Centaur Rivalry (Touched Series Book 3) (25 page)

It wasn’t a question
, but she nodded anyway.

“So the Lost Herd is
descended from Rupert and Lila?  They were able to go undetected for centuries because of her Lapith blood?”

Katherine
nodded again.

“
So, how are the enforcers finding us now?”

“I’m not sure, but I think the Lapith blood has become diluted over the generations.
  Some families from the Lost Herd mated with only other Lost Herd families.  Those probably still have a good bit of Lapith blood in them.  Most of Rupert’s descendants all blended in with the other Centaurs, following the rules set down by Zeus.”

“How do you know?”

“Your father is Will.  He’s of the Lost Herd, I can sense it.  His wife, Gretchen, she’s not.”

“But how can you tell who’s from the Lost Herd?”

“I’m descended from Lily and Rupert.  I can just tell.”

“But you’re not a Centaur?”

“No.  Any Centaur blood in my family tree has been gone for generations.”

“
Does anyone else know this?”

She shook her head, “I couldn’t say. 
My great-grandmother told the story when I was very young.  But now that I’ve met ya, all the pieces make more sense.”

“Does Athena still protect Rupert’s descendants?”

She shrugged her shoulders.  “I don’t know.  Until all the action with Roscoe last week, I thought the Lost Herd was something my great-grandmother had made up.  She told me their blood would call ta me, but I never felt it ‘til I met you and Brent.”

It had never made sense to me why
everyone was shocked that the Lost Herd was still around until now.  All but Rupert had been hunted down and killed.  Athena was a protector.  I remember learning about her from Zandra.  Athena was Zeus’s first child, born without a mother – she sprang from Zeus’s head.  I spoke more to myself than to Katherine.  “Lila couldn’t have chosen a better protector.”

It hit me that my initial questions had gone by the wayside when
Katherine told me of my bloodline.  “But, what does all this have to do with you and Brent?”

“Don’t y
a see?  Brent isn’t attracted to me.  When he tried ta comfort me in the tunnel – his concern for me sparked the connection:  the same connection that happened between Lila and Rupert.  I’ve screwed everything up for him.  He was already chosen – he has a Centauride he cares about who’s willing to wait for him ta return.”

“So, he’s having second thoughts.  Did you ever think he’s having those thoughts because he likes you?”

“He likes me ‘cause of the spark between us in the tunnel – nothing more.”

“
I don’t know, Katherine.  Have you told him any of this?”

“No.  Y
ou saw his reaction when he found out I was a Lapith.  What do ya expect he’ll think when he finds out the only reason he’s feelin’ what he is toward me is because he was kind enough ta comfort me.”

“
But, you do like him.”

“It
’s not a question of liking or not liking him.  It’s the turmoil I see in his eyes every time he looks at me.  It’s the way he pulls away from me just as he gets within inches of me.  I don’t want to be the woman he chooses ‘cause he’s obsessed.”

“
You have to come clean.  You have to tell him.”

“I wish there were a way to have Cassie here. 
If she were here everything would be fine.  He’d forget about me and could ignore what happened in the tunnel.”

“What if she were here and nothing changed?”

She ignored my question.  “When he called her, she said she still chose him.  If she were here, none of this would be happening.  Daniel’s right, Brent has the future he’s always wanted within his grasp.  I can’t take it much longer.  If he keeps this up, I’m gonna give in, and his future – the future he wants – is over.

“
And if he still wants you?”

Heartache shown on her face
:  she’d already thought through the possibilities.  “Brent’s a Centaur.  He wants a Centauride.  He felt sorry for me when I told him about Gayle.  If he’d never touched me, none of this would be happening right now.  Can you convince Bianca to get Cassie here?  Like she did us?”

My mind went back to the enforcers
who stormed the beach last night.  How safe would it be to have Cassie here, too?  Would Brent want us to put her in danger?  I wanted Brent to be happy, but no matter what Katherine said, the feelings weren’t one-sided.  It wasn’t all Brent, and there was more there than some simple spark ignited in the tunnel.

