Blood Debt (Touched Series Book 1) (50 page)

I’d never gotten a straight answer from Gretchen and I wasn’t able to ask my father.  Mom might be the only one I could ask right now. 
“
Brent says we’re part of the Lost Herd.  Are we?”

“Trust yourself, Camille.  Know that you and you alone
can find what you seek
.
  If you love Drake, do not put him in danger.  Do not allow him in your life.
”

“
Mom, I can’t
. . . I can’t
give him up.
”
  I looked at hi
m sleeping peacefully beside me, muttering more to myself,
“I
almost didn’t make it
without him.”

“I know it’s hard, Camille.  But if you love him, you’ll send him away. 
Take the f
ight
to
your enemies
and give them nothing to hold over you
.
  Drake is your only weakness.  They will exploit him and you will fail.
”

“But you never fought your enemies
: 
you went into hiding.  Gage told me all about it.”

“
You’re right, if I had it to do over again, I would have fought.  I did not see what would happen to you. 
You, too, will have a son and daughter one day.  You need to make the choice now, before it’s made for you.
  The Lost Herd will find you
.  W
hen they do, you and your descendants will never be free.
”

I could see pain welling up through her eyes. 
“Your father. . .
”
  Her lips moved but her words were muted.
  I saw her figure fading into the background.

“Mom!  I can’t hear you!  Mom!”
 
I reached out to where she had been sitting and felt nothing but air.  Everything seemed to be in slow motion.  “Mom, don’t leave!”  The sound of my own voice startled me.  I awoke to the dark bedroom, trying to figure out if she had been
t
here or if I’d just dreamed her. 
I took in a large w
h
iff hoping to catch even a faint hint of her perfume – but I smelled nothing. 
She wasn’t there.

I struggled to go back to my dream
,
but
I
didn’t have any luck
.  A
ll I found w
as a dreamless sleep
. 
I awoke
hours later
to Drake’s arms still around me
. 
I didn’t want to flinch because it still felt a little euphoric to be there with him
.
  My mind began to wander. 
Did I really have a twin
brother somewhere in the world?
  Mom said I’d have a son and daughter
;
Zandra must have been telling the truth about twins.
 
What would Zandra do if she saw me again? 
How would we know Bianca and Gage were okay? 
Did my mom really appear in a dream or was it my imagination
? 
Why couldn’t I see or hear my mom?  What d
id I have to fear from the Lost Herd?  What did Drake mean when he said we needed to find our own magic?
  Could I share any of this with Daniel?
 

All these questions were sailing through my mind when I heard Drake
murmuring
in his sleep
: 
the lullaby that broke down my defenses at Zandra’s
, “Choose me, Camille.  Choose me.”  I snuggled in closer to him, pushing the questions to the back of my mind.  I’d worry about
all of
that later.  For now, I would live in the present –
savor
the love of a man I thought I’d lost forever.
 
Mom’s
warning was probably just a dream
;
after everything we’d gone through, my mind w
anted to
believe that real happiness was finally mine.
   

I hope you enjoyed Blood Debt!  I plan to release the second book in this series, Blood Ties
,
in December 2012. 
If you haven’t already,
I would love for you to check out my Destiny Series while you’re waiting. 

I
would love to hear from you!  Here are the best places to find me:

My Author Page on Facebook:  http://alturl.com/en5ia

My blog: [email protected]

Twitter:  @NancyStraight

Goodreads:  http://alturl.com/bnmv2

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Nancy

If you read the acknowledgements at the front of the book, you already know that I’m a huge fan of Charlotte Abel.  She has a new book coming out soon, titled:
River’s Recruit
   All of her novels are awesome and I’m thrilled to
share with you a
short excerpt for her upcoming novel
coming out summer 2012
.

River’s Recruit

By Charlotte Abel

River

             
It wasn’t the cold draft inside the tunnels of Sanctuary Mountain that sent a chill down River’s spine. It was the smell — damp and earthy — like a fresh grave.

“Keep moving.” Mother pressed her hand against the small of River’s back and nudged her forward. “We’re almost there.”

Mother had been saying ‘almost there’ for the past fifteen minutes. River tried not to think about how far underground they’d traveled; or how many tons of rock pressed down on the ancient tunnels; or how she’d never find her way back to the surface without help.

Light spilled into the tunnel from an opening to the right. The line of people disappeared into it like a snake down a rabbit hole.

River squinted when she entered the viewing gallery. The circular cavern glittered with the light of a thousand candles. Melted wax coated the walls. Stalactites dripped from the ceiling, pointing to the arena far below. After the splendor of the viewing gallery, River had expected something a little more grand. But the arena was nothing more than a sandpit, dug out of the cavern floor.

They walked halfway around the perimeter before they found a spot for their own candles. Mother softened the wax-coated wall with the flame of her candle then pressed it into the softened mass.

River followed her example. “How will we find our candles when it’s time to leave?”

“The candles stay.”

“But these are new.” They’d traded two rations of dried apples for the candles when they arrived yesterday.

“It’s a meager offering, but all we can afford.”

