Blood Debt (Touched Series Book 1) (27 page)

“Yeah, I’m not really up for anything today.  Maybe tomorrow?”
  Her voice was strained with distress.

“How about I come over to your house and help you practice?”

“No!  I mean
. . .
I’ve been working with Gretchen
,
and I’m a little spent.” 

I smiled to myself.  Camille was too much of a rookie to know
I
could tap into her thoughts when she wasn’t blocking.
  I cringed when I thought that Gretchen
might know
what had happened
Sunday
between Camille and Drake
on the boat
. 
I’d been thrilled that things went as well as they did on the deck between the two
of them
,
but I should have warned her about “broadcasting” her thoughts
. 

She and Drake
j
ust needed a little more prodding
.  “Oh, come on.  If you don’t practice
,
you’ll never be proficient.  I’ll be over in an hour.”
  I hung up the phone before she had a chance to
argue
. 
 
 

 
   
  
****

When Camille ushered
me
into her family room
,
I could see she was a nervous wreck. 
She av
oided
my eyes like a guilty child.  I pretended not
to
know why.  “Camille, I get the sense that you’re upset about something.  Are you okay?”

“
Call me Cami
.  A
ll my friends do. 
I’m fine, just worn out from working with Gretchen this morning.”
  She was lying to me
. 
I wasn’t offended because I knew why
– she was so worried I’d find out she had feelings for Drake
.
 
I was nearly bursting to tell her that
nothing could make me happier.
  I knew I couldn’t share with her what Grace had told me, but I could let her in on my plan.
 

“Can I share something with you
, Cami
?”

Still disturbed, she answered,
“
Uh . . . sure
.”

“Promise you won’t tell anyone?”

“Sure.  Cross my heart.”  Cami made a
n
invisible cross over her heart
.  T
hat was cute
;
I hadn’t seen anyone do that since I was a kid. 

“You broadcast your thoughts really loudly.  Has anyone t
aught
you how to block them?”

I saw her eyes turn into saucers,
“Uh . . . no
.  N
o one has told me how
not
to broadcast.”

“Would it be okay if we worked on th
at
for a few minutes
?”

“Uh sure
.  W
ill you be able to read my thoughts while y
ou’re teaching me to block them?
”  I kept seeing images of Drake flicker in her mind only to be replace
d
by images from
Titanic
.
  She was trying
hard to keep the Drake images to herself, intentionally thinking about something else.
I
could see the anguish on her face.  I
would have to let her in on my plan
sooner rather than later
.  Her
guilt over her
feelings for Drake w
as
tearing her up
,
and if she didn’t get this under control
,
she’d kill my whole plan in the process
. 

“Imagine a brick wall
.  C
an you see it?”  Cami
closed her eyes
,
and I saw it through her mind.  “Good, do you see all the different color
ed
bricks you used, the thick mortar closing in all the gaps be
tween
the bricks
?
”  She nodded again that she could see this image.  “Perfect, now keep that image of the brick wall in front of your thoughts.”  I waited a minute or so and saw the fortress Cami had built in her mind, thick and tall, keeping her thoughts carefully stored behind it.  “Okay, Brent told me about your new Beamer
.  I
magine that sedan, what it looks like, how the leather feels, the new car scent, but keep all of it behind the wall.”  It was working
. 
I couldn’t see
anything but her wall
. 

We tried several other things
: 
mashed potatoes and gravy with a thick cut of beef, the sun on her face as she
lay
out by the ocean.  Each of these images
,
I knew
,
was
dear to her
,
and she was able to keep each of them from me.
  I hated to do it to her, but I needed to be sure she could keep her defenses up.  “Now think of sitting on the deck of the yacht
Sunday
with Drake.” 
H
er brick wall crumbled
,
and I saw the image she’d been trying to hide from me.  I pretended not to know it was there and instructed, “Rebuild the wall, Cami.  You can do it
.  E
nvision the bricks, all the different colors, its height, its depth, the mortar.  Can you see it again?”

I could see her brick wall a second time
,
but it wasn’t as sturdy as it had been a few minutes ago.  I could feel Gretchen in the house.  I knew she wasn’t paying attention to what we were doing
,
but I also knew her curiosity would get the better of her
soon
, so
we needed to practice elsewhere.  “Come on, let’s try this outside for a while.”  Cami was horrified
.  S
he was pretty sure I’d seen the image in her mind and was worried what I would do.  I could feel her fear
, not
the
fear of physical harm but of losing her only friend. 
I tried to reassure her,
“It’s okay
,
Cami
.  R
emember when I told you there is no decision either of us will make that will ever come between us?  I meant it
.  L
et’s go.”

