Blood Debt (Touched Series Book 1) (23 page)

“Nothing happened.  Can’t I just be homesick and want to know what’s going on with you?”

“No.  I know you too well.  It’s midnight there
.  Y
ou didn’t call me all day
: 
something happened.  Spill it.”

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

“Try me.”

“I can’t.  I just seriously screwed something up and wanted to hear a friendly voice.”

“I hate it when you hide shit.  What happened, Camille?”

I took a deep breath.  This was why I
had
called him.  I needed to get it off my chest.  I had to tell someone before I imploded from the guilt.  Daniel was part psychic, at least that’s what I’d always told him
.  H
e always knew when he wasn’t getting the whole story and would drag it out of me, give me advice
,
and then tell me everything would be fine.   “Okay, so there’s this guy, who I don’t like, that I kind of kissed.”

“Why would you kiss a guy you don’t like?”

“I don’t know
.  W
hy do you
wear socks to bed?”

“Because I don’t like my feet to be cold when I sleep.  I’ll ask again
: 
why would you kiss a guy you don’t like?  Do you like him
, but
you don’t want to admit it?”

“I don’t know him well enough to like him or not like him.  But I know I don’t like him.”

“Camille, can you hear yourself?”

“Would you shut up and listen?”

“Alright, alright, so you kissed this guy,
who
you don’t like, and it bothered you so bad
ly
that you had to call and tell me you don’t like him.”

“Something like that.”

“If you’re looking for relationship advice, I say
:
don’t kiss him again.”

“You’re such a genius
.  W
hy didn’t I think of that?”

“That’s what I’m here for
,
baby.  To help you weed through the complexities of your psyche.  This one was a real stumper
.  I’ll put it on your bill
.”

“So, he’s kind of Bianca’s fiancé.”

“Kind of or he is?”

I took a deep breath, “He is.”

“My vote hasn’t changed.  I still don’t think you should kiss him again.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.  Do I tell her?”

“Hmmm, who
initiated,
you or him?”

“Does it matter?”

“If you initiated, then you have to decide if telling the truth is worth giving up the first friend you made out there.  If he initiated it, then he’s
a snake.  He’s
probably done it before
,
and he’ll more than likely do it again – so tell her.”

“I think, maybe, I initiated it.  I don’t know
. . .
it all happened so fast.”

“Whoa, Cami, you kissed this guy knowing
he
was Binaca’s fiancé?”

“
Her name’s
Bianca, and I didn’t mean to.”

“You know, I saw that on the news last week.  People walking down the street, minding their own business, and BAM their lips turn elastic and wrap themselves around a friend’s man.  Happens all the time
.  I
t’s a side-effect from the ‘Stupid Pill
.
’
M
ust have refilled your prescription before you lef’ town.”

“You’re not helping, Daniel.”

“Cami, look.  You feel bad for a reason.  Own up to
it with Bianca
and it’ll make you feel better
.”

“There’s more at stake than me.  If I tell her, she’ll br
e
ak off her engagement.  Drake says it won’t happen again.”

“Sounds like you already made up your mind.”

“I
feel horrible.  I needed to tell someone.”

“I’m not a priest, so no absolution.  I th
ink if it were you, you’d wanna
know.  If it was just a kiss and nothin’ more, she probably won’t break it off with him.  But if you don’t tell her and it is something more, you take responsibility for everything that happens next.”

“Nothing else is going to happen.”

“Judge and jury, right?”

“What?”

“If you don’t say anything, and this guy really is a slime ball, you’re acting like the judge and jury by not saying anything - basically forgiving him on Bianca’s behalf.  You need to decide if you want to be the judge and jury or if you want to be the cop and report it for her to decide.”

“
And if it backfires and blows up in my face?”

“Then she wasn’t that great of a friend to begin with. 
You can always come back to Cali.”

“Thanks
,
Daniel.  Call me and tell me about Day 2 with Miss Wonderful tomorrow.”

“Who?”

“Uh. . . the girl you met today?”

“Oh yeah.  Get some sleep
.  Y
ou’ll feel better tomorrow.
Le
’
me know if I need to pick you up at the airport.
”

Chapter
18

Monday morning was bright and sunny. 
I had a text from Gus, the Centaur I met at Bruce’s wedding, asking if we were still on for Friday night.  With everything that had happened yesterday, it had slipped my mind.  I needed to talk to Beau.
 

