Blood Debt (Touched Series Book 1) (26 page)

My phone rang again.  I looked at the screen and saw it was Bianca
calling
.  I took a deep breath, ready to answer
, but
chickened out at the last second.  I pushed ignore, then plugged it in to the charger and turned the ringer off. 

“Mom, if you can hear me, I need to know what I’m doing wrong.  Gretchen said you were right there the whole time
today
.  W
hy can’t I see you?
  Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me for finding Will?  I need to know if this Centaur stuff is for real.”  I didn’t move
. 
I tried using all my senses just like Gretchen told me to, but nothing.  “I need some answers
.  My whole l
ife I never asked you for anything
. 
I’m asking you for this now.
”  My voice broke; I could barely hear my own words when I whispered, “Please just let me see you.
”
I looked in every corner of the room and saw nothing.  “Dammit, Mom. 
Hannah said I’m going to lose someone,
” I felt tears threatening to erupt
. 
I choked them back, “
I
f it’s you
,
before I find you . . . then . . . it’s game over.  I can’t lose you twice.
  Help me.
”

Absolute silence
wa
s all I heard.  The scent of the fresh flowers from the dresser was all I could smell.  I saw nothing.  I cried myself to sleep as my mind replayed Hannah’s warning.  Somehow, someway, I would find a way – no matter how long it took. 

I woke up Tuesday morning to sunshine pe
e
king through my window.  I took a deep breath
and smelled warm cinnamon rolls
: 
they coaxed me out of bed and t
o
another full day of wasted trying. 
I may not have been able to communicate with my mom, but I found that I totally liked Gretchen.  She had the patience of a saint
,
and every time
she’d see me start to get frustrated
,
she’d find a way to lighten the mood.

When my brothers arrived home
Tuesday night
, I steered clear of Brent.  I just didn’t want a repeat of last night.  Beau
o
ffered to take me for a walk.  We were outside and several hundred feet away from the house
before he said anything.

“So, I get the feeling you aren’t very happy here.”

“I’m fine.”

“You know, I’d believe you if you had any acting ability at all.  Didn’t you grow up in California? Don’t they
teach
acting classes there
in school
?”

I couldn’t help but smile at his attempt at humor.  “I’m just frustrated with myself.”

“Anything I can do?”

“Yeah, tell me what I’m doing wrong.  Gretchen’s tried everything under the sun
,
and I still can’t talk to my mom’s spirit.”

“Maybe you’re trying too hard.”

“Maybe I’m not really a
Centauride
.”

Beau looked me straight in the eye.  “Camille, it takes some time.  You can’t snap your fingers and expect
twenty-two
years of repressing your gifts
to suddenly disappear.  They won’t materialize out of t
hin air.”

“That’s the thing, Beau.  I don’t know that I ever repressed anything.  I’ve never had any special powers.  I wouldn’t care that I didn’t have them if every woman around me couldn’t easily do the one thing I can’t.”

“
Awww, that’s not true.  There’s lots of
Centauride
things you can’t do.”  Beau mock punched me in the shoulder, “Even if you stay broken forever, we’ll always claim you.”

“If you’re trying to cheer me up, newsflash:  You suck at it!”

“I’m not used to these little sister pep talks.  Maybe I need more practice, too.”  Beau took me in a tight bear hug and whispered, “Things’ll work out for
ya
.  H
ang in there.  It’s only been a couple days.”

My left eye leaked at his encouraging words
. 
I wiped it away hard.  “Yeah, you’re right.  I think I’m going to turn in early, see if maybe I have better luck tomorrow.”

Beau nodded, “If you ever need someone to vent to, I’m always here for you, Cami.”  It struck me
tenderly;
Beau was the first person in my family to call me “Cami.”  Camille always felt so formal
. 
I’d us
ed it more and more as I’d gotten older, but still preferred “Cami.” 

I found myself staring at my ceiling for the third night in a row.  Both Daniel and Bianca had called today
,
but I
didn
’t call either of them back.  I couldn’t call Bianca because I still didn’t have a clue about how to tell her or even if I should tell her about what happened on the boat.  I couldn’t call
Daniel because he would be
furious with me for not calling Bianca.  Tomorrow would be better
.  I
t had to be.
  

Chapter 21

Bianca
- Wednesday
  
 

My plan
had worked
, better than I could have ever hoped.  Although I had chosen Drake, I knew fate had chosen another for him.
  Grace told me of their intertwined
futures
.  S
he cautioned me not to interfere, to let them find each other
. 
I just needed to make sure Camille and Drake were given enough opportunities
alone together
to realize the same destiny.   I genuinely liked Camille
,
and my words to her the night of Bruce and Hannah’s wedding were absolutely true
.  N
o matter what choices she or I made in life, we would remain best friends. 
If I could just get her to meet with me
,
I could do a little more nudging in
Drake’s
direction.  I looked at my phone
. 
I was getting close to being a stalker.  I’d left her seven voice messages and not one was returned. 

