Centaur Redemption (Touched Series) (15 page)

Bruce and Hannah were locked at each other’s hip, too.  It was common knowledge, at least in the family, that Dad had paid Hannah’s dad a bribe, sort of, for the two of them to get married.  She told me she was embarrassed at first when she found out her father had made the demand, but we had the money, so Dad didn’t mind.  It was obvious that Bruce and Hannah were meant for each other, so it’s not like she felt obligated to be a part of our herd because of the money – she loved Bruce.  She’d had plenty of opportunities to exit the whole “Lost Herd” scene, and every time she was more adamant than the last that she was part of our family.

Of all my brothers, Brent was the one who shocked me.  He had a perfect set up.  Bart and I were already to the winds skiing in Colorado when Mom got word to us he’d been picked by his Centauride.  Mom had met Cassie and wholeheartedly approved of the betrothal.  She went on and on about how amazing Cassie was, how beautiful and selfless she was, how she was a nurse, how she’d put herself through college, how it was just her and her father in her family.  Mom must have bragged about Cassie for a solid thirty minutes before Dad ripped the phone out of her hand and told Bart and me to stay where we were. 

I couldn’t have been more surprised when Brent, Daniel, Jessica and Katherine showed up in Cancun.  Seeing Brent knee-deep with a human and a broken betrothal in his wake wasn’t anything anyone expected, and we had two
seers
in our family!  No one said anything, but I couldn’t think of a Centaur I’d ever met who broke a betrothal from a Centauride to be with a human.  Katherine was nice.  She talked weird, but was friendly enough.  She was pretty tight with Cami, so no one, not even Mom, asked what happened in South Dakota. 

Seeing Brent with the same stance as Bruce, Beau, Dad and Gage – they were guarding their Centaurides, he was guarding Katherine – it was hard to accept.  Centaurs who ended up with a human tended to fade into the background, ejected from the herd.  They had families and did normal things, like soccer games and car pools, but had little if any interaction with their Centaur families afterwards.  It was nuts of Brent to bring his human girlfriend to a Centaur Council meeting.  I expected Dad to put his foot down in Cancun and forbid him from bringing her, and he did, sort of, but Cami stepped in and said Katherine was her guest.

I tore my attention away from my family and looked to the opposite side of the warehouse where Brent’s former betrothed stood.  I knew the enforcer holding Cassie.  I couldn’t stand by and watch her being bound and gagged.  She hadn’t done anything but pick Brent.  She didn’t deserve to be degraded in front of the upper crust of Centaur society.  With all the chatter in the room, now would be the best time to try to help her. 

Before Mom could catch on to my plan, I broke away from our group and nonchalantly strolled up to the enforcer standing next to her.  His eyes were fixed on the far wall.  There was no way that he didn’t see me standing in front of him.  “Hey, Frank.  What the hell?  Since when did enforcers start abusing Centaurides?”

“Shut up, Ben,” he growled.  A scowl accompanied Frank’s warning.  It was a hollow response; I’d known Frank since our first deer season when we were both seven.  He could put on a front and act tough in front of his enforcer buddies, but I knew better.

“Seriously, Frank.  This is what you signed up for?  I still remember when you got your letter from the Centaur Council.  You were all big talk about how you were going to protect the Council.  You’d be willing to lay your life down in service.  That was all a bunch of crap, right?  From what I see, you’ve traded all your big talk for a front row seat to bullying.”

His eyes narrowed, “Back off, Ben.”

“What would Big Frank say if he saw you right now?”  Frank’s eyes cut to the floor, hopefully in shame.  “Big Frank” was Frank’s father, and the name fit.  He was the dad all the rest of us envied.  If he weren’t a Centaur, he could easily have passed for a giant or at least Santa Claus’s big brother.  I never saw the guy without a huge smile, and he had brought his boys up to be kind, just like he was.

When Frank tried to ignore me, I upped my game.  “Or better yet, what if your mom saw you holding an innocent Centauride prisoner?  She’s gagged Frank.  What do you think she’s going to do?  Spit at you or something?  Maybe bite you?  A tough guy like you has to defend yourself from her?”