I
started racing through the possible scenarios.  What would happen to Katherine if Cassie were here and Brent chose Cassie?  Or to Cassie if Brent still wanted Katherine?  Or worse, what if she were here and he couldn’t choose?

Katherine
stared at me woefully.  I sighed, “Bianca’s pretty amazing.  I’ll ask her.”  Katherine’s expression turned grateful.  I’d been right, even if Bianca couldn’t get Cassie to join us, telling me what had been bothering her had reduced the burden she was carrying.

I still had trouble wrapping my mind around everything she’d told me
, but one question burned inside me.  “So, am I a Lapith?”

She smiled genuinely, “No more than a drop.”

“A drop?”

“My
great-grandmother told me that Rupert and Lila had ten children.  Five considered themselves Centaurs and five Lapiths.  The children who thought themselves Centaurs were able to disguise their Lapith blood.  As they mated with Zeus’s Centaurs, they were able to stay hidden for centuries until their blood once again ran pure.  The same happened with the five who considered themselves Lapiths, the blood never crossed.”

“So, I am a pure-blood
ed Centauride?”

“Cami, this was
centuries ago, at least thirty generations back.  I’m sure whatever Lapith blood your ancestors may have had is long since gone.”

“That’s too bad.  I figured that was why you were so willing to help me.”

Her eyes darted to the ground.  There was more to the story than she told me.  I couldn’t see what it was, but I could feel her trying to hide something.

“Not just y
ou, Cami.  All of the Lost Herd.”

“You protect the Lost Herd?”

“Lila promised Athena.  She vowed she would defend their children.  It carried on with her descendants.  My great-grandmother told me the stories so I knew it was my duty to Athena to protect the Lost Herd.  I thought she was crazy at the time.  There are Lapiths around who aren’t descended from Lila and Rupert – they are enemies to all Centaurs.”

My mind sped up, the possibilities threatening to envelop me.  “
So, how do I know who I can trust?”

“There aren’t many Lapith families left.  If you ever run across a human who hates you for no reason, and you can’t read their thoughts – that’s a Lapith.  If I weren’t bound to protect ya, I’d be the same way.
”

Embarrassed by her answer, my first inclination was to lash out.  What
drove their hatred of Centaurs?  “You don’t like Centaurs very much.”

“I
loathe Centaurs.  The stupid rules they follow blindly.  The Blood Debts they inflict on one another.  They pretend ta be humans, yet think they’re superior to ‘em.”

I reached out and squeezed her hand,
“Not all of them.”  I wanted to tell her how welcoming my family had been when I had no other family in the world.  I wanted to tell her how Gage risked his own life pretending to want to be betrothed to me just to make sure I was okay.  No matter how much I wanted to tell her she was wrong – I couldn’t bring myself to do it.  She was right.  When I thought Drake and Bianca were dead, I was prepared to marry Gage to get away from Zandra.  The idea of her friend Gayle losing her life over something as simple as a high school crush was barbaric.  No, there would be no argument from me.

Instead of arguing with her, I fished for more information.  Of everyone I had met in the last several months,
Katherine was the least likely to sugar coat or withhold information from me.  “So, how are you able to protect us?  How does it work?”

“Think of me as Kryptonite.  Or a black hole, heck, maybe even a magnet.”

“I’m still lost.”

“Centaurides can’t use their powers against me.  It’s a proximity thing because they can’t use them on other Centaurs or Centaurides that I am physically close to.  Kind of like a black hole.”

I didn’t want to burst her bubble, but I could still read other Centaur and Centauride thoughts who were close to her, but I wanted to hear what she had to say
, so I didn’t interrupt.  “That night the Centaurs and Zandra were looking for you in the woods in South Dakota, she could probably tell you were in the area, but she couldn’t pinpoint where you were.  We were directly under Gage and Bianca, and Bianca is convinced Zandra didn’t even see her.”

That much I already knew.  “But a magnet?  I don’t understand your meaning.”

