“Where are you? Right now, where are you physically at this very second?”
I chuckled, “About 40,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean, I think. I could ask the pilot if you want coordinates.”
“Stop being a smart ass. I want answers, and I want them now.” His tone had changed from serious to borderline angry, not at all the best friend I’d had since elementary school.
Drake stirred next to me. He was awake, but he didn’t ask me who I was talking to. He reached up and gently stroked my hair. “It turns out that guy I told you I didn’t like? I decided I liked him. We took a trip to Ireland, and we’re headed to South Dakota for a while. If things go well, maybe back to Oceanside. We haven’t made any long term plans yet.”
There was no more borderline: Daniel was angry. “You couldn’t pick up a phone?”
Trying to keep the conversation steered clear of rage, I answered, “I’m sorry, this plastic device with numbers on it that I’m holding in my hand looks suspiciously like a phone.”
“So that’s it, you’re flying around the world with Bianca’s fiancé?”
“His name’s Drake. You’ll meet him soon. They broke it off.” It would be impossible to tell Daniel everything I’d been through, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to share any of it with him. He’d always been a little hotheaded, and finding out I’d been held against my will, led to believe my actions caused the murder of two people I cared about, and finding that my mother had had roughly the same fate – it was just too much to burden him with.
“I can hardly wait. I guess my dad was right all along.”
“Your dad? Right about what?”
“He told me you wouldn’t be back. He told me that we were over.”
“What do you mean over? Daniel, you’re my best friend.”
“Sounds like you’ve got a new best friend.”
“It isn’t the same.”
“Yeah, I know. He’s a pure-blood.” The call disconnected. I looked at the receiver; I wasn’t sure what I expected to see. I dialed Daniel’s number again, but it just went to voice mail. Daniel knew about Centaurs? But how could he?
Chapter 10
(Camille – on airplane, en route to Rapid City, SD)
Drake pulled me from my seat onto his lap with about as much effort as lifting a pillow, “Who was that?”
“My friend, Daniel. He was pretty worried.”
“It was a short call.”
I did my best to mask the hurt in my voice. After everything that had happened, I really wanted to catch up and hear what I’d missed. “Yeah, I must’ve caught him at a bad time.”
Drake lifted my hair away from my neck and pressed his lips to the now fully healed skin near my collarbone. “Good news for me. I’ve got plans for your lips that don’t include talking.” He slowly made his way up to my mouth as the embers inside me raged into an inferno.
As I sat on Drake’s lap with his arms wound around me, questions started to churn through my thoughts. I had a twin who was being protected by a magical arrow – it really did exist. How had my mother been able to give him up and never check on him again? My father was a descendant of a lost Centaur herd, and I was somehow supposed to be poised to reunite herds, maybe with the arrow? I could finally communicate with my mom – but she couldn’t help me with the future. Hopefully she’d be able to help me locate Cameron. Daniel knew about Centaurs – how long had he known that I was a Centauride?
When we both pulled back for air, Drake’s eyes looked heavy. I asked, “Are you tired?”
He took both my hands and put them on either side of his face, the same as he had done three months ago on Will’s yacht. An image of the two of us lying on a beach in the sun next to crystal blue Caribbean water played through my mind. The vision showed Drake lying beside me: his abs glistened in the sun and the smell of coconut oil filled the air. The vision was vivid, so vivid I could feel his hands rubbing the coconut-scented oil on me. The warm ocean breeze blew across my skin, and the heat from the sun burned down on us.
I moved my hands from his face and lost the vision. Drake was smiling when I asked, “So was that a fantasy or the future?”
“Both, Love. It was both.”
“Tell me again – why are we going to South Dakota and not Grand Cayman?”
“It’s your choice, Camille. I’ll follow you anywhere.” Drake pulled me in tighter to him. I thought back to our conversation the other day. As perfect as it felt in his arms, I knew we needed to talk. No matter the outcome, I couldn’t let him believe I was something I wasn’t.
