Centaur Legacy (24 page)

“Hey, I’m sorry. I was hoping to find
you before they did. Can you get off the plane and stay
there?”

“Cami, I want to go with them. I hate
the cold and Florida’s sounding pretty good right now. Can you stay
there? I want to meet you.”

“I need to find Drake and find out what
happened. I’ll be in touch, okay?”

“Hey, Cami? Is all this for
real?”

What do you say to a question like
that? “They’re our family. Don’t turn your back on either one of
them. Something’s going on that they aren’t telling us. I need to
find Drake. What’s your address, and I’ll see if I can pick up his
tracks.”

“What are you, part bloodhound? That
was yesterday.”

“I’m just tuned into him. Hey, Cameron,
have Will and Zandra told you anything about our
family?”

His voice was quiet, as if he were
trying not to be overheard, “Not really. They’re both doing a whole
lot of whispering. Is it true that they just found you a few months
ago in San Diego?”

Remembering back to the thrill of
finding a family after being alone, I wanted to warn him to keep
his guard up. We had both been protected by magic, sheltering us
from all of this. “Yeah, it’s been a crazy few months. Watch out
for Zandra. I don’t trust her.”

“But you think Will’s okay?”

Will and Phineas were tight. It didn’t
seem like Will was involved in my kidnapping, but I couldn’t be
sure. He’d been warm and welcoming since my first day and
definitely helped Drake and me escape, but maybe he was just
letting us do his dirty work for him. Maybe he wanted the arrow all
along and knew Zethus would never give it to him. “Jury’s still
out. Just be careful, okay?” Cameron gave me his cell phone number
and his address.

I needed for Drake to be okay. I handed
the phone back to Brutus, “I’m going to need a shower, clothes, and
a plane.”

(Daniel – Hotel,
SD)

Cami’s dad, her grandmother, and her
twin brother left; her half-brothers, except for Beau, left too.
Bastards. I heard them talking about going to Florida. No one was
even looking for Cami anymore. I hate the whole lot of ‘em. Four
days, not a phone call, not an email, search parties in every
direction, Drake disappeared, and all of a sudden nobody was even
interested in where Cami was. It’s not as if any of them kept me in
the loop anyway. Good riddance. Beau was the only one I trusted. He
was on the phone in his room calling the emergency rooms,
again.

I picked up my phone. A lonely voice
mail was staring back at me. I took a deep breath. It wasn’t Cami’s
number, and I didn’t recognize the area code. Phone coverage sucked
here. Only about every other call I got rang through; all the
others kept going to voicemail. I went to press the message when my
phone began ringing.

It was Drake’s number.
Schmuck. I hated this guy. Maybe he’d decided to go to Florida,
too. I hadn’t seen him in two days. Or maybe he’d actually found
her. “Holy shit, where’ve
you
been? You find her?”

“Daniel, it’s Drake.”

“I know that, Moron. I’ve got this
newfangled gadget called ‘caller ID.’ Ever hear of it?”

He ignored my insult. What the heck did
Cami see in him anyway? Instead of answering me, all he said was,
“Hey, I need you to take care of Cami for me.”

“Take care of her? What’re you talking
about? I’m still looking for her. Where’ve you been?”

“She’s free. She’s on her way back to
South Dakota. You need to take her home, okay?”

“On her way back to South Dakota? Where
is she?”

“I’m not sure. I think Florida. She’s
on her way here. You’ve got to protect her.”

Florida? If she’d been in
Florida, did the others not know she was on her way back? The hair
on the back of my neck stood up when I realized he was asking me
to
take care of her
. “You talked to her?”

“Not exactly.”

“How do you know she’s
okay?”

“I just know. I need to know you’ll
take care of her.”

Not only was he a jerk who let Cami get
kidnapped and who knew what else, but now he “just knows” she’s
okay. It’s probably a trick. “So, if you didn’t exactly talk to
her, how do you know where she is or that she’s coming back
here?”

