Blood Debt (Touched Series Book 1) (48 page)

Drake stopped, arguing with himself more than with me, “There couldn’t be.  It’s not possible.”

“What’s not possible?”

“Something I need to talk to my parents about when we return.” 

Phineas
cleared his throat
.  H
e wore a grin that stretched from the side of the house to the window. 
“What are you two waiting for?
  Let’s go.
”
 
Phineas
led
us straight to the garage, where
we all piled into
a
sleek black Mercedes
. 
I saw a rack of fresh vegetables s
e
tting by the door to go into the house
. 
“Give me a second.”  I grabbed eight tomatoes out of the pile and went to the Bentley.  I shoved each of them in
to
the car’s gas tank, one right after the other, replaced the gas cap
,
and jumped back into the sedan.

Bianca asked,
“What was that for?”

“They’ll be able to go thirty miles before the engine seizes.  They’ll be stranded
,
and it’ll give us a better head start.  Drive
Phineas
!”

We
raced
down the driveway,
Phineas pressed a button
,
and the foreboding gates opened wide for us. 
We were free.  As we sped
down the two lane
road
, it felt
like we had wings instead of wheels.  Bianca told me they’d been held in the guest house the whole time.  It didn’t occur to me that the guard staff had changed
-
the staff of four
rotating their watch over me
had changed to two
-
but I was so out of it from the grief of losing them both
,
I hadn’t noticed.

The sun was just
setting
over the horizon when we pulled into Will and Gretchen’s driveway.  It was a marvelous homecoming
. 
Everyone but Beau
stood outside awaiting our arrival
.
Gage arrived within minutes and
grabbed hold of Bianca, the same reunion Drake and I had shared just hours before
.  No one said a word
,
as they had pushed all pretense aside
,
holding each other
tenderly
,
ready to finally begin their life together
,
regardless of who had been betrothed to whom
.
  I expected William to say something about rules, commitments,
blood line
s or something, but he didn’t – he looked relieved.
 

Drake pulled me close to his side
and addressed my father
.  “Camille has had a horrific ordeal
.
  She
’
s not ready to make her choice,
but
when she is, she’ll choose me.”  Drake looked down at me as if he were waiting for me to argue what we both already knew.  “As her unofficial fiancé, I will protect her to the death
,
and I will not leave her side.”

Will nodded, “Gretchen agrees with you
;
it’s only a matter of time.”

My eyes darted to Gretchen
.  S
he bowed her head slowly, and I blurted out, “I thought if you told someone their future
,
you jinxed it or something?”

Gretchen stepped closer to Drake and
me
, in a tone that left nothing to interpretation, “Camille, your destiny has been fluid.  I’ve seen so many different outcomes for you in the last two months
,
I
’m still not certain. 
What I do know: 
If you choose a Centaur,
Drake is the Centaur you’ll choose
-
when you’re ready.  Your heart has already made the choice
.  Y
ou just need to give your mind time to accept your heart’s
decision
.”

Drake
was standing behind me when Gretchen said he was my future.  I felt his arms wrap around me as he lovingly kissed the top of my head.  Drake whispered, “There’s no rush, Camille.  Take your time, but know that
I
won’t allow anyone to separate us.” 

I crossed both arms over Drake’s arms that were wrapped around me and leaned
back
fully into his warm embrace.  It felt like things were going to be okay, even if I only got to savor that feeling for a couple minutes. 
I didn’t miss Gretchen’s words, “If you choose a Centaur.”  I’d said from the beginning that I wasn’t sure I wanted anything to do with being a Centaur – but that was before I knew how I felt about Drake. 

Drake spoke to my father, “It’s only a matter of time before Zandra catches up to us.”

Will nodded, “Get some rest.  I can forbid her entry into my home
.  Y
ou’ll be safe here.  Welcome to our family, Drake.  Thank you for bringing Camille home.”

We climbed the steps to my room
.  S
o much had happened
,
I hardly knew where to begin.
 
With all the weird rules and strange traditions
,
I half expected someone to jump in front of us and send us to separate rooms.  No one did.  While we
walked into my room
,
Drake said,
“You know
s
he
’
ll
be here soon
.”

“
Uniting the blood lines is no more than a pipe dream for her now
.
  Gage and Bianca are going to make it official – he’s off the market.
  Once he’s chosen, officially, by Bianca, my blood debt is paid.
”

“Gage has a brother, Camille.”

“What?”

“I can’t believe he never told you. 
Brandon is eighteen
,
and if Gage is out of the picture,
Zandra
could do the whole thing over again.  Gage’s dad and your grandmother are serious about uniting their two
blood line
s.”

“
What’s the big deal?”

“I think they’re trying to find immortality.”

“Immortality?”

