Lacey’s father was affronted by our exchange. “What have you done?” His gaze fixed on his daughter, but his hollow words were directed at me. “You’ve just sentenced her to death.”
Without thinking, I leaped in front of Lacey. I could feel the muscles near my eyes flex and my nostrils flair, “She is mine.”
Her father pleaded, “Beau, don’t do this to her. They’ll be looking for you. You won’t escape them.”
I understood his painful words. He was right. By choosing to remain a Centaur and accepting Lacey’s choice, we would now be targets of those seeking the Lost Herd. The blaze that had radiated in my body turned to embers. I turned to face her to try to find a speck of regret looking back at me.
I only saw her unshakable strength, “Beau, I knew the risks. I chose you. You are mine.” My upbringing taught me to keep a distance. Touching, even while betrothed, was frowned upon – but I couldn’t stop myself. I gathered Lacey in my arms and cradled her head against my chest. I willed the world to spin without us, to let me stand here in her embrace.
Her father interrupted us, “If you care for her at all, you’ll let her go. You’ll break your pledge and never set eyes on her again. Do it now, before anyone finds out.” Lacey looked up into my eyes: my heart was hers. It would always be hers.
If I broke my pledge here, now, she had a chance of a life with another. As a Centaur, I could only make that pledge once. There were no do-overs for Centaurs. Centaurides could accept a betrothal pledge and change their minds after, but the Centaur would never be able to force the pledge a second time. The bond was once in a lifetime.
I had asked Drake about it when we were searching for Cami. He told me he had accepted Bianca’s proposal, but he never gave her the pledge. Centaurs were never psychic, but he knew his best friend Gage wanted to give her his pledge.
I considered her father’s words. If I broke my pledge, I would still be tied to her for eternity and could protect her on earth. It was the only responsible thing to do. I had to let her father take her home, give her a chance at life. I opened my mouth, but the words refused to escaped me.
Lacey, no doubt reading my thoughts, pushed back away from my embrace, “Don’t you dare!” Her words startled me, and whatever words I was trying to form vanished in front of us all. She continued, “Beau Strayer, you are my Centaur. If you break it, I will never forgive you. You are mine.”
She stood straight, fists balled at her side, and in a ferocious voice I never wanted to hear from her mouth again, she shouted “Daddy, I’ve made my choice. Be happy for me. For as long as I live, Beau is my Centaur. I don’t want to waste time. Call Uncle Norman, find a priest, we’re getting married today before either of you,” she pointed her finger menacingly at both her father and me, “tries to stop it.”
Her father was the first to recover, “Lacey, there’s no rush. Even with Ted you planned a long. . .”
Lacey cut him off, “Dad, today. Stop arguing. Set it up or I will.” She turned her attention on me, her voice much softer, and the furrowed brow holding the glare for her father abated, as well. “Beau, you left your family because you couldn’t take the rejection. You don’t want to be human any more than the river wants to run still. I’m not afraid of marrying you or joining your family. The only thing that frightens me is you getting a hair-brained idea to try to save me by breaking your pledge and disappearing. I want this. I want you. I want it today.”
Chapter 31
(Drake – Cameron’s house, SD)
I thought we would have weeks together before we needed to make any more permanent plans. After just days together, we’d received a call that the Centaur Council would meet in Centauride, South Africa at the end of the month. It was a special session, and we already knew the topic.
I was still awkward as half a man. I’d never been vain, at least I tried never to be, but I would catch my reflection in the glass of a window or the large mirror hanging in the living room – I couldn’t get used to my new form. Cami had moved most of the furniture into the bedrooms; the small living room felt much bigger when the only piece left was a well-worn recliner. At night she lay with me on the floor of the living room, and throughout the day, I did my best not to destroy the place.
How long could we continue like this? I asked myself this question hundreds, maybe thousands of times. I tried to comfort myself knowing I was in this form by my own choice. But that fact gave me no comfort. I doubted it ever would.
“Stop it, Drake.”
Cami was standing in the door frame between the kitchen and living room staring at me. I forced a smile back at her after looking around the emptied room. “I’m not doing anything.”
“Yes, you were. I can hear your thoughts, remember?”
I nodded. “Cami, I’m your Centaur. Nothing will change that. I think it’s time we look at this from a practical perspective.”
“I’ve made my choice, Drake.”
“There’s no future with me, Cami. We aren’t even the same species anymore. You have an obligation to our race. You are the last Chiron Centauride.”
“So?”
“So, you have to. . . you need someone. . . you can’t. . .” I couldn’t finish the thought. Daniel’s face flashed in my head. I may not be able to get the words out, but I knew he loved her. He’d loved her for longer than I’d known her, and I understood why her mother believed the two would end up together. They were compatible; they were comfortable friends, trusted allies, and shared a mutual respect. Under the right circumstances, it could be more.
She remained in the doorway. She knew what I was thinking; I didn’t need to spell it out. My thoughts wounded her, but if she were to have any kind of life at all, we needed to stop thinking about just surviving and come up with a plan for her: a life she could live with.
