Centaur Legacy (23 page)

The water made an immediate difference.
After having been knocked out for I didn’t know how long, my throat
should have been completely raw. Either Brutus had just given me
magic water, or I had crazy healing powers.

“Thank you, Brutus.” The water made my
mouth come alive. “More water.” By the time he’d helped me slowly
drink two full glasses, I felt much better.

“Can I get you some food, my
lady?”

“
No, not right now. Call
me, Cami, though.”

He didn’t respond. “Brutus, you’re a
good man. Am I right?”

“Not as good as I’d like to be, my. . .
Miss Cami.”

“Do you have a family, Brutus?” I knew
that he did; I’d already seen them in his mind.

“Yes, yes I do.”

“I suggest you leave this place now. Go
be with your family.”

“Miss Cami, some of these men are. . .
savages. I cannot leave you alone here.”

I smiled. I hoped Brutus could see, but
I couldn’t be sure if we were in a lighted room or a dark one. No
light penetrated the blindfold I wore. I looked into Brutus’s
future. It was like looking at every kid’s ideal father: the one
who coaches little league and soccer, the one who takes friends
camping with his family. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if
anything happened to him. “I’m leaving. Untie me and go home to
your family. You have protected me while I was unable to protect
myself, but you need to think of your family now. Go.”

“Miss Cami, I can’t leave
you.”

I smiled at Brutus, “Watch this. If you
decide I still need your protection, I’ll do my best not to hurt
you.”

With as much volume as I
had ever produced, I yelled, “Phineas, I’m awake! I want to see
you
now
!”

Fear shown on his face, “Shhh, Miss
Cami, he’s not here. Be quiet. The others will hear
you.”

“I want them to hear me.”

“No, you don’t.” His hands worked
feverishly unbinding my hands and my ankles. I took off my
blindfold as he asked, “Can you walk?”

I could see Brutus’s thoughts: he was
scared of Phineas. He tried to shelter my body, standing in between
me and the door. More quietly I said, “Brutus, move to the corner
of the room.”

He reluctantly took a few steps to the
right, but he was definitely not out of the way. I felt a Centaur
approaching. I heard the door squeak as it was opened. “My lady,
I’m so glad you’re awake. Phineas will be pleased.” His voice was
jovial, as if we had just come back from a baseball game and he was
taking me back home, rather than having been a part of my
abduction.

“I have a message I’d like you to carry
to Phineas.” My voice was strong and full of authority. I still had
the bottled rage pumping through my arteries. I could feel him
cringe at my demand.

I watched the jumbled thoughts in his
head trying to come up with a plan. He noticed the Centauride on
the chair next to me, looking as if she were dead. He saw Brutus
standing to the side. Ignoring my “message” comment, the Centaur
began reiterating the false memories I had already ripped out of my
head. “He understands the importance of you leading the Lost Herd.
Your father has given his blessing for you to marry Phineas’s son.
Once you two have gotten to know each other and produce an heir,
Phineas intends to step down as the leader of the Tak family and
pass it to you.”

“I’ve already chosen Drake. Phineas
knows that. Let me go, and I’ll let you live. But know this: if
Drake suffered any permanent damage, I’ll be back. I’ll not just
extinguish you – I will take out everyone involved.” I felt Brutus
stepping further away from me like I had asked him to before this
Centaur arrived.

“Camille, I don’t want to, but if you
force me, I’ll go get you another shot.” It was a hollow threat.
They didn’t have any more of the drug with them. His thoughts gave
him away: he was scrambling. His fear was becoming more pronounced
as my strength refused to waiver. I kept seeing flickers of a
Centauride in his mind: her name was Violet, and she lay seemingly
lifeless in the chair next to my bed.

“You’ve got to the count of three to
move out of my way.”

“My lady, in all due respect, you may
be a Chiron, but you aren’t in any position to be making
demands.”

“One.”

“That’s cute. You’re counting just like
my wife does with our youngest.”

