Centaur Rivalry (Touched Series Book 3)

by Straight, Nancy

  “Slow your roll, Speedracer.” That was one of Daniel’s phrases, and I’d always wanted to say it. In twenty-three years, this was my first opportunity. “You’re okay with the wedding?”

  He nodded, “I’m more than okay with it. I forgot what it felt like to be young and in love. Thank you for reminding me.”

  When we got back to the beach, Drake and Hallenjah looked nervous. I’d purposely blocked Drake from the conversation so he couldn’t listen in. I didn’t know if Nathan had done the same, but from her questioning look, I’d bet that he had, as well.

  Drake took my hand in his and led me to the awaiting priest.

  The ceremony was perfect. I barely heard the priest’s words, and even if I had, his accent was so thick that they sounded like he was speaking in Spanish. It was Drake’s ice blue eyes that held me captive on the sand throughout the short ceremony. His fingers caressed mine as he held my hands and a warmth baked from inside me.

  Drake gently slipped the ring on my finger, “Mom brought these with her. They belonged to my grandparents. When my grandfather passed in a car accident, my grandmother left for the pasture a week later. She couldn’t stand the loneliness of losing her Centaur, and her body refused to live without him. Mom told me she saw the same love in your eyes that she always saw in her mother’s and wanted us to have them.”

  Goosebumps erupted on my arms. The priest announced, “I no’ pronuse yo man e wife.”

  Drake and I turned around while a photographer was snapping pictures rapidly. Bianca really had thought of everything. Ben and Bart walked straight up to us and said, “Welcome to the family,” then proceeded to tackle Drake into the ocean.

  Laughter erupted from all sides. Drake stood up and was soaked from head to toe. He walked out of the water, all smiles, shaking the salty water from his face. He wrapped his arms around me and bellowed, “I don’t know what you’re laughing at.” Within seconds he had brought me down into the ocean with him.

  The priest excused himself and the party commenced. Tables full of food were carried down to the beach by more men wearing nicely pressed white shirts. Caribbean music echoed out on the beach, and a full-blown party ensued well into the night.

  Drake’s parents were not at all what I had expected. Both could dance, like dancing I’d only seen on music videos. His father threw Hallenjah in the surf before the night was over, too. As Hallenjah’s laugh echoed along the beach, Drake watched his parents play in the water. I stood next to him, intertwining my fingers with his, “Your dad isn’t what I expected.”

  Drake let go of my hand and wrapped his arms around me, still staring at his parents goofing around in the ocean. “I’ve never seen him so happy.” He stopped watching his parents and looked down into my eyes. “You have that effect on people.”

  “Sure, his son marries into the Lost Herd and he’s thrilled.”

  Drake shook his head, “I haven’t seen him like this since I was a little kid. What’d you say to him before the wedding?”

  “Nothing really. Only that if he tried to stop us from getting married I intended to take him for a swim with a brick hooked to his ankles.”

  Drake’s eyes flexed and I couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction. “Just kidding. We just spent a couple minutes getting to know each other, that’s all.”

  Drake swung me around so I was facing him. We began swaying to the music together as he rested his chin on my head. Our bodies moved together slowly, and even if I had tried, I couldn’t drown out the love that poured out of my heart for him. For a long time everyone disappeared, and it was just Drake and I molded together in the moonlight.

  Will cleared his throat. I opened my eyes and saw him patiently standing off to the side. “May I have a turn?” Drake kissed my cheek and let me loose, handing me over to Will. The music was slow, a soft ballad playing as he danced with me on the beach. Will’s voice was quiet but strong, “Congratulations, Camille. I couldn’t have chosen a Centaur better than Drake for you.”

  His words were meant as a compliment to Drake, so I didn’t allow myself to make a snide comment about arranged marriages. It wasn’t anything he had dreamed up; it was just a part of the Centaur culture I didn’t like and would thankfully never endure. Will looked at me with heavy eyes, “Drake told me you two intend to address the Centaur Council next week.”

  “We do. Gage and Bianca are going with us.”

