrick's concentration, and he immediately appeared at his friend's side. Patrick and Ken were childhood friends and partners in the night world since they were children. They had done everything together growing up, from their first school dance to graduating from college. Ken was the brother Patrick always wanted.

"We need to know who did this," Andrew replied.

Molina and Devin approached, finally arriving to the same location. Devin went directly to Arianna's side while Molina moved to Patrick, checking him over.

"A girl and a guy," Ken replied. Patrick nodded and just held his dying friends hand. "They were night human but a different type than us. Something was strange with them. I couldn't figure it out. I was caught trying to understand them when they attacked."

"Do you know what they were?" Devin asked, kneeling beside Andrew and joining the conversation.

"I don't understand," Arianna said, quietly backing up to talk more to Thomas. They stood a few feet away and ignored the details Devin and Andrew were getting from Ken. She couldn't just stand by and watch Ken die. "He's almost completely healed from the fight. My blood can do that. I don't smell any fresh blood on him. He's healing, yet still dying."

"You can heal the superficial wounds, but you can't heal what makes him a night human once his wings are broken from his body. His night human essence is gone," Thomas explained to her. Devin and Molina joined Andrew, who was sitting on the ground with Ken. Ken was trying to give as many details as he could in the time he had left. All three intently listened and asked questions while Patrick held onto his friend.

"But why can't I just use my blood to glue back on his wings? If my blood can make his skin heal, why not his wings?" Arianna was still confused. The wounds on his body healed. Ken was already getting better. She just needed more blood to finish it up.

"The wings don't work the same way. Trust me, many have tried. No one wants to see their loved ones die this way." Thomas looked down at the man. He was dying a horribly painful death.

"But he's alive and talking," Arianna looked down at the man with yellowing skin. He was alive, but not by much. She could tell he was dying, but she just didn't want to admit it.

Devin stood as Ken stopped talking. "Take samples," he directed Andrew. "We can get them back to Mori to a.n.a.lyze." He turned to Arianna. "You don't need to stay around for this. Please take her to the car," he told Thomas.

"And Turner?" Thomas asked about the missing companion.

"He's out tracking their scent," Devin explained, turning to Andrew and handing him the supplies from Molina.

Thomas pulled Arianna towards the car. "I knew the dog would be good for something," Thomas joked, trying to lighten the mood. Arianna could barely smile and not find a laugh. He put a comforting arm around her shoulders and guided her toward the car. Thomas tried his best to shield her from the situation. Arianna was always too kind to be living in the night human world. Looking at her like his little sister, Thomas only wanted to keep that innocence alive as long as he could. As they neared the open door, Arianna stopped.

"I have to at least try," she said, shrugging off his arm and running back to the barley-breathing, injured man.

Andrew stood, handing tubes to Devin from the samples he collected. "It was mostly his blood, but there's something else mixed in it. Hopefully we got a bit of them so that we can figure this out. It could mean war."

"That's one thing I'm hoping to avoid at all costs. We don't need any more uninvited visitors around," Devin replied, taking the samples and placing them in the open bag Molina was holding.

"I want to help," Arianna said from behind the two men, catching their attention as she kneeled at Ken's side. "Let me try. You've said so yourself. My blood is different. I'm different. Please let me try." Devin wanted to protest, but he saw the desperation in her eyes. Ken was past the ability to reject her offer, barely staying awake through the pain. "If it's my job to heal everyone and protect them, I have to try," she rea.s.serted, growing in confidence.

"It will take more than a drop to heal this," Devin said. Arianna was not deterred. Devin nodded. It wasn't worth fighting about. He pulled a second blade out of his belt and handed it to her.

"What do I do?" she asked, looking from the blade to Ken. She didn't really think Devin would let her try. Now that she was getting her way, she didn't know what exactly to do.

"A cut across your palms will bleed enough to use," Devin replied.

Thomas returned with the wings. Patrick stood and desperately moved to the head of his friend. Andrew rolled Ken over, exposing the gaping holes in his back where his wings should have been attached. Thomas shuddered slightly at the sight, even though his wings were tucked back already and not near any harm. Arianna kneeled near Ken and looked at the knife. Thomas placed the wings down onto the hole, and Ken flinched at the pain.

