Page 14 of Conflicted Fate
I threw the biggest, hardest uppercut I could muster, driving my fist right into his jaw. Teeth snapped shut, and the big creature staggered backward, his eyes glossing over.
“Oh, fuck,” I whimpered meekly as he recovered, thinking I was about to get trampled to death by a four-legged freak.
“Nice one,” Kiel said under his breath.
“I just got us killed, didn’t I?” I replied equally quietly.
The centaur’s eyes narrowed, while around us his peers watched. Many of them, I noted, were of different races. There were even a couple of wolves present.
All of them for the two of us? It seemed like overkill. Not to mention the speed with which they’d assembled and arrived. Something else was going on …
“Ha!” the centaur crowed abruptly, the noise startling me into taking a step backward. “The little pup has a big spirit! Very good!”
The others, who were still assembled in an ominous circle around us, all relaxed and chuckled. They didn’t, however, lower their weapons. We were very much their prisoners. That was clear.
“Tell me, little pup,” the same centaur—he had to be their leader—asked, his tone lighter but still demanding obedience. “What brings you to our side of the river? It’s rare that those who don’t have the scent of steel on them come to visit.”
I eyed the swords and spear tips dotted throughout the grouping of nearly fifty people. What did he mean by the scent of steel? They had it in their weapons, so it wasn’t like they were against it. Though I did note a few had absolutely none on them. Clearly, they meant steel in much larger amounts.
Such as armor. Like that worn by the Wulfhere. Of course, he thought we were spies, not soldiers.
“We got lost,” I said, paraphrasing the truth in hopes I could convince him. “We were exploring an underground cave system when everything started shaking.”
The centaur’s thick, meaty features narrowed swiftly. “There’s an underground cave system that links both sides of the river?”
“Not anymore,” I said. “We barely made it out before it all came down with the rest of the mountain.”
The centaur looked to the west. I could see Mount Triumph, but it wasn’t the nearest mountain to us. Even at this range, however, it was easy to see that half of it was basicallygone.
“Yes, the collapsing mountain,” the centaur said thoughtfully, betraying a wicked intelligence in his brown eyes. “We saw that. Wondered what happened to it. That is why we’re here.”
“Have you found out?” I asked, feigning ignorance.
The centaur snorted. “I expected you would tell us.”
“We weren’t there,” I pointed out. “We were underground.”
“You’re lying,” the centaur said bluntly, raising a hand to forestall any protest. “Don’t bother denying it. We both know you were there. I don’t believe in coincidences such as that.”
I stared back at him, not admitting to anything. If they didn’t know, then information would be something they would value. By keeping my mouth shut, perhaps I could increase their desire to keep us alive.
“Very well, little pup,” the centaur said. “If you enjoy silence so much, then you can do so from the comfort of our custody. Perhaps once the prince decides what to do with you, you’ll decide it’s in your better interest to tell us what happened on that mountain of yours. But be warned, we do not tolerate spies.”
“We’re not spies,” I said, staring him down as best as I could. It was hard when he topped me by several feet and several hundred pounds, but I gave it my best.
The centaur tilted his head. “Strange. I believe that to be the truth. Yet it does not explain why you’re here on our lands and not your own. Some time in a jail cell will certainly jog your memory. I’m sure of that.”
I tensed, glancing at Kiel. If what Fate had said was true, we didn’t have time to waste. We had to get moving to stop Lycaonus from assembling the Alphas and locking their shards of Fate away in swords.
But Kiel just shook his head and stepped forward, indicating that we would come peacefully, with no need for a fight or worse.
The centaur noticed all that and chuckled darkly. “Yes, I thought there was more to your presence than a simple case of being lost. Come. It’s time to move.”
A cordon of swords and spears closed in tight.
“I guess we’re going with them,” I said to Kiel.
Hopefully, Lycaonus was buried nice and deep. Because it seemed we would need all the time we could get.