  Worry spread across his face. I could feel his discouraging words coming before he spoke them. “It’s not their fight.”

  I leaned back so he could see my resolve. “It’s everybody’s fight, Will.”

  He pursed his lips together. I had struck a nerve. We’d spent remarkably little time together for a father and daughter, but he knew me well enough to know not to give me any type of ultimatum. Mom always told me I was strong-willed. He must have already come to the same conclusion. Will collected his thoughts before he asked, “What do you intend to say?”

  “I don’t know. I think pretty good on my feet.”

  “I know you don’t think of me as your father.” His words hung heavy in the air. I did think of him as my father – but I wasn’t sure if I could trust him. How do you put that into words in a nice way? It was several minutes before he offered, “If you could spare the room, I’d like to go with you.”

  “Why?”

  “It wasn’t your sin against the gods that brought you and Cameron into this world. It was mine. If the Council feels they must exact revenge against the Lost Herd – it should be me who pays the price.”

  I leaned away from him, unable to process what he was saying. Was he offering himself up as a sacrificial lamb to the Centaur Council? “No. Whatever creed, or warrant, or whatever it was that Zeus handed down was wrong. Centaurs exterminating a herd for the actions of one Centauride thousands of years ago is insane. We aren’t sheep. We don’t blindly follow. We were born from adversity and no one, god or otherwise, controls our destiny.”

  I waited for him to argue, to tell me I was wrong, or to try to convince me to go into hiding. He didn’t. William took both my hands in his, gripping them as if his life depended on them, “You are Chiron’s daughter.”

  “I am Chiron’s daughter and daughter to the Lost Herd of Centaurs. Chiron protects me. The Council will see reason or they will be dissolved. It is their place to preserve and protect, and they have lost their way under Zandra.”

  The music played on, but neither Will nor I still swayed to the beat. He stood still, looking at me, searching for one morsel of doubt in my features. He didn’t find it because no doubt existed.

  Will wore an astonished look, saying the words out loud as if he didn’t believe them. “You do not fear her.”

  It wasn’t a question, but I answered him anyway. “No.”

  “She is the most powerful Centauride in history.”

  “Power is just power. True strength is in the wisdom of our actions.”

  Will still held both my hands as he went down on one knee, bowed his head, and said, “Guardian of the Lost Herd, hear me now. Camille needs the protection you have afforded my family for generations. Keep her safe. Shield her from harm. Allow her to lead us out of the Dark Ages.”

  I didn’t know what to say. Guardian of the Lost Herd? Brent had told me one of the gods had to be secretly helping the Lost Herd. Who was it? Did Will know which god was helping us? Will stood up, hugged me to him and said, “I’ve never been more proud of another in my life. Our legions stand at your disposal. You need only say the word.”

  “Legions? What the heck are you talking about?”

  “Camille, the Lost Herd has been in fear of their lives, fear for our children’s lives for longer than anyone can remember. We’ve been waiting for the right time, the right place in history, the right leader to set us free.” His eyes were glossy as he looked down into my eyes, “That leader is you.”

  Drake had been a few yards away. I didn’t notice him until he took a step toward me; it was obvious
he’d been listening. Pride shone through his eyes. I didn’t believe he would ask me to hide from the Centaur Council or any of their Centaur enforcers again. Drake understood what was to take place when he said, “I’ll be at your side.”

  Drake eased over to me while Will stood up and walked over to where Gretchen was waiting. Drake took me into his arms. His voice was low, his desire clear, “Have we spent enough time with everyone else?”

  His words sent shivers up my spine. Today had been magic, more than I’d hoped for. I tugged his shirt toward the cottage, not even bothering to tell everyone goodnight. They would all still be here tomorrow. Drake didn’t hesitate in following me, his hands on my hips, guiding me in the moonlight. Just as we reached the threshold of the little cottage, Drake hoisted me up in his arms, his lips softly brushing mine. “I’ve loved you since the first moment I carried you in my arms. If this has been a dream, I hope I die in my sleep so I never awake from it.”

