Centaur Redemption (Touched Series) (19 page)

Looking in the mirror, I told myself, “I will be charming.  I will be confident.  I will be the Chiron and Tak daughter the whole world is curious about.”

I knew Drake, wherever he was, was too far to hear me, but I spoke to him anyway.  “
I’m sorry, Drake.  If you could see me, you’d be disappointed.  I know what I need to do.  Just come back when you can.
” 

The knock sounded again.  “Open the door, Cami.”

My heart stopped.  My feet froze in mid-stride.  I had to be hearing things.  Without me moving an inch, my shaky voice called, “Daniel?”

His voice was unmistakable, “Well, it ain’t the freakin’ Easter Bunny.  Open up.”

I sprinted to the door, slid the security bar off and threw the door open.  Daniel stood there with a crooked grin, but I didn’t wait for another smart-alecky comment.  I threw myself at him.  He nearly lost his balance and braced himself with an arm on my door.

“You never call.  You never write.  Where’s the love, Cami?”

I loosened my grip around him, barely able to get the words out, “What are you doing here?”

“Figured I’d better check on my girl.”  Daniel eased back from me.  “So, can I come in, or are we going to catch up in the hallway?”

I let go of him and stepped back inside my room, motioning for him to follow.  He looked around the dimly lit room and asked, “What are you, a bat?”  Daniel flicked the lights on, and I was embarrassed that the light did sort of hurt my eyes.

All of the sudden I was more aware that it really had been days since I’d taken a shower.  I took a couple steps away from him and tried to smooth my hair.  “What are you doing here?”

“What’d you think?  Your dad called me.  Said Drake took off again.  He was worried about you and asked me to come.”

“Cheer me up?” 

Daniel chuckled, “Yeah.  That’s a kick in the pants, right?  He didn’t want me anywhere near you before Cancun.  With all the other stuff going on, Jessica and I beat feet, figured this was as safe as anywhere.”

“What other stuff?”

“What have you been doing, hiding under a rock or something?  I’m not even a pureblood, but I’ve heard all the rumors of what’s going on.”

“Rumors?  Rumors about what?  About Drake?”  My heart started gaining momentum.  If something had happened to Drake, Will would have told me.  Or would he?  Would he let me believe things were fine because he thought I was too fragile for the truth?

“There are a fair number flying around about him, too.  Mainly how Zandra demanded an audience with Zeus.”

“When?  No one has told me anything.  Is he okay?”

“Shesh, Cami, where’ve you been?”

No one had told me anything since the two of them left.  I hadn’t had any contact with Drake since our good-bye.  I’d tried a few times but couldn’t connect with him, so I knew they had to be too far away.  Instead of trying to find out what was going on, or being brave like Drake would have expected, I shut down and blocked out everyone else.  I moved closer to Daniel, too embarrassed to admit I had no idea what had happened, and demanded, “Tell me everything you know.”

“I will, but first, go get a shower.  I’ll round up Jessica and Katherine.  You got thirty minutes.  You’d better be ready to jet when I come back.  Got it?”

“Got it!”  Daniel started for the door, but I stopped him, “Hey, what’s up with you and Jessica?  Are you her boyfriend now or what?”

“I’m nobody’s boy-anything.”  Cockily he added, “You’re the psychic one.  You tell me.”

“What happened?  You said she came with you?  I thought she was all set on going home to South Dakota when we left Cancun.”

His cockiness from a few sends ago ebbed, “I don’t know, Cami.  She’s harder to read than you.  One minute she tells me she’s happy and never wants to go back, the next she says she can’t let her family find out about me and she needs to catch the next plane home.”

“But she hasn’t hopped on any planes?”

He laughed, “That’s just because I told her I didn’t care where she went, I was going, too.  She knows I’d knock on her front door and introduce myself to the family if she went back there.”

“Nice play.”

“Thanks.  Eventually I’ll wear her down.”  Daniel gestured toward the bathroom, “Go get in the shower already.”