“Brent touched me.  When he hugged me in the tunnel, I felt the change in him myself.  The longer he denies his feelings for me, the more obsessed he’s going to become.”

“
The same thing would have happened if any Centaur touched you?”

She shook her head,
“It was the way he touched me.  Casual contact, no.  But when he tried to comfort me after telling you all about Gayle, his heart opened up to me – the same as Rupert’s did with Lila.  I don’t know how ta break the connection he established with me.  It’s part of the reason that Lapiths walled ourselves off from Centaurs.  It’s how that crazy rule of no touching came ta be.”

Gently I asked, “Do you want it broken?”

She answered a little too quickly, “Of course, I wanna break it.”  She continued digging at the piece of wood she had unearthed, speaking almost to herself, “Why would I wan’ a Centaur?”

“When we were driving to Omaha, you just seemed, I don’t know. . . interested.”

Blush spread bright on her cheeks, “He was nice ta me, okay?  Is it a crime to wanna be around someone who’s nice to you?”

“No.  Not a crime.  It’s completely understandable, unless you’re denying your feelings.”

Katherine stood up – our conversation was over.  “Let’s get back ta the others.”

I was grateful for all I had learned.  There never seemed to be a shortage of questions on my part
, no matter who I was talking to, but the idea that she was a Lapith descendant of Rupert had been completely unexpected.  Would other Lapiths in her family come to the aid of the Lost Herd?

(Camille, Beach Outside of Cancun, Mexico)

The few days we spent together were amazing.  I had quiet time with Drake; since we were newlyweds and remained in the little sea-side cottage, no one bothered us during our alone time.  My whole family was treating it like a vacation.  Mornings were spent playing volleyball on the beach and goofing around in the surf.  The food was amazing.  Each of my brothers took turns guarding the Council’s enforcers in the basement.  Having Katherine around worked out perfectly:  everyone was able to let their guard down.  Although the captured enforcers refused to talk to us and were extremely proficient at blocking their thoughts, no more came looking for them.

It was Wednesday morning before we knew it.  Gage, Bianca, Drake and I made preparations to leave for the airport
Thursday morning.  We’d planned to use a chartered plane that Will had arranged.

I was doing
a quick clean up of all the rooms in the little cottage when Will knocked on the front door and let himself in.  Drake assumed Will wanted privacy, so he chose that minute to go check on the prisoners.

Will took a seat on the tattered couch and motioned for me to take a seat in the chair adjacent to it.  “We haven’t talked about your trip since your wedding.”

“The less you know, the better, for right now.”

“I’d like to go with you.”

“You’re not going to offer yourself up as some sort of sacrifice.”

“It’s more than just me who wants to accompany you.”

“No.  You guys lay low.  If I need your help, I’ll call.”

“Do you remember what I told you when you said Gage and Bianca were going with you?”

I didn’t like his argument then, and I wasn’t ready to entertain it now.  “They don’t have any ties to the Lost Herd.  They haven’t broken any tenants.  They are the safest companions to take along.  No matter what happens to Drake and me, they’ll know the truth, and we’re guaranteed that they’ll be free to go about their lives.”

“Don’t be naive, Camille.  If they stand with you, they stand against Zeus.”

“They aren’t going to be doing any of the fighting.”

“You know both of them better than that.  Neither will stand by if anything happens to you or Drake. 
What about Cameron?”

“What about him?”

“You know he’s going to be there.”

“No!  Why would he be there?”

“He’s been living with Zandra.  She’s spent time with both of you now.  Everyone expects her to name one of you as the next Chairman.  No one is expecting you to be there.  So, who do you think will take her position?”

“But I thought it was always the Centauride?”

“Traditionally it is the Centauride, but the Chairman picks the successor.”

Maybe I was naive.  There was so much I didn’t understand and no time left to learn it. 
“How do you see this playing out?”