“Two.”

“I’m not sure what you hope to
accomplish. You are going to take your place in our herd. Fighting
it will just make it worse.”

“Three.” I could feel the Centaur’s
nervousness. He didn’t know what to expect. His mind raced to the
way I had killed the Centaur who had attacked Drake in the hotel,
the first time I had moved an object with my mind. The rage inside
of me boiled, begging to be unleashed. I didn’t think of an object
to toss at him for fear that I would hurt Brutus in the
process.

“That was pretty dramatic, my queen.
Now if you’ll just settle down for a minute, I’ll see what I can do
to make you more comfortable. Phineas and his son will be here
shortly.”

I was wholly focused on the Centaur’s
thoughts. I could hear them more clearly than I could hear the
jumbled up mess coming from his voice. I concentrated on his
thoughts, visualizing the blood vessels in his brain. I could feel
the blood pumping. His blood called to me because I shared the same
lineage: it was easy to hone in on it. I called to his veins,
seeing them constrict, manipulating them to stop the blood flow.
The Centaur didn’t realize I was doing anything at
first.

“Trust me when I tell you that it is
your destiny to bring the Tak family back to the rest of the
Centaur community. We don’t want to hide in the shadows anymore.
We’ve more than paid our debt to Zeus. It’s time for us to emerge,
and you will be our leader.”

I heard his words but refused to stop
my concentration. The Centaur brought both hands to his temples as
if he had an excruciating headache. As he fell to his knees, both
hands were on his head and his eyes were wide. I watched for
another thirty seconds before I heard Brutus’s voice, “You’re not a
murderer, Miss Cami. Spare him and you have my word, you’ll go
free.”

I saw the memory of Drake being kicked
and punched in the hotel room while Phineas watched. Phineas had
held me immobile, so I was unable to help Drake. Phineas had
enjoyed the pain being inflicted; he was sadistic and wanted Drake
dead. This centaur kneeling before me on the floor had held Drake
down. I wanted retribution.

I wanted this Centaur to feel the life
being squeezed out of him. Brutus came to me and touched my
shoulder, “Miss Cami, mercy. Show him mercy. This Centaur is not to
blame. He was only following orders. Let him live.”

Brutus’s touch was kind. With it, the
guilt of taking another’s life reined me back. He was right. I
wasn’t a murderer, at least not a murderer by choice. I thought of
the Centaur who had attacked Drake in the hotel. I’d killed him. It
wasn’t what I wanted; I just wanted him to stop hurting Drake. I
nodded my answer and let go of the veins I had manipulated in the
Centaur’s head. I could feel the veins open wide, blood pumping
back to his brain.

I turned in the direction of Brutus’s
voice. I looked at Brutus for the first time. His name could have
been “brick wall,” and it would have aptly described his
physique.

I was in a bedroom, nicely decorated
with antique lamps resting on doilies protecting an intricately
carved wooden bedroom set. While I had been blindfolded, I smelled
a mustiness in the air and had envisioned being captive in a room
similar to the one at Zandra’s house. This room wasn’t nearly as
large, the paint wasn’t peeling, and there wasn’t a thick layer of
dust everywhere. I was in someone’s home, but whose?

My hands gently massaged my wrists
where I had been bound. I realized I was wearing a hospital gown
and had a catheter and IV in me. I wasn’t sure if I should be happy
that they hadn’t let me lie in my own urine or furious because
someone had removed my clothes and hooked me to these
devices.

I saw the Centaur writhing on the
floor, no doubt still suffering from the pain in his head. I
refused to feel bad about it. Brutus took a step away from me as he
saw me taking in my surroundings. He was dressed in blue jeans, a
black t-shirt and black motorcycle boots. If I had to guess at his
age, I would say late-thirties, but Centaurs seemed to mask their
age better than humans. In spite of witnessing what I was able to
do, he didn’t appear to be frightened of me.

“Where am I?”

