Centaur Legacy

by Nancy Straight

  Chapter 26

  (Camille – abandoned barn, SD)

  I had dozed off, but Drake shifted, and when the warmth of his body moved away from mine, the frigid temperature attacked my skin, jolting me awake. My eyes popped open, and I saw that he was still beside me. I could feel his breath against my ear and my neck rested on his arm while his other lay over me. It wasn’t a dream. I eased up into a sitting position to get a better look at what I’d been too nervous to see before. It was such a foreign sight that I wanted my senses to take him in. I reached toward his legs with my hand when I heard, “Cami, don’t.”

  I felt my body go rigid. I’d thought he was sound asleep. When I looked up, his eyes were giving me a warning. I answered with a smile, “I just want to touch your legs.”

  He threw a weathered blanket over himself to hide them. He let out a deep sigh, “Cami, this won’t work.”

  “It worked for Unice and Winfield.”

  “No, it didn’t. Aphrodite felt sorry for them and made Unice human. She did it because it couldn’t work any other way.”

  “That’s not true. She could have made Winfield a Centaur.”

  “Don’t say that, Cami. Don’t even think it.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because that was thousands of years ago. There weren’t that many people back then. Centaurs could live away from humans without being discovered. How long do you think I can stay hidden, looking like this? Wait until the Centaur Council finds out. They’ll sign my death warrant just to make sure no one finds me.”

  “So, we’ll stay hidden. Do you remember the promise you made me?” Drake’s eyes narrowed, but he remained quiet. I asked again, “After I’d chosen you, do you remember your promise?”

  “That was before I had hooves.”

  “So, you take it back?”

  “Cami, we can’t be betrothed. We can’t be married. We don’t have a future together anymore.”

  “We do if you want it. You want to make sure no one ever sees you, fine. I’ll ask Will to buy us a thousand acres somewhere. We’ll put up a huge fence so no one can get through. We’ll shove a couple king-sized mattresses in a barn. You know why? Because you promised me I’d never be alone. You don’t get to take that promise back. It’s mine. You gave it to me!”

  Drake’s fingers weaved through my hair, his lips crushed hard against mine, and the hurt I’d felt turned to anger against him. I wanted to hear him say that things were going to be fine. I refused to listen to his crap about I needed to get on with my life. Drake was my life. Our kiss deepened, sending heat from my hair to my toes. I pressed myself fully against him, and I heard my favorite moan escape his lips.

  As I pulled away from him, my stare wouldn’t let him go. His voice was thoughtful, “Okay, I get it. You’re not going anywhere.”

  “Don’t sound so thrilled.”

  A gentle smile formed on his lips, “I’m not thrilled. How could I be? By staying with me, you’ll never have a normal life, or any kind of life you deserve.”

  “It’s temporary, Drake. And even if it were permanent, it wouldn’t change a thing.”

  “Temporary? I don’t think so.”

  “So did you get ovaries with those hooves?”

  “What?!” Drake’s eyes opened wide and he stood up from the floor.

  “The last time I checked, I was the Centauride. I was the one who could see the future.”

  “No Centauride can see her own future.”

  “I’d buy that except Zandra can see the future. She knew about Zeus’s curse and told me she wanted her arrow back. I think it’s within her power to remove the curse.”

  “But the arrow has never belonged to her. And even if she could, you think she’d remove the curse, from me?”

  “If she could remove the curse, so could I. It’s got to be a Chiron thing.”

  “You aren’t touching that arrow, and we can’t let Zandra have it.”

  I agreed with his thoughts on Zandra. I’d do nearly anything to have Drake normal, but giving Zandra any more power than she already had wasn’t something I could agree to. Then it occurred to me, “What about Zethus?”

  Drake cocked his head to the side. “I’ve already tried to call him. He never gave us his last name. At least not the one he uses.”

  “We could be on a plane tomorrow.”

  Drake’s eyes looked at his body in a silent answer.

  “Right. So maybe flying you there isn’t the best idea. Give me the arrow and I’ll go.”

