Centaur Legacy (30 page)

I pressed “play” on my voicemail and
tried to listen to Cami’s message again. My eyes began to burn, and
my body felt numb. I couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or if it
was adjusting to the knowledge that Cami’s life would never be the
same again. Over the howling wind I could barely make out Cami’s
words from the voicemail. I pressed play again. And again. The
burning in my eyes refused to leave, no matter how many times I
listened to Cami’s words of love.

I couldn’t make a call from outside.
She’d never hear me over the wind. I staggered through the gusts,
back to the pumphouse. After I wedged myself inside the little
structure, the air was still frigid, but it felt warm without the
blowing snow pelting me. I pulled a string hanging from a light
fixture; a little twenty-five watt light bulb glowed to life. I
went to press play one more time but dialed her number
instead.

Cami’s voice answered right away,
“Drake? Are you okay?”

No, I wasn’t okay. I’d never be okay
again. “I just wanted to hear your voice.”

“I was worried. You didn’t answer when
I called last night. I thought. . . I mean. . . never mind. I’m
glad you called me.”

“Lacey didn’t tell the others about
me?”

“No. Not a word. They all think we’re
leaving after the storm blows over. I’ve been trying to figure out
how to break it to them that I’m staying here. I’m going to call
Cameron and see if I can stay at his house until we can figure out
how to get you and the arrow to Zethus.”

Her voice was so full of hope, how
could I tell her?

Cami couldn’t read my thoughts, and I
didn’t interrupt her. “I saw Zandra. She told me that Cameron’s
guardian left him when he turned eighteen. But she’s lied about so
much – I want to talk to him to find out if his house is really
vacant.”

How do you break it to someone that
there’s no future, at least not the future you’ve dreamed of your
whole life? I needed to come up with a plan, find a place where I
could keep Cami safe. I filled my lungs with air, released it
slowly and said, “It might be better for you to spend a little time
with William and Gretchen. Recover. You’ve been through a
lot.”

“I’m not leaving you, Drake.” Her voice
was quiet and slow when she continued. “We’re going to be fine.
Just think, we’ll be telling our kids this story some
day.”

I could feel the muscles around my
heart constrict. No future. No happily-ever-after. No kids. No
Cami. The thoughts came to me as if shot from an automatic weapon.
“I’m not saying to leave forever. But you may need to rest
somewhere, you know, to be safe.”

“I’m safe with you, Drake. Besides,
we’ve got to figure out how we can fly you out of South Dakota and
into Ireland. Have you ever been to a country where you didn’t have
to pass through customs? I found a charter that will transport
horses internationally, but I’m not sure how to get you through the
customs inspection.”

The muscles holding my heart
constricted harder – livestock. That’s what I was now. I knew she
didn’t mean anything by it. Cami was being practical, trying to
think through the situation. But that was me: I had hooves and a
tail to prove it. Maybe I could buy half a Halloween costume to put
over my torso to hide me from prying eyes.

“Drake, are you there? Did I lose
you?”

She could never lose me. I could never
have her the way I wanted her, but as her sworn guardian, I would
never be away from her. Her voice was more urgent, “Drake, can you
hear me?”

“I’m here, Love. No. I don’t know how
to fly into another country and avoid customs.”

“Okay. We’ll figure something out. The
storm’s supposed to blow through by late afternoon today. Do you
remember how to get to Cameron’s house?”

“Cami. . .” I needed to see her again,
but the more time I spent with her, the harder she would be to give
up. I needed to find a place where she’d be safe, and it would be
better for her to go back to San Diego with Beau for a few
days.

“Listen, Drake. I can hear it in your
voice. Don’t. Whatever you’re thinking – you’re wrong. We’re going
to get through this. We’re going to work it out. Everything’s going
to be fine. The only way it won’t be fine is if you disappear
again. Promise me you won’t take off!”