Daniel retreated into the hallway while I ran to the bathroom.  It wasn’t lost on me that the last time I’d been in the shower, I had been with Drake.  I couldn’t afford to get all nostalgic.  I got showered, pulled my hair back in a braid, put on enough makeup so it didn’t look like I’d been hiding in a room for the last week, and threw on shorts, a tee and flops.

True to his word, thirty minutes later Daniel, Jessica, Katherine and Brent all came to my room.  Their expressions looked solemn.  I tried to pry into Daniel’s mind to see why they all looked so down.  Nothing.  Jessica must have taught him how to keep his thoughts to himself.  He was the one who was broadcasting his thoughts in Cancun, and not all of them were rated PG-13.  She must have “schooled” him after we left.

Katherine was the first to speak, her voice kind.  “We were worried about cha, Cami.  How are ya?”

Her bright red hair somehow looked lighter than the last time I’d seen it.  Her ivory skin was sun-kissed.  I was glad to see one of us had been pretending to be a tourist and was using the amazing lagoon at the resort.  “I’m okay.  I haven’t heard from Drake all week.  Have you heard anything?”

Katherine bit her lip, “Not until just a few minutes ago.  How much do ya know about what’s been going on?”

My stomach cinched itself tight.  “Nothing.  What’s happened?”  I looked from one set of eyes to another; no one would make eye contact with me.

Katherine cleared her throat, “We heard through the enforcers that Zandra demanded a meeting with Zeus.  She got it, and he has been on a rampage since their meeting.” 

“What did she tell him?”

She shook her head.  “No one knows for sure.  Zeus is holding Drake and Zandra prisoner while he’s been turning Olympus and the rest of the world upside down.  Haven’t you watched the news?”

“Prisoner?”  I hadn’t.  The suite had three televisions, but I hadn’t hit the power button on any of them since I got back.  “No.  I haven’t seen anything.  What do you mean he’s holding them prisoner?”

“The enforcers who accompanied them last week were. . . um. . . killed, except for one.  It was that same Quinton you let go in Cancun.”  Under her breath, but still loud enough for me to hear, “If he were a cat, he’d be outta lives by now.”  She looked up, concern burrowed in her brow, “Quinton wants to talk to you.”

Me?  Why me?  Did he want to tell me the blood of his brother enforcers was on my hands, and that this was somehow my fault?  Before I could voice my question, my posture straightened.  He had been with Drake.  He would know where he was.  I leapt from my seat, “Where is he?”

Katherine was on her feet, too.  “He says he’s got a message from Drake.”

The knot in my stomach untied itself and I felt vertigo.  Drake hated Quinton.  The last time I’d seen Quinton was when Cameron and he left the lobby the day before the Council meeting.  If Drake sent a message with him for me, it would be bad.  Without allowing the fear to seep into my voice, I repeated, “Where is he?” 

“He’s pretty beat up, but he’s coherent.  He’s recovering in the room across the hall.  C’mon.” 

The five of us piled out of my room as Brent used a key card on the door across the hall.  Katherine led the way and Daniel’s arm steadied me through the door.  The Centaur lying on the bed was unrecognizable.  Centaurs healed fast, really fast, so seeing him in this shape made me wonder how bad he had been when he arrived. 

I found myself standing over the beaten up and bloodied Centaur.  I didn’t let myself focus on any of his gashes or the purple and green marks stretching across his face.  “Where’s Drake?”

Quinton grabbed a towel and wiped his mouth.  “He saved her.”  His speech was slow and labored; it looked like he was going to pass out.

The only “her” he could be talking about was Zandra.  “That’s why he went along.  He’s supposed to be protecting her.”

He shook his head slightly, and then winced.  “No, Drake threw himself in front of a lightning strike to protect her.  He’s in bad shape.”

“Where are they?”

“He told me not to tell you.  He said to tell you to gather the Council.  You need to take over and try to strike a truce with Zeus.”

Why would he be telling me this?  If I gathered the Council for some sort of a coup, what would that do to Zandra?  That would be like signing both their death warrants.  The only reason Zandra was still alive was because she was Chairman.

“Tell me where they are.”

