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“I can take you to the centaurs’ stronghold come morning light,” Andros was saying. “I know where it is. I remember.”
“How do you fit in with them?” Ere asked.
There was a brief hesitation. And then—
“I am heir to the rulership of the centaurs. I am Andros, son of Apollo and Stilbe, daughter of the river god Peneus.”
Divina gasped as she saw his face and then entire body harden into that of an unyielding warrior, justice and vengeance burning in equal measure in his violet eyes.
“The usurper Ixion tried to kill me as a colt. I had forgotten who I was, trapped in the body of a horse while my mind submerged my human half. If you help me retake the throne, whatever treasure you want that is within my power to give, I promise it to you as the reward.”
“Including the Horn of Plenty?” Ere immediately said, not losing a beat.
Andros nodded with a clench of his jaw.
“Done.”
~ * ~* ~ *~ * ~* ~ *~ * ~
Andros tried not to feel disheartened by the way Divina was treating him. How she avoided his eyes and pulled away from his touch. She didn’t even let him carry her out of the lake, preferring to swim and wade to shore herself.
Now that he had human arms to hold her, and a human chest for her to lean on, he ached to surround her with his heat and strength.
He didn’t understand it. He simply needed it.
They were sitting around a small fire Sorin built, finishing the last of the roasted hares. All four of Andros’ legs were tucked beneath him.
In other circumstances, especially with the two males, he wouldn’t have crouched down to make himself vulnerable like this. But he wanted to put them all at ease, especially Divina. He wanted to show them trust so that they treated him in kind.
It was the first time Andros tasted meat. He…didn’t mind it. But he preferred fruits and greens. He wiped the grease from his mouth with thumb and forefinger when he was done, still amazed at the use of his hands, when he caught Divina staring at him from the corner of his eyes.
He stared back at her, and immediately, her gaze skittered away, a flush and a grimace on her face.
Did she find him ugly, now that he was no longer a horse?
He didn’t know what he looked like. It was too dark to see his reflection in the lake even if he wanted to. When he held his hands in front of him and looked at the palms and backs, he could see no strange deformities compared to the other men.
Divina looked upon Sorin and Ere with friendliness, even affection. She liked them. He could see from her expression that she admired their looks as well. He’d seen the same admiration when she gazed upon him in his equine form.
But not now.
Now, she hardly looked at him at all.
It must be that he was not fully a man, and not fully an animal. The dichotomy of being both must be the cause for her unease.
And perhaps his size.
He was taller than even Sorin on his muscled equine legs. Sorin, who was already head and shoulders above the tallest human he’d encountered before.
Andros dwarfed Divina in every way, yet another reason he was lying down rather than standing. This way, if she was on her feet before him, they would almost be eye to eye.
But, she wasn’t apparently keen on getting close to him now that he was centaur, for she sat a good distance away, almost on the other side of the fire.
“Tell us from the beginning what happened,” Ere requested, starting to suck the juices from his fingers when he finished his own portion of the succulent meat.
Unselfconsciously, Sorin took Ere’s hand in his and sucked on his fingers instead, making the other male look at his Mate (for they were obviously mated) with contentment and drowsy pleasure.
Andros watched in fascination as something shifted within him.
