Blood Debt (Touched Series Book 1) (43 page)

Gage and
I were already seated for breakfast when
Zandra
joined us.  I didn’t wait to be spoken to
.  My night with Drake gave me strength for another day with my captor
,
“Good morning, Grandmother.  I hope you slept well.”

“I did, Camille.  Thank you for asking.”  She turned her attention to Gage, “Is there something you’d like to tell me, Gage?”  It was such a strange
sensation.  She was warm to me, but
when she spoke to Gage, her voice had turned to ice.

Gage
realized something was wrong
.  H
is charm began to waiver as he shakily
responded
, “
I can’t think of anything pressing to tell you.  I spoke to father last night
.  H
e sends his best.”

“Hmmph,” was her re
ply
.
  She was frustrated with something and announced,
“
I think we all need to go to the garden this morning.
”
  She motioned for us to stand up
;
Gage and I did without hesitation.  I desperately wanted to read his thoughts to find out what caused the change in
Zandra
,
but I didn’t want to do it in front of her. 
I had only successfully done it once before
,
and I hadn’t seen
Phineas
since.  I worried I had done it wrong
,
and maybe our conversation had been discovered
by Zandra
.

We
took a seat
on the bench together as
Zandra
pulled up a chair.  “Have either of you heard the teaching of Aphrodite and
her gift to
Unice?”

I shook my head that I hadn’t and sat up straighter.  I hadn’t taken a shock from the stupid necklace in a day and a half and wasn’t about to start today with one.  I had a strange feeling that unlike the other stories she had told me, I needed to pay close attention to this one.

Chapter 3
2

“Unice was a
Centauride
.  S
he was exquisite
: 
l
ong flowing blonde hair, bright blue eyes, a kind smile and a soft heart.  She roamed the pastures of
Thessaly
with the other Centaurs.  Unice had the voice of an angel and often sang as she galloped along the countryside.  Her voice would
entice
strangers, beckoning them forward in search of the angel on earth
who
sang to the heavens.  One day
a human
,
a man, happened upon her pasture.  Her body was obscured by a large boulder
,
so he only saw the human
half of her beauty and heard the magic of her voice.  The man’s name was Winfield
.  H
e was so taken with her that he sat perfectly still, content to listen to the beautiful songs she sang.”

“Winfield came to the meadow for weeks
.  A
nytime he tried to come closer than his perch
,
she would disappear behind the rocks.  When the weeks turned into months
,
Winfield
confessed that he
was deeply in love with Unice.  Unice was sure when he found out what she was, the lust he felt for her would disappear. 
She stepped out from behind the rocks she had hidden behind and showed her whole body to Winfield.” 

Winfield cried out to her,
begged her not to leave
,
and
professed his love for her.  The two spent their days and nights together, deeply in love but unable to be together.  Unice wept one evening and Aphrodite saw her tears and felt her heartbreak.  Aphrodite took pity on the couple that was so deeply in love and changed Unice to a human.  Unice was the first Centaur to be changed from a
Centauride
to a
h
uman, years before Zeus gave his gift to the Cent
aurs
.”

Zandra
looked squarely at Gage, “Has your father ever shared that story with you?”

He nodded, “Yes, he has
, m
any times.”

“Do you know why the story of Unice and Winfield is so important to your family?”

“It’s just a legend, M
is
s
Zandra
. 
It is a
fable for lovers
who
think the
ir challenges are insurmountable
, that love can conquer all.”

“No!!”
Zandra
screamed.  “It is not a fable
.  I
t is your heritage, Gage.”

Gage said nothing
. 
Zandra
was furious with him when she continued, “Imagine my elation when I find out my
granddaughter
,
one of the few livi
ng
Centauride
s
in Ch
iron
’
s
blood line is going to marry
a
Centaur in the Winfield blood line?”

“That’s right, M
is
s
Zandra
.  I believe my father is pleased with our betrothal for the same reason.
”

I was interested in the story,
partly because the story tied to a living breathing person.
I directed my question to Zandra, rather than Gage, “So is Gage a pure-blood
ed
Centaur?”

Gage looked embarrassed by my question
. 
I’d meant no offense, but after all her lessons over the last six weeks, I didn’t know what to make of the story.
  Zandra answered, “Winfield was human.  Aphrodite’s magic transformed Unice to a woman, but the
blood line
remains Centaur
,
and it retains Aphrodite’s magic.”

I smiled at Gage, who I worried might have
been offended
with my question on his ancestors, and ribbed him good naturedly, “So you have
love
magic.  Am I under your spell?”