"Hold him still," Andrew ordered Patrick. Patrick grasped his friend's shoulders and pinned him to the ground. Arianna still stared at the wounded wings, unsure if she could actually cut herself. Andrew looked up to Devin, and he nodded. They were back into their own silent conversation and only using gestures.

"This is her choice," Devin replied. He didn't want her to try and be disappointed when it failed. Thomas was right. Others had tried and failed many times. Arianna was only setting herself up for disappointment.

"Ari," Andrew said softly. "You need to do it now, or let him die in peace." Arianna nodded. Andrew was only stating what she already knew.

"I want to, but," she held up the knife. The thought of actually cutting herself scared her. A p.r.i.c.k of the finger was fine, but a cut was scary. "Can you?" She held the knife out to Andrew and her palm up.

"Are you sure?" he asked. 'You trust me?' he added in his mind.

'Completely,' Arianna replied.

Andrew took the knife and sliced down the palm of her hand. Arianna didn't think about the momentary pain as she pressed her bleeding hand onto the back of the injured tengu. Ken screamed in pain as her blood made contact. Arianna held her hand there as she felt the wound pull at the blood within her. She closed her eyes and concentrated, needing to feel the pull of the skin together and the wings mending. Arianna started to weaken. She didn't have enough strength to fix the broken wings. Andrew reached over and placed his hands on hers. She felt a knick on his finger, connecting his blood to her. The warmth of his strength filtered through her. After minutes of pressing that seemed like hours, Thomas let out an audible gasp. Arianna opened her eyes and saw a slight twitch in the wings.

"This isn't possible," he said to no one in particular.

"She's not possible," Devin reminded him.

FOURTEEN.

Arianna woke in her bed at the Randolph manor. Devin was sitting beside her, reading as usual. He continued to read when he didn't hear her wake. His normally short blond hair was starting to curl around his ears and at the base of his neck. Taking care of himself never seemed too high on his list of things to do. There was even a bit of fuzz on his face. Arianna wanted to reach over and run her hands through his hair, but didn't want to disturb his reading.

Arianna had technically taken over for her grandfather after he was murdered last year, although Devin was really the one running the Randolph estate. Arianna tried to help, but he really took care of everything for her. He looked after day-to-day business, and had a never-ending pile of papers from the lords. On the side, he was also intent on watching over Arianna, so he in reality he never had a moment's rest. He read a little bit more before talking.

"How long this time?" she asked, finally breaking the silence. Devin reached over and cupped her face in his hands. He looked into her eyes and stared until he was satisfied.

"You were out for two days at your aunt's place before we came here last night." Devin set down the papers. "Do you feel like anything is off? You used up almost all of your energy healing Ken."

"I've been off for weeks," Arianna admitted. She looked back to him and saw he was still waiting for an answer. Devin was worried about the excessive amount of energy she used to heal the dying tengu. "But no, nothing new this time."

"Good. Then we need to call a quick meeting of the council. They're all here at the estate." Devin shuffled through his papers, reorganizing them. He turned to her and moved closer on the bed.

"What for now?" Arianna asked. Arianna was growing more and more impatient with the council. She dreaded every meeting that they called, and she didn't want to start calling her own. The old, unpleasant men were a bit too much to handle.

"To tell them you've made some progress, and that we need to be left alone so that you can get to know your two new keepers better," Devin replied, pulling her onto his lap. Arianna had to concentrate to keep from melting into his arms.

"Get to know better? I already..." she began, but Devin put a finger on her lips and silenced her with a kiss. It was the first time in a while that he'd made a move on her. Of course they were completely alone in her bedroom, but it was still nice to see him feel anything toward her.

'What's going on?' Arianna tried to pull away, but Devin stopped her. A slight c.h.i.n.k in his emotional armor opened, and she felt his love seep out. Arianna wanted to relish in the feeling that was so often hidden, but he silently answered her question first, knowing that she could hear his thoughts if they were loud enough.

'Security has been breached. We need to get out of here, but we need a good cover. Mori has already set everything up. I'll explain more later. We're being monitored, so we can't go quiet for long.' Devin pulled back from the kiss and stared at her a bit more before continuing. 'At least not without keeping occupied with something that requires no talking.' Devin maneuvered Arianna off his lap and under him. He rested on his arms above her as he began kissing her again.

'Breached?' Arianna could only squeak out one thought before she decided she would rather enjoy the attention from Devin. Security problems were instantly forgotten.

