Winning the Legend by B. Kristin McMichael Page A

can
sabotage each other. I have cameras throughout the path watching
everyone. So think twice before you do something to the course or
each other.” All planning immediately stopped.
    Arianna returned inside to get the meal she
missed earlier on her run. Throughout the afternoon, she sent
person after person out on the course. When the ending people
noticed Devin return after only a few hours, they all began to
worry and changed into night human form for the run. Their day
human forms couldn’t run the course like he could. Even in night
human form, a few would have trouble running and tracking in the
time Devin did it. They all were ready to use up their blood since
the first leg of the competition was almost over. Little did they
know, they’d have to wait more than just for the last runner to
come back. Arianna wondered if they could handle going a few more
days without blood as she wasn’t going to tally scores until
then.
    To finish the course, Ken was sent last. He
finished before the three all sent before him. Ken passed Manuel,
Jan, and Nik as he swooped around the course. They had purposely
had Thomas fly the course so that it would be accessible to Ken as
well. Nik jogged through the finish line behind Ken and immediately
started to whine.
    “You said we had to run the course. He
should be disqualified because he flew it.” Nik didn’t need to
catch his breath as after he passed Jan; his time would be good
enough to move on to the next round and so he had slowed down for
the rest of the run. Nik wasn’t one to overexert himself without
reason.
    “I never said you had to run it, I said go
around the course. There is a difference. Maybe everyone should
listen as well as Ken did. I’ll need three days to sort this all
out, so you are all free to do whatever you like for the next three
days. Just don’t leave the grounds or interact with the outsiders
gathering around the estate.” Arianna turned on her heels and left
Nik standing there, preparing to fuss more. The rest of the men
stared in shock. They had not expected to go three more days
without blood.
    “Three more days,” Nik complained as she
walked away. Arianna didn’t even turn to acknowledge that he had
spoken.
    ‘I wish there was a way to
shut that kid up,’ Arianna remarked to
Andrew as she walked back inside and down her own hallway. Three
days without the masses was fine by her as she planned to stay in
her room and only go to the library when Devin needed her for clan
business.

Chapter 10
     
    Three days passed too quickly. By her
choice, Arianna had not left her room or seen the other competitors
as the time passed. Devin and Gabriel took care of all the clan
business, and between Gabriel and Patrick, Devin, Turner, and Ken
were all safe. Arianna didn’t even need to check on them, even
though she did several times with her monitors set around the
estate.
    Each afternoon she woke and watched the men
as they entered the dining hall. Only a few were as chipper as when
they arrived. Rhys and Loan didn’t seem to mind going without
blood, but Manuel was getting really jumpy. He was watching every
human as they entered to cater the meals like they were the last
day humans alive. When there were no day humans around, Arianna
even caught him stealing glances at Molina. Arianna really wanted
to see him try that. Molina may not have been a pureblood
dearg-dul, but she was quite strong and very well trained. Manuel
didn’t stand a chance if he attacked her.
    Distracting as the men were, Andrew was even
more of a distraction. Thankfully, Thomas was around most of the
time, going over the plan for the next contest. Andrew stole what
time was left.
    After the second day ended, and still no one
had bitten anyone else, Andrew’s hopes of more contestants being
eliminated were slowly fading. He would not be giving Arianna up
without a fight, but he knew exactly what that meant. The clans
would unite against Arianna if he didn’t rightfully win her.