  I reached for the door handle so Drake could carry me over the threshold. A high pitched cry followed by a bloodcurdling scream echoed up to the cottage. It was Lacey. Drake set me on my feet in front of the doorway. He turned and sprinted toward the beach without a word. I stood frozen, “Lacey, what happened?”

  “They’re here, Cami. Run. Run now!!”

  Chapter 21

  (Camille, Outside of Cancun, Mexico)

  Despite my fear, I asked Lacey, “Who’s here?”

  “The Council’s enforcers. Save yourselves.”

  A bright flash of light shown through the trees, so bright I raised my hand to cover my eyes. The white light was as brilliant as the sunrise magnified by the reflection of the ocean, but it was hours too early for that. I closed my eyes and shouted through my thoughts, “Drake, where are you?”

  “Hide. Hide in the jungle until I come for you. Now. I can’t fight them off if I think you’re in danger.”

  I wanted to go to him – to help him. More screams echoed off the water – was that Gretchen? What was happening to my family? I took a step toward the ocean. If I lost Drake now, my life would be over. I’d die the same death his grandmother had – death from a broken heart.

  Drake’s voice was loud in my head, “Cami, hide. I promise I’ll come for you.”

  I have no clue how he did it, but he let me see what he was looking at through his eyes. In that moment I knew where the bright light had come from. It wasn’t an explosion. It wasn’t muzzle fire from a weapon, and it wasn’t the sun rising. Drake had transformed back into my Centaur Warrior and was attacking the Council’s enforcers on the beach.

  He didn’t need my help. I hated the idea of hiding, but I mentally reached out to the beach where all the commotion was going on – there were fewer Centaur enforcers here than had ambushed us in South Dakota.

  I begrudgingly did as I was told. I stayed within the confines of the estate, but away from any paths, and stayed well camouflaged by the vegetation and darkness. I needed to keep my mind from running through all of the worst possible scenarios. I connected with Drake’s mind, to see what he was seeing. The images through Drake’s eyes were fierce. The enforcers seemed to be concentrating on just him, ignoring the others and assaulting him.

  Ben, Bart and Beau were lobbing rocks at one. The three took turns charging the enforcer, trying to keep him off guard. He was bobbing and weaving better than any welter-weight fighter I’d ever seen, but they were getting the better of him with their assaults. A second enforcer got in the mix, but, he, too, couldn’t stave off their assault.

  Four enforcers were attacking Drake. One enforcer wielded a sword so quickly it was nothing but a blur in his hands. I saw everything through Drake’s eyes and couldn’t help but cringe as the Centaur attempted to sink his sword into Drake’s flesh. Drake was too fast, so each time the blade came down, he was a fraction of an inch to the side. The three other enforcers circled him, carrying daggers; each attempted several rushes but couldn’t catch Drake with his guard down.

  I didn’t see Hallenjah, Lacey or Gretchen and was too enthralled with the assaults to try to locate them. I looked for Will and Drake’s father, but they, too, weren’t in the fight. Bianca stood on the beach by herself, easily fifty yards from the action. I could see an enforcer stalking her in the shadows. Couldn’t she see him? He was right there! “Bianca! Behind you!”

  Before her response sounded in my head, I watched an enormous palm tree fly through the air and crush the enforcer to the ground. “Whoops, can’t imagine how that could have happened.”

  I wanted to laugh, and, if I hadn’t have been so freaked out a second ago, I would have. “Did you just set a trap?”

  “Of course not. We’re not the warriors, right? We’re just defenseless Centaurides.” Gage jumped down from a neighboring tree and tied the enforcer’s hands. It seemed like overkill, no way was he going anywhere unless Bianca moved that tree trunk. Man, I loved Bianca. I’d forgotten she could move objects like that.

  I crumpled down to the ground, watching the battle unfold, unable to do anything from this distance. I counted seven enforcers total. The four were still attacking Drake, and although he hadn’t yet been touched, it was only a matter of time before they wore him down. I stood up. He couldn’t do this without me. I took several big strides when his voice warned in my head, “Don’t do it, Cami! I can handle them, but I need to know you’re safe. Stay put.”

