Centaur Legacy (18 page)

She would live out her days as a
Centauride, eventually taking my place as the leader of the Centaur
Council, so long as she did not choose Drake Nash.

Choosing Drake would set a chain of
events in motion that even my authority couldn’t save her from. I’d
made mistakes with her mother. I’d vowed not to make the same
mistakes with Camille. History repeated itself right before my
eyes, as if I were powerless to stop my own actions.

I had carried so much resentment for
Angela over the years, there were days I thought it would swallow
me whole. Camille looked exactly like her. When she spoke, her
voice was Angela’s. Her mannerisms, body language, even humor – it
was so disturbing, but I could never bring myself to tell her how
much I missed Angela.

The night of her arrival, I couldn’t
speak to her. It was as though I were looking in my daughter’s
eyes, the eyes I had forced into hiding with a heavy hand and a
short temper. Instead of the contempt I remembered staring back at
me from Angela’s, Camille’s harbored only fear. When I was finally
able to speak to her, I had to keep reminding myself I was talking
to my granddaughter, not Angela.

Fear was an improvement from contempt.
Once Camille understood our past and her importance to our society,
she would be able to embrace her role as a Centauride, she would
gain her Chiron powers. She could be groomed to take my place in
our society.

The only thing in the way was Drake
Nash. If she chose him, nothing would be able to stop the
repercussions. Both would share a dismal life together, they’d be
on the run, and. . . I couldn’t bear to think what would happen if
they had the arrow. I’d known Drake’s mother for years. If Camille
chose him, his bloodline would cease to exist – I couldn’t allow
that to happen, either. I had to find them, do whatever I could to
keep the two of them apart.

My phone vibrated, quickly returning me
to the present. I looked at my phone but did not recognize the
number. I started to send it to voicemail when my inner voice told
me to answer it.

I answered the cell phone,
“Hello?”

“Zandra, it’s Drake.”

“Ahhh, back from the dead I see. And
how is my granddaughter? Has she come to her senses
yet?”

“They’ve taken her.” Drake’s words were
hollow.

My mind screeched to life, “What?!
Who’s taken her?”

“Phineas. He’s part of the Lost Herd.
He took her about eight hours ago. Do you know where he would have
taken her?”

“The Lost Herd?” It was coming true. .
. all of it. . . right before my eyes. I took a breath, found my
best condescending voice and said, “They are no more than a fable
now, Drake. Zeus, himself, cast them out long ago.”

“You’re wrong. Phineas has her, and I
need your help.”

“What makes you think I would help you
or that I even care for the whereabouts of Camille? You left my
estate. You left my protection.”

“Protection? Look, I’m not going to
argue with you. You had the leader of the Lost Herd right under
your nose and you suspected nothing. Now he’s got Cami, and. . .”
Drake paused as if the words burned his tongue, “I need your
help.”

Now may be my best opportunity, “I’ll
not help you unless. . .”

The boy cut me off, “I’ll do anything.
I just need you to help us find her.”

“Agree to stay out of her life. Let her
lead the life she is destined for. If you are no longer in the way,
I’ll find her.”

“
No! You will help me find
her. You owe her that. I am her Centaur. You will help me.” His
voice was angry, demanding, the voice of a true warrior, not the
sniveling I had expected of a love-struck boy.

I tapped my fingers on my purse. Their
destiny was in motion. At this point I might be powerless to stop
anything. Hercules’ arrow was my last hope. “Or what?”

Drake’s tone raged on, “She. . .chose.
. . me. I am her Centaur. I will find her with or without your
help. After everything you’ve done to her, you owe this to her. Do
what you want, but you’ll be judged by Zeus when you arrive at the
pasture. The Chiron may become the next Lost Herd, and it will be
at your hands.”

He hung up. If only he knew what
awaited him if he found the arrow before I did. The fool hadn’t
even told me where Phineas had taken her from. Up until now I’d
been looking for Camille and I couldn’t find her, so she was
nowhere near San Diego. If she were in danger and anywhere near me,
I would have felt it. No, she was not in California. I hadn’t felt
her presence in South Carolina before my departure, either. Would
she have left the country?

I scrolled through the contacts on my
phone and selected William’s number. He picked up on the second
ring, “Zandra, now is not a good time.”

I’d never been one for pleasantries, so
I simply asked, “Did you have a hand in it, William?” Silence
echoed back at me over the phone. “Do you know where she’s been
taken?”

“Of course, I don’t. I’m on my way to
look for her now.”

I needed to bluff enough to make him
show me his cards, “Phineas has her.” Drake would not have accused
a Centaur of such a heinous crime unless he knew it to be
true.

William sighed, “That’s the assumption
we’re under, yes.”

“Where are you searching?”

“Zandra, you’ve done enough damage.
Stay away from my family.”

“Are you aware that she has chosen
Drake Nash?” More silence. It seems Drake had been telling me the
truth on both counts. If she had not made her choice known, William
would have denied it. “Have you located her brother?”

“What brother? No. Angela only had a
daughter.”

“You know better than that, don’t you,
William? You fathered the most powerful Centaur warrior the world
has ever seen. Do not try to tell me you haven’t looked for
him.”

“Do you hear yourself? Camille was
kidnapped hours ago, we don’t know where she is or what they’re
doing to her, and you’re what? Chalking her safe return up as a
lost cause and looking for her twin?”

“Phineas is very cunning. If he was in
my employ and I did not detect his motives, you will not be able to
find him unless he wants you to find him. Our best bet is to find
her twin. They will have a connection like no other, and it’s
possibly our only hope for finding Camille.”

“How would you know about their
connection? They’ve never met.”

