Blood Debt (Touched Series Book 1) (10 page)

“
Was unaware
?  D
oes that mean you’ve talked to
her
?”

Gretchen patted my hand, “Yes, I spoke with
Zandra
late last night.  Given the circumstances,
she agrees t
hat you should stay with my family. 
However, s
he
is
very anxious to meet you.”

She looked over my shoulder again
.  S
he spoke in a harsh tone, but not to me
. 
“She is more than capable of handling the truth. 
Zandra
is of no threat to her while she is under my roof.  My family will protect her.  No blood debt will be paid.”

I hear
d
the words echo in my mind,
“Blood debt?  What
’
s going on?”

Gretchen let out a heavy sigh,
“It seems your mother had been betrothed to a very powerful Centaur.  When she refused to marry him
,
her family was required to pay a debt of blood, her blood.
  Your mother ran away and broke contact with her family.
 
Your mother
is worried
that you may be sought to pay her debt.”

“Are you kidding me?  There’s a price on my head for just being her daughter?”

“It is an old tradition.  You are Will’s daughter, too.  He
will try to
make amends to the family, monetarily.  But, now that people are aware of you, I insist that you extend your stay
, at least until you better understand our society
.  We’ll make arrangements to have your things shipped here.”

“
You’re serious.  You just spoke with my mom?
”  I wanted to believe it.  I wanted my mother to be right here with me.  I couldn’t believe the words when I heard them come from me, “
Can
she
hear me?”
 

Gretchen looked over my shoulder again, then back to me and nodded.
  “She can hear anything you say to her.”

I didn’t need any more encouragement
,
and for some strange reason, I believed Gretchen.
  “I miss you,
M
om.  I don’t know what to believe
.”
  I felt strange talking to her in front of Gretchen.  I wondered if this was some sort of trick. 
In my gut I knew Gretchen had really read my
mind
;
she knew exactly what I was thinking.  “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”

Gretchen looked over my shoulder for the answer, then back to me.  “She had to make a choice before she died.  She didn’t want you to know this life, but she feared for your safety if she was no longer able to protect you.  Most of all, she says she felt utter loneliness before you came into the world and did not want you to be alone
the way she had been
.”

That sounded like something my mom would say. 
I caught myself looking in the same direction Gretchen had looked. 
I asked her,
“Will I be able to hear you? Someday?”

Gretchen’s voice was barely more than a whisper, “She doesn’t belong here
,
Camille.  She
will begin to grow weaker soon
.  I will work with you so that you may realize your gifts, but know that she won’t be able to stay with us for very long.
  You will need to work hard to learn how to use your
skills
.
”

I had
kept
William’s name and phone number for weeks before I finally built up the courage to call him.  It was the loneliness that finally made me
dial his number
.  My whole life had revolved around my mother
,
and it was hard to comprehend that Gretchen was going to give her back to me in some small way.  I wasn’t sure about the things she said about Centaurs, or the idea that it was a different race that I belonged to, but I hoped that I really would be able to hear my mother’s voice again. 

I looked her square in the eye, nodded and asked, “How do we start?”

C
hapter 8

Gretchen spent the next several hours trying to help me hear my mother.  At 5 o’clock I was frustrated
;
nothing she had tried worked. 
I convinced Brent to take me to the store for a soda.  While I was standing at the display case
,
a friendly voice greeted me from behind.  “Miss
Strayer
, good to see you again.”

I wasn’t used to being addressed with this last name
,
but the voice was familiar.  I turned around and saw the guy
who
had
helped tie off the yacht yesterday. 
“Hi Josh, good to see you, and it’s Cami.”

He smirked,
“Cami,
right.
  I was expecting to see you and your brothers at the club today
.  C
hange of plans?”

“That’s the biggest understatement I’ve ever heard.”

Josh gave me a questioning look
,
but thankfully didn’t ask me to explain what I’d
said
.  “So should we expect you tomorrow?”

“I’m not sure.  I actually spent most of t
oday
with Gretchen.”

“Gretchen?  Mrs.
Strayer
?”

I could tell I probably just unleashed a scandal.
  I had been introduced as their little sister, but I didn’t call Gretchen, “Mom.”  I wasn’t sure what to say to keep the rumors from flying rampant.
  “Right . . . Mr
s
.
Strayer
and I spent the day together.  The only brother I saw all day was Brent.  In fact, he’s waiting for me out in the car
. 
I’d better go.”  I reached into the cabinet
,
pulled
out
two soda
s
, and paid for them
. 