  I paused, arguing with myself. What if I could distract one of them? Wouldn’t that be some help? I could climb a tree and manipulate objects, something. I concentrated on the four Centaurs circling Drake. I’d never tried to manipulate objects from a distance, so I focused on one with long dark hair that looked to be the largest of the four. He crouched down readying to pounce on Drake, when he did I made sand fly in his eyes. He took two steps back as his hands flew to his eyes to brush the sand away – Drake landed a hoof to the Centaur’s chest.

  When we were attacked at Cameron’s house, he’d taken on thirty Centaurs without so much as a scratch to show for it afterwards. He’d be fine. He had to be fine. I cleared my mind and started counting, slowly down from twenty to calm myself. I was at seventeen when I made my decision, I couldn’t stay here hiding. It wasn’t in my nature. It wasn’t what Chiron would want me to do.

  If Drake put his life on the line, I would stand beside him. Either we’d win or we’d lose, but we wouldn’t be apart. I took three large strides, watching the ground beneath my feet. I ran directly into the awaiting arms of an enforcer. I’d caught him off-guard and pushed him with every ounce of strength I had. It was enough to knock him off his feet, but his hand reached up and caught my ankle, bringing me to the ground, too.

  I didn’t have a weapon of my own. Somehow he had tracked me here. I refused for him to see me try to crawl away. We were both on our feet at the same time. I stood tall, extending to the full measure of my height, my hatred for what he stood for glaring through my eyes.

  The enforcer froze. He stood just feet away from me, trying to anticipate in which direction I would flee. I tried to read his thoughts, but they were blocked. His expression was a stone, giving nothing away of his intentions. I glared at him – daring him to try to strike me down. He reached for me so quickly and grabbed my throat with such speed that I was in his choke hold, my feet dangling inches above the ground, before I realized he had even flinched.

  Not like this. This was not how I would die. I willed the muscles in my throat to go rigid under his touch, to refuse to yield to the pressure put on them. I closed my eyes and concentrated on a tall tree that was just on the other side of the path. The lack of oxygen started to give me tunnel vision, but I concentrated on the tree.

  I couldn’t identify the type of tree, but it had large thick vines hanging from it. When I opened my eyes, one of the vines was suspended in mid-air as if it were a snake, ready for me to tell it to strike. I envisioned the vine wrapped securely around the Centaur’s throat, squeezing his larynx, denying him the air that his hand
s held hostage from me.

  In an instant, the vine coiled around the Centaur’s throat and yanked him hard away from me. The Centaur’s eyes flew open, as his hands clawed at the vine – desperately trying to remove it from his neck. I fell to the ground, sucking in as much air as my lungs could take.

  The Centaur coughed and gasped as the vine squeezed the fight out of him. When his body went limp, I willed the vine to release his throat and wrap around his body. I leaned down to the Centaur’s limp body on the ground: he had a pulse. I didn’t want him dead – I didn’t want any Centaur dead. I just wanted my family to be safe.

  Drake’s voice called to me. “It’s over. Where are you?”

  Relief spilled over me, “Here. I’m near the main house.”

  His voice was heavy, “I’m sorry, Cami.”

  “Sorry?” Had he not gotten there quickly enough? Was it Beau? Or Bart? Had Will been hurt? Before I frantically asked the question of who hadn’t made it, Drake’s face appeared through the trees, along with the rest of him. All nine-hundred pounds of him stood before me in the moonlight – he towered above me, my Centaur Warrior.

  I threw myself at him, grateful that he was okay, then I steadied my voice, “Is everyone okay?”

  Drake exaggeratedly looked at his body, but nodded. “There were only eight. They must have been sent to do reconnaissance and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try to take out a few from the Lost Herd whose guard was down.” Drake saw the unconscious Centaur who lay at my feet, “My mistake, nine.” He took both my arms and held them out away from my sides, looking up and down my body, searching for any sign that I’d been hurt.