“Gabriel?” she asked quietly, as she made out the older man’s figure in the dimly-lit tunnel. Molina moved to attack Gabriel, but he instantly vanished.
“I’m not here to fight,” he said to Molina as she continued to swing at him. Devin held Arianna closer. “You’re being tracked from each direction. Their intention is to kill Arianna. We need to move now to get her out of here.”
“Why would you help us?” Molina asked. “She’s another of those purebreds you hate so dearly.”
“Because she is his niece,” Devin replied. “He wants her alive as much as we do.” Gabriel nodded and smiled.
“I was wondering why you were the only one who knew where to find her last night,” Gabriel added. “So the old man told you about Arianna’s parents?” Devin nodded. Gabriel placed his hands on the stone floor, as Arianna had done earlier, and listened. After deciding the best route, he stood.
“I smelled your blood earlier. Are you okay?” he asked Arianna. She nodded as she stared down at the now-healed place the knife had pierced her. Gabriel followed her gaze and nodded. “Follow me.” Devin moved to be between Gabriel and Molina. Gabriel led the way through the maze of tunnels. At each turn, he cautiously listened before turning the corner. As he twisted through each, he brought them closer to the surface. Arianna could begin to hear voices outside. Gabriel finally stopped at a large, solid wood door.
“This leads into the east-side garden,” he explained. “From there, use the servant entrance to keep her hidden. This is a list of those involved.” Gabriel handed the list to Molina, who was still glaring at him.
“What’s the real reason you are helping us?” Molina asked. She knew the list wasn’t needed to get Arianna to safety, but he was offering them something to save their time.
“I want access to Arianna whenever she wishes to see me,” he replied. Devin smiled. Gabriel was not one to offer information without a catch. Gabriel took off his coat and wrapped it around Arianna.
“As long as Lord Randolph says that it’s fine,” Molina replied.
“He already did,” Devin answered. “I found your letter to Lord Randolph when we met the fake Arianna in the house. He has agreed to all of your demands for access to Arianna.” Gabriel nodded as he opened the door.
Molina looked out the door and into the darkness. Placing an earphone into her ear, she began talking to someone on the other end. Arianna turned back to her uncle standing in the doorway.
“I hear she’s picky,” Gabriel said to Devin. “There’s a pack in the coat pocket. If she’s anything like her mother, she probably has a taste for a bit of something else.”
FIVE
Molina and Devin quietly escorted Arianna back to her grandfather’s house. Their caution indicated that they didn’t wish to meet anyone along the way. As they twisted and turned through new passages in the ornate building, Arianna was, once again, being led to an unfamiliar place. She stared at the walls they passed as they became less and less ornate. The surroundings had changed to normal, simple decorations. Molina pushed Arianna into a room in front of her, and turned to secure the room. Arianna stopped in her place and stared at the five extra people sitting in the room.
“Meet your Personal Protection Unit: Jackson, Nelson, Mica, Nixon, and Mori,” Molina introduced the five men. “Including Devin and me, we make up your PPU.”
“Why are all of you here?” Arianna asked, not understanding Molina. Sitting in the dingy, dark room, several familiar faces stared back at her. Jackson was the businessman that rode the Friday bus with her, along with Mica and Nelson as they went to the gym to play basketball. Mr. Nixon was Arianna’s teacher for several classes at school. Mori was the only unfamiliar face in the group.
“Your grandfather hired us about five years ago to watch over you. We started twenty-four-hour protection a year ago,” Molina explained. “Mori should be the only unfamiliar face because he mainly stays by his computer.”
“Hired you? But why would he do that?” Arianna asked. “Is there something I don’t know about?”
“A lot,” Devin said, offering her a seat next to him. Molina flashed Devin a quick glare, and he smiled in return.
“I don’t know if you noticed yet, but you come from a very prestigious, ancient family,” Molina continued. “For people like you, it’s fairly common, around their sixteenth birthday, to be assigned personal guards.”
“Personal guards?” Arianna complained. “This doesn’t make any sense.”