Blood Debt (Touched Series Book 1) (49 page)

“Well, yeah, but not here.  It’s at my apartment in California.”  Spring break of my senior year was in Cabo San Lucas
. 
I had only that single stamp in my passport,
although I had
fantasies of traveling the world.  Not in my darkest nightmares could I have imagined a deranged grandmother coming into my life then chasing me around the planet.

“Looks like we’ll need to make a detour.”

“A detour, for a passport?  Drake, did anything happen to you that I should know about while you were captive in Zandra’s guest house?  A big knock on the head or something?”

Drake stepped through the door, was in front of me in four strides and looked into my eyes, “Yes.  Something did happen.  I fell hopelessly in love with a woman with a death sentence on her head.  Now grab your backpack.  Let’s go.”

“I think this is great and everything, but what kind of magic are we looking for?  I mean, is it bigger than a breadbox?  Are we going to need a crane?”

“I’ll tell you everything once we’re in the air.”

We didn’t go to the airport I’d flown into.  We went up to a sleepy runway in Moncks Corner.  I hated the idea of leaving my beautiful
s
edan in the lonely little parking lot.  The car had fewer than three hundred miles on it, and it seemed like a huge waste of money considering how much I’d been able to use it. 

As I shut the trunk, I looked at the small control tower in front of us.  It was only two stories, with open ended hangers spread out along the outskirts of the runway.  It looked like maybe twenty small planes called this airport their home. 

“So which one of these are we taking?”

“None
of those
.  Your father sen
t a jet
.  It should be here so
mewhere
.”

We walked the fifty feet from the parking lot to the airport’s terminal – I use that term loosely.  I didn’t know airports existed that didn’t have TSA.  No
x
-ray inspection, no displays announcing arrival and departure flights
:  t
his looked closer to a car rental agency than a real airport.  A man looked over a counter with a headset on.  “You Mr. and Mrs. Nash?”

I froze, but Drake didn’t miss a beat, “Yes.  We’re here for a pickup.”

“Your pilot just radioed in, should be on the ground in about five minutes.  He’s already filed his flight plan and says he doesn’t need fuel.  Once he’s on the ground, you can go out to the tarmac
.  Y
ou’re all set.”

We saw a sleek, black jet making its approach to the airport.  When it touched down, it looked seriously out of place with the privately owned Cessnas and crop dusters that hid under the open bay canopies.  After it landed, we stepped out onto the runway.  The aircraft’s engines were whining quietly as we walked out toward it.  The hatch opened, and a set of stairs materialized from its fuselage.  Drake led me by the hand to the stairs as a man wearing a headset, loud surfer shorts
,
and Oakley’s yelled down to us, “Drake and Camille Nash?”

Drake answered, “That’s us.”

“Come on up.  Sorry we’re late.”  Once we were inside the cabin, the man said, “We were fixing the passenger manifest.  For today’s flight to New York, you’re “Fred and Wilma Rubble.”

I smirked at the man, “A little obvious, don’t you think?”

“Naw, obvious would have been Fred and Wilma Flintstone.  When we fly international, our manifest will have to match your passports.”
 

“My passport’s in California.”

“Already taken care of.”  I cocked my head to the side
,
wondering how they’d had a chance to get my passport.  Before I could ask, t
he man lifted the stairs behind us
and closed the door
.  It was remarkably quiet inside and not like the commercial airplanes I’d been on.  “I’m Chip.  The bar is there, under the television.  There should be some snacks in the cabinet under it.  If you’re really hungry, there are some frozen meals in the freezer.  There’s a bedroom in the back.  Help yourself to anything you want.”

“You’re the pilot and the steward?”

“Co-pilot
,
and this is more self-service, if you know what I mean.”  The engines began throttling up and Chip smiled, “Sounds like that’s my cue.  The pilot must be ready to go.  We shouldn’t be stopping along the way.  FAA says I have to give you a safety brief
ing
.  If we lose cabin pressure during the flight, there are oxygen masks in the storage compartment over your seats.  If we have an emergency landing, you can open either of the two doors by pressing and pulling the handle up.  If the captain and I become incapacitated during the flight, pucker up and kiss your asses goodbye.”

My eye muscles flexed and Chip laughed, “Just making sure you were paying attention.
 
Sit back, relax, watch a movie or do whatever you like.  If you need anything, just hit the intercom on one of the seats.”

“Thanks, Chip.  How long a flight will it be?”

“We’re going up to New York.  We’ll get a full tank of fuel there and head to Dublin straight away.
 
Mr. Strayer had us stop in North Carolina to pick something up for you.  It’s in that envelope on the seat.”

Chapter 37

Drake opened the envelope.  Inside were two passports, two credit cards and a stack of Euros.  I opened the passport and saw myself staring back.  It said my name was “Angela Chiron.”  I looked at the other and it was “Gage Chiron.” 

“He couldn’t have chosen less conspicuous names?”

Drake smiled, “He’s helping us out a great deal.  Nash is a
well
-
known
blood line
from the original pasture, but it doesn’t carry the same weight as the Chiron name.” 

We felt the plane lift up off the ground,
and
I watched us climb higher and higher, “The original pasture?”