“Drake, I can’t keep being the strong one. You can’t keep doubting us. . .” Cami was still talking, and her words were heartfelt, but a strange feeling came over me. Voices, no. . . thoughts, swirling all around me – danger was near. I could feel the danger encircling us, not the threat of what could happen weeks or months from now, but a tangible threat just outside the house. Centaurs were here. They were stationed at each exit, all with weapons: guns, knives, one carried a mace.
She was still talking when I cut her off, “Cami! Get in the basement, now!” I was across the room and lifting the trap door before the words were fully out of my mouth. “Get in, don’t come out.” I tried to count the warriors outside in my head, at least ten, a perimeter around the property, another thirty. Damn it! How had they gotten so close?
“Drake, I don’t under. . .”
“Down, now! I’ll be back for you. I promise. Not a word and don’t come out. Do you understand? Don’t come back up!”
I slammed the trap door, heaved the single reclining chair that still remained in the living room over the access panel to camouflage the entry. The doors burst open and windows were smashed into the house. Centaurs leaped in through each opening.
Shock, outrage, and disbelief shone on the faces looking at me. I didn’t recognize any of the Centaur faces staring back at me, and no one moved. Lacey, Daniel and the Strayers had kept their word: no one knew of my transformation. They lost their element of surprise when no one knew what to do against a living, breathing Centaur with hooves. I towered over all of them, rage emanating from every pore on my body. I was ready for them and they were ill-prepared for me.
The ten men stood, mouths agape, only one holding a gun. I put my back to him and kicked him with every ounce of strength I had, which, funny enough, was almost too much. He sailed through both sheets of drywall separating the living room from the kitchen and ended up sprawled out across the kitchen table. I reared up, my head a fraction of the inch from the ceiling as my front hooves pawed two more attackers to my front. When these two went down, the very real danger registered with the remaining seven in the room. Weapons were drawn, but my reaction time was swifter than theirs.
A stout muscular man lunged at me with a knife. I easily moved out of his path and delivered a heavy blow to him as his forward momentum was helped along by the strength within me.
Another carrying a dagger came at me from my other side, trying to bury it deep in my back. I caught the knife in my hand before it could sink into my flesh, did a quick turn and had it aimed squarely at his heart. Before I could sink the knife into him, I felt another approaching me from behind. My hoof caught him in the jaw as I heard his body sail several feet back and plant hard in a corner. I easily disarmed and knocked the other five unconscious.
The brute force this body was able to deliver was astonishing. I stood alone in the room, bodies laying in all corners. I hadn’t killed any, but that wasn’t my goal. I merely needed to keep Cami safe. Their deaths would serve no purpose.
After the battle this evening, I doubted any would come after us again. There was still a concern over those guarding the perimeter. How could I get Cami away from here? Knives, daggers, and handheld weapons were of no consequence to me, but bullets were another matter, and I couldn’t tell who outside held guns.
I wouldn’t risk even a whisper but knew Cami would be listening to my thoughts, “I’m fine, Love. Stay where you are while I find a safe way out of here.”
Her answer was immediate in my mind, “I trust you, Drake.”
An outside light shone brightly. I wanted to keep whatever element of surprise might be available. The broken windows would allow someone to see directly into the place. I turned off the light switch in the living room, the kitchen, the hallway; I stood in the pitch black willing my mind to locate all the remaining warriors around the perimeter of the property. All had held their position until the lights went off.
I had to have stumbled onto a predetermined signal because as soon as the house was completely dark, I could feel them all sauntering toward the house. Their confidence radiated from them; they believed the house was secure and the occupants were restrained.
A voice called from the yard, “Geeze, Rosco, what the hell happened? It sounded like a bar brawl from out here.”
I didn’t know Rosco, but could only assume he had been the leader of the assault. The voice called again, “Rosco, everything’s okay, right?” I felt him stop his advance.
To keep my element of surprise, I had to do something. If I answered and I sounded off, I didn’t know how many guns might fire in through the windows. If I didn’t respond to the question, it could be the same response. I searched my mind trying to remember any accents, but none of the attackers had muttered a single word. I needed the Centaurs outside to believe it was safe; I needed them in closer. I took a deep breath and yelled, “Clear! We got her!” I didn’t dare say another word and worried that my shout may have just given me away.
It didn’t. I was so attuned to this man that I actually heard his footsteps separately from the others who were advancing. We really were a warrior race because this was better than any military technology that identified friend or foe. Not only could I identify him, I knew his position and could determine which footsteps were his from at least fifty feet away through the walls of the house.
“What, are ya,’ havin’ a séance or something? Turn the lights on already. It’s like the arctic tundra out here! Get the girl in the van and let’s go!” I heard a vehicle pull up the driveway, the engine running.
I needed them on my turf; I needed them off-guard. Taking out ten Centaurs at once was better than I had hoped just moments before their assault, but thirty was a different matter and would require more than just a few seconds of shock to gain the advantage. I looked around the room and picked up a dagger and a hunting knife. I believed my hooves were better weapons, but putting one in each hand gave me an option if anyone got close.
“Rosco, turn on the damn lights!”
I saw the fuse box in the hallway. In the blink of an eye I was at the panel and had shut off the power to the house. I bellowed back, “Can’t! Guarding her!”
