Centaur Rivalry (Touched Series Book 3)

by Straight, Nancy

  “Sticks and stones. Name calling doesn’t make your plan any less stupid. If you don’t want your brother to find you, you may want to try somewhere a little more remote. How about Cabo?” Daniel was arguing with Jessica.

  “Katherine will be there and I’ll be fine.”

  “I hate to break it to you, but beauty and stubbornness don’t make a good combination.”

  “Neither do conceit and arrogance.”

  “Actually, conceit and arrogance have served me well for twenty-three years. So have sexy and charming. Let me know which attribute revs your engine.”

  I shook my head, not believing my ears, “C’mon. We’d better get out there before Prince Charming gets a swift kick to the groin.”

  Drake tugged my hand back while I was in mid-stride. I turned to look at him, and he was all smiles, “Give her thirty more seconds – I’d hate for her to miss a golden opportunity on account of us.”

  I shook my head and pulled Drake’s hand. He followed, still smiling. Brent was dressed and on the couch, sitting off in the corner of the dark room. All the activity was coming from the kitchen, and he didn’t seem to be paying any attention to it. His eyes were focused on the other side of the room as if something were bothering him. I motioned for Drake to join everyone else in the kitchen while I took a seat next to Brent in the living room.

  He looked at me as I sat next to him. Brent seemed so distant, as if he were worlds away. “Everything okay?”

  He plastered a smile on his face. “Katherine let me use her phone. I got a hold of Cassie – my betrothed.”

  Judging from his far off gaze, I was sure of her answer, “She changed her mind?”

  Brent shook his head. “No. She said she’d wait as long as it took.”

  “That’s great! Brent, you’ve been chosen. She doesn’t care about the Lost Herd. That’s fantastic.”

  “Yeah.” Brent’s reaction didn’t make any sense to me. He should have been over-the-moon excited. Why was he staring at the wood paneling on the other wall? Had she said something else? Did she give him news of our family? I tried to probe his thoughts, but all of them were locked up tight, hidden safely away.

  “There’s something you’re not telling me.”

  Brent shook his head that there wasn’t. “No, just need to decide where to go from here. I can’t go back to South Carolina until after the Centaur Council convenes. Going back now would be suicide and would put Cassie in danger.”

  “You could go to Cancun with Bianca, Gage, Drake and me,” I offered.

  Brent shook his head. He reached over and took my hand, “No. You two deserve some time alone – just make it official first.”

  My cheeks blushed. My favorite cop from the morality police was back on the beat. “We will.”

  “What’s wrong, Brent? I can’t help if I don’t know what’s bothering you.”

  Brent put his arm behind my shoulder, “So much has happened. I was sure Cassie would have changed her mind. She had every right to, you know. I wouldn’t have blamed her if she had.”

  I nodded. In fact, I, too, expected that was the news he had been trying to recover from. I’d never met his betrothed, but I decided I already liked her. It was a brave Centauride who would risk a death sentence of her own by keeping her betrothal to Brent intact. I wanted to ask him more about her, but whatever was bothering him – now wasn’t the time.

  Right on schedule, we were showered, dressed, fed and piling into Katherine’s truck and Gage’s rental truck at eleven o’clock on the dot. The dog that had so rudely interrupted Drake and me last night belonged to one of Katherine’s neighbors. She’d come by to collect the dog this morning before we woke up. Bianca told me Katherine wouldn’t accept her neighbor’s money for taking care of the dog, but she had asked the neighbor to return Brent’s rental car.

  Gage, Bianca, Jessica and Daniel rode in Gage’s truck. Katherine, Brent, Drake and I climbed into Katherine’s truck. Everyone thought this was safest because if the vehicles became separated, Drake, Brent and I were the ones who needed Katherine to “cloak” us. No one would be looking for the other four yet.

  I didn’t ask Daniel where he’d been staying, but he didn’t seem to mind that we weren’t going to stop to pick up any of his things, either. Gage had given Drake clothes to wear, but his feet were too large for Gage or Brent to offer him a pair of shoes. Drake wore flops in the snow with his bright red toes looking nearly frozen. When we settled into the back seat of Katherine’s truck, he told me, “Don’t worry. There’s bound to be a shoe store near the airport.”

