Blood Debt (Touched Series Book 1) Read online

  My next call was to Camille. Thankfully, she picked up right away, “Hello?”

  “Hi Cami, what’re we doing today?”

  “Bianca?”

  “Well, duh. How many other people call you for a girl’s day out?”

  “Yeah, I’m not really up for anything today. Maybe tomorrow?” Her voice was strained with distress.

  “How about I come over to your house and help you practice?”

  “No! I mean . . . I’ve been working with Gretchen, and I’m a little spent.”

  I smiled to myself. Camille was too much of a rookie to know I could tap into her thoughts when she wasn’t blocking. I cringed when I thought that Gretchen might know what had happened Sunday between Camille and Drake on the boat. I’d been thrilled that things went as well as they did on the deck between the two of them, but I should have warned her about “broadcasting” her thoughts.

  She and Drake just needed a little more prodding. “Oh, come on. If you don’t practice, you’ll never be proficient. I’ll be over in an hour.” I hung up the phone before she had a chance to argue.

  ****

  When Camille ushered me into her family room, I could see she was a nervous wreck. She avoided my eyes like a guilty child. I pretended not to know why. “Camille, I get the sense that you’re upset about something. Are you okay?”

  “Call me Cami. All my friends do. I’m fine, just worn out from working with Gretchen this morning.” She was lying to me. I wasn’t offended because I knew why – she was so worried I’d find out she had feelings for Drake. I was nearly bursting to tell her that nothing could make me happier. I knew I couldn’t share with her what Grace had told me, but I could let her in on my plan.

  “Can I share something with you, Cami?”

  Still disturbed, she answered, “Uh . . . sure.”

  “Promise you won’t tell anyone?”

  “Sure. Cross my heart.” Cami made an invisible cross over her heart. That was cute; I hadn’t seen anyone do that since I was a kid.

  “You broadcast your thoughts really loudly. Has anyone taught you how to block them?”

  I saw her eyes turn into saucers, “Uh . . . no. No one has told me how not to broadcast.”

  “Would it be okay if we worked on that for a few minutes?”

  “Uh sure. Will you be able to read my thoughts while you’re teaching me to block them?” I kept seeing images of Drake flicker in her mind only to be replaced by images from Titanic. She was trying hard to keep the Drake images to herself, intentionally thinking about something else. I could see the anguish on her face. I would have to let her in on my plan sooner rather than later. Her guilt over her feelings for Drake was tearing her up, and if she didn’t get this under control, she’d kill my whole plan in the process.

  “Imagine a brick wall. Can you see it?” Cami closed her eyes, and I saw it through her mind. “Good, do you see all the different colored bricks you used, the thick mortar closing in all the gaps between the bricks?” She nodded again that she could see this image. “Perfect, now keep that image of the brick wall in front of your thoughts.” I waited a minute or so and saw the fortress Cami had built in her mind, thick and tall, keeping her thoughts carefully stored behind it. “Okay, Brent told me about your new Beamer. Imagine that sedan, what it looks like, how the leather feels, the new car scent, but keep all of it behind the wall.” It was working. I couldn’t see anything but her wall.

  We tried several other things: mashed potatoes and gravy with a thick cut of beef, the sun on her face as she lay out by the ocean. Each of these images, I knew, was dear to her, and she was able to keep each of them from me. I hated to do it to her, but I needed to be sure she could keep her defenses up. “Now think of sitting on the deck of the yacht Sunday with Drake.” Her brick wall crumbled, and I saw the image she’d been trying to hide from me. I pretended not to know it was there and instructed, “Rebuild the wall, Cami. You can do it. Envision the bricks, all the different colors, its height, its depth, the mortar. Can you see it again?”