“Right, we’re going back to Thessaly.”

“Thessaly?  You’re serious?”

“Of course, I’m serious.”

“Thessaly is in Ireland?”

“I think so
.  S
o much myth is rolled up with legend
,
we may find out it’s somewhere else.” 

“So we’re flying halfway around the world, and we aren’t even sure we are flying to the right country?”

Drake gathered my hands in his and brought them to his lips, “Think of it as a honeymoon.”

“A honeymoon?  Just because the pilots think we’re Mr. and Mrs., I’m still single.  If it were our honeymoon, you would not be getting away with taking me
to
Ireland in search of a pasture where ancient Centaurs used to breed.”

“It was more than a breeding ground, Camille.  It was where our race was born.  It’s sacred, and it has a magic all its own.”

“So we’re going to do what, dig up some soil or something?”

“It won’t be that easy.  We need to find your great uncle Zethus.”

“My great uncle?  I’ve never heard of him.”

“He’s Zandra’s brother. The stories I’ve heard say that he lives at Thessaly.  He’s as much a direct descendant of Chiron as Zandra – but he was favored by the gods and has something that we need.”  

“What?”

It wouldn’t have been possible for the pilot or co-pilot to hear us, but Drake whispered anyway, “Hercules’ arrow.”

“You’re not serious!”

“I am serious.  We need the arrow.  Having it will be enough of a deterrent.  The tip still has the blood of a Hydra.”

No one could be more surprised than me that after everything she’d put me through, I didn’t want her dead,
“But that’ll kill her.”

“We aren’t going to shoot it through her heart.  If we can get the arrow from Zethus, the tip of the arrow pricking her skin will drain her of her magic.  She’ll live out her life, but we won’t have to look over our shoulders.”

“Are Zethus and Zandra close?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t have any other ideas, Love.”

****

Once we had started the second leg of our trip, New York to Dublin,
I stood up and held my hand out to Drake
, “Come with me
.”  I led him to the rear of the aircraft and found the bedroom that Chip had pointed out. 
I didn’t want to think about her chasing us, where her brother’s loyalties might lie, if we could find the pasture, or even if the arrow existed.

I was exhausted and hoped this flight would take three days
. 
I was sure I could spend that long in bed
- l
onger, knowing Drake was not only alive but with me.
Drake
snuggled in close
,
and it only took minutes for his breathing to slow down. 
All those conversations I’d had with his spirit, or so I thought, I’d confessed everything.  I swore if there was any chance ever
to
tell him how I felt, I wouldn’t hold anything back.  “Drake?”

His eyes were closed, his lips turned up in a
content grin
.  H
e looked like he was seconds from drifting off to sleep,
“Hmmm?”

“I love you.”  I’d never said those words to anyone but my mom, and I knew I’d never feel them for anyone else.

Drake’s eyes snapped open and his grin morphed into a wide smile.  He leaned toward me on one shoulder as his free hand caressed my arm and his lips
crushed onto
mine.  When he pulled his lips away, his ice blue eyes were staring directly into mine.  “Say it again, Camille.”

I couldn’t help
beam
ing
back at him
, “I said, I love you, Drake.”

He wrapped both his arms around me, pressing himself into me and whispered in my ear, “For how long?”

I cocked my head to the side, “What do you mean
: 
for how long?”

“How long do you promise to love me?”

“Always, Drake.”

Before I could blink an eye, Drake had pulled me up to a sitting position on the bed
.  M
y legs were draped over the side of the bed and he was kneeling in front of me.  “Camille, I promise to protect you.  I promise to
always
put your
needs before mine
.  I promise
I’ll never let you
go to bed angry
,
and you’ll never wake up alone.  I promise to love you
the rest of my life,
and
when this life is over,
I’ll
spend
my
eternity
in t
he
p
asture with you.”

I was speechless
.  L
uckily, Drake didn’t wait for any kind of a response from me.  He pulled me into his chest, “I’ve never wanted anything more than you
to love me back.
”
  He crushed his mouth onto mine
again
.  I didn’t have to say the words
.  H
e knew I’d made my choice.
 

We both gave ourselves over to the exhaustion. 
Hours later
I
awoke from
the deepest sleep
I’d had in months
. 
My hands traced the chiseled lines of his chest, his arms stayed wrapped around me.
  I knew Zandra wouldn’t fade into the background
. 
Before I came to South Carolina
,
I’d never given much thought to my future
;
I caught myself now thinking of the possibilities. 
Somewhere between awake and asleep I smelled my mother’s perfume.  My eyes snapped open
. 
I saw her sitting
on the edge of the bed
;
she was so beautiful
-
her skin almost glowed.  She held her finger to her lips, silencing me, pointing at the sleeping Drake beside me.  “Be careful, Camille.  Centaurs are not what they seem
.  M
ost are like Rupert, more beast than man
.
”

“
You mean Drake?
”  I shook my head at the absurdity.  “
But, I love him.”

“I know, Camille.  But do you love him enough to
save
him?”

“Save him from what?”

“No one is safe with you right now.  The Lost Herd
seek
s
you.
  I had to give up Kyle for the same reason, it was the only chance he had at life.  They still found me.
”