Reluctantly, Cami stepped out into the sunshine.
We walked to the far corner of the property
where a lonely wooden gazebo stood
off by itself
.  It was flanked by wildflowers that se
emed to grow in every direction
,
inviting us to share their breeze.  The setting was a perfect place to
continue practicing her brick wall.  After an hour she was nearly exhausted
,
but she was able to maintain it no matter what I said to her.

I leaned against
the wall
,
not sure how to begin.  “You know how I said telling someone too much of their future had a way of interfering with fate?”

“Sure.”

“I know how you feel about Drake.”  Camille wouldn’t look at me, so I kept talking.  “Cami, I’m not mad.  Drake’s a great guy.  I think I know how both of us can get exactly what we want.”  She eyed me cautiously
,
and if the tables were turned
,
I would probably have the same
skepticism
.
 
“If you can get Drake to break our
engagement, my mother would be mortified
- s
o mortified that she would let me choose the man I have wanted all along.”

“Drake wouldn’t do that to you.  He promised me
,
never again, Bianca.  I’m so sorry
. 
I didn’t mean to kiss him
. 
I would take it back if I could.”

“You aren’t listening to me, Cami.  If you can convince him to break the engagement, you can choose him.”

“I can’t.”

“You could try.”

“No, you don’t understand.  I can’t choose anyone for five years.”

“What are you talking about?  You can choose anyone you want, whenever you want
– that’s every
Centauride
’s
prerogative
.”

“Not after
the night of Bruce and Hannah’s wedding
.  I owe a blood
debt to Kyle Richardson.  He isn’t going to force me to marry his son, at least not right away, but if h
is son
hasn’t been chosen by a
Centauride
by his twent
y
-
n
inth
birthday, I have to choose him.”

“Gage Richardson?  You’re Gage Richardson’s backup?”

“Yeah, I never thought of myself as a ‘Plan B
,
’ but I guess that’s fair.  So my convincing Drake to break the engagement with you wouldn’t guarantee that I could choose him.  Besides I hardly know him,
so
even if I could
-
I don’t know that I would
.  I don’t even like him
.”

“You don’t like
Drake
?”

“No!
” I couldn’t tell if she said it more to convince herself or me.  “
Bianca, I swear, I don’t know how it happened on Sunday.  I. . . it wasn’t something. . . he just. . .” She couldn’t finish her thought
,
and I couldn’t finish it for her. 

I didn’t want to put her on the defense, so I asked gently,
“What don’t you like about Drake?”

“I hardly know him.  He’s
your
fiancé.”

I realized I rolled my eyes at her, but I
couldn’t help it
.  “Cami, I told you Saturday, I only chose Drake because I couldn’t choose the man I wanted.”
 

Cami told me in a
not so empathetic way,
“Then you must not have loved him, either.  If you did, n
othing would have stopped you.”

“You have no idea how much pressure was put on me.  I had to make a decision
,
and I know I made the wrong one.  Drake’s handsome, he’s strong, he’s honest
,
and if you give him a chance, you might decide that you do like him.”

“Yeah, right.  I want a guy
who
goes around putting the moves on other women?  No
,
thanks
.  I
f I wanted someone like that, I’d
still be dating my last boyfriend
.
  If you don’t want to marry him, call it off
– but leave me out of it
.
”

This was the point
when
I wanted to strangle Cami.  “Right, I know you still have this idea that you’re human and can go roll in the hay with any guy
who
catches your fancy, but that isn’t your reality anymore.
  I can’t just break the engagement with him
,
either.
”

Cami stood up straighter, looked me square in the eye and blasted, “I don’t care who my parents are or what the traditions are.  Other than potentially getting stuck with Gage Richardson, I’ll see who I want, when I want
,
and nobody is going to force me to be or not to be with anyone.”

I tried to diffuse her frustration,
“Cami, I’m not forcing Drake on you.  I’m asking you to give him a chance.”

Her stance softened a little, “What’s the point?  Even if I did like him, or better yet, even if I fell madly in love with him – then what?  I think the whole idea of choosing is stupid, but I couldn’t choose him even if I wanted to.  Remember, Gage Richardson?”

“Gage is who I chose
,
but my mother wouldn’t give me her blessing.  Do you see how perfect this is?  If you can get Drake to break the engagement, I can choose Gage, I’ll get my mom’s blessing, and you would be free to choose Drake.”

“
Have you listened to anything I said?  I’m not choosing anyone.
  If he breaks his engagement with you and I don’t choose him, then his
blood line
is lost.
  That
’s not going to be on me
. 
I’m not signing on for any of this
.
”

I wanted to smack her at that moment.  I wanted to tell her I knew she was destined for him
, that Grace had seen the two of them together
, but d
oing so could screw up everything. 
“Maybe if you got to know Drake a little better?
  No pressure.  Just give him a chance.
”