I didn’t look at him; instead, I found his hands absolutely intriguing and kept all my attention focused on them. “So, I’ve been thinking. There’s this thing about me that I’ve never told you. I didn’t think it was important before, but now I’m not so sure. So I’m just going to put it out there.”
I was seated on his lap but craned my neck to glance up at his face. He was curious, but his expression wasn’t registering any kind of alarm. I took a deep breath and added, “And if you want to rescind your offer to marry me, I’ll understand.” I could feel his body go rigid beneath me. “I won’t like it, but I’ll understand.”
I had his attention. He didn’t interrupt, and I didn’t dare look in his eyes for fear of losing my nerve. He said nothing, so I continued. “So, I dated a guy for a couple years, and I really thought he was the one, you know?”
Drake’s quiet voice asked, “Daniel?”
“What? No! I’ve already told you I never dated Daniel. The guy’s name was Ronnie, and incidentally, Daniel hated Ronnie. Every chance he got, Daniel told me how much he hated him.” I realized I was stalling, took another deep breath and continued, “Okay, so, when humans date for that long, sometimes they do more than kiss.”
Drake’s muscles tensed further as I sat motionless on his lap. All I heard was, “Go on.”
“So, we did, you know. . . with each other.” Drake didn’t ask for more information, and I was sure he got my meaning without me having to spell it out for him. When the silence became unbearable, I added, “At the time, I didn’t know anything about Centaurs. But the other night, when we were in the hotel, you said you didn’t want to be responsible for stealing my virtue before we were married. It hadn’t occurred to me until you said it, but. . . that’s when I realized that maybe you wouldn’t want me anymore if you knew this.”
Drake didn’t say anything. His heart was still beating fast, and his muscles were still taut. “I really cared about Ronnie. I mean, we dated for more than two years.”
Drake remained still. I was terrified he was going to end it with me right here. What would his mother say? Would she already know? Drake said his father was very anti-human; is this something that would blackball me from his family? From Centaur society? I’d been holding all these questions in for more than two days, and each one threatened to drive me insane. Finally Drake broke the silence. In a calm voice, he asked, “Is Ronnie still in your life?”
I shook my head that he wasn’t. I was normally so good at reading Drake, but his face held no expression at all. This was just as difficult as I had envisioned. Luckily we were in the air, so it’s not like he could take off running miles away where I couldn’t catch him.
Drake’s hand began to lightly caress the top of my arm. It felt like he was trying to soften his blow, and I braced myself for whatever he’d say next. “You said you cared about him. Did you love him?”
Wow, not what I expected. Guys usually hated to hear about other guys. “I thought I did, at the time.”
“And now?”
“Now that I know what real love feels like, I know I wasn’t in love with him.” Drake seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. I didn’t want to lose him over this. Unless Centaurs could somehow time travel, I wasn’t going to be able to undo a bad decision.
Without letting the emotion overtake my voice, I added, “I didn’t think I would risk losing the love of my life because I made a stupid decision
and liked the wrong guy when I was nineteen.”
Drake’s hand squeezed my shoulder. His voice sounded hollow when he asked, “That’s what you believe I am to you? The love of your life?”
This question forced me to look at him. Of all the things he could ask me, this was what he wanted clarification on? I didn’t look away, wanting him to see my answer at the same time he heard it. “Yes. I know you are.”
Drake cleared his throat, looked directly in my eyes and said, “Thank-you for telling me. I’m glad I know.” It looked like he wanted to say something else, but he stopped talking and concentrated on the darkened television on the wall.
“Drake, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that it was a big deal. I swear he doesn’t mean anything to me, now. I haven’t seen him or talked to him in over a year. I understand if you can’t marry me, or if you don’t want to, or if it’s enough of a shock that you need some space.”
It would kill me if this ended us before we ever had a real chance. The memory from Zandra’s house, where she had lied and told me that Drake and Bianca were dead, washed over me. That pain was indescribable, but sitting here in the silence waiting for Drake to break it off with me was almost as bad.