“Who gets the candles when the ceremony is over?” If were up to River, she’d rather have the dried apples.

“No one. They stay on the wall.”

“But … that’s so wasteful.” Wasting anything was a sin. “They should scrape the wax from the walls and reuse it.”

Mother leaned down and whispered in River’s ear. “The citizens of Sanctuary are governed by tradition, not survival. No more talking.”

River followed Mother past the upholstered chairs of the ruling class, down seventy-seven steps, to the stone benches reserved for surface dwellers. They descended another twenty-nine steps to the front row. The arena was much larger than River’d originally thought. The pit was at least twenty feet deep. The only entrance was directly across from River, blocked by an iron-barred gate and guarded by an enforcer. Once the ceremony began, there would be no escape.

The enforcer nodded to someone in the royal section then opened the gate. The creaking hinges silenced the crowd.

Two barefoot servant girls in knee-length tunics entered the arena. They smoothed the sand with shallow-toothed rakes then disappeared back into the tunnel. River held her breath until Eli, son of Zebulon’s daughter, swaggered into the arena. His seventeen-year-old body — clad only in a loincloth — still had the look of adolescence; but he carried himself with confidence. When he reached the center, he took a deep breath that expanded his chest then turned around and nodded at the gatekeeper.
 

A deep growl rumbled out of the tunnel. The sound filled the viewing gallery and echoed off the cavern’s walls. River hugged herself when a huge, black wolf stepped into the arena. The beast’s tail pointed straight up … an alpha male.

You were supposed to choose the strongest animal you believed you could subdue, but this was absurd.

The tension inside the cavern grew with each passing moment as Eli crept forward.
 

The wolf curled its lips back over glistening teeth, wrinkling its muzzle, then lowered its head and slunk to the other side of the arena, hugging the smooth stone wall. It stopped right below River.

A rim of white completely encircled Eli’s dark blue irises. His hands trembled as he reached towards the wolf.

River fought the urge to cover her eyes. If Eli didn’t conquer his fear, the merge wouldn’t work. He’d lose his birthright, if not his life.

The wolf growled then launched its body into the air. It clamped down on Eli’s wrist and jerked its head to the side, throwing him to the ground.

A woman on the other side of the arena screamed. River recognized Eli’s mother, Shula, just before she exploded out of her clothes and shifted into a light gray wolf. A collective gasp, followed by a murmur of disapproval swept through the crowd.

Shula knocked a councilman and two of his wives out of their seats as she charged down the stairs and leapt into the arena below.

The wolf released Eli and backed away from him, amber eyes darting back and forth between the man and this new threat.
 

Eli cradled his bloody hand against his naked chest and scrambled to his feet. “Stay out of this, woman! You dishonor me.”

Shula tucked her tail between her legs then darted towards the exit. The enforcer opened the gate and let her pass without so much as a glance.

Eli swiped his bloody hand across his belly then reached out again. This time, when the wolf attacked, Eli embraced it, wrapping his arms and legs around the animal’s body. He clung to the wolf as it writhed, snarling and gnashing its teeth.
 

River whispered, “Hang on, Eli.”

Mother squeezed her hand again and gave it a sharp tug. Speech was forbidden during the sacred merging of man and wolf.

Eli’s body united with the wolf’s in a burst of blinding light that forced River to blink and turn away.

When her vision cleared, Eli was gone.

The wolf lay on his side, panting, tongue lolling in the sand. It seemed like an eternity before he clambered to his feet and opened his eyes. Instead of amber, they glowed with sapphire light.
It worked!

River expected the crowd to burst into riotous celebration, but there was only a mild ripple of applause.

She looked up at Mother and arched her eyebrows, not certain if she was allowed to speak yet.

Mother smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Shula’s interference tainted Eli’s victory. If she were not Zebulon’s daughter, the council would punish her.”

River wouldn’t wish that fate on her worst enemy.

Mother patted River’s knee. “Look, he’s shifting back already.”

Jonathan

Jonathan wished he could have taken Naomi to a hotel, but that would have been too obvious. She would’ve been offended by something so blatantly premeditated. The back seat of the Mustang wasn’t exactly ideal for a couple of virgins. Things were awkward enough without the added challenge of trying to seal the deal in such a small space.

Naomi had to know Jonathan’s real reason for bringing her to the old mine, but if she wanted to claim that they’d been swept away by passion and that neither of them had planned for it to happen, well, who was he to argue. He patted his back pocket to be sure the foil packets were still there then grabbed his sleeping bag and flashlight out of the trunk.

Naomi arched her eyebrows. "What's that for?" He clicked on the flashlight. "It's dark inside the mine." She folded her arms across her chest.
 
"I meant the sleeping bag."
 

"I wanna cuddle and the ground's too cold."
 
Jonathan tossed the sleeping bag into the mine then helped
 
Naomi step over what was left of the old 'Keep Out—No Trespassing' sign.
 

As long as he called it cuddling instead of making out, Naomi wouldn't object. In fact, she went right to the sleeping bag, unrolled it, stepped out of her running shoes and crawled inside. She unzipped it and lifted the corner. "Well, what are you waiting for?"