I heard a frustrated sigh on the line,
like I was wasting his time. “I’m her Centaur, Daniel. I have a
connection to her. She was drugged, or something, but she’s okay.
She’s coming back here. Will you take care of her or
not?”

What was
he
doing? “I thought that
was your job? You had pretty big words a few days ago.”

“Look, I’m not calling to argue with
you. I can’t protect her. You can. I need you to convince her to go
home with you.”

“What? Home where?”

“Home where she belongs, San Diego,
with you.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. This
schmuck flew all over the world with her, didn’t do anything to
stop her from being kidnapped, then just decided he wasn’t into
her? He was a bigger loser than I thought. “So, what, you’re
turning your back on her? Cold feet, now you’re kicking her to the
curb? You’re not even going to make sure she’s okay?”

“It’s not like that. Just promise me
you’ll protect her.”

“I’m not promising you shit. What’s she
need protection from? Grandmommy Dearest just flew out.”

Another loud sigh, “She’s due to land
at the airport in an hour. I want you there to meet her plane. Get
on it and take the charter home.”

“That’s it? You’re going to ride off
into the sunset, and it’s my job to pick up all of her pieces and
try to put her back together. After you obliterate her?”

I’d been through this with Cami once
before. That loser she dated for a couple years, out of nowhere he
decided he’d outgrown her. She cried for two days solid. I wasn’t
sure if she’d ever come out of it.

Just as she was getting back to normal,
Ronnie tried to worm his way back in. He called me giving me this
sob story that he’d made a mistake. He wanted to try patching
things up with her. He came to me asking if I could arrange a
meeting for him with her. Yeah, a black eye, a busted lip and a
smashed windshield, and he knew not to ask for my help. Once he got
the bleeding under control, I told him if I found out he tried to
contact her directly, I wouldn’t be satisfied with a flesh wound
next time. He was smart enough to stay away.

Drake’s voice brought me back to the
present. “I can’t be with her. Tell her I’m sorry. Tell her to
forget about me.”

“I ain’t a message service. How about I
just tell her you’re a slimy, lying bastard, and you left? How
‘bout I tell her that?”

“Fine.”

“I don’t get you, Drake. You’re an
idiot. Just so you know, Cami isn’t someone you get a second chance
with. Don’t try playing head games with her.”

“I’m not playing games, and I won’t be
looking for a second chance. Everyone around you knows how you feel
about her. I’m stepping out of your way. You got the
girl.”

“You’re blowing the best opportunity
you’ll ever have.”

“I don’t have a choice.”

“This is some more of that stupid
Centaur shit, isn’t it?”

“Daniel, just promise me you’ll take
care of her.”

“Tell me the truth.” Silence echoed. I
could hear my own voice screaming in my head to stop antagonizing
him. Let him go. If he was willing to give her up, it was his loss.
He was just lucky he’d picked up the phone to call, because if he
were here right now, I’d level him for leaving her.

I wonder what Beau will think of his
great friend now? Beau told me he’d known Drake his whole life and
trusted him. Wait ‘til he hears about this stupid vanishing act.
When he didn’t answer, I told him, “You know what? I don’t care.
Have a nice life.”

I hung up. My watch said 9:30. I dialed
Beau, “Hey man, we’re pulling chocks.”

“We’re what?”

“Pulling chocks. You know, the things
in front of tires on planes, right before they taxi away. Cami’s en
route; we’re going back to San Diego.”

“En route? To San Diego?”

“She’s flying into the airport here.
We’ll meet her here and head back.”

“Uh, okay, that’s great. Let me call my
dad and let him know. She’s okay, right?”

I thought about all of them heading to
the airport without so much as a word to me. I should have known.
“He must already know. He and your brothers took off thirty minutes
ago.”

“They what?”

“Saw the big happy family leaving,
myself.” It occurred to me that I’d just twisted the knife for
Beau. If they left and hadn’t told him, that wasn’t a good sign.
These freaking Centaurs were a bunch of odd ducks.