  The first couple hours of the drive were quiet. I dozed off and on, each time waking up and looking at Drake’s feet. I reminded myself that everything that had happened the last few weeks happened for a reason. Things were going to be okay – better than okay.

  Brent sat in the front seat of the truck, remaining silent, his eyes fixed on the passenger side window. Drake and I spoke, but not out loud so the other two could hear us. We each pushed images to one another in anticipation of our impending alone time. Drake pulled me into his shoulder, and I loved the way we fit together.

  Finally, it was Katherine’s voice that broke the quiet while she searched for a new radio station. “So, tell me about her.”

  Brent peeled his eyes off of the window. “Who?”

  “Yer betrothed. You called her this morning. What’s she like?”

  Brent’s smile was warm. “She’s great. Her family doesn’t come from one of the affluent herds, so she works. She’s a nurse.”

  “Nice. What kind?”

  “In a doctor’s office. The doctor is a Centaur, so I’d been to the office a couple times as a kid.”

  She gave up trying to tune in a radio station and shut off the radio in frustration. Katherine prodded gently. “Did ya meet her there?”

  Brent looked over his shoulder at Drake and me as we pretended not to listen. Brent shrugged his shoulders and matter-of-factly answered, “I had an appointment with the dentist. The office where she works is in the same medical complex. As I left my dentist’s office, it was late in the day, and she was changing her tire in the parking lot. She’d caught a nail on the way to work and hadn’t noticed. I offered to help.”

  “Nice. Did that count as the Third Tenant?”

  Brent chuckled, “Saving her life? Hardly. I didn’t realize she was a Centauride until after I was tightening the lug nuts on her spare tire.”

  Katherine beamed, “If you think that doesn’t count as saving her life, you’ve never been stranded with a flat tire before.”

  “Okay, if it had been up in this part of the country – maybe. Freezing to death is a real possibility. But, no, she just needed a hand, and I happened to be there.”

  “She chose ya because you helped her change a tire? You must have made a real impression on ‘er.”

  Brent turned back toward the passenger side window, looking out over the snow-covered Badlands. “Yeah. I guess I did.”

  It got quiet again. The only sound was the rhythm of the road under the truck’s wheels. A few minutes passed before Katherine asked, “So, did ya decide where yer going?”

  Brent didn’t turn away from the window. “Not yet.”

  “Vegas was my idea, but Daniel didn’t think that was such a great plan.”

  Brent’s eyes still remained locked on the window, but he answered, “Jessica will be safe as long as she’s with you. You two should go somewhere fun. Vegas is as good a place as anywhere.”

  Katherine bit her lip as if she were arguing with herself, took a deep breath and offered, “If ya came with us, you could stay safe, too.”

  Brent finally turned his attention away from the window but said nothing. He was watching Katherine. I tried not to stare, but the energy between them was impossible to ignore. Was this why Brent looked so sullen earlier? Did he have feelings for Katherine that he needed to lock away because he had a Centauride waiting for him? His actions were starting to make sense to
me. Drake nodded as if confirming my conclusion.

  Katherine stammered, “I mean. . . if yer just waiting to go back ta yer life until after the Centaur Council meets, you could lie low with Jessica and me, if ya wanna.”

  Brent looked over his shoulder to see if Drake and I were listening. We were, but in that fraction of a second before he turned around, we both averted our eyes – pretending to be lost in each other. It wasn’t much of a stretch.

  Brent faced forward, looking out the front windshield, but didn’t answer Katherine’s offer. Katherine started fiddling with the radio again. Any station she had tuned in only stayed clear for about three songs, and now she didn’t seem able to find even one. As she kept fiddling with the tuner, Brent’s hand reached for hers. She looked at him as his hand coupled hers over the radio’s dial. “I can’t, Katherine.”

  Katherine sounded hurt, “Whatever. I just thought you were worried about being hunted.”

  “I am.”