I didn’t answer right away. Her voice
was angry when she said, “You promised me, Drake! You said if I
left with them for the storm you wouldn’t go anywhere!” She was
crying. I didn’t need to see the tears, her voice gave her
away.

“I’m here, Love. I promise, I’m
here.”

“You’ll meet me at Cameron’s later
today?”

I needed to tell her what was about to
happen. For the first time I realized my sole focus had been on
Cami, but her entire family was in as much danger as she was. I’d
meet with her at Cameron’s, tell her what needed to be done, and
get her on the first flight out with Beau to warn the others. “As
soon as the weather clears.”

*****

I traveled to Cameron’s place right
after I hung up with Camille. I couldn’t tell her what had happened
over the phone, but I vowed that I’d tell her the truth as soon as
she arrived. I was sure she’d be furious with my decision, but if
it came down to my happiness or Cami’s life, I wouldn’t gamble with
her life.

Luckily, Cameron didn’t keep his house
locked. I had been at his house for hours when the storm finally
let up. I tried not to pace, but I wanted to keep an eye out near
the highway. The little road that Cameron’s house set on had been
drifted over by snow. Cami wouldn’t be able to drive much past the
highway.

Just after three p.m. I saw the little
car’s headlights turn down onto the road. The car made it onto the
road, but the blowing snow created a drift that a monster truck
wouldn’t have been able to plow through. When I saw the car stuck,
I ran to her. I didn’t worry about anyone seeing me from the
highway. Anyone passing by would be focused on the road in front of
them and not the little side road. I loped up to her before she
could even turn the engine off. The car would look abandoned if
anyone saw it from the road, but it was far enough in, passing snow
plows wouldn’t bother it.

She fought with the drift to get the
door to open until I gave it a quick tug from the outside. She
hadn’t seen me in the daylight, and I caught her
staring.

When she was free of the car, she
climbed over the snow drift and leaped into my awaiting arms. She
felt so tiny as I held her off the ground. She was bundled up in a
ski jacket, gloves, a hat, and tall leather boots. I set her down
so we could get her out of the cold and into Cameron’s house. As we
walked, her strides were so much shorter than mine; it was clumsy
to walk beside her. I had considered throwing her up over my back
and giving her “a ride” to the house, but the thought repulsed me.
Instead I reached down and picked her up with both arms and carried
her to the little house.

We arrived at the front door that led
to an enclosed porch, then into the kitchen. I had gone over how to
break it to her hundreds of times in my mind. When we were inside
the warmth of the house, she took her jacket off. I was absolutely
speechless. I couldn’t look away. I couldn’t breathe.

Cami stood before me wearing a simple
pair of blue jeans, a long sleeved t-shirt and tall leather boots –
a practical outfit considering our environment, but absolutely
gorgeous. Last night I had been so shocked by her words that I
hadn’t given myself a chance to appreciate her beauty. Before I
could say a word, she held up a finger as I stood in the kitchen
and said, “Wait right here.”

She emerged from the living room with a
small step stool, positioned it directly in front of me, and
climbed it so we were eye-to-eye. Her brown eyes looked directly
into mine. Cami’s voice was determined when she said, “I made a
pledge of my own.”

“What?”

“When I told you that I chose you, you
made me a promise saying I’d never go to bed angry or wake up
alone. With everything going on, I want you to hear my pledge to
you.”

“Cami, it’s the betrothal pledge. It’s
made by the Centaur to the Centauride. There’ve been a few
developments since last night that we need to talk
about.”

“Okay, but after.”

“It’s important.”

Her voice was stern, “In a minute.
You’re going to listen to this, because this is my promise to you.
I promise to love you without conditions. I promise always to look
on the bright side of things regardless of the situation. I promise
to find a way to make this work. I promise never to give you
up.”

Cami wrapped one arm around me and the
other behind my head; beautiful milk-chocolate eyes closed slowly
as I saw her lips coming toward mine. My lips moved on reflex as I
deepened our kiss and pressed her against me. My hands longed for
the suppleness of her skin and slid under her t-shirt to find it. I
gently caressed the skin on her back as our kiss showed no signs of
ending.

