Centaur Redemption (Touched Series) (12 page)

No one was left out or left behind.  If things didn’t go as we hoped, there was a small comfort that we would all go to the pasture together.  With any luck, Gage and Bianca would be excused for taking a stand against the Council.

My family, those I couldn’t live without, stood silently behind Drake and me.  No one spoke a word and everyone kept their thoughts guarded.  The Centaurs milling about outside would find us here, making our stand together. 

Vehicles pulled into the parking lot outside; car doors slammed.  I was sure Hannah, Lacey, Bianca and Gretchen were doing the same thing I was, listening to the Centaurs.  Although I could hear any thoughts they wanted to share, not one of them spoke to me telepathically.  I looked at my watch; it was two p.m. on the dot.  Drake gave my arm one more gentle stroke before his eyes faced forward.  The door on the far end of the warehouse swung wide and a stream of Centaur Enforcers in charcoal colored combat fatigues filed through. 

Their entrance was done with military precision.  The first through the door went to the right and the second went to the left, and each enforcer that came through followed suit.  They marched in two straight lines around the perimeter of the inside of the warehouse.  Their boots echoed throughout the empty space, the sound nearly deafening as they completely surrounded all four sides of the building’s interior.

A few of  the enforcers stole glances our way as they marched in.  I was able to pick up on a few of their thoughts, “
A real warrior. . . Strayers took out an execution squad. . . They don’t look so tough. . . Where are his hooves?. . . I heard she’s as powerful as the Chairman.
” 

I lost count of the enforcers as they came through the door, but I estimated the size of the warehouse to be nearly the length of a football field, two hundred fifty feet long at least, and easily fifty feet wide.  When the enforcers stopped marching, each one was evenly spaced five feet from the enforcer on his left and right.  They all stood with their backs against the wall, eyes forward, at attention. 

Doing a quick calculation, there were nearly two hundred enforcers, all standing at the ready and poised for an attack.  I searched the faces trying to identify any of those who attacked us in Cancun, but I didn’t recognize anyone.  This was it?  My family, the fourteen of us, each outnumbered at least ten to one, stood where we were.  Is this how it would end?  Where were the heads of families?  Had we been tricked?  Maybe there wouldn’t be a Council meeting.  Maybe it would just be all these enforcers who surrounded us getting positioned to attack us.

The far door opened again as one final enforcer marched through.  He escorted a Centauride whose hands were bound behind her back and whose mouth was tightly gagged.  I didn’t recognize her.  She had a light complexion, strawberry-blonde hair and a heart-shaped face.  Her clothes were dirty and tattered, her hair without any kind of luster, and her eyes were wide, fixed on me and my family.  She looked terrified.  I couldn’t imagine what she had done to be held in such a menacing manner with an enormous enforcer guarding her.  He looked to be a full foot taller than she was and easily a hundred pounds heavier.  He held her arm tightly, yet she seemed to make no move to try to escape from him.

The enforcers stationed at their positions didn’t flinch; the one with the prisoner spoke into a radio attached to his shirt.  It must have been the “all clear” because when the door opened again, Centaurs and Centaurides in all shapes and sizes filed in through the same doorway. 

The Centaurs wore expensive suits:  most were black, dark brown or blue, but a few light colored leisure suits were sprinkled in, too.  The Centaurides wore dresses:  some were elaborate colors with matching hats, some were cocktail dresses, others were full-length evening gowns.  It looked so out of place in the run-down warehouse.  Waiters emerged from a door along a far wall, all carrying plates of appetizers or trays with champagne flutes to offer to the guests mingling throughout the warehouse.  None seemed to pay any attention to the enforcers along the perimeter.

My heart was hammering harder in my chest with each new body entering.  I didn’t even try to count the number of people who arrived.  The fourteen of us didn’t move and were largely ignored as chatter broke out all around us.  People embraced and smiled as if they were old friends, and elegant music began to play through speakers overhead.

Drake must have noticed my anxiety escalating because I felt another reassuring squeeze on my hand.  The non-enforcers didn’t give us so much as a sideways glance as we stood in a near pyramid formation in the center of the warehouse. 

