Winning the Legend Read Online Free PDF Page B

shook
his head no. “You will need to take care of it. Please be careful;
he won’t react well to being told he is out.”
    “I can help if you’d like,” Rhys offered
from the end of the line. His retainer didn’t seem to agree, but
Rhys didn’t even look back. In typical leader quality, he ignored
the person sent there to help him.
    “Okay,” Arianna hesitantly agreed. Rhys had
to have some motive for being so helpful, but since he offered she
wasn’t going to turn down the extra strength.
    All the men present were strong. Each man
was either the head of their clan or the next in line. Rhys was no
exception. He was the current head of the sidhe people, and had
been leading them since he was fifteen. Ten years of running his
clan had only made him a stronger force to deal with. If he wanted
to offer to break the news to another family head, she wouldn’t
stop him.
    Rhys followed Thomas out the door and to the
front gate. Arianna followed them with her senses, but didn’t
physically leave the room. She knew what was happening outside as
much as any of the other men in the room. She felt the temper flare
and the anger behind the muffled words being yelled. She also felt
the immediate calm come over the man as his rants faded. Nate
dismissed his retainers and followed Thomas and Rhys back into the
estate. Thomas knew that if needed they would need the men as
hostages. Any competitor eliminated could remain at the competition
to watch, but they couldn’t keep their retainer around. Arianna
waited for them to return. Nate Childs was alone behind Thomas, and
his anger had been calmed. The men in the room were more or less
uninterested in the proceedings outside, as they were content to
watch Arianna as she waited.
    “Now that everyone has returned, I’ll lay
out the rules for you and explain how this is going to work. You
may choose to proceed by my rules, or you may leave the
competition,” Arianna continued.
    “This isn’t a position that you can take,”
an older retainer complained from behind one of the contestants.
Arianna knew who the heads of the family were, but not the
retainers. They knew who would be competing, but not who they would
bring with them.
    ‘His grandfather,’ Devin informed her. Devin, of course, knew who
everyone was in the room.
    Arianna moved over a bit to view the older
man. He looked nothing like the man in front of him, and it was
hard to believe that he was actually his grandfather. The retainer
was old and grayed with pale, blotchy skin. Dark, beady eyes stared
at her as he challenged her authority. His ward was light bronze in
coloring and only shared a nose shape with his grandfather. Loan
Durand stared at her, trying his best to apologize with his gaze.
His mix of ethnicity gave his eyes an almost amber color that
complimented his caramel-toned skin.
    “Actually, yes, I can do this any way I
choose,” Arianna replied. She was getting used to old men
complaining that she was calling the shots after a year of dealing
with her own council of dearg-duls. Not a single one liked to hear
her having an opinion.
    “These games are to be arranged and held by
the head of the family. They make the rules, not the girl being
competed for,” the retainer replied. His hawk-like gaze tried to
bore his point into her. Arianna didn’t even flinch. He didn’t
intimidate her.
    “Then we completely agree,” Arianna replied
and moved back to sit down. Loan let out a sigh of relief that she
wasn’t going to argue with his old-fashioned grandfather. The man
caused enough problems for the Loogaroo night human family since
Loan’s father replaced the older man.
    “So to continue-” Arianna began again.
    “No, we don’t agree. Here you go again,
telling us what to do. Where is the head of the Randolph family,
and why is he not here to oversee this?” the man demanded.
    Andrew growled, trying to keep his night
human in check at the man’s rudeness. Obliviously the older man was
used to