“
From what I’ve seen, Cameron isn’t as strong-willed as you are.  I haven’t been allowed to spend much time with him.  I can only think the worst because Cameron has been cooped up with Zandra and Angelo since he left South Dakota.”

“They wouldn’t let you see him?”

“It was different with Cameron.  When you were at Zandra’s estate, she forbade me from seeing you.  With Cameron, she allowed me as much access as I wanted, but
he
didn’t want to see or to talk to me.”

“But Chiron protected me.  Doesn’t that mean the
Council will see me as the rightful successor?”

“The Centaur Council is made up of the head of each of the original lines from the pasture.  The Tak line has not been represented since the Council was formed. 
Phineas is the head of our family.  If you intend to put an end to the extermination of our family, he should be there with you, taking his place with the others.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “
Phineas kidnapped me.  He plotted to kill you.  He had his daughter try to insert memories in my head, and, eeeww – he wanted me to marry his son.  He’s wrong on so many levels I don’t even want to get into it.  I don’t trust him.  He has no place on the Centaur Council.”

“
Phineas is my half-brother.  He was desperate, and he made an incredible error in judgment.  You don’t know what it’s been like living this way.”

“You’re right, he did make an error in
judgment, and there is no excuse for him.  He will not accompany me, and if he shows up, I guarantee he won’t like what I have to say.”

Storming out of the bungalow, I didn’t know which direction to go.  Anger
coursed through my veins.  Phineas really was my uncle?  How could he have kidnapped me and tried to marry me off to his son? I felt violated.  It was bad enough thinking he had betrayed me when he was my protector at Zandra’s, but he was more than that.  He was my own blood.

Who was I kidding
?  Zandra had tried to marry me off, too – at least Gage wasn’t any relation.  My mind started to wander.  When I first found out who my father was, Will insisted I come to his house right away.  If I would have refused, would he, too, have taken me against my will?  How much did I really know about my family?

I had started on the path toward the main house, but veered off toward the beach. 
Drake and Beau were sitting together on beach chairs staring out in the ocean.  I wanted to join them, to put my conversation with Will out of my mind.  I heard Drake ask, “But her brother wasn’t pledged?”

I held my ground just inside a decent distance that I could hear them but not close enough that they would notice I was eavesdropping.  Beau answered, “No, he was of age, but hadn’t been chosen.”

“Maybe the two of them will be hanging out and not bother you.”

“You know the rules, the first pledge has claim.  Losing her now would kill me, because there’s a real chance that there could be nothing after.”

Their conversation made little sense.  First pledge?  A betrothal pledge?  That was the only kind of pledge I’d ever heard of.  What was Beau talking about that a first pledge had claim?  I eased closer, as if proximity could somehow bring clarity to their words.

“She loves you.  You’ve gone past betrothal
; you two are married.”

“Yeah, but she married into the Lost Herd.  You think her brother or betrothed would look the other way if she shows up in the pasture and it’s my fault she’s there?”

“She chose you, Beau.  She did it knowing the truth.  You’re worrying about nothing, anyway.  Cami and I are going to make the Centaur Council listen.  We’re all going to have a long life.  Stop worrying.”

My heart swelled.  There was no doubt in
Drake’s voice.  I’d finally understood their words.  Lacey was betrothed to a Centaur before Beau.  Her fiancé and her brother were both killed in a car accident, the same car Beau had pulled her out of before it caught on fire.

When Centaurs became betrothed, the Centaur had a choice.  If he really cared about the Centauride
, he could give her a betrothal pledge that tied their souls together and guaranteed they’d be together for eternity.  Beau was worried because the Centaur she was betrothed to before him had given her his betrothal pledge.

Drake told me
, generations ago, during herd quarrels it wasn’t uncommon for one Centauride to be given up to twenty betrothal pledges.  In life, if pledged, the Centauride and Centaur established a telepathic connection so the betrothal pledge to multiple Centaurs allowed her to have an army of protection.  If a Centauride had several Centaurs pledged to her, she could communicate with all of them.  It was an added safety measure for the Centauride.