  I could see her brick wall a second time, but it wasn’t as sturdy as it had been a few minutes ago. I could feel Gretchen in the house. I knew she wasn’t paying attention to what we were doing, but I also knew her curiosity would get the better of her soon, so we needed to practice elsewhere. “Come on, let’s try this outside for a while.” Cami was horrified. She was pretty sure I’d seen the image in her mind and was worried what I would do. I could feel her fear, not the fear of physical harm but of losing her only friend. I tried to reassure her, “It’s okay, Cami. Remember when I told you there is no decision either of us will make that will ever come between us? I meant it. Let’s go.”

  Reluctantly, Cami stepped out into the sunshine. We walked to the far corner of the property where a lonely wooden gazebo stood off by itself. It was flanked by wildflowers that seemed to grow in every direction, inviting us to share their breeze. The setting was a perfect place to continue practicing her brick wall. After an hour she was nearly exhausted, but she was able to maintain it no matter what I said to her.

  I leaned against the wall, not sure how to begin. “You know how I said telling someone too much of their future had a way of interfering with fate?”

  “Sure.”

  “I know how you feel about Drake.” Camille wouldn’t look at me, so I kept talking. “Cami, I’m not mad. Drake’s a great guy. I think I know how both of us can get exactly what we want.” She eyed me cautiously, and if the tables were turned, I would probably have the same skepticism. “If you can get Drake to break our engagement, my mother would be mortified - so mortified that she would let me choose the man I have wanted all along.”

  “Drake wouldn’t do that to you. He promised me, never again, Bianca. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to kiss him. I would take it back if I could.”

  “You aren’t listening to me, Cami. If you can convince him to break the engagement, you can choose him.”

  “I can’t.”

  “You could try.”

  “No, you don’t understand. I can’t choose anyone for five years.”

  “What are you talking about? You can choose anyone you want, whenever you want – that’s every Centauride’s prerogative.”

  “Not after the night of Bruce and Hannah’s wedding. I owe a blood debt to Kyle Richardson. He isn’t going to force me to marry his son, at least not right away, but if his son hasn’t been chosen by a Centauride by his twenty-ninth birthday, I have to choose him.”

  “Gage Richardson? You’re Gage Richardson’s backup?”

  “Yeah, I never thought of myself as a ‘Plan B,’ but I guess that’s fair. So my convincing Drake to break the engagement with you wouldn’t guarantee that I could choose him. Besides I hardly know him, so even if I could - I don’t know that I would. I don’t even like him.”

  “You don’t like Drake?”

  “No!” I couldn’t tell if she said it more to convince herself or me. “Bianca, I swear, I don’t know how it happened on Sunday. I. . . it wasn’t something. . . he just. . .” She couldn’t finish her thought, and I couldn’t finish it for her.

  I didn’t want to put her on the defense, so I asked gently, “What don’t you like about Drake?”

  “I hardly know him. He’s your fiancé.”

  I realized I rolled my eyes at her, but I couldn’t help it. “Cami, I told you Saturday, I only chose Drake because I couldn’t choose the man I wanted.”

  Cami told me in a not so empathetic way, “Then you must not have loved him, either. If you did, nothing would have stopped you.”

  “You have no idea how much pressure was put on me. I had to make a decision, and I know I made the wrong one. Drake’s handsome, he’s strong, he’s honest, and if you give him a chance, you might decide that you do like him.”

  “Yeah, right. I want a guy who goes around putti
ng the moves on other women? No, thanks. If I wanted someone like that, I’d still be dating my last boyfriend. If you don’t want to marry him, call it off – but leave me out of it.”

  This was the point when I wanted to strangle Cami. “Right, I know you still have this idea that you’re human and can go roll in the hay with any guy who catches your fancy, but that isn’t your reality anymore. I can’t just break the engagement with him, either.”

  Cami stood up straighter, looked me square in the eye and blasted, “I don’t care who my parents are or what the traditions are. Other than potentially getting stuck with Gage Richardson, I’ll see who I want, when I want, and nobody is going to force me to be or not to be with anyone.”

  I tried to diffuse her frustration, “Cami, I’m not forcing Drake on you. I’m asking you to give him a chance.”