Frank didn’t raise his eyes from the floor, but he hissed, “My boss is watching, Ben.  Beat it.”  I could tell I’d rattled him.  His eyes darted to Cassie, and mine followed suit.  She had huge eyes; they reminded me of the ones I’d seen on a porcelain doll in an antique store in downtown Charleston – the kind you could lose yourself in if you weren’t careful.  They were gray or maybe light green; it was hard to tell in the light of the warehouse.  Her clothes were dirty; it looked like she’d been locked up somewhere nasty for days.  Looking at her condition made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.  Who would allow this?  Why would any Centauride be treated this way, much less be put on display for everyone to see like a circus freak?

“Yeah, you know why your boss is watching?  He probably had higher expectations for you, too.  I bet he’s just as shocked as I am that a big tough Centaur like you is cutting off the circulation in her hands, has her gagged so she can hardly breathe, and you’re holding her arm tight enough that you’ve already left a bruise.”

Frank let go of her arm like he was holding a snake.  He looked up to the front of the room, making eye contact with an enforcer, looked back at Cassie, then back down to the enforcer at the opposite end of the warehouse.  He let out a deep sigh then pressed a button on his radio, “Captain, she’s not going to try to escape with the necklace on.  I’m taking off the other restraints.”

The speaker on his radio blared to life, “Stand fast, Edwards.  We’re not authorized to release her.”

“Do it, Frank,” I urged.  “She’s not going anywhere.  I know her dad.” That was a lie, but I couldn’t stand to see her tied up like that.  “If he saw her like this, he’d be tearing this place apart.”

Frank pursed his lips together, looked back down to the other end of the warehouse toward his captain and shook his head, then he looked back at me.  “I can’t Ben.  She’ll be fine.  I’ll see that nothing happens to her.  I promise.  Now get out of here.” 

I don’t know what came over me, but I wanted to beat the crap out of Frank.  All those times we sat out in tree stands for hours talking about everything from cars to cartoons, never would I have guessed he would bow down to anyone if he thought they were wrong.  “Not good enough, amigo.”  I walked around to the back of her and untied the stupid gag that was wrapped around her mouth.

The gag was already untied before Frank realized what I was doing.  He pushed me hard with both hands away from her:  my body crashed to the floor, but not before I’d yanked the stupid gag off.  Frank was pissed.  “Dammit, Ben.  Get outta here.  You know what my Captain’s next order is going to be, right?”

Sure I knew.  The Lost Herd was such a menace to Centaur society every single enforcer in the place probably already had a green light to send me and my brothers to the pasture.  Antagonizing any of them, even a friend, ranked way up there on the stupid list. 

As I pushed myself up from the floor, I looked in all directions to see if a circle of enforcers was moving in.  They were all holding their positions along the outside walls of the warehouse.  I heard a raspy feminine voice, “Thank you.” 

Cassie was looking directly at me with a forced smile.  My eyes went to Frank.  If he wanted to throw down over this, I wanted to be ready.  Frank’s radio buzzed to life, “Get it back on her before the Chairman sees it’s off.  Now!!”

Frank's hand twitched, but he didn’t try to pull the menacing cloth from my hand.  When I first approached Frank, everyone in the warehouse had been milling about, producing loud chatter all around us.  I hadn't noticed that the whole place had become eerily silent, and all eyes were on us. 

The echo of boots marching toward me didn’t give me even a moment’s pause.  His captain would be on top of us in a few seconds.  I needed to appeal to the guy I’d known growing up.  I staggered to my feet and gripped the material on the sleeve of his uniform.  “Frank, this is one of those defining moments.  This is why you accepted the position as an enforcer.  You wanted to protect what’s sacred to all herds.  Tying up a young Centauride who is guilty of nothing will haunt you for the rest of your life.  Take a stand.  Do what’s right.  Show the Centaurs and Centaurides in this room that you’re a leader.  You do what’s right regardless of the consequences.”

Frank pushed my hand away.  “Get the hell out of here.  When my Captain comes, I won’t have much of a choice.  If he tells me to end you, I won’t have a choice in that, either.  Would you just go back to your brothers before you make this any worse?”

I looked at Cassie, really looked at her.  Her head was bowed, her expression was defeated – what had they done to her?  What could her crimes have been?