Since I went to bed Sunday afternoon before dinner
,
I was well past rested and starving.  Daniel was right in a lot of ways, but since I couldn’t share any of the Centaur stuff with him, at least without him thinking I was
on a new designer
h
allucinogen, I decided I would be judge and jury.  I believed Drake that
our encounter
was a one-time thing.  We’d already agreed to give each other a lot of space
.  A
s long as we
weren’t
anywhere near each other
,
it definitely wouldn’t happen again.  Something about his reaction yesterday told me this wasn’t something he routinely did.  I could keep my friendship intact with Bianca,
but
I’d only see her when there was no possibility of being near Drake. 

I
would
put the incident out of my mind, lock it away
,
and
not
think of it again.

When I got down to the kitchen
,
I was freshly showered, had a healthy glow from the sun yesterday
,
and was ready for whatever the day had in store for me.  Gretchen was seated at the kitchen table with a laptop open
.  A
s soon as I walked in
,
she stood up.  “We were worried about you.  Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine.  I was just spent from being out in the sun all day.”

“I checked on you a few times.  You’re a heavy sleeper.”

“Not always, but like I said – yesterday wore me out.”

“Fair enough.  Well, it’s just you and me
.  E
veryone went back to work this morning.  What do you want to do today?”
  She walked over to the oven
and
pulled out a warm plate of scrambled eggs, bacon
,
and toast.  Gretchen was a true domestic goddess.

“It’s okay
,
Gretchen
.  Y
ou don’t have to entertain me or anything.  I can find something to do.”

“With everyone else gone from the house, now might be a good time to practice some of you
r
Centauride
skills.”  I could sense that she was eager to help me but didn’t want to be pushy.

“I’m game.  How do we start?
”

“Let’s try communicating with your mother’s spirit.  Every
Centauride
is different.  You have five senses, normally one is stronger than the others.  For me, my sense of
smell
is far superior to hearing, sight,
touch
, or taste.  Do you know which of your senses is the strongest?”

“No, not really.”

“Have you been able to see your mother’s spirit or have you heard her voice?”

“I saw her a little, but it was like watching a
grainy television.  I could smell her perfume a couple times
,
though.”

“Okay, let’s assume your sense of smell is your dominant sense.  When you think of your mother, did she have a favorite flower, a favorite meal, a hobby of some kind that
has a scent that reminds you of her
?”

“All those things. 
Lavender
was her favorite flower, Italian dishes with lots of basil
and oregano
,
and she loved NASCAR
,
so
-
exhaust fumes.”

“Exhaust fumes remind you of your mother?”

“Yeah, and burning rubber, too.”

“If we need to set an old tire on fire we can, but let’s try some of the more pleasant scents first.”

Gretchen went to work on a lasagna dish, the whole time giving me ideas for how I could try to contact my mom.  I got to thinking about the question Brent had asked me about the missing herd.   Gretchen stopped in her tracks half way to the oven when she turned to me and asked, “Missing
H
erd?  Are you thinking about the
L
ost
H
erd?”

Crap, I forgot Gretchen could read my thoughts.  “Uh, yeah, what’s the
L
ost
H
erd?”

Gretchen placed the pan in the oven and said,
“Sit down.”

I took a seat at the table but felt strange as Gretchen seemed very uncomfortable. 
She must have been digging in my thoughts because she uttered,
“I see Brent has been doing some speculating of his own.”
  She made a sour face
,
and I was worried my thoughts might have just gotten him in hot water.

“He didn’t mean to.  I mean
. . .
I don’t want him to get in trouble.”

“I’ll speak with Brent later.  He obviously p
iqued
your interest.  It is nothing you should speak of, to anyone.  Do you understand?”

Her voice was so firm I was worried I’d just really screwed up.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Camille.  But asking questions about the
L
ost
H
erd
is dangerous
.
  No one speaks of it
.  M
any your age
have never even heard of it.
  I’m sure Will should be telling you this – but . . .
I’ll fill you in with what I know.  It isn’t much.  Long ago,
there was
a
fierce
Centaur
warrior
named Rupert, so fierce in fact that
he instigated conflict with every Centaur he came in contact with.  He was hard on his young
;
many of his sons were killed by his own hand.  Other Centaur warriors tried to intervene and help his sons
;
each mysteriously disappeared or died very young from
seemingly
natural causes.
 
There is a
blood debt
to be paid
if any Centaur kills another
outside of battle
.  Many speculated, but none would openly accuse Rupert of taking
out
his wrath on others.
  By all accounts, Rupert was more beast than human
,
and before his thirtieth birthday he had been outcast from the community. 
The Centaur elders banned h
im
and his descendants from ever returning to Centurion.”

“Centurion?”

“It’s a
city
in South Africa.  A
large community of Centaurs
live there
,
and the elder of each family visits Centurion each year
.”

“The elders
?  W
ho are they?”

“Each
herd
’s eldest male member is an elder and is represented at Centurion.”

“So who is our elder?”