Centaur's Prize Read online

  “After we sit,” she promised.

  They ordered their food and then she picked a seat outside that gave them a bit of privacy to talk away from the others. He kept silent despite the thousand questions swirling in his head that he wanted to ask her.

  She sipped on her water a moment to calm her nerves and then met his beautiful eyes. “Last night you helped a herd escape from the government,” she said.

  His eyes widened and he asked, “How did you know that?”

  “The mare that helped open the pens?” she asked.

  He nodded.

  Slowly, she raised her hand. “Hi.”

  His eyes widened even more. “You? You were the mare who opened the pens?”

  She nodded. “That’s why I freaked out when you switched into your…” she paused as she looked around them. “…equine form. I recognized you.”

  He leaned back in his chair and exhaled. “Now I understand. You thought I had followed you.”

  She smirked. “Partly.”

  “I really didn’t know,” he told her adamantly.

  She nodded. “I know.” And she did. His reaction had been genuine shock.

  “I thought that mare…you…had been acting strangely,” he said and then chuckled.

  She didn’t say anything else, waiting for him to give her information now. She’d apologized and admitted why she had freaked out. It was his turn to fess up and tell her something about this treasure and what they were going to be looking for.

  “I was a guard for the Centaur’s most treasured item,” he began softly. “It was a position I had held for thirty years and nothing ever happened. It was boring and I became carefree and let my guard down. I got drunk on my shift and someone stole the item. Before I could stop them, they crossed the rift to this side and I didn’t have the power to do the same. Not that it would have mattered since I had never crossed before and had no idea what to expect. When the others found out, I was put on trial. They banished me from the herd and from my homelands to live among the humans. I never told them that the person came here. I have been here for thirty years and haven’t been able to get the item. If I can get the item, I can go back home. I can return to my herd. I can get my old life back.”

  Mendra didn’t think guarding an item sounded like a fun life to get back, but she didn’t say that out loud. “If you’ve been searching for thirty years, what makes you think I can help?”

  He opened his mouth to reply, but stopped when a waiter brought out their food. He waited until the human was gone before responding. “I went to a Seer. She told me that a woman would come and only she could find the Horn.”

  “Horn?”

  “Yes, the Centaur’s prized possession is a horn. If blown, it can be heard all across the lands.”

  She thought it sounded stupid, if she was honest, but it wasn’t up to her to decide if it was a prized possession or not. “How do you know I’m that woman? You’ve run across thousands of women these past thirty years.”

  “She told me that the woman would have feathers softer than an angel’s,” he continued. “I wasn’t certain what she meant by that, but when I saw you shift into a Pegasus, I knew it was you. It has to be you.”

  “My feathers aren’t that soft,” she muttered in embarrassment.

  “Pegasus have the softest feathers of any creature. It comes from being created from clouds by Zeus.”

  “What?” she asked in disbelief.

  He nodded. “Zeus created Pegasi from clouds.”

  She had not heard that before. It sounded ridiculous.

  “Please, Mendra. I need your help. I want to return to my herd. I want to return to my home. I cannot do that without you and your help. I cannot do that without finding the horn. I miss Olympus. I miss my family.”

  ..................

  She tensed and asked with a slight quiver to her voice, “Do you have a mate there?”

  It took him a moment to understand what she was asking. He’d not meant her to think he had a family consisting of a mate and children. “No, but my parents and siblings are there,” he specified.

  “What would we do to search for this horn? The world is huge. It could be in another country. It could be across the world.”

  “It’s in this country,” he said adamantly with a nod of his head. “I can sense it.”

  “Wait, you can sense it, but you haven’t found it?”

  “I can sense that it is within one hundred miles and the general direction that it is in.”

  “Again, how am I supposed to help? I can’t sense it. I don’t know what it even looks like.”

  “I am honestly not sure,” he admitted to her. “I’m sure that we’ll figure it out as we go.”

  ..................

  They ate in companionable silence, but once finished, Lysander met Mendra’s eyes, making her squirm a bit. “I know this is not a typical request. I realize that you don’t know me. Quitting your job sounds insane. However, I can compensate you.”

  Dirty thoughts swirled in Mendra’s brain while he wrote down something on a napkin. He slid the napkin to her and she stared at it in disbelief.

  “What is this?”

  “Your payment for assisting me.”

  “There are six figures here,” she pointed out.

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  “How can you possibly have this?” He didn’t look like a millionaire or billionaire.

  He smirked. “I invested in companies as they started and I also invested wisely on the stock market. If you don’t believe I have it, I am more than willing to give you half now and half when we finish.”

  “What if I find it within a month?” she asked skeptically. He wouldn’t want to waste that much money on her.

  “Then it will be money well spent.”

  Her brows were creased. She wasn’t sure if she could believe him. That money could change her life though.

  “I’ll start as soon as the money is in my account,” She told him.

  He smiled wide. “Thank you.”

  “What am I supposed to do?” she asked him.

  “Take a drive with me tonight to the other side of town.”

  “And?” she prompted

  “And, I’ll see if I can sense it better with you by my side.”