  “No. I don’t want you touching it.”

  “Geeze, Drake, Cameron had it his whole life, and he was fine.”

  “You’re not Cameron, and I’m not taking the chance that he was just lucky.”

  I heard footsteps crunching in the snow, off in the distance, walking toward us. Drake heard them at the same time and trotted over to a gap in the planks of the barn to see who the intruder was. His voice was quiet as he reached up to turn off the lantern, “They’re here for you.” I was standing beside him and wrapped my fingers around his. Drake leaned down and gently kissed my cheek. “You can’t stay here, Cami. It’s ten degrees out. Let them take you back to the hotel.”

  I tried to look through a smaller gap in the boards, but I couldn’t make out who the figures were. “I’m not leaving you.”

  “I don’t want you to go either, but it’s too cold. You can’t stay. It’s Lacey, her father, and Beau. They’re here for you; they’ll get you where it’s warm. Go. I’ll call you in the morning.”

  I protested through chattering teeth, acutely aware of the temperatures now that I wasn’t curled up next to Drake. “I’m-m-m-m n-n-n-not leaving you alone.”

  “I’m built for this. You aren’t. Lacey’s the seer who sent Beau and Daniel to warn us about Phineas. You can trust her. Don’t let them see me like this. I don’t know her father, but I’m sure his reaction would be bad. If you love me, you’ll go.”

  I worried that if I left with them, Drake would disappear again and I’d never find him. “When will I see you again?”

  “I’ll be here. I promise. Go, quickly. If they come through that door, I’m a dead man.”

  “I don’t understand?”

  “I promise I’ll explain tomorrow. Please, Cami. Go.” The urgency in his voice was something I trusted. I squeezed his hand and made a dash for the door just as the trio was an arm’s distance away from the structure.

  Lacey’s voice was the one I heard as I pulled the door open, “We found you!” Her voice sounded excited.

  Beau scooped me up in a bear hug and twirled me around as I answered, “Yeah, thanks.”

  When Beau put me down, he asked, “Are you nuts? We’ve been looking for you for hours! There’s a blizzard coming! Why were you out here by yourself? Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

  “There isn’t much of a signal here, and you know why I was out here.”

  Beau shook his head, “Did you find him?”

  I hated lying to Beau, but Drake seemed really worried about anyone finding him. “No, but I felt like I was getting closer this time.” I felt like my world had been rocked all over again. How could I leave Drake alone, here, with a blizzard on the way. I’d never been in one but had seen them on the Weather Channel. What would happen to him?

  Lacey stepped in between me and Beau. She took my hand to reassure me, and whispered so low, nobody but me could hear, “He’ll be fine. He wants you to go.” She gave my hand a gentle squeeze, silently telling me what I already knew. Lacey reminded me of Bianca, and I had to trust that she would keep Drake’s secret for me.

  Beau had his phone out and was dialing as the four of us walked to the gravel driveway where they’d left their SUV rental. “Dad, we found her. She’s okay.” I couldn’t hear William’s side of the conversation, but Beau answered him, “Yeah, we’ll be back at the hotel in thirty minutes. We’ll fly out after the weather passes. It’s supposed to be a pretty bad storm.” Another pause where William was talking, t
hen Beau answered, “Okay. I don’t know why you sent Bart back, but we’ll get him from the airport on the way back to the hotel. I’ll tell her. See you in a couple days.”

  I didn’t care what message Beau was going to pass along from William. I wasn’t getting on any plane without Drake.

  Chapter 27

  (Drake – abandoned barn, SD)

  I watched the taillights pull away from the house and drive down the dark road. She was gone. I could feel the emptiness in my chest returning. Cami had filled the hole while she was here, but she took my heart with her when she left. Since the night I stole the arrow, the night of my transformation, I was sure I’d never see her again. Her reaction puzzled me: it was almost as if she were blind to it.

  I loved her. I really loved her. I had convinced myself the only way to prove my love was to let her go, to shove her toward Daniel. He could give her what I couldn’t – a normal life. The night I called him begging him to take care of her, I destroyed half an acre of trees after I hung up with him.

