Centaur Rivalry (Touched Series Book 3) (9 page)

(Camille, Deserted Mining Tunnel in South Dakota)

I had the strangest sensation.  Normally, when I called out to someone telepathically, I would visualize their face and feel a static-like connection establish – a little like making eye-contact where I could see the other’s eyes, but not necessarily the dilation of their pupils.  As I attempted to establish the connection with Jessica, it felt like it was already live.  “
We’re below.  Is it safe to come up?”

“
Yes, hurry.  They’ll be back any minute!
”  If Jessica had felt anything strange in our connection, she didn’t let on.

My eyes flashed open to the three sets staring back at me. 
“She says to go up, but they could be back any time.”

Daniel immediately grabbed the ladder and shimm
ied up.  Brent motioned for me to go next.  I looked below me on the ladder and saw Katherine beneath me.  When I followed Daniel through the access panel behind the soda machine, Jessica was waiting for us.  Katherine was just a few feet away from the top when the “Click” of the light switch sounded below.  My neck careened back through the hole; I moved out of the way so Katherine could climb through.  I looked back down into the abyss and saw nothing but black.

My stomach tightened.  I looked at my watch
; mere seconds had passed, but the tunnel was so dark, and I couldn’t hear Brent’s feet on the ladder.  Had someone followed us?  Had they taken him?  The fine hairs on my arm stood tall, as goose bumps peppered my arms.  Where was he?  What was taking him so long?  I leaned back through the opening and shouted into the emptiness, “Brent!”

Brent’s face came into view from the darkness
with a determined scowl on his face.  “Trying to knock me off, or what?  Geeze.”

Jessica
’s speech was rapid.  “They know you’re in the area.  Roscoe is convinced you’re in some human’s house here in town.  No one has even considered the motel because it’s closed down for the season and it’s almost impossible to get to.  Get out of here quick before they find you.”  Jessica grabbed my forearm in a vice grip, “Your grandmother is here looking for you, too.”

My eyes fixed on
Katherine; she was right.  That had to be why Bianca and Jessica had both tuned me out.  Katherine placed both her hands on Jessica’s shoulders from behind.  It was an odd sight because she was so much shorter than Jessica.  She leaned her head against Jessica’s shoulder blades, “We’re going with them, now, tonight.”

Jessica
’s posture straightened while she searched our faces.  Her expression was a mixture of fear, adrenaline, and relief, all rolled into one.  I didn’t want a repeat of Katherine’s turmoil in the tunnel, so I telepathically answered Jessica’s questioning look, “
Katherine told us about Gayle.  We’ll get you out of here.  We’ll tuck you away where no one can find you.
”

Jessica’s eyes widened for a moment then returned to normal when she
answered, “
You’ll never be able to hide us from my family.  My mother will find us.
”

Katherine
’s hands still lay on Jessica’s shoulders.  Jessica rested her hands over the top of Katherine’s while the two women let it soak in that they would try to escape.

The two were such an odd couple. 
Katherine with her red hair, porcelain complexion and petite frame:  even without her abrasive personality – she wasn’t someone to blend in.  Jessica was tall and slender, her features delicate, her platinum blonde locks fell over her shoulder, and she had this mischievous vibe about her.  Neither were wallflowers, but I never would have pegged the two personalities to be so close to one another, either.

“
She told us about being a Lapith.  As long as you two stick together, you can stay hidden for as long as you like.  We’ll get you somewhere safe
.”

Jessica patted
Katherine’s hands and then wordlessly walked over to me.  I couldn’t read her expression or her emotions until she pulled me into a tight hug.  It felt strange because she was so much taller than I was, too.  Her hair smelled like stale cigarette smoke from spending so much of her time in the bar.  The others must have understood we were having a telepathic conversation because no one’s eyebrows rose by our embrace or her, “Thank you.”

I gave Jessica a short nod as an answer, then asked,
“Everyone ready?”  The four of them agreed, but I looked around, suddenly hit with the question: how were we going to get out of here?  I held up a single finger, “Hold on just a second.”