  It didn’t make any sense to her, but she didn’t argue with him. If he could find the horn and return, then she could get paid and follow her dream of opening the horse rescue she always wanted to.

  ..................

  He watched her leave the restaurant and knew he was smiling like a fool. She had agreed to help him. Now, he could find the horn and return home while fixing the damage caused to Mendra.

  Tonight, would be the first test. He would see if he could break down her walls slightly to let him in. if he could get her to open up and tell him what had happened, he could determine how best to help her. Even if he got the horn tonight, he wouldn’t leave until he had repaired the damage that had been done to her soul. No one with a soul as pure as hers should live with a cloud of black around them. his mother had been the healer for their herd and he knew a couple of tricks to healing those that had been hurt or damaged by others’ acts. If his mother had been here, she could have fixed Mendra the first night that they had met.

  Lysander wondered if he should offer to bring her back to Olympus with him. She could be around others of her kind there. She could have a herd. She could even find a mate. Lysander snorted and stamped his foot. The males would tear each other apart to possibly earn a chance to win her hand. Thinking about it made him angry. Had he been in equine form, his tail would be swishing at the thought of another male with her. He wasn’t normally possessive, and that thought shocked him out of his stupor. “Get a grip, Lys,” he grumbled to himself.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  ..................

  MENDRA HADN’T PAID ATTENTION AT work the rest of the afternoon. She had gone for a run in human form to calm her nerves, but it only ma
de her nervous and tired. Lysander messaged her to tell her to check her account. She looked and was shocked to see that he had followed through with his offer. He had sent her a contract right after their meeting and after a thorough review, she signed it. He planned to pick her up at seven, which gave her time to eat and worry some more.

  At six-thirty, someone knocked on the door. She leapt to her feet from the couch, shocked he would be early. She checked her messages, but he hadn’t sent anything. Shrugging, she opened the door. It would make sense that he would be anxious to start so he could return to his herd as soon as possible.

  The man standing on her doorstep was not Lysander. He was massive – at least three hundred pounds and well over six feet tall. He smiled at her and then bowed. “Hello, my name is Quinn.”

  She grit her teeth together and tried to still her trembling in her hands.

  “How can I help you?” she asked, barely able to choke out the words.

  The well-dressed man – Quinn, he’d called himself – relaxed his shoulders against the doorjamb and gave her an easy smile.

  “Is the Centaur here?” he asked, looking over her head into the house.

  “What? Did you say Centaur?”

  Quinn raised his eyebrows. “Yes.”

  Mendra’s throat tightened as if being constricted by a snake. “I don’t know any Centaurs.”

  His smile slipped slightly, but he recovered quickly. “Do you know any equines?”

  A tremble rippled up her spine and tingled her ears. “Equines? No. I don’t know any equines.”

  His smile took on a sharper edge. “Did you know that when people lie, they emit a sour scent?”

  Now her heart was pounding so hard in her chest, she was sure she’d pass out. What was he talking about?

  “We can do this easy or hard, love. I would prefer not to hurt you, but I have a job to do. Where is Lysander?”

  “He’s not here,” she replied truthfully. What did he want with Lysander?

  “We saw you eating with him and heard you make plans to meet him. Unfortunately, we didn’t hear when. It’s important that I find him.”

  “I don’t know where he is. I’ve only met him a few times.” If he really could smell lies, then maybe this truth would get him to leave her alone.

  “Dilemma,” he muttered. He typed something on his phone and then sighed. “Well, it seems my boss wants to meet you.”

  She took a step back and typed on her phone behind her back, glad that Lysander was the last person she had texted, so she was able to type without looking. “I’ll pass.”

  She tried to close the door, but he caught it with his massive hand and stepped inside.

  “I’m not going to hurt you. Just get in my car and come speak to my boss. If you don’t know anything, you’ll come back home. Simple and easy.”

  She couldn’t tell what type of Other he was, but she didn’t believe he would let her go. She spun and ran to her room, slamming it closed and engaging two of the deadbolts she had installed last year.

  Quinn slammed into her door and sighed. “You are making this way more traumatic than it needs to be.”

  She activated the blood ward on the door and stepped back. It had cost her a full month’s paycheck to get a Warlock to install it, but now she was glad that she had.

  Her phone rang and as she went to answer it, Quinn ripped the door from its hinges. She yelped at his sudden and dangerous presence, and the phone slipped from her grasp.

  “Mendra,” came Lysander’s voice from the phone as it fell.

  He sounded far away, though in reality he was even farther than he sounded. Too far to get here in time to help her.

  Quinn stood in her doorway, red-skinned and with two huge horns on his head.

  Demon.

  He examined her blood ward with a smile. “Nice work. Must have cost you a pretty penny. Not good enough, though.”

  Mendra watched in disbelief as he braced his hands against the ward and began to push. He couldn’t break it, could he?

  Her fascination froze her as cracks began to form in the ward. A large crack sounded and her mind started working again. She jerked open her window and stuck her leg out, preparing to jump down.