“All right, well, maybe I’ll see y
a
tomorrow.”
  His voice sounded hopeful
-
he
seemed
sweet
.  When I’d seen him yesterday
,
I thought he looked a little
geeky
;
today I saw him out of his yacht club uniform
,
and I was convinced.  He stood in front of me
with his I-phone in his hand, a blue tooth device on his ear,
ear buds
in his ears and a stylus pointed at the screen.  I’d always kind of gone for the nerdy guys
, but I wasn’t
interested
.  T
oo many other things were going on in my previously simple life
to get wrapped up with a guy right now
. 
 

I hurried out to the car. When I flung open the door to escape the heat, I heard Brent, “Okay, we’ll be back in a few minutes.  Y
eah
, right home.”
  He hung up the phone. 
“Geeze, I thought I was going to have to go in after you.  Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I ran into Josh inside.  I might have
let
it
slip that we don’t share the same mother.  I
wasn’t thinking.”

“Well, we don’t share the same mother.  Why would that be
a problem
?”

“I just thought . . . I mean, everyone seems to know your family.  How are you going to explain me?”

“We don’t have to explain anything.  It is what it is.  We’re just glad you’re here.”

I shook my head
. 
I kept expecting someone to act normal
,
and at every turn, each member of my family seemed to be more kind and understanding than the one I had
talked to before them
.
  Growing up in California, perception and impressions of others were seriously important.  It seemed like everyone I knew cared what others would think.  None of my friends in Cali were even close in terms of wealth
and clout
to the
Strayer
s
,
yet
they didn’t seem to care one little bit that others knew that I was a
n illegitimate
half-sister.  So far no one had made that distinction except me.
  Gretchen had spent the entire day trying to develop psychic skills that I wasn’t even sure I possessed, all the while carrying on strange conversations with my invisible mom.  It was a little surreal.

I looked over and Brent seemed to be waiting for me to say something, so I asked,
“So, what’s the plan for tonight?”

“Dinner, dancing, maybe some star-gazing.”

“Really?  That sounds like a date.” 

“Date?  No, just family. 
But
I already told you
, I’ve n
ever even been on a date
,
so I hope it doesn’t
feel like one of those.”

“
’One of those
?
’
You’re too young to be a confirmed bachelor. 
I never got a legit answer.  Why no ex-girlfriends?”

“It’s my understanding you have to have a girlfriend for there to be an ex-girlfriend.”

“
Well, yeah.  So why no girls
?”

Brent looked at me as if I were the dense
st
person he’d ever talked to,
“Easy.  It’s forbidden.”

“By who
m
?  Gretchen and Will?”

“It’s the way of our people
, Camille
.  By the time I’m thirty
,
I will
be
either
married
, or
betrothed
,
or I will
have to
marry a human.  If I were willing to settle, I could date.  But Centaur women get to choose, and none will choose a man
who has
shared a bond with another.”

“Centaur women choose?  Like going shopping?  I’d like a six foot
-
tall, wealthy, smart, funny, garbage-taking-out, chick-flick-watching, football-hating man.  Something like that?”

“If that’s your list
,
it’ll be pretty easy to find one
–
well
,
maybe not the football-hating
,
but everything else on your list is pretty easy to come by.  You could have a husband by this weekend.”

I laughed,
“So how does she pick you?  Do you send in a resume or something?”

“
E
ligible bachelors are obvious
.  I
t’s common for courtship to begin at another’s wedding.  In fact, this Saturday will be your first opportunity to choose.”

“This Saturday?”

“Mom didn’t tell you?  Bruce is marrying
Hannah
from the Hinman
herd
.”

“Uh, no, she didn’t mention it.  So Bruce is pretty excited?”

“Excited is an understatement. 
Hannah
’
s perfect.  He was in the running with about fifty others.”  We pulled into the driveway to see that all the cars were lined up in a row
. 
Brent pulled his white sedan
in
line
with the others;
everyone was home.  I did a quick count and realized there were s
ix
white sedans instead of the normal
five
– Gretchen must
normally
keep hers in the garage
,
because I hadn’t noticed it
when we left for the store
. 

As we stepped out of Brent’s car, Will came up with
a
key in his hand.  “It’s about time!”  

I was confused
since
we’d been gone less than twenty minutes.  Brent answered, “
Geeze Dad, it’s not like we caught a movie
;
we just went to get a
soda
.”

Will ignored Brent’s defense and said, “Never let it be said that I treat any of my children differently.  The dealership just delivered it.”  Will handed me the key to a brand new, Snowy White BMW sedan, identical to the other
five
parked right beside it. 

I was embarrassed to hear myself squeal like a little girl.  This couldn’t be happening.  I had a father and a stepmother
who
were two of the most amazing people I’d ever met,
five
brothers
who
were about as cool as Batman
,
and a brand new car. 
I wasn’t sure about the whole Centaur thing, but
this was better than winning the lottery.