'Someone is trying to harm you, so plan B was put into action. Gabriel left first, but will be back soon to get you.' Devin was finding no difficulties in making out with Arianna while talking at the same time. Arianna, on the other hand, couldn't fully comprehend the words he was saying. Devin noticed and stopped mid kiss. Arianna pulled back and sighed. He was back in protection mode already, his heart bottled up. 'Andrew is waiting for you.'

Arianna flinched at Andrew's name. She shouldn't be making out with one boy one day, and another the next. She knew how Andrew felt about her, and unless she made up her mind and chose one of them, she wasn't being fair to either. Devin rolled to his side and gently touched her face. Arianna closed her eyes and just felt his touch. His calloused fingers were always gentle with her. It was different than the sparks that went with Andrew's touch, but not any less satisfying. Andrew was exciting and she was drawn to him, but Devin was mysterious and just as loving when they were alone. Arianna's heart felt like it was being torn in two. She loved them both in their own ways.

"Has the council met my keepers then?" Arianna asked, looking around the room for the source of their spying. Nothing stood out, but Devin seemed to be sure that their conversation was not private-even in her own bedroom.

"No, they're waiting in the living room to go with us." Devin nodded to the room outside her door.

Arianna pulled Devin close and kissed him again. 'That's Patrick in the living room, not Andrew.'

'And Patrick is pretending to be your new baku keeper. It was his offer after you saved Ken's life.' Devin kept the kiss going, not necessarily out of necessity.

'I saved him?' Arianna asked, completely forgetting what she had been doing before she pa.s.sed out this time. It was becoming a regular thing now, so she hadn't thought back to the moment.

"What happened back at home?" Arianna asked, momentarily distracted from their kissing session.

"Just as you suspected, you could save Ken. You're stronger than anyone can imagine. The council will be happy to hear that." Devin raised his eyebrows, mocking his own comment. Devin reached over and pulled Arianna on top of him. Arianna wanted to struggle and wiggle away, but it was too nice to be so close to him, no matter how torn her heart was.

"Can't we just stay here, alone, little longer?" Arianna complained. It was true that her time with Devin was limited lately-mainly because she kept falling asleep. Since Devin was offering, Arianna was going to try to take advantage of the situation and have more time with him. It was only a secondary benefit that she could avoid the council.

"That's a thought," Devin's fingers traced her back, ending up on her neck, "but I'm sure we need to get to the meeting. They'll all be happy to hear the news on the keepers. If you really insist we stay here, though, it's your word I must follow." Devin raised his eyebrows, challenging her to order him around. Arianna hadn't, and couldn't, bring herself to order him around. Arianna heard Patrick cough from the living room. His hearing was excellent in his baku form.

"What else would they love to hear?" Arianna asked, teasing Devin as she cuddled closer to him, bodies so close that he sighed.

"That you're awake and ready to meet with them," Devin replied, extracting himself from the bed reluctantly. Arianna reached back up to him and tugged at his arm. He tried to keep his cool and pull away, but couldn't when she was making her sad face.

"Maybe we can stay here just a little bit longer?" she begged, knowing how to get her way. Devin sighed. It was a battle he wasn't going to win. Responsibility warred with his duty to make her happy.

After delaying the inevitable, Arianna finally got up and met with the council. Arianna stood in front of the men she despised for the second time in less than a week. All twelve of them ignored her and continued talking with their neighbors. They were beginning to feel she wasn't worth their time unless they called the meeting. Arianna tried to glare at Devin for actually making her meet with them again, but couldn't get thoughts from the morning out of her mind. He didn't smile back, but she felt the confidence radiate off him. Arianna focused back on their silent conversations but immediately grew grumpier. Not a single person was willing to acknowledge her even in their minds. Finally, the chatter calmed down as Seeger stood.

"And to what do we owe the pleasure of your company for this emergency meeting?" Lord Seeger asked, though he already knew why they had been called. Arianna already got that he was the one that bugged her room to listen in on even her most private conversations. The presence of the tengu and baku behind her explained it all to the rest of the council also.