Through clenched teeth, Gage answered, “
As much as I am u
nder yours, Darling.”
  He wasn’t offended
.  H
e was trying to maintain his composure, hiding the humor behind a stoic expression.
   

Zandra interrupted our private joke,
“So, tell me, Gage.  Why is it that this morning I saw a woman
,
other than my granddaughter
,
slip from your room when she believed no one was near?”

Alarm
spread o
n Gage’s face
;
he stayed
silent
.
 
Zandra
turned her attention on me, “Did you know that
Bianca
spent the night with
Gage
?”

I should have denied it.  I should have played dumb waiting for Gage to think of a reasonable excuse.  I knew I needed to choose my words wisely, as I was acutely aware that the necklace was unforgiving. 
I kept my voice even and strong,
“Grandmother, I was aware. 
They spent the night together
with my blessing.”
  Gage’s expression
moved from alarm to shock
. 
I think he believed my honesty would enrage the necklace.

Zandra screeched,
“What?!  You
allowed this?”  I could feel the necklace pulsing with energy.  It had to have reacted to her fury
,
but I didn’t receive a shock.  I strained the muscles in my neck in anticipation of the electric charge
,
but nothing
happened
.

In a gentle tone, careful to be absent of any hostility, I answered,
“Bianca is my dear friend.  She tried to choose Gage
,
but her mother wouldn’t permit it. 
Gage
has accepted your
invitation
to be my husband, but until we are bound by marriage, he has my blessing to see Bianca.”

She turned her rage on Gage, “It is you!  You are the one
who
interferes with Camille’s
d
estiny.  I have put the necklace of
obedience
around my granddaughter’s neck
,
and it was you whose fate was fallible.
  It is your unwillingness to commit that leaves her destiny undecided!
”

“M
is
s
Zandra
, I will honor my commitment to Camille.  I am ashamed that you so easily read my desires for
Bianca
and misinterpreted them as intentions by Camille.  Camille will make a good wife
,
and she does not deserve to wear th
is
necklace of
obedience
you have put on her
.”

Zandra
eyed him suspiciously.  “You mean to tell me, you have hoped for another woman while staying at my estate
, then brought that woman here?
   That is why I keep seeing a man other than you in Camille’s future?”  Gage was definitely braver than I was
. 
I checked my mind’s brickwall – it was intact
.  There was nothing to contradict Gage’s confession or augment it with one of my own. 

Zandra
glared at both of us
.  S
he stomped out of the garden and slammed the door to the house.  I asked
tentatively
, “Now what?”

“Now, we wait.  Why would you tell her it was with your blessing?”

“It was the truth.
  The necklace didn’t zap me.
”

“You knew
we were getting together
?
”

“
I assumed
you and Bianca had the same arrangement as Drake and
I did
.
  You choreographed the
perfect arrangement for
both of us
.
  Thanks, by the way.
”

Gage chuckled at me, “Well, our midnight rendezvous may be over for a while.”

“Did you mean what you said to
Zandra
?”

“What
part
?”

“That you’ll honor your commitment to me.  You’re still going through with it?”

“We don’t have a recourse
,
do we?”

“Ten minutes ago I would have said that we didn’t, but given her reaction, I wonder if there isn’t a shred of decency in her.”

Gage looked surprised by my statement,
“How do you mean?”

“She didn’t seem pleased about her decision to put this stupid necklace on me.  If we can get her to take it off, I’ll leave.  Not just the estate, I’ll leave the country if I have to.”

“
Zandra
would find you.”

“She never found my mother.”  I
wondered if Gage knew our parents had once been betrothed. 
“My mom ran away on her wedding night and was never found.”

“I knew that much, but I think that had more to do with my
d
ad
protecting your mom than anything else
. 
He really loved
her
.  He’s told me about Angela my whole life.  Even my mom doesn’t mind him telling the stories.”

Chapter 33

I felt my eye muscles flex,
“
No way!
”

“Yeah. 
She told Dad her greatest wish was to be free of Centaurs.  She said she wanted to be human.
 
He thought
her wish, left ungranted while it was within his power to honor it
,
could destroy Aphrodite’s magic. 
Dad
set her free then put a protective spell over her.
 
You should have seen him t
he night that he found out she’d had a child with another Centaur after he gave up his most powerful magic to protect her – he was pissed!
”

“
Was that the night of
Bruce’s
wedding, when I met him?”

“Yeah, I think so.  You have to understand, he seriously loved your mom.  But your mom was so freaked from growing up with
Zandra
that he couldn’t force her to marry him.  It just wasn’t in him.  The night of the wedding
,
he told her he’d protect her from
Zandra
- g
ave her a plane ticket, an apartment
,
cash
, a new identity
and sent her away
.”