As we stood there in the
kitchen locked on each other, I heard her words echo in my
mind:
I promise to find a way to make this
work
. She was serious.

The fact that I was no longer a man
didn’t give her a moment’s pause. This was the love no Centaur
before me had ever known. They couldn’t. Arranged marriages, or
selections by Centaurides who knew nothing of the Centaurs they
chose – none were ever given the chance to fall in love with the
other in the beginning.

Then it hit me, Unice had felt this
kind of love from Winfield. Maybe it was a curse, but this curse
had a silver lining. I would never doubt Cami’s love for
me.

When we finally pulled away from each
other, I knew that I’d been looking at the situation the wrong way.
I had missed what was most important because I was blinded by my
circumstance.

I wasn’t a Centaur as a punishment from
Zeus, I was in this form by my own choice. I was this way because
Cami needed me to be a warrior for her. Cami accepted me without
even knowing the reason. The late afternoon sun shone through the
window in the kitchen behind Cami, giving her a heavenly quality.
“What was so important that you wanted to tell me?”

Without hesitation, “Only that I am the
luckiest Centaur ever to walk the earth.” I wouldn’t push Cami
away. If she ever tired of the situation, I wouldn’t guilt her into
staying with me, but I now knew the depth of her love was as
endless as mine. She was more than my love, more than my Centauride
or soul mate – Cami completed me.

A thought occurred to me that had
evaded me before. Even if Zeus had not spelled it out for me, I
knew in that moment why the arrow had given me this form. This is
how I could best protect her from her own curse she carried with
her every day.

I was strong and fast in my human form,
but my skills before paled in comparison to now. Had I been in this
form when Phineas came after her, the outcome would have been much
different. Those four Centaurs wouldn’t have stood a chance against
me.

I considered the events of last night,
before Zeus appeared. Even if Cami had seen me and rejected me,
there is nothing I wouldn’t have done to protect her. The arrow had
offered better protection to the Chiron family than anyone could
ever have imagined. I’d learned of the arrow when I was just a
child and had been told that it carried immortal magic. Until I
held it in my hand and it transformed me, I had no appreciation for
the magic pulsing through it, and now that same magic pulsed
through me.

(Drake – Cameron’s house,
SD)

Camille opened the refrigerator, “Are
you hungry?”

My plan last night to raid a farmer’s
freezer in the middle of the night had been abandoned. Today was
the first day I had been inside, out of the elements, in five days.
I unconsciously let my guard down and allowed myself to feel
hunger, not just for food, but the hunger for Cami, too. I’d be
able to eat and appease my appetite, but I knew the hunger I felt
for Cami would never be satisfied. I reached into a cupboard, found
a crumpled up, half-eaten bag of Doritos and did my best to satisfy
one of my appetites.

Cami shook her head, “I was thinking
eggs.”

“You can make eggs. I’d rather have
these.” I didn’t want to own up to the fact that I’d eaten at least
two dozen raw eggs the last few days, so they had little appeal for
me now.

Cami followed me into the living room,
taking a seat on the couch as I took a place on the floor beside
her. She abandoned her plan to make eggs and shared the bag of
Doritos with me. I didn’t want to bring it up, but I needed to
know. “So, what did Phineas do to you?”

She shook her head. “Nothing
really.”

I took both her hands in mine. I had
imagined horrific things. I needed to know what the emotional scars
were before I could understand how long it would take for her to
heal. “Tell me. I need to know.”

“It wasn’t as bad as I had expected.
He’s really not that bright.” I didn’t interrupt, so she finally
began, “He took me to Florida. I don’t remember anything of the
trip there: they’d knocked me out. Once I was there, they kept me
sedated. I came to before they had expected me to, and I simply
convinced them to let me go.”