I’d asked how that worked if the souls were tied because a Centaur could only ever pledge once.  He told me in the pasture the only pledge that counted was the first one. 
Beau was right to be worried.  I’d embraced that part of being with Drake; if something happened in this life, at least we’d be together after death.  Beau didn’t have that assurance.

We had to make the Centaur Council see that exterminating the Lost Herd was wrong.  We had to do it for a lot of reasons, but
feeling Beau’s pain – we had to do it for him.  His only time with Lacey could be this life; eternity in the pasture would belong to the Centaur who died in the car crash.

The waves and seagulls beckoning me
, I turned away from Beau and Drake, not wanting to intrude.  I walked down the beach and lost myself in my own thoughts, jumbled around my family and what we were really up against.  It wasn’t until the surf was at my ankles that a peace washed over me.  Motionless, I allowed the waves and the serenity of the turquoise water to calm me.

“I thought you’d
be spending your last day with Daniel.”

Wheeling around to the voice who had invaded my privacy
, auburn hair flowed back from her face as Jessica sat ten feet away on a towel.  Had she been there before?  What happened to her platinum blonde color I’d seen just yesterday?  As I continued to take her in, she was an absolute beauty.  The colored hair and dark make-up had hidden the real Jessica.

“
I was headed toward the house; I just took a detour.  What are you doing here?”

“Same thing you are.  Hiding from the chaos.”  She patted the towel she sat on as an invitation.

I didn’t want to talk.  I didn’t want company.  Where could I go to be by myself that would be far enough away?

“What’s the deal with you and Daniel?”

Here we go again.  My whole life everyone had assumed Daniel and I were more than friends.  I thought I’d put all that to rest.  I was married to Drake.  If that didn’t send a strong enough signal, nothing would.

“He’s my best friend.”

“You’ve got a funny way of showing it.”

“Daniel knows how I feel about him.”

“Does he?”

“Look, I’m leaving soon.  If you’ve got something to say, say it.”

“Just an observation.”

“What?”

“So you take off to find your family and you stop calling him.  He goes looking for you and you’ve vanished.  You keep reemerging, and each time you don’t have any time for him.  You run off and get married without so much as an invitation, and then your new BFF calls and says you need us all to come running.  When he does, you’re so wrapped up in your own drama, you hardly even notice he’s here.”

“That’s not true.  Besides, he’s been so occupied with you he hasn’t missed me a bit.”

Jessica shook her head.  “Go on and keep thinking that.”

Begrudgingly
, I took a seat next to her on the towel.  “What, so he’s mad at me now?”

“Not mad.  He feels left out.  He misses you.”

“I’ll talk to him before I go.”

“Yeah, you do that.”  Jessica buried her toes in the sand
, wrapped her arms around her knees, and stared out into the water.

I didn’t want to be rude to her.  On some level she was right.  Daniel had been so much a part of my life for so long that
not having him with me through everything left a big gaping hole.  Drake and I had had one thing after another thrown at us.  These few days when I could finally catch up with him, my thoughts had been all consumed by the Centaur Council and what it would mean for my family.

“
You’re right.  I’ve been a crappy friend.  I didn’t want to intrude on his time with you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Surprise rocked me.  Weren’t they a couple?  The two of them were everywhere together.  On the beach they had been the pair who beat everyone else at volleyball. Daniel had this great idea to sneak into town before anyone woke up a few days ago and showed up at lunch time on a wave rider, towing three more behind him.  It was only a few hours later when the two of them were airborne together in the surf.  Every meal we’d eaten with the others, the two had been sitting together.  Could I have jumped to the wrong conclusion?  Even Katherine thought the two had a thing going on.

Her stare told me I needed to answer,
“I mean, you two seem to be good for each other.”

She answered dismissively, “Daniel’s a great diversion.”

The hair on the back of my neck stood up, “A diversion?”

“Well, yeah.  Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had fun together, but there’ll never be anything serious between us.”

“Why not?”

She rolled her eyes at me as if I were the densest person on the planet.