If we tried to make a run for it and were seen
, we could be putting Jessica and Katherine in danger.  No one was suspicious of either of them.  As far as anyone knew, they hadn’t seen us.  I looked at Daniel.  He wasn’t a pure-blooded Centaur, and although I’d always told him he ran like a gazelle, his speed was not in the same league with Brent’s.  Daniel would need to go with Katherine and Jessica.

I looked at Brent, my brother who had already been through so much.  If he were found
, could he fight his way free from Centaur enforcers?  No.  I couldn’t ask Jessica or Katherine to drive him because he and I already carried a death sentence.  I didn’t know what the punishment would be for anyone caught with either of us, but I wasn’t willing to risk their lives.

I closed my eyes and called to Drake,
“
We are on our way back to the motel.  I’m with Brent.  We’ll be there soon.”

There was no delay in his response,
“
What?!
”

I tried to keep the fear from seeping into my voice,
“
This place is crawling with Centaur enforcers, and Zandra is here.  It’ll be faster if Brent carries me through the woods.”

“Stay there.  If you’re going on foot I want to be there.”

My heart swelled.  There was no place safer than in Drake’s arms, but if Jessica was right and the woods were full of Centaur enforcers, coming for me would put him at risk and that was unacceptable.  “
No.  Brent’s ready to go.  We’ll be there in no time.
”

“
Bianca and Gage are already back from town.  He said Centaur enforcers are looking for us.  It’s not safe for Brent to run and to try to stave off an attack.  Show me where you are.  I don’t want you two by yourselves.
”

The tightness in my stomach increased.  The image of Drake fighting off thirty enforcers played through my mind.  He was right.  We would be safer with Drake, but Drake and I had the element of surprise on our side the last time.  That advantage was gone now.  The enforcers were not only ready for us, they were looking for us.

Jessica, Katherine, Daniel and Brent looked nervous.  I was wasting valuable time.  “
Okay.  You’re right
.”  I pushed an image of the bar to Drake.  “
We won’t be able to stay at the motel long, but we should be safe there until morning.  We found a Lapith to help cloak us
.”

“
A Lapith?  To cloak you?  But they’re extinct.”

“
That’s funny.  That’s what she said about the Lost Herd.
”

“
Give me a few minutes.
”  Still connected to Drake, I could see the trees zooming past his head as he was already out of the motel and galloping through the forest.

I turned back to the others waiting in the back room of the bar. 
“Okay, Drake’s coming.  Katherine, you and Jessica take your truck back; it’ll look suspicious if it’s still on the street overnight.  Daniel, no one thinks of you as a Centaur, so you take Gage’s rental truck and follow them back.  Brent, when Drake comes, he’ll carry me, and you two can run back to the motel.”

Brent looked at
Katherine as if he wasn’t in favor of my plan.  He put his back to her and took a step in my direction, “Drake won’t be able to run as fast carrying you.  You and I should leave now and meet him outside of town.”

I shook my head,
“You haven’t seen Drake yet.  Carrying me won’t slow him down.”  I motioned to Jessica, Katherine and Daniel, “You three, go.  Brent and I’ll wait by the back door for Drake.”

Jessica started to protest
, but before she could argue, I sent an image of Drake in his new form to her.  She gave me an understanding nod, “Okay, we’ll be there within thirty minutes.  We’ll meet at Katherine’s house instead of the motel.  You may even beat us there.  Katherine, Daniel – let’s go.”

The door shut behind them
.  Jessica locked the front door from the outside.  Brent stood beside me in the empty bar, the only illumination from beer signs hanging along the wall.  The only sound was our breathing.  I wasn’t purposely trying to read his thoughts, but couldn’t help seeing images of Jessica and Katherine, his worry for them obvious.  I shook my head, “They’ll be fine.  None of them have ties to us.  If the enforcers see them, they won’t give them a second thought.”

Brent shook his head.  “Daniel has ties to you.”

