Blood Debt (Touched Series Book 1) (17 page)

In my mind I was silently
cheering
-
five
years.  I wouldn’t have to go through this whole ritual of finding a husband for
five
years!
  This was the best possible situation for me.  No pressure, no reason for men to introduce themselves to me.
  I was ready to scream out “Yes!”
,
but I didn’t want to make a big mistake. 
“Mr. Richardson, I’m too new to this life to
make this decision without counsel.  I need to
speak to my father, privately
.
”  I saw Will’s posture straighten and saw his chest stretch.
 

“Of course, Camille, your family should cou
nsel
you on my offer.”

I stepped
through the door and
in
to
the front hallway
. 
Will followed me and closed the door behind us.  I very nearly squealed, “This is great, right?”

A pleased grin
spread
across his face, “Yes, this is excellent news.  I think he offered the fairest deal he could under the circumstances.  I’ve heard that his son, Gage, is a good man.  Without a formal promise to you, other Centaur wom
e
n may still consider him
.  I
f
one of them chooses
him for
her
husband
before his
twenty-ninth
birthday,
you owe
their
herd
nothing.”

I opened the door, not even waiting to be fully out of the house, “Mr. Richardson, I accept your offer.”

His words were slow as his eyes nearly burrowed into mine,
“You understand the gravity of your words?”

“I do.”

“You will not commit yourself to another for the next five years?”

“I
won’t
.”

“Do you understand the consequences should you not honor your promise to me this evening?”

“I do.”

Mr. Richardson stepped directly in front of me, his hands tight behind his back.
  I didn’t know what it was about him, but he gave me one final threat,
“If you dishonor our agreement, I will not hesitate to take
my payment
.”

My eyes narrowed
. 
I didn’t need this added
reminder
.
 
“Mr. Richardson, I am fully aware of the consequences.  If at any time in the next five years you threaten my life or the life of someone in my family without justification, I won’t hesita
te to take yours.  Just so we’re clear.”

There was a collective gasp in all directions.  No one expected me to make the t
hreat, but I wanted this man to know my mother had not raised a daughter to be weak, to be submissive, to be manipulated
by anyone
. 
It wasn’t an empty threat
,
and
I would not hesitate to make good on it
.
  I had not grown up with the luxury of a family – other than my mom.  In a matter of days I knew there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for any of them
,
includ
ing
not
allowing this reject of a man to bully them.
 
I
put my back to him
and walked away, allowing my threat to hang in the air, daring him to test me moments after I had made it.

A little louder than was necessary, but definitely spoken for my benefit, I heard, “Will
iam
, thank you for allowing me to join in Bruce and Hannah’s celebration this evening.  It has been my pleasure to be a part of such an enchanting evening.”

Brent was the first one to catch up to me
.  H
e whispered, “Geeze, remind me never
to
cross you.  I thought Dad was going to have a heart attack back there.  I bet your lessons from
M
om
tomorrow include
not
threatening the life of
Herd
Leaders.”

“It wasn’t a threat, Brent.  That was my promise to him.”

“Threatening to kill someone isn’t something to be done lightly.”

“Brent, you ever seen someone murdered
right in front of you
?”

“Uh. . . no.”

“I didn’t grow up here.  I grew up in the real world
:
watching drive-bys, robberies and gang retaliation.  I saw one guy killed over forty bucks.  It can make you a little jaded.  I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean to follow through.  Gretchen can give me any lesson she wants
.  I
f
Kyle
threaten
s
you or anyone else
in my family
– it
’
ll
be the last thing he ever d
oes
.”

“
Camille, this is the real world, too.  We may put a higher price tag on life than the people you grew up with.  It doesn’t mean our dangers are any less real or our warnings can be ignored.
”

“Maybe you’re right, but I bet he doesn’t try anything that could be construed as threatening.  Think of my exchange with him as modern warfare – a pre-emptive strike.”

Brent shook his head at me
.  H
e seemed unwilling to agree with me, but at least he decided not to argue the point further. 
Within minutes the party was again in full swing
: 
Kyle Richardson was noticeably absent.  As soon as the music
returned,
the makeshift
dance floor
was crowded
, voices were again chattering loudly
,
and everyone was having a good time.
 
For as massive as he was, Gus had great rhythm and was by far my favorite dance partner.  I couldn’t help but wonder how cool it would be to go to all the NFL games.  He asked, “So, any chance you’d want to catch a movie this weekend?”

I gushed, “Um, okay.  We can do that?”  I still wasn’t sure what was
and
wasn’t
okay
.