His eyes sliced through whatever defenses I had, as I braced for what I felt was coming and looked away. I didn’t want to see his eyes, but he held my chin so I was forced to look into his. Drake’s voice was as tender as I had ever heard it, “So, if I don’t want to rescind my offer, where would that leave us?”
I felt my blood pumping harder. Did I hear him right? “That would leave me begging you to make me your wife.”
Drake’s smile was the one that I had seen so many times, not forced, and still full of love. “Cami, relax. I’m not thrilled, but your relationship with this Ronnie has no bearings on my feelings for you – now or ever.”
I hadn’t realized that I’d been holding my breath, until he said it, and I was able to take in air again. I wrapped both my arms around him tightly, “So, you still love me?”
“Since the first moment I held you, Cami. And for the record, my love for you won’t end even after my body stops breathing.”
My heart leaped. The fire was again spreading through me. All the reservations I’d had about marriage and Centaurs disappeared in that instant. I wanted it. I wanted it all, and I wanted to be tied to Drake for all eternity. My mind drifted back to the dream on our way to Ireland when my mom had said if I loved Drake I’d have to let him go like she had done with Kyle – there was no way she could have felt the same kind of love I felt for Drake. If she had, she would have been willing to risk anything for Kyle. In that moment, I knew she was wrong.
I eased my body away from Drake’s embrace and asked, “If a captain of a ship can marry a couple at sea, can a captain of a plane do it in the air?”
Drake’s smile stretched wide, his arms mashed my body into his when he answered, “I don’t think so, but I’m glad you won’t be fighting me about it anymore. Since you’re in an agreeable mood, I do have one small request.”
“Anything.”
“Until we make it official, I’d like for you to wear sweat pants and baggy t-shirts to bed.” He smiled and then added, “Socks, too.” I thought back to the night at the hotel when I’d emerged from the bathroom wearing the peach-colored nightgown. I smiled at the memory of his inability to look anywhere but at me. I loved that look. It was familiar to me. It was the same look I had for him right now.
“Sweat pants? I don’t know. I hear South Dakota can be pretty hot in the winter time.” Laughing at my own joke, I knew full well it could easily be minus twenty when we landed.
“It’s hot no matter the location or the season where you’re involved. Wear the sweatpants, or better yet, a snowmobile suit.”
With the weight lifted off my chest, and with the knowledge that Drake was in it for the long haul, I told him everything Mom had shared: why I didn’t have my powers until just today; I had a twin brother, Cameron; Jeb, a.k.a Zethus, had given Cameron’s guardian the arrow. I didn’t even hide that my mom expected me to go to Daniel rather than to embrace a Centaur. No secrets.
After I had relayed the whole conversation, Drake looked worried. “Your father is of the Tak bloodline?”
“Yeah. Will’s Dad told him to seduce Mom, gross right?”
The color on Drake’s face drained. His voice was hollow, “Yeah, gross.” I got the feeling there was something Drake wasn’t telling me, but his arms wrapped more tightly around me, and I didn’t want to ask why.
Chapter 11
(Beau Strayer – Camille’s oldest brother, San Diego, CA)
I got why Daniel was such a draw for Camille. The guy never ran out of energy. He’d be on the waves before the sun broke over the horizon in the east; by the time the rest of Oceanside was waking up, he’d already had two hours in the surf and was laying out his plans for the day.
Having grown up in my family, my brothers were fun to be around, but each day was meticulously planned, and our lives felt carefully scripted. Hanging out with Daniel felt like I was trying to keep pace with the Energizer Bunny. I’d never allowed myself to be around women. Daniel surrounded himself with them, from the beach, to the park, to the mall; he even had a flock around him when he went to pay his utility bill. I’d never seen anything like it.
He was three-quarters Centaur. His mother had been a half-blood, the daughter of a human mother and a Centaur father. Daniel’s father was a full-blooded Centaur. I hated to admit it, but it never occurred to me that there would be different percentages. You were either Centaur or you weren’t, and to be Centaur, you had to have pure blood.