“Centaurs are too pompous to see the tie as anything more than a coincidence.  Not one of them would give him any consideration.  They’ll be okay.”

I could feel
Drake outside the back door.  I didn’t need to hear his voice, his breath, or a knock on the door – I could feel his presence.  His thoughts were laced with worry, not for himself, but the fear of running through the forest unprotected, carrying me.  I opened the back door and there he stood, the size of a quarter-horse, well over seven feet tall – over nine hundred pounds of rage for any who tried to stop us.

The last few weeks of seeing Drake like this, I’d grown accustomed to his new phy
sique – Brent, on the other hand, got an eyeful.  He took a step in front of me on sheer instinct, and his easy flowing words from the tunnel were replaced with stammers as Drake stood directly in front of him.  “Drake. . . you’re. . . I mean, you have. . . are you able. . .”

I cut him off for fear that he’d never get a single coherent thought out.  “I told you
that you hadn’t seen him in a while.  You knew this happened:  don’t look so surprised.  You ready?”

Brent’s
jaw hung open.  He was able to control himself enough to send the signal to his brain and nod his head, but made no attempt to speak.

I looked into Drake’s ice blue eyes.  They were narrowed from the cold and likely close to being frozen
that way.  I’d experienced his speed two nights ago, when we escaped the Centaur assault at Cameron’s house, but it was still hard to wrap my mind around the idea that he probably came close to breaking the sound barrier getting here.

Drake motioned for me to come closer.  Brent didn’t move out of my way
, but he didn’t try to stop me from going to Drake either.  Brent stood motionless, frozen in place.  Drake brought his hands to either side of my face.  Despite the sub-zero temperatures, his hands were warm – almost hot to the touch.  Drake’s voice was soft, “I’m glad you’re okay.” His hands gently cradled my face, and he leaned down, brushing a whisper of a kiss across my lips.

H
is hands slid down from my face and gathered me in his arms with about as much effort as reaching down and picking up a toddler.  He turned his attention to Brent.  “Do your best to keep up.  I’ll try not to leave you behind, but we need to run as fast as possible through town.  Watch your step out there.  Centaur lookouts are strategically positioned throughout the forest.  I found a riding trail where it looks like humans have been on their snowmobiles and ATVs.  If you keep your feet light on the ground, the trails should camouflage our prints.”

Brent finally spoke,
“You’re a Centaur.”

Drake gave Brent a forced smile.  I
thought Brent had been prepared to see Drake.  He came to South Dakota after Beau had told him about the transformation. Brent’s eyes were fixed on Drake.  In an eerie way, it bothered me that his eyes refused to blink.

Drake t
urned around to face the stunned Brent, his forced smile still on his lips, “Let’s catch up back at the motel.  I’ll get us to the trail, then you set the pace.  Don’t worry about your speed; we’ll be able to keep up.”

Brent nodded
, and the next thing I saw was the blur of the deserted street, evergreens and naked maples whizzing past us.  I buried my face into Drake’s bare chest and concentrated on the rhythm of his heart beat.  There wasn’t a safer place anywhere, or a place I wanted to be more than cradled in his arms – even if we were dodging Centaurs sent to kill us.

This close to Drake
, his thoughts flowed easily to me.  Every few seconds an image of Daniel flashed through his mind, followed by me and an image of Drake’s now transformed body.  His transformation hadn’t tarnished his feelings for me, but it was obvious he was thinking about the possibility of Daniel and me ending up together.  Drake loved me, but he no longer thought of us as the same species.

I don’t know how many times over the last couple weeks
I had told him this was temporary, that he wouldn’t remain in this form forever.  His mind was so focused on the dangers of the forest that his thoughts were nearly unguarded. I saw the truth of his thoughts for the first time – Drake didn’t believe me that this was temporary.  Because he chose to remain this way after he was given the option to change back to being a human – in his mind, his transformation was a life sentence.  I couldn’t see his future, but when I thought of our long term plans, it was always with him in human form.