Centaur Legacy (35 page)

I thought back to the few short weeks
before when the only thing I had to protect Cami from was Zandra. I
silently wished she were our only threat, but Cami was right.
Looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives was no
life.

I picked her up and laid her gently on
the bed. “Get some rest. You’re going to need it.” I gave her a
whisper of a kiss as I watched her heavy lids close. I held her
hand with mine and used my other to gently stroke her
hand.

I watched her drift off to sleep as I
had so many nights before. Once she was sound asleep, I let the
words escape me. “Aphrodite, I feel you watching.”

The only sound was Cami’s soft
breathing. I let my eyes wander to her for a second then took a few
steps to the window and looked up into the night’s sky. “I have
felt your watchful eyes for days.”

I don’t know what I expected, maybe for
Aphrodite to materialize and acknowledge the only reason I still
looked like this was my love for Cami. Maybe if we survived,
Aphrodite would make me human again and let us have a normal
life.

I found Venus set close to Virgo in the
sky; this was where Aphrodite watched from the heavens. When no
voice spoke and she didn’t appear in front of me, I made one final
request. “If anything happens to me, convince Cami to seek Daniel.
He’s the only one on the planet I would trust to love her.” Venus
twinkled brightly, acknowledging my request.

After I said the words, I caught myself
staring into the clear night sky through the gap in the curtains.
Sagittarius is a summer constellation; there would be no hope of
seeing it this time of year in the northern Hemisphere. I saw
Orion, the hunter with his bow. The three stars in his belt shone
more brightly than I had ever remembered seeing. Something clicked
inside my head: it was Orion who I would want helping me protect
Cami at the Centaur Council.

(Drake – Deserted Hotel,
SD)

I felt my own eyelids growing heavy and
gingerly backed away from the window. The room was the size of any
budget rate motel I’d ever seen, so movement was restricted. As I
was easing myself onto the floor, my phone began to
vibrate.

I looked at the caller ID and couldn’t
believe my eyes: Gage Richardson.

Gage was my best friend growing up. So
much had happened since I talked to him. I didn’t worry about the
danger of my cell phone signal being traced; I wanted to talk to
him. The last I’d heard, he and Bianca had gone into hiding after
our escape from Zandra’s.

I could hardly contain my excitement
when I answered, “Gage? Is it you?”

“Yeah, how’s it going?”

Loaded question. I looked at Cami
sleeping peacefully a few feet away and answered without
hesitating, “Never better. So what happened with you guys? I heard
you left town.”

“We’re back. We went to Bermuda after
we left you and Cami.”

“Bermuda? I thought you hated it
there.”

“It’s a popular wedding
destination.”

“No way! You two are
married?”

“Yeah, like the day we got
there.”

“Congrats, man. I’m really happy for
you both.”

An awkward silence hung when Gage said,
“I . . . uh. . . I heard what happened.”

The kidnapping? Our trip to Ireland? My
transformation? There were too many possibilities to guess. “Yeah,
it’s been a busy few weeks since we saw you.”

“I haven’t told Bianca. She’s been
driving me nuts wanting to call and talk to Cami since we few
south, so I called William’s house tonight when we got back to see
if she was there.”

“William told you?”

“He said they’re part of the Tak
bloodline and they’re going into hiding. He said you and Cami are
already to the winds.”

“What else did he tell you?”

“He was really cryptic, but said you
might need me. I don’t care what Cami’s bloodline is, if you’re
with her, we’ll do whatever you need us to. Just say the
word.”

He didn’t know about my transformation.
“Thanks. So what happened with you two? No more sneaking around,
her parents were okay with it?”

“Yeah, that was amazing. The night we
left Zandra’s we went straight to Bianca’s house to grab her stuff
for the trip. Her parents still thought she was dead, so when we
got out of the car and they saw us walking toward the house, her
mom told us we had her blessing before we even got a word
out!”

“That’s awesome.”

“What about you and Cami?”

Pride was loud in my voice when I
answered, “She chose me.”

“I knew it! I told you she would. So
have you set a date?”

I looked at her sleeping body just a
few feet away from me, “With everything that’s been going on it
hasn’t been a big priority.”

“Man, I saw the way you two looked at
each other. I know you two have been traveling all over without an
escort. How are you keeping your hands off each other?” I could
hear the humor in his voice when he added, “Or are you?”

I thought of Gage as more family than
friend, but I wasn’t sure how much I could tell him without putting
him and Bianca at risk. “So far we’ve been able to keep the brakes
on.”

“You’re a better Centaur than I am.
Once I saw Bianca was alive. . . let’s just say it’s a good thing
the Bahamas are only a couple hours away.”

Cami was still sound asleep in the bed
while I was on the floor beside her. I touched the back of my hand
to her cheek and felt the suppleness of her skin when I answered
Gage, “I’ll wait as long as it takes. She’s mine.”

“You pledged her, right?”

I laughed, “Yeah, that was funny. You
know how she’s never been around Centaurs? She’d never heard the
pledge before. She woke up the next morning and wanted to hear it
again.”

“What?”

“Yeah. Cami had no clue that I was
tying my soul to hers. She thought I was just being
sweet.”

“That’s a riot. Did you tell
her?”

“It kind of gave it away when she found
out I could hear her thoughts.”

The humor in Gage’s voice diminished,
“So, this Tak stuff could get bad. Where are you two going to
go?”

I cringed, hating to admit it out loud.
I’d been through enough with Gage, there was no sense hiding the
truth. “Centauride.”

“Centauride! Are you nuts? You can’t go
to Africa! They’ll kill her!”

“Cami’s pretty sure about it. She wants
to address the Council.”