  Her stance softened a little, “What’s the point? Even if I did like him, or better yet, even if I fell madly in love with him – then what? I think the whole idea of choosing is stupid, but I couldn’t choose him even if I wanted to. Remember, Gage Richardson?”

  “Gage is who I chose, but my mother wouldn’t give me her blessing. Do you see how perfect this is? If you can get Drake to break the engagement, I can choose Gage, I’ll get my mom’s blessing, and you would be free to choose Drake.”

  “Have you listened to anything I said? I’m not choosing anyone. If he breaks his engagement with you and I don’t choose him, then his blood line is lost. That’s not going to be on me. I’m not signing on for any of this.”

  I wanted to smack her at that moment. I wanted to tell her I knew she was destined for him, that Grace had seen the two of them together, but doing so could screw up everything. “Maybe if you got to know Drake a little better? No pressure. Just give him a chance.”

  “Bianca, you want me to spend time with your fiancé, to see if he’s the guy that I want to marry? Do you know how idiotic that sounds?”

  “Don’t you see? This is perfect. We couldn’t have planned it better if we tried!”

  “I don’t think this is such a great idea. I think this whole process is stupid. Unless I’m forced to marry Gage, I may stay single my whole life. My mom did. It worked okay for her.”

  This was going to be harder than I thought. Now was a perfect time for a late lunch. I picked up my cell phone and called Gage back. When he answered, he didn’t sound all that happy with me; he started with, “I’ve already told you to stop calling me.”

  “Oh, stop it. A friend and I are going to go to Andolini’s for pizza. We’re leaving now.”

  “I hope you two have fun.”

  “I know Andolini’s is your favorite.”

  “So.”

  Cami eyed me suspiciously; she could only hear my half of the conversation. I turned to make my conversation as private as possible, “I miss you. You don’t have to talk to us. I just want to see you. Please?” I heard his sigh, “Gage, it’s just pizza.”

  “All right, but this is it. This is the last time, Bianca.”

  Cami was watching me when I hung up. I smiled and dialed Drake. He worked crazy hours and told me he usually threw himself into his work and would forget to stop to eat lunch. “Have you had lunch yet?”

  “Uh, no, not yet.”

  “Do you want to meet for lunch at Andolini’s?”

  “Do we have an escort?”

  “All taken care of. Can you meet us there in thirty minutes?”

  “Sure, okay.”

  When I hung up, Cami’s tone was accusatory, “What’re you up to?”

  “There is no better way to get to know someone than to have pizza with them. Let’s go. We need to get there before either one of them does.”

  “You just invited your fiancé and your boyfriend to lunch with us? Aren’t you the least bit worried?”

  “You just said you needed to get to know Drake better. I’m making that happen.”

  “No, I didn’t. I said this whole thing is dumb.”

  “Cami, I know you have feelings for him. Don’t you want to find out what those feelings are?”

  “He’s your fiancé!”

  “Not if you can convince him to dump me. Let’s go.” The car ride over was hard. While Cami drove, I tried to tell her Drake was exactly the right guy for her. She just kept telling me that she wasn’t husband hunting or something like that. I still felt if I could just get the two of them to know each other a little better – convincing them would be easy.

  Chapter 22

  Camille

  We found a table in the furthest corner of the place. Music was going, the place was full, the aroma of marinara, basil and bread baking filled the air. I felt utterly terrified. Still new to the Centaur world, I asked Bianca, “Are you sure it’s okay for us to meet Gage and Drake?”

  “We just can’t go anywhere alone with a guy. Look around you: there are at least a hundred people here.”

  Drake was the first to arrive. His jeans were covered in a white powder. Drake had told Will that his dad’s construction business was going well; maybe he worked with his father, too. His bright blue eyes were wide when he realized I was their escort. I did my best not to make eye contact with him, but my eyes refused to cooperate, and I stole more glances than I’d like to admit as he approached our table.

  Bianca, still maintaining the façade that she was here to spend time with her fiancé, welcomed him with, “Hello, Darling, I’m so glad you could break away and meet us.”