He beamed back at me, “You bet.  You choose someone in your family to escort us.”

I thought of the choices
.  A
lthough I was closest to Brent – he was not in favor of dating for the sake of dating.  Maybe Beau?  “Give me your number
,
and I’ll send you a text with the
who
and
when
.  You’re sure no one will think it’s a big deal?”

“There’s a line-up of other Centaurs waiting to dance with you.  You’re welcome to tell every one of them that we have plans for next Friday.”  Gus’ smile was all encompassing
,
and I couldn’t help but smile at his jab against the others.

To be fair, I did dance with every other available Centaur. 
I don’t know how many turns I had taken on the dance floor, but enough that I needed to rest
. 
I made my way to a table where Brent was sitting.
  I desperately wanted to ask him if a movie was okay, but decided to wait and ask Beau when no one else was around.

I had just barely arrived at the table when
Drake
and his beautiful fiancé
,
Bianca
,
came to the same table and sat with us
. 
I was a little nervous given his reaction to me in the woods
,
but he wasn’t glaring at me or anything. 
T
he music was
still
going full tilt
.  I had
seen
the two of t
hem dancing on the floor
and knew they
had to be
near exhaustion
as well
.  Brent and Drake seemed to be pretty good friends
,
immediately engag
ing
in conversation about some sporting event
.
I
lacked the energy to pretend to have interest in their conversation
;
Bianca’s interest mirrored mine
. 

Bianca looked over at me with a thoughtful smile, “Is it true that you are a long lost
Centauride
?
” 

I
hadn’t heard of this
word
before
.
 
“
Centauride
?
–
I’m sure I should already know, but w
h
at is it
?
”

Bianca smiled sweetly, “
A female Centaur.
”

It still felt odd that everyone so openly spoke about creatures I’d considered nothing more than
myths
until a week ago. 
“That’s what everyone keeps telling me.”

“So, it’s true
.  Y
ou really had no idea?”

“
My mom died recently.  I didn’t know about my . . .” What was the right word? “
a
ncestry.”

“You
’
re lucky to be a
Strayer
.  T
hey are one of the strongest
herds
.”

“Really?”

She
smiled sweetly
, “
I’ve watched all the Centaurs vying for your attention tonight. 
It’s
hard
to choose which
herd
to join
.  T
rust me,
I was where you are recently. 
I just picked Drake a month ago
.”

“The choosing process still seems so foreign to me
, but I guess there isn’t a rush
.”

“I imagine you had people breaking down your door when news spread of your a
rrival
.”

“The front door
’
s still intact, but I did
meet
a bunch of men to
day.”  I leaned in and did my best to keep my voice low, “Is it true there’s no dating
,
or was Brent pulling my leg
?”

Conspiratorially she answered,
“Yeah, you window shop for a while
,
and you can go on
a
chaperoned date
,
but
even
those are frowned on.”

“Why?”

“Because if you go on a couple dates with a guy
and
then decide he’s not the right one, it almost looks like a rejection.  If a Centaur is rejected by a
Centauride
, other
Centauride
s might not think to give him a chance.
  Why take someone else’s reject when there are so many to choose from.
”

“And once you choose,
then
there’s no changing your mind?
”

“No, it’s a final decision.”

“
How long did it take you to decide?”

Her eyes darted to Drake,
I’m sure to see if he
was still engrossed in conversation with Brent.  “It was the hardest decision of my life
. 
I agonized over it for weeks.”

“Weeks?  That doesn’t seem like a long time.” 
I realized we were whispering
,
and this was obviously not a conversation she wanted to share with her future husband.  I motioned for her to step away from the table
,
and she quickly followed my lead.  Both Brent and Drake stood up when they realized Bianca and I were going for a walk.  I shot them both a look and motioned for them to stay at the table.
  They did.

We strolled across the grounds and were well beyond everyone’s earshot before she spoke again.  “From the time I was sixteen I had men anxiously hoping I’d choose them.  I went to college first
.  M
y mom told me she picked my dad at sixteen
,
and although she loved him and didn’t regret her decision, she knew that the things that were important at sixteen were
different
at
twenty-two
.”

“So you’re
twenty-two
?”

“Yes. 
These last few months almost killed me
. 
I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer
.  My father had already
made it pretty clear that he was going to arrange a marriage.  I was terrified of who he might pick.  He started bringing Centaur men home for dinner; all of them seemed to look at me like I was a piece of meat.  I couldn’t take the chance
,
so I
made my decision last month
.”