“The Centaur Council? What’s she going
to say? ‘Never mind Zeus’s decree, leave the Taks alone.’ Tell me
that’s not her plan.”

“I’m not sure what she’s going to say,
but yeah, that’s probably pretty close.”

“Come back to South Carolina. I’ll hide
you both. I owe you both my life, because without Bianca I was
pretty much dead.”

“I’ll let her know you offered, but I
doubt she’ll change her mind.”

“You’re okay with it? Drake, it’s
suicide.”

“I love her. If she wants to address
the Council, I’ll be standing right beside her when she
does.”

“I can’t let you go by yourselves. How
about Bianca and I pick you up tomorrow. It’ll be like the old
days. You can pilot and I’ll co-pilot for you.”

Gage’s parents had a plane, but he’d
never gotten his pilot’s license. I had a license but it wasn’t
commercial and I had almost no hours logged flying a jet. Our “old
days” consisted of renting small commercial planes from the local
airports and flying a few hours away for an afternoon excursion.
Even if I could pilot his dad’s jet, trying to fit into the cockpit
looking like this would be impossible.

“I appreciate the thought, but I’m not
licensed for your dad’s plane.”

“Where are you? Bianca and I’ll be
there tomorrow, and we’ll figure out a plan from there.”

Gage and Bianca could make all the
difference for us. I trusted them both with my life, and more than
that, I trusted them with Cami’s life. “It’s pretty late here.
We’re near Rapid City, South Dakota. Call me in the morning after
you’ve had a chance to lay everything out for Bianca. If you two
are still up for it after she knows everything, call me and we’ll
figure out where to meet from there.”

“I know she’s going to be up for it.
She’s dying to see Cami.” Gage paused for a minute and lowered his
voice. “She told me those weeks that you two were locked up at
Zandra’s, you kept telling her everything was going to work out.
You told her you knew how much I loved her and that I’d find a way
to get you both out of there.”

“Hope was all we had. Neither of us
knew what was going on, only that we were locked up and
guarded.”

“She said you told her no matter what
happened, she could be with me.”

I swallowed hard. I knew there was a
chance Bianca and I wouldn’t escape until after Gage and Cami’s
wedding. If that had happened, Bianca and I had already decided
we’d find a way to be with the one we loved whether it went against
the seven tenants or not. “We knew there was a chance we’d be
locked up until after your and Cami’s wedding.”

“You’re the only Centaur I know who
would take the wrath of the gods over a beautiful
Centauride.”

“No. I’d take the wrath of the gods for
the love of a beautiful Centauride. I’m glad it didn’t come to
that.”

“Yeah, me too.” I heard the shame in
his voice when Gage admitted, “I wasn’t there for Cami the way you
were there for Bianca. I left her alone.”

“You thought we were dead. You were
grieving.”

Gage’s voice lowered, I couldn’t be
sure if he was talking to himself or me. “I shouldn’t have left
her. I want to make it up to Cami. She needed me then and I failed.
I want to be there for both of you now.”

Cami stirred on the bed next to me.
There was no one I wanted in our corner more than Gage. “Sounds
good. Give me a call in the morning; we’ll figure out how we can
hook up. Tell Bianca we said congratulations. We’re really happy
for you both.”

“I will. I’ll see you
tomorrow.”

As I hung up the phone, a huge weight
lifted off me. Gage and Bianca were fine. We’d see them both soon.
Gage was one of the most cunning Centaurs I’d ever met. With him
helping us, we had a much better chance of coming out of the
Centaur Council alive.

Cami’s family had gone into hiding, so
they should be safe. Daniel was probably already in San Diego, so
Cami wouldn’t have to worry about him getting caught up in any of
this. He wasn’t a pure-blood and he wasn’t part of the Tak
bloodline; he’d be safe as long as he was home.

My transformation into a real Centaur
kept Cami safe today. Zeus had been right. If I were in human form,
I’d never have been able to fight off the thirty Centaurs who
stormed Cameron’s house tonight.

Chiron hadn’t cursed me with this
transformation; it was a better gift than I would have ever thought
to ask for. My transformation saved the Centauride I
loved.

I leaned over and brushed my lips
against Cami’s cheek. Her lips turned up in a content smile while
she slept. Even if my days were numbered walking the earth, I knew
what she’d said earlier was right. We could always count on
eternity together.

Other titles by Nancy
Straight:

Destiny Series:

FREE at all bookstores -
Meeting Destiny -
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/17678

Destiny’s Revenge -
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/78543

Destiny’s Wrath -
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/126010

Touched Series:

Blood Debt -
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/204708

I hope you enjoyed Centaur Legacy! The third
book in this series is still untitled but will be released in 2013.
I try to keep everyone updated on my blog and Facebook. If you
would like to contact me, here are the best places to find me:

My Author Page on Facebook:
http://alturl.com/en5ia

My blog:
http://www.authnancystraight.blogspot.com

Twitter: @NancyStraight

Goodreads:
http://alturl.com/bnmv2

I look forward to hearing from you!

I’ve included an excerpt from a dear
friend, Christie Rich. She has written an amazing young adult
paranormal romance series, Elemental Enmity. There are three books
in the series that have been published, they are: Five (Book #1),
Dark Matter (Book #2) and Genesis (Book #3). Her first book, Five,
is FREE e-book at all major bookstores. I hope you’ll take a minute
to read this excerpt and fall in love with her writing the same way
I have!

Elemental Enmity Series,
excerpt

I twisted and cupped his
flushed cheek. 
 
Sweat dripped from his
hairline in tiny rivulets down his face and along my
fingers. 
 
I moved my fingers over his forehead toward his
chin. 
 
He caught my hand and touched his lips to my
palm.