I couldn’t argue that there was definitely something more than human about him. He was charismatic, athletic and fearless. I’d always heard that Centaurs who settled into human lives didn’t share their lineage with their children, but Daniel knew all about it. It wasn’t a big source of mystery for him: if anything, he despised it.
I began to wonder how bad it would be to have a life like Daniel’s father. I hated the fact that if I waited another year and wasn’t chosen by a Centauride, I would essentially be cast out from the family. If I just stayed here, I would never have to see their disappointment in me. I could meet a girl and be like all those sappy movies I’d always seen. Something inside me was convinced this was where I was supposed to be.
“Hello, earth to Beau.” Daniel’s hand was waving in front of my face. “You ready, bra?”
I was still getting used to Daniel’s slang: “Bra” was short for brother. I would have preferred “Bro,” instead of a lady’s undergarment, but that was Daniel. It wasn’t a Centaur thing; it was what he called every person willing to catch waves with him. “Sure, where to next?”
He dangled a set of keys in front of me. “I have to work today, so you’re on your own. Here’s the keys to Cami’s place.” He motioned to his car, “Get in, I’ll drop you there.”
Mom and Dad had planned to have the apartment packed up and moved to our house in Charleston, but after Zandra kidnapped Cami, they wanted for her to have a home to go home to if she needed it.
There had always been rumors of what happened to Cami’s mom, rumors as to why she may have run away and other rumors that she had been murdered. Dad wanted Cami to have a place that was all hers if she needed it, away from everything and everyone. Her apartment had been idle for the last three months. I didn’t want to stay in a hotel and figured if I was going to learn how to be a human, her place might be a good start.
We were driving up the Pacific Coast Highway toward Cami’s apartment. I wasn’t paying attention to the road until I heard the echo of a blown out tire, the squealing of tires in all directions, and the metal bending crashes of a little white car flipping end over end up the highway.
Daniel slammed on the brakes. The seatbelt held me tight while we came a breath away from slamming into the car in front of us. When we stopped, I freed myself from the seatbelt, opened the door, and spr
inted to the crumpled up white car. I wasn’t worried that I’d used my Centaur speed to get there: so many people were desperately trying to avoid the cars in front of them that they wouldn’t even notice my blur run past them.
When the white car stopped its cartwheels, I felt their magic. These weren’t frail humans; there were three Centaurs inside. I saw gas leaking out of the car. Pulling them out was risky: always leave crash victims in the car until the emergency responders arrive. But smoke was rolling out from under the hood – where there was smoke, there would be fire.
I reached through the shattered passenger window to pull out the female sitting in the passenger seat. Her knee was wedged against the dashboard. I was pretty sure her leg was broken from the angle it was laying.
I pushed as hard as I could against the dashboard. It complained against my strength but moved the half inch I needed to ease her out of the front seat through the passenger side window, without doing further damage to her leg. I had taken four strides away from the car with the woman in my arms when I heard it.
The explosion engulfed the car and blew me forward. Her body was sheltered from the blast by me. I felt the back of my shirt catch fire, but I held onto her. I got five or six more steps, laid her down on the highway’s shoulder as I felt someone extinguishing the fire on my back with a blanket. I could hear sirens in the distance.
I’d been burned badly, but I couldn’t lay her head on the asphalt. Daniel came rushing up to me, “Are you nuts? You could have gotten yourself killed.”
I nearly growled, “Give me your shirt, now!”
He didn’t argue: he pulled it over his head and handed it to me. It looked like he was going to be ill. I think he thought I needed it for me; instead, I folded it up with my free hand and placed it under the woman’s head. She had a shallow cut over her eye, a deep gash on her leg, and she was unconscious.
I looked back at the little white car; it was fully engulfed by flames. If the other two had survived the crash, there was no way they would live through the fire. I pulled what was left of my shirt off, wadded it up so the charred sides were wrapped up inside it, and applied pressure to the deep gash on her leg in an effort to convince the blood to stop flowing from her.
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