“You forget, William. I, too, have a
twin. Until we severed our connection to one another, we could
locate each other anywhere.”

“We’re already in Rapid City; the
trail’s still hot. We’ll find her.” His voice sounded as though it
had lost some of its strength. He had given me the information I
needed; Rapid City, South Dakota. There was not a large Centaur
population there; the winters were too cold. Angela had done well
hiding him.

“I’m leaving San Diego now. I’ll call
when I arrive.”

(Lacey’s father – Rapid
City, SD)

My son’s body had not yet been laid to
rest when Lacey insisted she was needed in South Dakota. Her
injuries were already on the mend from the car crash this morning.
She’d need a few days for the bone to repair itself in her leg, but
otherwise she was okay. Luckily, I’d been able to contact Dr.
Olreck. He was one of the few Centaurs in San Diego who was also a
licensed physician. He signed her release paperwork from the
hospital without anyone noticing her injuries were almost
healed.

Lacey demanded I escort her to South
Dakota to help a Centaur I didn’t know. She hadn’t even begun to
grieve the loss of her brother or her betrothed yet. I worried that
her emotions would get the better of her on the flight, but I’d
been wrong.

She’d always been a tough kid.
Centaurides are known for their skills, sought out for their
special talents, but there was more to Lacey. If I had to give it a
name, I could only describe it as an unwavering force of
will.

Lacey had always been strong, never
satisfied to sit idly by while her premonitions unfolded. She
always wanted to get involved with them, to manipulate them. She
refused to accept a premonition as anything more than a
possibility.

Lacey had a premonition of Ted and
Tom’s death this morning before they had left the house; she was
adamant that the two stay home. I only found out about her
premonition after the car accident happened and both had left for
the pasture.

Both boys were headstrong and refused
to take orders from her. If I had known of her warning, I would
have ordered them to stay home, but some things must just be fate.
Sometimes no matter how badly you wish for an outcome, destiny has
a different plan.

I wasn’t blessed with an abundance of
children, just two. Most Centaurs had four, some even ten, but my
wife died when Lacey was two. When she left for the pasture, I
didn’t believe I would have the strength to raise Tom and Lacey on
my own; little did I know that they would be the source of my
strength and had been for the last two decades.

I wish she knew why she needed to be in
South Dakota. I’m sure when she knows, I’ll know. As we walked into
the terminal from the frigid temperatures outside, a young human
behind the counter commented, “It’s another one. Hey, Spence, did
ya see that jet? I’ve never seen so many private jets in my whole
life.”

“Oh, shore did. Fred’s gonna’ run
outta’ parkin’ places soon.”

The human named Spence looked closer at
Lacey and me, and asked, “Hey, Mister, what’s goin’ on? What’s with
all the private planes?”

It was a sleepy little airport. Snow
dusted the runway, and over a foot had been shoveled into piles on
either side of the taxiway. He was right; all the planes stuck out
like a sore thumb. Centaur family planes all carried the required
FAA markings, but they were obvious. Each family plane was painted
maroon with a yellow Centaur on the tail. Seeing one occasionally
was normal, but as a rule, all families kept their planes in
hangars. Very few were kept at public airports: most families
maintained private runways in secluded areas near their homes. Once
we found out what was going on, I’d mention to whoever was in
charge that we may need to relocate a few of the planes to
surrounding airports before the locals got more suspicious. I
answered, “Family reunion,” as we walked past him.

Spence called after me, “What family?
The Trumps?”

Lacey smiled up at me, her voice soft,
“Thanks for doing this, Dad.” There wasn’t anything in the world I
wouldn’t do for her, and she knew it, even if it meant delaying
Tom’s funeral. She’d already told me he was in the pasture with
their mother, so at least I didn’t worry about her being alone
anymore.

I didn’t want to pressure her, but it
had been hours since she decided we needed to go. “Lacey, I’m still
not sure why we’re here.”

“A friend’s in trouble,
Dad.”

“What kind of trouble?”

She furrowed her eyebrows and shook her
head. “I’m not sure. I’ve been getting these strange visions all
day. Something important has happened.”

“Where are we going?”

“I’m not sure.”

I stopped just in front of the doors
that led to the rental cars. For the first time in recent memory, I
had a sliver of doubt. I motioned to the chairs just inside the
door, and we sat down. “I’ve been accommodating, given the
circumstances, but those are all Centaur planes out there. Is there
some sort of battle being fought?”

“I think. . . more like a coup. I’m not
sure. I just know someone needs me.”

“Who?”

“I already told you, Beau
Strayer.”

“Sweetheart, I don’t know Beau
Strayer.”

“You’ll meet him,” she smiled before
she added, “and you’d better be on your best behavior.”

It felt as though Lacey were hiding
something from me. I was doing everything in my power to mask my
frustration, but she had to sense that I wasn’t happy about being
kept in the dark. “Why is my behavior of any relevance?”

“Because he’s the reason you didn’t
lose Tom and me both this morning in the crash. He’s the Centaur
who pulled me from the car and took care of me until the ambulance
arrived. I thanked him at the hospital, but when I did, I realized
a Centauride was going to be in trouble and she needed
him.”

“His wife?”

“I don’t think so.”

“His betrothed?”

“Dad, I don’t know. All I know is it’s
someone important to him.”

“Why you?”

She looked back through the windows at
all of the family planes; we could see all the jets racked and
stacked on the tarmac. “I don’t know, Dad. Something’s going on.
All those planes are here for a reason.”

She was right. The only time I had seen
this many Centaur planes gathered at one airport was when there was
a dispute between herds or at the meetings at Centauride in South
Africa. If a Centauride was in trouble, it was common for families
to band together, but never this many.