“But Cami’s coming here? She wasn’t
with them?”

“No. They took off. She’s supposed to
land in an hour. Time to pack it up. I’ll meet you downstairs in
five minutes.” There was no way I was going to try to explain the
call I just got from Drake, so I hung up before he could ask any
more questions.

Beau didn’t say a word the whole way to
the airport. We returned the rental car, grabbed a cup of coffee,
and both stared at the floor. I could see it; he didn’t need to say
anything.

When he flew to San Diego, it was his
choice on his terms. After Lacey’s car accident, something changed
in Beau: his resolve not to go home was solid. Finding out that his
family returned home shouldn’t have bothered him, but finding out
they left and didn’t bother to tell him they were leaving had to
hurt. Maybe it was their way of acknowledging his choice; they were
already treating him like a human.

We didn’t have to wait long. I saw a
jet just like Dad’s pulling up to the terminal building; it was a
family plane. I didn’t recognize the tail number, but the plane’s
color and Centaur gave it away. Cami came through the doorway of
the terminal and looked amazing. I hadn’t seen her in a few months,
and the transformation was remarkable. Her hair was longer, it was
shiny and wavy. I guess because we’d been pals for so long, I was
used to seeing it in pony tails or plopped on top of her head with
a clip. Her complexion had always been great. I don’t remember her
ever having a blemish, but her skin looked like she was almost
glowing.

Cami wasn’t dressed in anything fancy,
running pants and a t-shirt, but maybe it was the way she carried
herself – she took my breath away. I told myself not to be stupid;
she probably only looked this way because it had been so long since
I’d seen her.

Her face registered relief when she saw
Beau and me standing together. She raised her arms just as she got
to me and gripped me in a tight hug. I couldn’t help it: I swung
her around like a little kid. She felt incredible, her iron grip
around me, clinging to me, and I could feel her warm breath on my
neck. I heard her whisper, “I’ve missed you so much.” It felt like
my stomach took up break-dancing.

“You, too, Cami.” I’d been holding onto
her for too long, way too long, but my arms ignored my brain when
it told them to let her go. I felt her grip on me ease, which was
her cue for me to let her go. I didn’t. I pulled her in closer,
drinking in her scent, absorbing the heat she was giving
me.

In a reassuring tone she said, “Daniel,
I’m okay.”

I heard Beau say, “We were worried
about you. Are you okay? What’d they do to you?”

She shook her head in response to Beau,
but must have realized my arms were unwilling to let her go. She
whispered, “Daniel, I’m fine. People are going to get the wrong
idea if you don’t let go.”

I didn’t give a crap what anyone else
saw or thought; I was just glad Cami was safe. My emotions were
getting the better of me when I whispered, “I was scared, Cami.”
Embarrassed that I’d let it slip out, I let her go. Luckily, Beau
was right there and grabbed her in a hug before the awkwardness of
what I’d said or my astronomically long hug could make her any more
uncomfortable.

Beau didn’t hold on as long as I did,
and when he let go, he was all smiles.

Cami looked around the room. I knew
exactly who she was looking for. I didn’t want to hear the
question, so I answered before she could ask it. “He split,
Cami.”

“What? Who split?”

“Drake. He’s not coming. I grabbed your
stuff from the hotel. Let’s go.”

“What do you mean he
split
?”

“Just what I said. C’mon, I’ll fill you
in when we’re on our way.” Beau had been so lost in his own
thoughts that he hadn’t noticed that Drake hadn’t shown his face.
Instead of one questioning pair of eyes, I was looking at two.
Great.

“I’m not going anywhere without Drake.
Where is he?”

“Didn’t say. He just told me to take
you back to San Diego.”

“You talked to him? Is he meeting us
there?”

The best answer I could have given her
was a lie. I knew if I told her, “yes,” she’d get on the plane and
not give it a second thought. I’d never lied to her, though, not
about anything minor and nothing of this magnitude. I wouldn’t
start now, no matter how much better that little lie would make my
life. “I don’t think so.”