Free Winning the Legend by B. Kristin McMichael

it?”
    “With or without our night human form?” Rhys
asked, tossing a blade around in his hand. The distance didn’t seem
to bother him at all, but it did for several of the other
competitors who were openly gaping at the targets.
    “Either, your choice. Just remember there
will be no blood this week, and you don’t know what’s coming next,”
Arianna replied.
    “And you expect us to hit the bull’s-eye?”
Nik asked. As always, he was complaining, and in a sour mood.
Arianna hoped his lack in confidence would equate to bad
performance. Then she could cross him off the list. Nik Katsulas
wasn’t someone that she could ever imagine kissing let alone
marrying. He was, overall, a drag to be around. Even his younger
brother seemed to not want to be around him.
    “Yes, is that a problem?” Arianna asked.
    “Do we get a bow and arrow?” Nik replied
with his own question before tossing his chocolate colored hair out
of his eyes. Nik also had a very high opinion of himself. Rhys was
just as good-looking, but at least he had a decent personality to
go with his looks.
    “Nope. Just throwing,” Arianna answered. She
walked back to the line, picked up a knife, and tossed it, hitting
the target square on the center. “Anything else?”
    “And what about the second person to throw?”
Nik tried to get Arianna caught in her own plan.
    Andrew walked over, took and knife, and
tossed it. The point sunk right next to Arianna’s, making it hard
to tell which one was perfect, since both centered on the
bull’s-eye. The group collectively gasped, unsure of how to
interpret Andrew’s direct throw. He wasn’t even in his night human
form.
    “Any more questions?” Arianna asked the
group, but she was just looking at Nik.
    “Don’t you think this is disadvantageous to
your day human?” Nik goaded Arianna. Arianna really wanted to walk
over and wipe the smirk off Nik’s face.
    ‘Stop,’ Devin’s voice was loud and clear in Arianna’s mind. ‘Remember, this is all planned. Don’t let him get
to you.’
    Arianna sighed and counted to ten mentally
before turning back to address the men again. “You have already
been given numbers and grouped.” Each man was holding a ticket.
“I’m assuming you can all count. Start on the right. That is target
one, and so on. Once you are there, you can begin. No one move down
to remove any of the knives. My team will all calculate and award
points based on accuracy. Once you throw, you are free to go back
inside as we know which knife belongs to whom, and there will be no
second chances.” The men all moved to their spots. Easily all
twelve men threw their knives. When they were finished, they all
wanted to watch Devin throw, but he had gone first so no one but
the men in his group saw.
    “This isn’t fair. I didn’t see him throw and
neither did my retainer. I can’t believe a day human could hit that
target from here,” Nik whined. His attitude was already driving
Arianna nuts and she had only had to be around him for twenty-four
hours. “In fact, I think he’s cheating. There’s no way a day human
hit that target.”
    “I can vouch for him,” Rhys said,
interrupting Nik’s current rant. “Both myself and my retainer saw
him throw.” Rhys was the only one in Devin’s group not from
Arianna’s own clan. Nik looked up at him and glared.
    “You’d lie just to get her favor, and we
can’t trust anyone else in that group,” Nik complained, trying to
rile more of the competitors to his side. Manuel seemed eager to
join Nik in his rant and moved to stand beside him while nodding in
agreement.
    ‘What can I do to get them
to see this?’ Arianna asked Thomas. ‘We can’t have them all getting upset each time
Devin competes at their level.’ Devin was
far too skilled. This was a problem Thomas had ignored that detail
in his planning, since he was used to Devin’s skills and no one in
the Randolph or Grace communities would ever question
Devin.
    Thomas thought for a