I heard his heavy steps stomping the snow off his boots onto the floor of the kitchen. He was in the pitch black house after emerging from the front yard that was lighted by the bright light. His eyes hadn’t adjusted when he said, “Guarding her? Just tie her up and let’s. . .” He was out cold in one blow. He hadn’t seen the man still sprawled out on the kitchen table beside him, the one I believed was most likely Rosco. I boosted the second man off the floor and on top of Rosco and waited for more footsteps.
Cami’s thoughts came to me quickly, “Drake, there’s no one at the back of the house. It’s safe. I know it.”
The warrior part of my brain told me to stay and fight the others so we couldn’t be pursued, but the betrothed part of my brain argued that it was more important to get Cami to safety. My pledge won out. I moved the chair from the trap door, lifted the hatch, and reached my hand as far down as I could to lift Cami out.
When we reached the back door, I looked in all directions. Footprints etched in the snow showed feet had gone toward the front of the house. She was right: this was our best egress.
I took a second to catch her gaze, the adrenaline still pumping hard in my veins, “Cami, you’re going to need to hold on. We’re going to race the wind tonight.” A thick comforter was balled up near the back door with our backpack and Cami’s coat. It hadn’t been strategically placed there, but when Cami was rearranging the house to accommodate me, this was where the blankets, pillows, and our personal items were kept during the day. Neither of us felt right about disturbing Cameron’s things in the bedrooms.
I lifted Cami easily into my arms and galloped out the back door, through the back yard, along the river’s bank that bounded the property and into the night. We didn’t hear a voice of any kind, and as I put distance between us and the house, the Centaurs who had surrounded us became more fuzzy in my mind as their potential for danger diminished.
I had run for at least forty miles, through streams and over rocky terrain where my hoof prints couldn’t be detected, when we came upon a boarded-up motor lodge. The sign in front indicated it was closed for the winter and would open again on Memorial Day. The place was far better than the barn I had spent a few nights in.
It felt safe, as the place had no ties to anyone we knew. We tried several of the doors, and all were locked tight with curtains drawn. We found one that was on the back side, opposite the abandoned parking lot that nestled into the forest behind it. Seeing our footprints would be next to impossible in this remote area. I thrust the door handle hard, and the lock gave way.
Cami walked into the dark room. The electricity hadn’t been cut and the heat was on, not warm, but enough so that the pipes wouldn’t freeze. Cami went to the thermostat and turned the temperature up to a balmy sixty degrees, then flicked on the bathroom light. It didn’t light the entire room but gave off enough of a glow that we could see where objects were in the room.
Cami asked the question I didn’t have the answer for. “Who were those guys?”
“I wish I knew.”
“You didn’t recognize any of them?”
“No. They weren’t there for me.”
Cami nodded. “You didn’t kill any of them. Once they recover, they’ll tell. Everyone will know about you.” She looked sad, and I wished she would share her thoughts with me, but she held them in, blocked from me.
I walked to her. I had felt so awkward around her in this body until tonight. I understood Zeus’s words; I understood why Chiron’s magic had done this to me. I was better able to protect her in this form. That was what she needed now more than anything. More than a lover, more than a confidant, more than a friend, Cami needed a warrior if she were to survive.
I was pleased that it would be me. I wondered selfishly if I would ever be given my old body back. I wondered if I’d grow old like this. Would Cami ever find peace, and if she did, would she share that peace with someone else? My mind tumbled in a free fall, until I felt two delicate hands placed on m
y cheeks.
I looked down into Cami’s milk-chocolate brown eyes. She had heard my concerns and answered, “It isn’t permanent.”
I shuddered under her touch. “You can’t know that, Cami.” I took a breath and added, “If it is, I have no regrets.” I pulled her to me, nestling her head against my chest. One arm held her to me as the other caressed her cheek with my thumb.
She whispered, “These men, whoever they were, won’t stop. They’ll find us again. They’ll use a Centauride to locate us.”
“I know.”
“We’ll never know peace.” Despite her words, the warmth of her body calmed me. I remembered the rage I felt when the men surrounded me while Cami was safely tucked in the basement. A rage I had never known consumed me and with it a single goal, to keep her safe.
With more confidence than I felt, I answered, “We’ll find peace. We’ll find it together.”
Her resolve was strong, “Not unless we take the fight to them.”
My arms tensed so I loosened my arms as I was worried I’d crush her. “What’re you saying?”
“I’m saying we go to Centauride. We meet with the Centaur Council. I’m saying we let the world know I am the last Chiron Centauride, and I am of the Lost Herd.”
“Cami, that would be suicide.”
“If we don’t and a stupid Centaur decree, or whatever they’re called, gets passed down to hunt all the living Tak descendants, it’s a death sentence for my family. We’ve got to try to stop it. I can’t lose my family.”
“I can’t lose you. Even if I’m stuck like this forever, I can’t stand the thought of losing you.”
She was still snug against my chest, “You won’t lose me. If we can’t have this life together, you already promised me eternity in the pasture. If we don’t do this, now, while we can, this life will be spent on the run, being hunted. No. We take the fight to them.”
Centaur Legacy Page 24