  Drake mumbled something, but my heart was racing so fast I didn’t hear him. This was an awful idea, one of the worst I’d ever been a part of. My stomach was slowly knotting itself. I wanted to blend into the wall, disappear into the background, or better yet - go outside and wait in the car.

  Without warning, Bianca stood up and excused herself. She told us she was going to the ladies room, but I knew she wanted to leave us alone. It was strained silence initially before Drake murmured, “About Sunday, I . . . I. . .we shouldn’t. . .you two are. . .I’m sorry.” When he looked at me, I could see the sorrow in his eyes. I couldn’t be angry with him no matter how hard I tried.

  He couldn’t get a coherent sentence out, and I wasn’t confident I’d be able to either. Instead, I simply told him, “She knows.”

  Alarm spread across his face, “She knows? What’s she know?”

  “She knows we kissed on the yacht.”

  His alarm turned to panic, “What’d she say?”

  “Ha! You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  Drake looked toward the ladies room, willing her to emerge. “Is she going to break off the engagement?” I didn’t say a word, and Drake reached across the table, putting his hand on my wrist, “Seriously, Camille, is she dumping me?”

  Before I could answer, I saw a tall, slender, light complexioned man come through the front door. He had dark hair, and a nicely trimmed goatee and mustache; his eyes scanned the room looking in all directions. I couldn’t be sure, but if I were a betting person, it was probably Gage. Drake saw that I was watching the door, and when he saw the man who had just arrived, he confirmed my suspicion, “I guess I got my answer: there’s Gage. Dammit! . . . I’m screwed. I am so screwed.”

  I didn’t see Bianca come out of the restroom, but within a few seconds she had met Gage at the door. The two stepped to the side and took a seat in a small booth on the opposite side of the room. When it was clear that Drake and I had been given some privacy, I thought it best to clue him in. “Okay, you’re screwed, but so are Gage, Bianca and I.”

  His elbows were on the table, and his hands propped up his head as if it weighed thirty pounds. “How do you figure?”

  “Bianca wants you to break your engagement off with her. She wants it to be a fairly elaborate break up, enough so her mother is embarrassed enough to overlook the fact that she dislikes Kyle Richardson. Then she t
hinks her mother will let her choose Gage.”

  “And then what? I break the engagement, and then I’m forced to marry a human. The Nash blood line comes to an abrupt end. I’d be lucky if my parents ever speak to me again.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t say it was a great plan.”

  Drake’s eyes narrowed, “You’re leaving something out. How are Gage, Bianca and you screwed in this scenario?”

  “Bianca is in love with Gage.” I watched to see if he flinched with this little news flash – he didn’t, so he must have already known. “She won’t break off the engagement with you because her mother doesn’t approve of him. If Gage isn’t chosen by a Centauride before his twenty-ninth birthday, I have to marry him as payment of my mother’s blood debt to Gage’s dad. So yes – if you marry Bianca, you do it knowing she’s in love with another guy. If you marry her, I’ll more than likely get jammed into marrying the man my best friend is in love with. Clear enough picture for you?”

  “Wait, when did you agree to marry Gage?”

  “Saturday night, but I don’t know if there was much of a choice. I’ve never met Gage, but his dad said if he didn’t get married by the time he was twenty-nine, I would have to marry him.”

  “But if Bianca marries Gage, you’re in the clear. You can choose anyone you want, right?”

  “Yes.” I could feel my face growing warmer. I wanted to shout, “But I don’t want to choose anyone!” No matter how badly I wanted to shout it out, I said nothing. My “yes” hung in the air, and I saw that Drake had jumped to the same conclusion that Bianca had.

  The full weight of his eyes was unleashed, and his stare stopped my breathing. I felt Drake’s hand under the table as his finger tips gently wound around mine. The light touch of his finger tips caressing my knuckles instantly brought a flashback of Sunday afternoon in my mind. At first I thought it was me reliving those few forbidden minutes, but I realized it was his memory of it that was pushed to me through his touch.