"I have a formal commitment from a tengu. After our last meeting, Thomas asked me to stay on as my keeper. My cousin Patrick owes me a life debt, so he's here for the week to help me figure out who would be the best choice for a baku keeper from the Grace clan. Whoever I chose will be obligated to be my keeper. Baku rules dictate that they must follow the orders of the clan or be exiled, so there will be no dispute on the issue," Arianna said the rehea.r.s.ed speech just as Devin told her to. The eyes of all the men snapped to her. She had never shown any inclination over the past year to even trying to fulfill the legend and collect a keeper of each race.

"We plan to keep to ourselves in my apartment this week as Patrick and I go over every possibility that would lead to the best match. When I return to the Grace clan next week I can announce my choice." The men around the table continued to stare at her in awe. They had tried for a year to get her to take them seriously. The legend stated she must have a keeper of each race to gain power over all the clans. Dearg-dul tended to be very superst.i.tious, and they took the legend seriously, even if the seventeen-year-old brat they called their leader didn't.

"Additionally, I will be unable to make personal appearances this week." Lord Seeger raised his eyebrows in a question he wasn't willing to ask. "Devin and Turner will be gone all next week to visit Lord Winter. With two of my best guards gone, they feel it will not be safe for me to be out and about. If you need anything, I can be reached in my quarters." Everyone continued to stare. "I'm done; you can all leave now."

The men all watched as she stood and followed Devin out of the room. She slowed her walk to hear what everyone was saying as she left. Once they were far enough away that everyone began to talk, Arianna leaned over to Devin. "Can we sit a minute? I've not been feeling well."

Devin nodded, ushering her to a seat. Ahead, her guard slowed, as had the ones behind her. Unknown to the council men, Arianna used her superb hearing to listen to the room she just left.

"What's she planning now Seeger?" a raspy voice asked.

"How am I supposed to know?" Seeger replied, tapping the cane he liked to carry around. He didn't need it, but he felt that it added to his authority.

"You bugged her room ages ago; we all know that. So what's going on? She spends months rejecting our plans and now is going through with it?" the man continued.

"Maybe she has finally listened to Randolph's dog," another replied, indicating Devin. Arianna cringed. It bothered Devin to be called a dog. No one, besides Andrew, ever did to his face, but it hurt anyways.

"No, it wasn't his suggestion," Seeger replied, neither admitting nor denying that he had bugged her room.

'Anything good?' Turner asked, plopping down next to Arianna in the hallway. Turner was actually the best actor of the group. Arianna could always see behind his facade, but his outside was always the cheerful exterior and rebel to the last straw. Turner casually brushed his reddish brown hair away from his face as he asked, making more of a mess of his hair than fixing it.

Arianna smiled and brushed his hair back, straightening it. 'They aren't even using silent communications as they a.s.sume I cannot hear them. How can they be so stupid?' Arianna went back to listening to the room.

"You said she wasn't listening to us," one voice accused someone. They were now in a heated argument as to why Arianna did what she did.

"It seems she is," Seeger replied, contemplating the situation himself.

"What are we supposed to do now?" someone else asked. "She might actually go through with finding everyone. Once that's done, everything will start. We don't have the rest of the legend, so we have to proceed with caution. Don't you see how powerful she already is?"

"Then we need to plant someone as a mole," a third voice argued.

"I'm already on that," Seeger replied. "My son is coming next week to stay here at the manor. I'm going to get him a job close to the brat and make sure she falls for him." Arianna pulled in the anger she was trying to contain for Seeger. First, he killed her grandfather and got away with it, and now, he was calling her a brat. No one liked her being in power even though Devin did the majority of the work. It was the symbol of her that they disliked. None of the men liked coming in second to a teenage girl who was more than twice as powerful as the next in line. They couldn't even challenge her.

"Can he actually do that? She's pretty attached to the Winter boy and Randolph's dog," the first voice added.

"Don't worry about Michael," Seeger replied. "The boy won't even know what hit him. He already thinks she's his soul mate. He's so easily fooled. All I had to do was feed him some lies about her. He will want to confirm what I say, but then he will do anything to win her over."

"Maybe you should have him come early if Turner and Devin are gone this week," the second voice suggested.

"We have some work to do first, but he will be here soon," Seeger replied as all the men finally stood to leave the room. One man paused next to him as the rest exited.

"Do you think, once he gets her to fall for him, he will still be loyal to us? He already wants to marry her. That's problem enough. What if the other clans come for her before Michael can act?"