I didn’t recognize any of the people wandering around, and there were more accents floating in the air than I could even identify.  This was the Centaur Council?  I expected something similar to the Supreme Court, or at a minimum, a school board meeting.  What I didn’t expect was a cocktail party with GI Joes standing guard.

I willed myself to relax.  Surely the enforcers wouldn’t attack us in the middle of a party.  Then I saw it.  The girl who stood bound and gagged with the Centaur attached to her arm wore it.  I recognized the sinister necklace around her neck.  I didn’t need to feel the weight to know it was made of platinum; the unbelievably large sapphires shined brightly, catching every bit of light in the room.  It was the
Necklace of Obedience
.  Zandra had put the evil device around me when I was at her house, and now this Centauride was wearing it.  What could her crimes against the Council be? 

The Centauride must have struggled at one point because bright red marks circled her neck.  Bile rose in my throat as I remembered the same necklace unleashing its electric shocks on me at Zandra’s house.  The Centauride was far smarter than I; when it was on me, I had received so many shocks that blood poured from wounds on my neck.  That evil necklace and the pain it inflicted stopped my rebelling against Zandra’s authority – it had nearly broken me. 

I tried to tell myself to ignore it.  Regardless of what she had done, it wasn’t our fight.  She wasn’t what we were here for.  As much as my heart went out to her, I couldn’t let her plight distract me from what I needed to do to save my family. 

I scanned the room looking for any familiar faces.  Really just one familiar face: we were here for Zandra.  There were so many people, it was hard to see over shoulders and around hats, so I closed my eyes and let my Centauride sense feel for her.  My eyes snapped open when I felt her on the far side of the room. 

I wasn’t sure how I had missed her at first glance:  Zandra stood on a podium, with a large wooden lectern in front of her.  She was dressed in a white silk blouse and herringbone trousers.  Zandra looked every bit the elegant leader she portrayed herself to be.  Her gaze roamed the expanse of the warehouse as she smiled and nodded to Centaurides throughout the room.  Strange, she didn’t mingle or talk to any of the others; she just stood on the platform looking down onto the room.

Her voice was low, but when she spoke, the whole room became eerily silent.  “William Strayer, so good of you to join us this afternoon.  I’m pleased that it was not necessary to send the Council’s Enforcers out to collect you and your family.”

Will’s voice was absent any fear when he answered, “Ms. Zandra, I’m pleased that we are welcome here.”

“Yes.  Quite welcome.  Our interrogations were not working as well as we had hoped, so your presence here saves us from the hassle of rounding up any more of your friends and neighbors.”

From behind me I heard Brent whisper, “Cassie?”  Then his voice rang out louder across the still room, “Cassie!!”

The Centauride being held in place by the enforcer let out a muffled answer from behind her gag, then a shrill scream as she slid to her knees.  The stupid necklace had zapped her.  Even from across the room, I could see the pain in her eyes as the enforcer standing guard reached down and brought her back to her feet.

Brent lurched forward, but Ben held him in place and gave a stern warning, “If you go near her, that thing will zap her.  Stay put.  Stay with Katherine.”

I had never met Cassie before, but I’d heard Brent talk about her.  She had picked Brent before word spread about the Lost Herd.  The two were betrothed before Brent went into hiding and looked for Drake and me in South Dakota.  After Brent met Katherine, he had broken his betrothal to Cassie.  She could easily have claimed ignorance, pretending she didn’t know about our family.  She was no longer betrothed to Brent, so there should have been no repercussions.  Why was she a prisoner, and why was she wearing that sadistic necklace?

Zandra’s voice was spiteful, “Ah, so you are familiar with this Centauride?  Brent, is it?  We were told that you were betrothed to her, yet I sense a . . .
human
with you?  You know there is a penalty for bringing a human into our Council?  Are you mad?  Or are you going to tell me the Lost Herd is unaware of punishment for disclosure of Centaur business to non-purebloods?”

Before Brent could answer, I stepped forward, “Katherine is here at my request.  If there is punishment to be levied, I am to blame.”

Zandra shook her head, her tight-lipped grin accompanied her obstinate look.  “Why am I not surprised, Mrs. Nash?”