  “Then why go off by yerself? I can protect ya. I can get ya home to yer Centauride.”

  Brent’s reply was strained, “I’ll be okay.”

  “Is it me? Ya don’t want protection from a Lapith, is that it?”

  Brent’s voice was soft, almost vulnerable when he confessed, “It is you, and it has nothing to do with you being a Lapith.”

  The tension between them was thick enough to cut. Katherine drove for another thirty minutes then eased off the highway to a gas station. I looked behind us and saw Gage put on his turn signal as well. We pulled up to the front pump, and Brent got out to fill the tank. I zipped up my jacket to run inside to use the facilities. The four doors popped open behind us, and Daniel’s voice, as always, was what I heard. “Hey, Brent, Jessica’s made me a believer. We’re going to Vegas, baby!”

  Brent’s eyebrows furrowed in response, but he said nothing, turning his attention back to the gas pump.

  Everyone shushed Daniel, and he answered the glares with his typical smile. “Oh, right. The trees have ears.”

  Within ten minutes everyone’s bladders were drained, the fuel tanks were full, and we had munchies for the road. Jessica stood with her back against their truck applying Chap Stick while Gage and Bianca made their way out of the gas station. Daniel walked up to Jessica, puckering his lips, “My lips are dry. Can I use that?”

  Jessica capped it and tucked the little tube behind her back. “Gross. Go inside and get your own.”

  “Oh, come on. My lips are going to start bleeding.”

  Jessica didn’t relent, “Go get your own.”

  “Fine.” Daniel looked irritated as he walked back into the little convenience store. A few seconds later he walked back out and straight into Jessica. “They’re out. I’ll just use yours.”

  Jessica made a face and begrudgingly held out the little tube to Daniel. He shook his head at her, “No. That would be gross.” Daniel put a hand on both sides of her face and pulled her lips to his. I didn’t mean to watch, but I couldn’t believe Daniel was kissing a Centauride. That broke every single rule I’d learned since I first learned about Centaurs.

  I wasn’t the only one staring as Gage, Bianca, Drake, Brent and Katherine stood in shock, mouths hanging open – no one flinched. After what felt like an eternity, Daniel let go of Jessica and smacked his lips, “Much better, thanks.” He climbed in the back seat of the truck as if nothing had happened.

  Gage and Bianca looked at each other over the roof of the car. Gage shrugged his shoulders and got in the driver’s side. Bianca looked at me and smirked while she climbed into the front passenger side. Jessica stood leaning against the car – she was beyond stunned. Katherine stood by the driver’s side door of her truck looking at her friend, trying to hide her smile with her fist.

  I took my place in the backseat of the truck with Drake and asked Bianca, “What was that?”

  “I don’t know, but it should make for an interesting ride to Omaha. I’ll keep you posted.”

  Chapter 14

  (Jessica Baker, En Route to Omaha, Nebraska)

  What a jerk. My body molded to the door. I didn’t care how cold the window felt, I needed as much distance between Daniel and me as I could find. His thoughts were loud, nearly too loud to tune out – nearly.

  Gage followed a decent distance behind Katherine’s truck. Thank goodness I wasn’t in her truck. If I were riding with Katherine, she’d be giving me a seriously hard time for what Daniel had just done. My eyes closed as the cool from the window helped diminish the burning in my cheeks. I used every bit of willpower I had to block all the errant thoughts flying inside the truck.

  Daniel chatted with Gage like they were old pals. Who would have guessed that either of them knew anything about landscaping or that they could have talked about it for nearly an hour without a break. Better yet, who knew anyone could talk about landscaping that long? I didn’t have my iPod. Strange to miss an inanimate object, but I had over a thousand songs on it, and I knew every one of them – every single word. It would be so much easier to tune the others out if I could pipe music directly to my brain.

  “Shit.” Gage’s deep voice uttered to no one in particular.

  Something about the sound of his voice made me open my eyes and face forward. It looked like a huge car accident in front of us. Police cars were stretched along the side of the road with their blue lights flashing. One, two, three . . . eleven, twelve. Twelve police cars?