“Chiron was an immortal who willingly gave up his immortality.  Unice was made a human before Chiron
,
and had immortal blood in her veins
,
as well
.  I think Kyle and Zandra are trying to make Centaurs immortal again or at least their
blood line
s.  They aren’t going to give up just because Gage and Bianca
are together
;
in fact, Bianca is probably in as much danger as we are.”

“Does she know?”

“The three of us talked about it while we were all at Zandra’s estate.  They know to go into hiding.  They can use Aphrodite’s magic to hide if they need to.  We already know that works.”

I thought of what Gage told me, how his dad was really in love with my mom
, how he
hid
her
and protected her.  Gage could do the same thing for Bianca, and I might never see them again.  “I need to talk to Bianca.”

“They’ve already left.”

“Do you know where they went?”

“I have an idea, but nothing specific.”

“How do we get in contact with them?”

“That’s the point, Camille
.  W
e don’t.”

“Gage won’t break contact with his family, will he?”  Growing up with just Mom and me, it was hard to imagine willingly giving her up, let alone a whole family.

“He’s not sure how far his dad’ll go.  He’s not taking any more chances with Bianca.”

“Maybe Mr. Richardson isn’t so bad.  Maybe it’s just he and Zandra together
that are the problem.
”

“She
’
s power mad, Camille.  She
’
ll hunt us down
with or without Gage’s dad
.”

“She’s an old woman, Drake.  I doubt she’d stand a chance against us.”

“You are still unfamiliar with our ways.  Don
’
t confuse age
with
power
or strength
.  The only reason you and your mother were safe for all those years was Aphrodite’s magic protected you both.  That protection is no longer there. 
Zandra
is a
Centauride
scorned
: 
she will seek her revenge.”

“So what are you saying?  We need to go into hiding?”

“We need more than a good hiding spot.  We need
magic of our own
.”

I could see Drake was just as exhausted as I was.  We
slipped
into my bed, his arms wound around my body
,
and I felt tingles all over my skin. 
I didn’t want to talk about Zandra, going into hiding, or finding our own magic.  I only wanted to feel Drake’s body against mine,
savor the rhythm of
his heart beating
against me
and listen to hi
s
breath
ing
. 
We melted into each other and drifted off together. 
It felt like I’d only just blinked my eyes when I an arm sh
ook
me. 

“Camille,” Will’s voice was an urgent whisper, “wake up.  Quickly, wake up.”

I wiped the sleep from my eyes, squinting into the darkness
. 
I felt the warmth of Drake’s body against mine as his muscles flexed beside me.  “What’s wrong
,
Will?”

“Camille, Zandra is on her way.  It’s worse than we thought
.  Y
ou need to get up.  We need to get you out of here.”

“I thought you said we’d be safe here?”

“You’ve got an hour, two at best and her forces will be upon us.  You’ll be safe inside my walls, but I can’t offer you protection outside the house
,
and you couldn’t stay inside for
ever
.
”

“Where will we go?”

“I’ve chartered a plane.  You’ll need to get to the Monck’s Corner
A
irport
where
a plane is waiting.  Go now
,
S
weetheart
.  I
t’s your only chance.”

Drake tugged me hard
.  H
e didn’t need to hear anything else.  “Camille, I’m not losing you again, let’s go.”

I turned to Drake, “But where?  Won’t she find us wherever we go?”

“I’ve got an idea.”  Drake turned to Will and asked, “How big
of
a plane is it?”

“It’s a jet, son.  Go.  Everything you need i
s
waiting on the plane.”  Will pulled me into a tight embrace.  “
Be careful.  If you need us, we’re a phone call away.  I’ll stay here long enough to throw her off
of
your trail.  Don’t go near San Diego.”

Drake nearly pulled me out of Will’s arms.  “I’m sorry, Love, we need to go.
”  I started to struggle against him when he murmured, “I can’t lose you again.”
  That was all it took
. 
I knew if I lost him a second time
,
I wouldn’t survive – I couldn’t fault him for feeling the same.
  “I’m going to give my parents a call
.  W
e need to go in five minutes.”

I looked around the room.  There wasn’t much of me here.  As I packed clothes, I saw my cell phone by the night stand, exactly where I’d left it several months before.  Neither Will nor Gretchen bothered to unplug it while I was gone.  My voicemail box was full.  I saw the call log.  Daniel had called every day for the last two months.  I needed to call him and let him know I was okay.  But what would I tell him? 

Drake peeked in through my bedroom door, “Ready, love?”

“I guess so, but I need to know where we’re going.”

“Ireland, at least that’s where we’ll start.”

“Ireland?” 

“Ireland’s our first stop.  Our history is
unreliable;
too many fables are mixed in with truths
, so
I’m not a hundred percent certain where we’ll end up.  Do you have a passport?”