It was one of the few times I had been addressed by my married name.  She meant it as a derogatory thing, but being called Mrs. Nash gave me the boost of confidence I needed.  “Likely because you never bothered to instruct me on the necessary protocols to participate on the Council in a respectful way.  I assume you wanted me to look like a buffoon, because it makes you feel superior.”

A collective intake of breath came from all directions.  Zandra had no idea how to respond.  Before she had time to recover, I pressed on, “Now, if you’ll be so kind, the Centauride you have taken prisoner and put your house-of-horrors necklace on, maybe you can see fit to show her a little dignity and remove it.”  I was proud of myself; my voice hadn’t betrayed me.  I sounded defiant and strong – exactly the way I had wanted to be heard.

“Ah, Mrs. Nash, you learned nothing from wearing the device yourself.  Maybe it is old-fashioned, and not something you have the capacity to grasp.”

“Or maybe it is an archaic torture device for old Centaurides who need to feel superior but do not have the skills to mentor or relate to the young Centaurides?”  Another sharp intake of breath resonated throughout the crowd.  This time whispers sounded as Centaurs and Centaurides took in my words.  I noticed the Council Enforcers were doing their best to stand stiff and not follow the banter between Zandra and me, but several lost their military bearing on that one as eyes looked directly at me.

Her voice was icy.  “Perhaps.”  Her teeth were rigidly clenched together; only her lips moved when she responded, “I would caution you to mind your manners.  You are no longer at my estate.”

This time I purposely chuckled at her, “Right!  Because you were so nurturing and kind to me there.  I forget, Grandmother, was that before or after you pretended to murder Drake and Bianca?  Oh, wait, it was before the fake murder, but after you put your stupid shock collar on me.  Which was after you kidnapped me, threw me in a car trunk, and denied me access to my father.  That was the lesson you gave me on manners.”

“ENOUGH!!”  I’d struck a chord with her. She obviously didn’t want this group to know how awful she really was.  I wasn’t sure which comment had sent her over the edge, but she certainly wanted me to back off.  I guess even the Chairman has to keep up appearances for the common folk.

My tone turned into the same one I saved for my seventh grade principal right after I got caught fighting with a bully on the playground.  “My apologies, Grandmother.  I would like to formally request an audience with the Centaur Council.”

Zandra’s eyes were fixed on mine.  The clip of her words told me she didn’t want this conversation in front of everyone.  “Granted.  You, Mrs. Nash, may have a private meeting with the Centaur Council in chambers.”  My heart leapt as a smile parted my lips.  That was much easier than I had expected.  Will had prepared me with all kinds of potential arguments to use if it was denied – I hadn’t needed any of them.

It was Gretchen’s voice in my head that sounded immediately, “
Drake, not privately.  Invoke your right.  Do it now!  Cami can’t go in there by herself.
”

Drake took one step forward, bowing his head while he spoke, his eyes never leaving the floor.  “Madam Chairman, I respectfully request the right to accompany my wife to the chamber.”

Zandra’s tone was dismissive when she answered, “She will be perfectly safe in the Council’s Chambers, Mr. Nash.”

Drake raised his bowed head marginally, but still refrained from eye contact with Zandra.  “Madam Chairman, forgive me, but am I being denied the right to accompany my wife?”

Zandra’s brows furrowed as she looked to a few older gentlemen around the room.  It was subtle, but looked as though she were conversing telepathically.  With one gentleman in particular, she may have been telepathically arguing.  A frustrated sigh escaped her when she responded to Drake, “No, Mr. Nash, the Council will not deny you your right to accompany your wife.”

(Camille Nash – Centurion, South Africa)

The enforcer closest to where my family stood stepped out of formation and directed us to a raised platform, much like the one Zandra stood on.  He lifted a panel of the glossy wood floor to reveal a hidden staircase.  As we began our descent, his only instructions were, “It’s at the lowest level, the first room at the very bottom of the stairs.”  The enforcer’s accent was definitely American.  He sounded like he was from the northeast.  He was neither friendly nor rude, just matter-of-factly carrying out his duties.