I didn’t move.  I should have, but I didn’t.  Self-preservation should have had me back with my family, but I couldn’t leave her.  I turned away from her and faced Frank, “No.  Maybe I’ll have a word with the good Captain.”

From my periphery I saw Cassie’s posture stiffen.  She was weak, the exhaustion showing on her face.  I gave her a smile as her gray-green eyes tried to focus on mine.  I knew she could read my thoughts if I let her, so I sent her a message that could help keep the gag off.  “
It would be better if you could turn on the waterworks.
”

Her back stiffened and she didn’t look pleased with my suggestion.  Every Centaur I knew was a sucker for tears, and no way would Frank gag her again if she were crying.

The Captain walked straight up to me.  He was a little bigger than I was, but I was pretty sure I had him by a couple of pounds.  His black uniform was so stiff he could have taken it off and the starch in it would have kept it standing at attention on its own.  His black boots looked like he’d sprayed high gloss paint on them.  We were toe-to-toe as he glared down into my eyes.

He addressed Frank but his eyes never left mine.  “Edwards, is your speaker broken on your radio?  I said put the gag back on.”

My hands went to the Captain’s chest.  He didn’t flinch with both my hands braced on him.  He barked, “Get your hands off me.”  Again, self-preservation should have told me to drop my hands to my sides, but my reactions were all wonky.  I pushed against him with all my strength instead.  Not the sharpest knife in the drawer:  I’d heard Beau describe me that way lots of times.  I couldn’t hide the smile when it was his words I heard in my head as I pushed the Captain’s chest and watched him stagger back a few steps. 

I didn’t take my eyes off of the captain but gave my warning to my friend.  “One hand on her, Frank, and one of us is going to the pasture.  You feel me?” 

The Captain regained his footing and came at me, the toes of his boots were flush up against the toes of my shoes; his lips went to my ear.  I expected a death promise.  Similar to a death threat but absent the ambiguity associated with idle threats, his words came low and quiet.  “Are you insane, boy?  If you want to help her, get back to your family.  The Centaur Council might let her go if she doesn’t have any ties to your kind.  You pulling a stunt like this in front of everyone will seal her fate.  Now back off.”  His hand shoved hard against my chest as I went sprawling onto the floor a second time. 

I didn’t get up right away.  I looked at all the Centaurs and Centaurides in the room.  All eyes were on me.  Mom was staring, ready to intervene.  I saw Dad holding Bart and Beau back.  I stood up off the floor slowly, dusted off my butt and shoved my hands in my pockets.  The captain was probably right.  If the Centaur Council believed she didn’t have any ties to us, they’d be forced to let her go.  My inserting myself into the mix could be bad for her. 

What had everyone seen?  Me coming up and arguing with an enforcer?  Shoving the Captain of the Guard?  What would the Council be briefed about my actions?  No, the damage was already done.  I had one chance left to help her.

Instead of returning to my family, I projected my voice into the quiet warehouse, shouting to everyone in the room.  “Great show, right?”  My voice wasn’t as strong as I wished it were, but they all heard me.  Dad was always the one who could take control of a room with just a couple words.  I cleared my throat and tried again.  “Do you want to be a part of this?  Is this what we’ve become?”

Eyes stared at me.  A few were glares, but others seemed less than hostile and just interested in what would happen next.  I concentrated on the faces of Centaurs who didn’t seem pleased with the situation.  “Tell me that I just did something you hadn’t considered doing yourself.  Tell me you see this Centauride as any kind of a threat.”  No one spoke, so I shouted, “Well, do you?” 

Most remained motionless around the room, but I saw a couple heads shake.  “I don’t care what herd you’re from, kidnapping, binding, gagging a Centauride without cause goes against everything I’ve ever been taught.  If the Lost Herd had done this to any other herd, you would call us vile, evil, our actions would be reprehensible.  So why is it okay for the Centaur Council to do this to one of their daughters?”

A few Centaurides around the room smiled their approval at me.  This was what I needed to see.  Everyone knew the Centaurides made the decisions; their husbands and sons would do whatever they were told.  One of the Centaurides nodded at me and gave me an approving smile – she’s the one I spoke to.  “I don’t know Cassie.  I’ve never met her until today, just now.  So I ask you, what exactly are her crimes?”