  There were two cars in between our truck and Katherine’s truck. “Gage, you have to catch up to them.”

  “Relax, Jessica. If I speed up now, it’ll look suspicious. I’m sure it’s just a DUI checkpoint or something.”

  “Checkpoint? Not an accident?”

  “Uh, no. The sign said mandatory state police safety inspection. This isn’t normal then?”

  OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD, we’resoscrewed, we’resoscrewed, we’resoscrewed. It couldn’t be. There’s no way Roscoe could have set up anything like this. Could he? He couldn’t shut down an interstate to find me. He wasn’t that powerful. That would take influence over humans, coordination, resources – no way could this be his doing. My heart was beating out of control. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and tried to relax my shoulders.

  Daniel’s hand slid onto my knee as his voice sounded concerned, “Hey, does this happen often?”

  Why was he touching me? I stared at his hand, wordlessly letting him know he had crossed the line, again. “Oh, yeah, sure. We don’t have enough criminals up this way so the cops shut down interstates all the time just for fun.”

  Katherine’s truck rolled to a stop as a tall Centaur dressed as a highway patrolman leaned into her window. Katherine’s truck stood seven feet, two inches, I knew because we’d tried to park it in a low parking garage in Rapid City that only had seven feet of clearance. The man leaning into her truck was tall, his hat cresting the top of the cab. He had to have been outside for quite a while because the exposed skin on his face and neck were bright red.

  I reached out to see if any other Centaurs were near. One in a state patrol car on my right, another in a deputy sheriff’s car in front, a couple humans, and another Centaur doing a vehicle inspection on a commercial bus that had been pulled to the side of the road. My attention went back to the very tall, beet-faced highway patrolman standing only inches from Katherine. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a short, angry-looking sheriff and my heart skidded to a stop – it was Willie.

  I ducked my head down; worried he’d see me watching him. Willie worked for my brother. He was a Council enforcer, and he had been along the night Roscoe and his boys went after Drake and Cami. He began walking toward the passenger side of Katherine’s truck. It felt like it was happening in slow motion. I wanted to scream, to tell Gage to do a u-turn, to take a quick turn and make a break for it. Was it me, or the Lost Herd, they were after? Or both?

  My words came out disconnected, absent the emotions sailing through me, “They’re looking for us. See that short sheri
ff walking toward the passenger side of Katherine’s truck? That’s Willie. He’s my brother Roscoe’s second.”

  Gage and Daniel’s face registered surprise. Bianca turned around; she must have realized at the same time. “It’s okay. Katherine is with them, they won’t know Cami or Brent are from the Lost Herd. If Katherine gets too far ahead of us to cloak you, here’s our story: we’ll tell them you and I were roommates in college and I popped in for a surprise visit. We’re on our way to, to . . . where can we tell them we’re going to that isn’t Omaha?”

  “Mitchell.”

  “Okay, we’re going to Mitchell to. . . what can we do there?”

  “See the Corn Palace.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah, it’s a big deal. The whole thing is made out of corn.”

  Willie was motioning for Katherine to pull over to the side of the road. That’s it. We’re all done for. They’ll take Cami, Drake and Brent away, and Katherine – they’ll find out what she is. I started screaming thoughts towards Cami but she refused to answer. Why was she tuning me out? We had to make a run for it. If both trucks went in opposite directions – one of us might have a chance.

  “Cami! Cami!! Tell Katherine to get you all as far away as possible.” No response. She was blocking me. “Bianca, tell Cami they need to make a run for it before Willie calls Roscoe or the other enforcers. Tell her!” We watched the tall Centaur who had been talking to Katherine shake his head at Willie. What was he saying? My mind was going fast, too fast to try to pry into the Centaur’s thoughts. Willie shouted something at the tall Centaur while he gestured that he wanted Katherine’s truck to move to the right lane for a more detailed vehicle inspection.

  It was like watching a car accident. I could see what was about to happen, but I couldn’t do anything to stop it. “Don’t pull over, don’t pull over, don’t pull over,” my silent warning for Katherine kept replaying in my mind.