  Quinn’s giant hands grabbed her and he put a cloth over her mouth. “Easy. I won’t hurt you.”

  Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and terror filled her.

  Not again.

  ..................

  Lysander raced into Mendra’s house, his pulse hammering faster than a hummingbird’s wings. No sound came from the house. The door had been left open, which made him worry more. Her bedroom door had been ripped from its hinges. He stepped into her room and felt fear and worry fully setting in his stomach. The window was open, but right next to it was one of Mendra’s tennis shoes. Her phone was on the floor, which explained why she hadn’t responded when he called her. She must have dropped it. There wasn’t any blood on the ground that he could see, which hopefully meant whoever had kidnapped her had no interest in harming her. He looked at the bedroom door and noticed two drops of blood. A blood ward? Why did Mendra have a blood ward? If the kidnapper broke through the blood ward, that narrowed it down to a few races. One of which he feared most, Demon.

  His phone rang and he opened it to a text message with a picture. The number was blocked, but it didn’t matter. He knew. The picture was Mendra, tied to a wooden chair with a gag in her mouth. She was unconscious and her hair was covering part of her face. The message wouldn’t have made sense to anyone else, but Lysander understood perfectly.

  Palace. 7 PM.

  “Dammit!” he screamed. How had he known about Mendra? It didn’t matter, he had to rescue her. He had to get her back. “I’m coming,” he said as though Mendra could hear him. “I’m coming.”

  ..................

  Mendra’s rump hurt. She shifted to try to get comfortable, but the wood chair she was on was unforgiving.

  Wood chair? She didn’t own any wood chairs.

  Her eyes flew open and she struggled against the restraints. She thought she had a bit in for a moment before she realized it was just a rag tied in her mouth. Far less embarrassing.

  “She awakens,” a new voice said. It came from behind her. Bootsteps approached her and then around her. The man was a Viking warrior. He had the sides of his head shaved and the rest of his hair was braided into one long braid. His outfit was stylish, but she couldn’t stop seeing him as a Viking. He smiled at her. “Hello, I’m Daewon.”

  She stared at him. Did he think she should know who he was? Or that she could respond with a gag in her mouth?

  He chuckled. “How rude of me.” Carefully, he removed the gag.

  She licked her lips and cleared her throat a few times. “Why am I here? This is kidnapping.”

  He chuckled. “You’re spunky. I can see why Lysander likes you.”

  “He doesn’t even know me,” she exclaimed in frustration.

  “Well, nonetheless, I am certain that he will be here soon.”

  “Why is that?” she asked.

  “We told him to come. He knows we have you. He will risk his life to protect you.”

  “He doesn’t know…”

  “It doesn’t matter if you’re just a random girl or not, his honor won’t let him leave you to your fate. He will do whatever he must to rescue you. Especially, since you’re equine too.”

  They were setting up a trap for him. They didn’t care about her. They just wanted him.

  “What do you want with him?”

  “Not him, but the item he has,” Daewon corrected her. “We want the horn.”

  “Why would you want a stupid horn?” She really didn’t understand it. Why did he want what was basically a bullhorn?

  “You know of it? He asked curiously and tilted his head towards her.

  “It’s a horn that amplifies sound far. It’s not impressive.”

  “That magical item does more than amplify sound. It opens the
rift.”

  Her eyes widened and she stared in disbelief. Lysander didn’t need it to restore his honor only, he needed it to actually get back across the rift. If it got into the wrong hands, someone could lead an army across and conquer the other world.

  “What if he doesn’t come?” she asked softly.

  “He will.”

  “Will you kill me no matter what?”

  “If he brings the horn, we will let you leave.”

  “What about him?”

  “Why worry about a male you hardly know?” he asked with a smirk.

  “Do you plan to kill him?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why? What did he do to you?”

  “Nothing, but I know once I have the horn, he will stop at nothing to keep me from using it. He won’t want me crossing the rift.”

  She knew he was right.

  “He doesn’t have the horn,” she informed him.

  He quirked an eyebrow. “Oh? And how do you know that?”

  “Because he asked me to help him find it,” she answered truthfully. “We were supposed to start tonight.”

  Daewon scowled angrily. “You’re certain?”

  She nodded. “You would know if I lied, right?”

  He started speaking in another language that Mendra couldn’t understand. She did get the impression that he was cussing though.

  “Can I use the bathroom?” she requested. “And yes, I know that I have no hope of running. Sending the Demon to my house proved that.”

  His lips twitched, fighting off a smile. “Okay. If you do try to run, we will just drug you.”

  Good to know.

  He untied her, being very gentle and avoiding touching her as much as possible. Once free, she rubbed her wrists and stretched. His eyes zeroed in on her exposed patch of stomach. She filed that away for later.

  Quinn walked in and smiled at her. “Hello.”

  “We meet again,” she replied and smiled. She was terrified, but she had to shove those feelings down and try to remain calm while she figured out what to do. There had to be a way for her to convince them to let her go.

  “This way,” Quinn instructed and held open the door he had come through. Mendra followed him out of the room and then immediately froze. Castle. They were in a castle. How far away had they taken her?