  I’d believed my life was over; then she started looking for me. At first I was a little surprised; then I realized she was tracking me with uncanny accuracy. She had had me on the run for two full days. Tonight when she caught up to me, I didn’t have the strength to run away from her again.

  I expected her to see me and that would be it. Either her brothers would come later and hunt me down, or she’d spread the word and let my family take care of it. Having a living, breathing Centaur walking the earth would prove to be too much of a risk for our whole race. We’d lived undetected with humans for millennia; no one would let me live if they knew.

  Until tonight, I guess I wasn’t convinced she felt for me the way I felt for her.

  When I shut my eyes, I could remember every moment, every conversation, every. . . touch we had ever shared. I believed the day she chose me could never be topped, but tonight, when she said the words about not letting me take back my betrothal pledge, I fell in love with her all over again. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for her, no sacrifice I wouldn’t make, and no risk that would ever be too great. She was mine.

  I remembered seeing an electrical outlet in the pumphouse. It was the only place on the property that had electricity. I loped over to it with my cell phone and charger. I wanted to make sure it would have a charge when she called.

  Looking at my watch, it was almost 1 a.m. I was running low on food. There was a farmhouse twenty acres from here, where they had a deepfreeze on their back porch. I’d make a midnight run. I didn’t need a place to preserve anything that I took; according to the forecasts, it wouldn’t be over thirty degrees for at least the next seven days.

  I counted out some cash from my wallet and put it in an easy access pocket in my backpack and threw it over my shoulders. Grocery stores were out of the question for me, so leaving cash in place of the food I took seemed the best I could do.

  I made my way slowly along the tree line. Then I realized I liked the way the earth felt under me. Everyone was fast asleep by now, and it would be hours before anyone stirred. I ran at a full gallop, the earth pounding under my hooves, wind blowing against my face, sweat beading on my chest, my muscles welcoming the challenge.

  I could run as fast now as I ever could when I was in a human form, but feeling the earth beneath me, I slowed my pace to a horse’s gallop. I’d run nearly a mile when a sharp pang of fear sliced through my chest. I stopped abruptly, stepped into the camouflage of the trees, and tried desperately to slow my labored breathing. I listened hard, trying to hear the sound of anyone or anything that may have alerted me.

  I took in a deep breath and silently let it release. I noticed my surroundings. It was too much of a coincidence. I was too close to the place I’d hidden the arrow. Zigzagging through the trees, I retraced my steps.

  When I’d hidden it away, a fresh blanket of snow was falling, hiding my hoof prints from others. As I approached the little church, I saw fresh footsteps that couldn’t have been there longer than an hour. It was only one set, and they led into the structure.

  Whoever it was, they were still in there. Maybe it was someone like myself, someone who had heard about the blizzard on the way and was simply looking for shelter. There would be no better place to wait out the gods’ wrath.

  I stayed in the tree line in a position where I could watch the exits, where it would be nearly impossible to see me from the inside. I waited for hours. As dawn began to approach, it struck me as odd that whoever had gone into the long forgotten church hadn’t started a fire. I’d been in this form for a week, and the temperature normally didn’t bother me, but the wind had to be blowing at close to thirty miles per hour, and the air was well below zero.

  I wanted to get a better look inside. Maybe whoever had stumbled into the structure was hurt and needed help. If I was going to peek through the window, I’d need to do it now, before the sun came up.

  A large oak tree obscured the window’s view, and I did my best to stay off to the side of it. Anyone looking out the window wouldn’t see me. Unless they were directly in front of it, I’d be in the tree’s blind spot. When I peeked through the window, I saw a woman lying still on a church pew. I took another step closer to the window to see if she had any obvious injuries.

  She sat straight up, her voice booming, “I thought you would make me come looking for you, Drake. Come in so we can get this over with, and I can get out of this disgusting place.”