His eyes closed slowly; Quinton wasn’t going to make it.  His injuries were too much.  As I saw him fading before my eyes, I grabbed his shoulders and squeezed.  His eyes opened fractionally as he looked blankly up at me.  “
Tell me where they are.  If you want me to save Zandra, I need to know where to find her.
”

An image began playing in his mind:  it was fuzzy, like watching television before digital receivers.  I saw the bodies of the enforcers lying haphazardly on the ground.  Quinton had been standing next to Zandra, shielding her with his body as Drake towered in front of both of them in his warrior form. 

A commanding voice bellowed from the distance, “Do you still defy me?  Which god is responsible?  Who among me cannot be trusted?”  I couldn’t see who was talking; it was as if Quinton had purposely been looking away from the voice.

Zandra’s answer was unyielding, her strength unmistakable, “I do not know.  That is for you to investigate.  Your mistake a thousand years ago created the Lost Herd of Centaurs.  As the Chairman of the Centaur, I demand that you reverse your decree.  We can no longer afford to abide by your law.”

“You demand?”

“I have never questioned your authority.  I have lived my life by a set of simple rules, those same rules passed down by my ancestors that you demanded millennia ago.  But if we continue to slaughter the Lost Herd, we will also lose Chiron’s final gift to the Centaur.  My granddaughter is good and wise; she is Chiron’s legacy, and if the decree is not lifted, chaos will result.”

“You threaten me old woman?”

“No.  I only speak the truth.  Camille Chiron has beaten all the odds.  She won over the Centaur Council in a matter of minutes.  The Centaur Warrior in front of you will lay down his life for her and will not hesitate to take a life on her behalf.  He is not alone.  My enforcers warned me Centaurs from every herd will protect her.  If the gods wish to go to war with the Centaur, you need only do nothing, for I fear my herds will bring the fight to you.  If you wish for us to remain the humble servants you have known since Kentaros first bred our race, you must reverse your decree.”

The voice was angry, “If it is a war you want, old woman, it is a war you shall have.”  Flashes of light and bolts of lightning flew at Zandra.  A rock on the ground in front of her took a direct strike, splintered from the impact, causing gravel to bombard the three of them.  They were in an enclosure of high metal rods, some sort of cage.  Vegetation around them evaporated in a combination of green mist and smoke.  Zandra squatted on the ground in a ball with her hands over her head.  Quinton covered her body with his own, and to my horror, Drake stood protectively in front of them both.

Something struck Drake.  I didn’t see it, but Quinton’s memory of Drake falling on him and the weight of his body crushing him was vivid.  I saw, through Quinton’s memory, an enormous hole in Drake’s flank with blood oozing to the ground and smelled seared flesh permeating the air.

The assault on the three stopped.  Quinton was able to get to his feet and helped Zandra to hers.  They both looked down on Drake’s massive body.  It was Zandra’s voice that broke the silence, “We need to warn the Centaur Council.”

Drake’s injuries had already begun to heal.  He remained on the ground as his flesh began knitting itself back together and the blood draining from him slowed.  Quinton stood next to Zandra, searching the landscape around them.  They looked as if they were on the crest of a very tall hill or a small mountain.  Through his memory I could see down into a lush green valley, with boulders peppering the landscape.  Trees along the mountain were tall, but not enormous like the giant redwoods in northern California.  They were a combination of pine:  dried needles laid covering the ground.  The ground under Quinton’s feet was solid rock with almost nothing growing inside their enclosure.

Quinton spoke to Zandra as his words made little sense to me, “When he recovers, send him back.  He’ll get word to the Captain of the Guard to have more protection routed here.  I’ll stay here with you.”

Zandra’s hand gripped Quinton’s arm; she paused and then shook her head.  “You have been a good and faithful servant since you entered the enforcer’s service.  I fear if you stayed, you would wind up like the others who have left for the pasture.”  Zandra’s gaze looked from body to body of fallen enforcers.  “No.  No more protection.  If Zeus wants me dead, there will be no stopping him.  Protection is futile.  When Drake recovers, you will both return to warn the Council.”

Drake’s torso sat up while his body lay bleeding on the ground.  He had been listening to Quinton and Zandra because he cut in, “If you stay here, you’ll be in the pasture by nightfall.”