Brutus didn’t answer right away. He
decided to conceal his thoughts from me. When he answered, his
voice was quiet, “You are in Phineas’s home.”

“And where is his home?”

“Melbourne, Florida.”

“Florida?” I need to get back to South
Dakota. “How long have I been sedated?”

“Four days.”

“Four days? What day is it?”

“It’s Thursday.”

“I need a phone. Now.”

Brutus reached in his pocket, fished
out a cell phone, and handed it to me.

I wanted to call Drake. I wanted to
know that he was okay, but I didn’t know his phone number. I dialed
Daniel. It went to voicemail. That was just like him. I left a
message: “Daniel, it’s Cami. I’m okay. I’m going to give Will a
call next.”

When I dialed Will, he answered right
away. “It’s Cami.”

“Camille, are you okay?”

“Yeah, no thanks to Phineas. How’s
Drake?” He didn’t answer right away. “Will?”

“I’m here, Camille. We’re all in South
Dakota right now. Where are you, sweetheart?”

“I’m in Melbourne, Florida. Is Drake
okay?” I eyed the Centaur still on the floor. If Will told me that
Drake was still hurt, murderer or not, I would finish him as a
message to Phineas.

“I haven’t seen him since yesterday.
I’m here with Zandra.” My veins iced over. Was he now her
prisoner?

I was guarded as I asked, “Can you
talk?”

“Yes. We were both worried about you.
We found your brother.”

“Cameron? You found Cameron? Don’t let
her get him!” How could they have found him so quickly? He was able
to stay hidden for twenty-two years, and they found him in four
days?

“Zandra feels bad about taking you
before. She, Cameron and I are flying to Florida. Why don’t you
stay there, and we’ll meet you at her estate.”

“Have you lost your mind? I’m not going
anywhere near her place! Where’s Drake?”

“It’s a long story, and we can’t talk
about it on the phone. Cameron wants to see you. He didn’t know he
had a twin, either.”

“You’re not listening to me! Where’s
Drake?”

“Cami, we’ll worry about Drake after we
know you and Cameron are safe.”

“I don’t need your help. I’m going back
to South Dakota to find Drake.”

“Cami, wait. Don’t hang up. Cameron
says Drake has the arrow.”

“What?” Remembering how Zethus had
protected the truth and hidden it for so long, I couldn’t believe
Will was talking so openly about it and in front of Zandra. “I
don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Drake stole the arrow from Cameron.
He’s pretty shaken up about it. Stay there. We’ll be back soon, and
I’ll explain everything.”

My mind raced. Drake had the arrow? Why
would he have taken the arrow and not protected my brother from
Zandra? He knew what she was capable of. Something didn’t feel
right. More was going on than he was telling me. “Put Cameron on
the line.”

“Camille, we’re taxiing down the runway
now. We’ll be there soon. We can talk about it when we get
there.”

My anger began rising a second time,
“No. Put him on the line.”

Will stopped arguing with me, and a
voice that sounded remarkably similar to mine came on the line.
“Hello?”

“Cameron, it’s Cami. Tell me what
happened.”

“That Drake came to my house last
night. He told me that I had a sister, you, and that you’d been
kidnapped. He said he needed my arrow to get you back.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. He was
okay. But why would he have stolen the arrow and left Cameron?
“You’re sure it was Drake?”

“Yeah, that’s what he said his name
was. I didn’t want to give it up because he was a little crazy. He
was ranting and raving about Centaurs and all kinds of craziness.
I’d had that arrow my whole life. When William and Zandra came to
the door, Drake took it and ran out the back.”

“Where did he go?”

“I don’t know. He’s nuts, though. As
soon as he took it, he disappeared into the woods behind my
house.”

None of Cameron’s explanation made
sense. Why would Drake take it if he knew it was the only thing
protecting Cameron from Zandra? “Yeah, I don’t know what’s going
on. That doesn’t sound like Drake.”

“William, Beau, Lacey, Zandra and I
went looking for him, but he was gone.”