  I froze. I didn’t know what she was or how she knew who I was. She was not a Centauride, but magic coursed through her veins. It was not any magic I had come in contact with: it was powerful, all-consuming – immortal magic. I argued with myself about what I should do, and then I saw it in her hand: the arrow. She was twirling it like a high school baton. My heart stopped; my blood forgot how to move through my veins.

  “You can come in here out of the cold. I want to talk to you. I’m taking this arrow back to whom it belongs: Hercules.”

  The thought of losing the arrow overwhelmed the fear that I would come face-to-face with an immortal. Without the arrow, I’d never get Zeus’s curse lifted.

  I stepped up to the doorway of the abandoned church, “Who are you?”

  “I’m Harmonia. I’ve asked my mother to help you.”

  “Harmonia? Your mother? Wait. . .” recognition flooded my mind, “. . . your mother is Aphrodite! Is she going to help me?”

  “I’m not sure. I hope so. The fruit basket at the hotel got her attention. This arrow has caused nothing but pain and death since the day Hercules put it in his quiver. I mean to take it back with me. I don’t want anything else to happen.”

  “Wait! No. Look at me. Zeus’s curse transformed me. I won’t be able to get the curse lifted if I can’t get it back to its rightful owner.”

  “Hercules is its rightful owner. It was given to Chiron. While his family possessed it, no one would take it back. Now that they no longer have it, it needs to be taken back where it belongs.”

  “Can Hercules lift the curse?”

  “And override his father? I don’t think so.”

  “How can I get my body back?”

  “That’s the body you were meant to have. Maybe you should embrace it.” My plight didn’t move her to help me, but what did I expect from Goddess Harmonia? Of course, she would tell me to embrace it. She helps people get along; she seeks harmony.

  Frustrated with her reaction, I asked, “So, that’s it? You waited around in a dilapidated church for hours to tell me you were taking the arrow, and I’ll have the honor of living out the rest of my life as half a man. Thanks for nothing!”

  “No. I waited to share with you that my mother is aware of your circumstance. She is considering whether to lobby Zeus on your behalf, but you must be worthy. The last time mother asked Zeus for a favor she ended up with my brother Priapus, so she needs to be sure you’re worth it.”

  “Priapus? Who’s he?”

  “Priapus is the god of livestock.” I coul
dn’t tell if she was trying to be funny, but she continued, “Look him up and see what Hera did to him when she got jealous of my mother’s conversation with Zeus. You’ll understand why my mother won’t lobby for you unless it’s really worth it.”

  I winced. I didn’t need to look him up; I had heard the stories of what Hera had done to him. I flinched at the fact that in Harmonia’s eyes, maybe I was merely livestock. A plan started to take shape in my mind. I took several steps in her direction, only a mere arm’s length away. I wanted to snatch it from her, take back my life.

  Harmonia’s tone was contemptuous when she answered, “Despite your new physique, you are but a mortal. Do not attempt to take the arrow from me. Crossing me would not be wise.”

  Ashamed she had so quickly seen my plan, even before I could commit to it, I bowed my head and answered, “I beg your pardon, Goddess Harmonia. May I plead my case to you?”

  “I have what I came for, and I have left you with some hope. There’s nothing more I can offer you.”

  I had to delay her, come up with a way to keep her from making off with the arrow. “How did you find the arrow?”

  “It was built by immortal hands. Think of it like a plane’s little black box. It gives off a signal so immortals can find it.”

  “But why did you wait for me?”

  “I could have located you, but I’m an immortal, so time doesn’t have the same meaning to me. Waiting for you reduced any chance of running into a human.”

  “But, you didn’t just take it. Is there anything I can do to convince you to leave it with me?”

  She smiled, “I’m afraid not, Drake. Things have a way of working out. As I’ve said, hope is not lost.” She didn’t leave me with hope. She was carrying what little hope I had in her hand. It felt as though she had wielded a sword that sliced my soul into pieces. My head stayed bowed as she walked past me, through the door, and out into the forest.

  All of my hopes vanished with her into the storm. The arrow was lost, and with it, the life I had hoped might still be in my grasp.