Free Winning the Legend by B. Kristin McMichael Page A

minute
and then replied, ‘You need to make a
statement and demonstrate his skills.’
    ‘We can’t just accidentally
stake Nik?’ Nik’s night human form was
very vampire-from-the-movies-looking. Just seeing him in his night
human form made Arianna want to try and see if a stake would kill
him—or maybe shut him up for a few moments. ‘Maybe while he sleeps?’
    Thomas laughed and shook his head. Annoying
as they got, killing the men gathered would not be a solution to
their problem. Arianna disappointedly turned back to address
Nik.
    ‘I’ll be right back. We
need a good prop for Devin’s demonstration, and they need to see
your complete faith in Devin’s skill to not doubt you in the
future.’ Thomas hurried back into the
house while she talked to the men.
    “Are you questioning my judgment?” Arianna
asked, taking on the haughty tone of authority she used to deal
with men of power. It was coming easier now, after having dealt
with the dearg-dul council for the past year.
    “No, just your loyalty,” Nik replied, not as
afraid of her as he should be. Nik was more trouble than all of the
competitors combined. Arianna was sad to see that in his night
human form he hit the target. It would have been easier to have him
lose and just send him home.
    “Devin could hit that target in his sleep,”
Arianna replied, vouching for Devin’s ability. “He’s trained longer
than any of you, and was trained by one of the best dearg-dul to
come along in centuries, my grandfather James Randolph. This sort
of thing isn’t a problem for his ability.”
    “I highly doubt that. He is a day human,”
Manual added, backing Nik up.
    Arianna sighed. After hearing that her
grandfather trained Devin, most of the older men stopped arguing,
but Nik and Manuel held their ground. Thomas returned and tossed
her an apple. She understood what he meant now by
demonstration.
    “Fine. You really think he somehow cheated?”
Arianna said. “You guys are all idiots,” she added under her
breath. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but Devin has more accuracy
than all of you combined. So if you’d like a demonstration since
you all missed his throw, you’ll get one.” Arianna walked down the
field and stood by the target. Andrew handed Devin a second knife
as Arianna place the apple on her head.
    “Wait,” Nik tried to quickly retract his
statements once he saw what she was doing.
    There was no point competing over her if she
was dead. The rest of the clans would all blame him. The men
standing around all watched her while Nik began sweating at her
actions. His father would kill him if she were hurt on his account.
Nik desperately needed to stop her before she let the day human
hurt her.
    “You can’t let her do that.” Nik hurriedly
appealed to Andrew and Gabriel, who were standing together behind
Devin. “She will get hurt.”
    “You seem to forget,” Devin said, finally
addressing the teen who was shorter than him by several inches.
“She’s in charge, and we do what she says. Any of you standing
around better get that also. She won’t be the silent maiden you
lock in a tower. Arianna does as she pleases, when she
pleases.”
    “Not when she is doing something as stupid
as standing there for target practice,” Nik replied. He wasn’t the
head of his family, but acted like he was all the same. None of the
heads ever had a wife that defied them. This was a completely new
concept to the night human men, a woman who had an opinion.
    “Nik, you wanted to see him throw. Now
you’ll get to,” Arianna replied from down the field. Arianna stared
back at Devin, knowing there was nothing to fear. He wouldn’t hit
her.
    “Stop her,” Nik made one last frantic
attempt to convince Gabriel and Andrew. “If you guys love her so
much, why do you let her put herself in danger?” Nik was getting
anxious. Her death or even injury would be on his hands.
    Arianna was tempted to let Nik grovel some
more, but the rest were more