I made up my mind that if she wouldn’t pick up the phone today,
I’d go see her
.
I hated pretending that
I didn’t know they were destined for one another.  When I was forced to make my decision and I couldn’t have the man I loved, I did the next best thing.  I chose his closest friend, knowing if anyone were to back out on a wedding, Drake would be the most likely.  Truthfully, I was a little surprised that he accepted my parents
’
offer to begin with.  It was sheer luck that Camille appeared out of thin air, and more fortunate still when Grace called me in a panic Saturday morning to tell me not to let Camille and Drake meet at the wedding.  In Grace’s words, “If the two touch, their fates will be sealed
.  T
he two are destined for each other.”  Little did Grace know that I had no desire to settle down with Drake and only too happily
would
arrange for the two of them to meet.

Drake was handsome and everything, but I really only chose him because of his friendship with the love of my life. 
I didn’t know Camille that well, but Grace was adamant that the two of us would become the closest of friends.  Saturday night, I’d shared with
Camille
that Drake hadn’t been my first choice.  After I’d told her
,
I began to wonder if I may have shared too much – she was the only person in the world that I had shared the truth with
. 

Even without Camille in the picture,
I knew I could string Drake along for years if I had to, to come up with a way to make
the destiny that I wanted
work. 
Drake
would never pressure me, nor would he feel it necessary to
begin our relationship before our marriage. 

The ache I felt for
Gage
was too much. 
I couldn’t put it off any longer
. 
I needed to hear his voice
. 
I hadn’t
heard
it
in a month
. 
H
e answered my call in a gruff voice
, “You shouldn’t be calling me
, Bianca.
”

“Hello,
Sweetheart
, do you miss me?”

“
Don’t call me Sweetheart
.  Y
ou’re engaged, Bianca
, remember?
  W
hy are you calling me
,
anyway
?
”

“
It’s just one old
friend calling another
.
”

“It’s cheating, that’s what it is.  I’m not having any part of it.”

“I just wanted to hear your voice.  It seems like forever.”

There was a really long pause,
then
he finally whispered, “Why?” 
I could hear it in his voice, his feelings for me were as strong as ever
.

“Why, what?”

“
Don’t play dumb. 
Why Drake?  He
was
my best friend.  You couldn’t have picked some schmuck
?  Y
ou had to choose Drake?”

“I had to choose
,
and I’d been forbidden from you.  I didn’t want someone
who
I could ever have feelings for.  We’re going to work this out, I promise.
  It’s still you.
”

“I can’t do that to him, Bianca.”  His words stung
.  T
he month since news spread of my engagement to Drake had to have been hard on him, but no harder than it had been on me
. 

I tried to reassure him,
“It’ll work out, I promise.”

His words were clear, concise, and full of pain,
“You can’t call me anymore
, Bianca
.  It’s over.
  We’re over.
”

“It’s not over.  I won’t let it be over.”

“You’ve already chosen.  If you reject him now, his
blood line
’s
finished
.  N
o one will ever have him
and you’ll owe him a blood debt
.
 
You can’t do that to him, Bianca.
This thing between you and
me -
we’re done.
”

“Let me worry about that.  Just don’t go strutting around where another
Centauride
can see you
.  I
f another chose you
,
my heart would break.”

“
Yeah, that’s not going to happen. 
It’s always been you, Bianca.  My whole life,
all I ever wanted was
you.”  He hung up.  It felt like he
had
reached into my chest
,
pulled out my heart and squeezed it like
P
lay
D
oh.  He was right.  I should
never
have chosen Drake
.
  I should have stood my ground against my mother’s wishes, but it was too late to undo what I’d already done.
 

I wanted to buy time, figure out a way to
be with
Gage
.
 
I
had refused to consider what
would happen to Drake once I announced I’d changed my mind
. 
I knew
Drake well enough to know
that if I backed out,
he wouldn’t demand a
blood debt
because of his friendship with my real first choice. 
But i
f I could just get Camille to convince
Drake
to break our engagement
, everything would work out perfect
ly
.  M
y mother would give me her blessing no matter
whom
I chose
,
to avoid the embarrassment of a jilted daughter.
 

My next call was to Camille
.  T
hankfully,
she picked up right away,
“Hello?”
 

“Hi Cami, what’re we doing today?”

“Bianca?”

“Well, duh.  How many other people call you for a girl’s day out?”