It was Brent’s voice on the other side of the door, “You okay, Camille?”
“Come on in, I’m just getting some rest.”
“You’ve been doing a lot of resting. Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Gretchen and I were working on stuff today, and I needed a break.”
“Do you want to do anything tonight?”
“Like what?”
“That sounded like a yes.”
“That sounded like a ‘what did you have in mind?’”
“You’ve been stressed since Bruce’s wedding. Let’s go blow off some steam.”
“Doing what?”
“I’ll think of something. Let’s get out of here.” I was thrilled to see his idea of blowing off steam and mine were one and the same. He pulled up outside Frankie’s Fun Park and made a straight line to the Go Karts. This was exactly what I needed.
We took several trips around the track. A guy in a blue Go Kart with shoulder-length hair, wearing a skater t-shirt and a big grin, kept purposely rubbing the side of his Kart against mine at every opportunity. I could tell he was flirting, but it was harmless and kind of cute. Brent was on the other side of the track, but I felt his eyes watching us. A few more turns and I saw the white flag indicating our time was almost up. I took a couple sharp corners and felt my side wheels lift off the track. When I pulled into the pits, the guy from the blue Go Kart caught up to me and said, “What are you, Mario Andretti’s daughter?”
“Not unless Andretti doubles as a financial manager.”
“Nice moves back there.” He held out his hand, “I’m Jack.”
“Hi Jack, I’m Camille.” Brent emerged from his car and was at my side in seconds. I could see Jack got the wrong idea and thought Brent and I were a couple. I didn’t see any reason to contradict the conclusion he’d drawn. With everything else going on in my life, I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend – Centaur or human.
I didn’t introduce Brent, but Jack opted for a quick getaway, “It was nice to meet you. Maybe I’ll see you around.” Jack turned around and was gone in a flash.
I pretended to be upset with Brent, “Well, that was a little rude, don’t ya think?”
“Guys like that are a dime a dozen. You’re a Centauride – you’re out of his league.”
“I don’t know—he was cute.” I fished in my pocket and pulled out a coin, “Here’s a nickel – I’ll take six.”
“You drive me crazy, you know it?”
“Oh stop it. It’s not like I’ve never been on a date before, and besides, it was just flirting.”
“Camille, you can’t date.”
“No. I can’t marry anyone. There’s a big difference. I’m not in the market for a husband. I can date whoever the heck I want.”
“Not a human.”
“Hello, I’ve already dated humans. I’ve never dated a Centaur, but it can’t be that different.”
“Humans? So you weren’t kidding? You’ve dated more than one person?” Brent was not at all impressed.
“Well, not at the same time, but, yeah. Believe it or not, it’s pretty common. If you wouldn’t have appeared out of thin air, I might have had a date with that guy.”
“Well, don’t let me cramp your style. Why don’t I take you over to the college? You can date the whole football team.”
“Cool, do you think I could get better seats that way?” I thought we were joking around, until I noticed Brent was fully pissed off. Most people would have stopped right there, but once I knew how angry he was, I couldn’t help but keep pushing his button. “Did I hear on the radio that there’s a hockey team here? I bet if I were dating the whole team, I could ride the bus to the away games.”
“You aren’t funny!”
“Oh, come on, I’m hysterical. You should see yourself right now. It looks like that little vein on the side of your head is getting ready to rupture.”
“Don’t kid about stuff like that. You can’t date humans.”
“Brent, I’m an adult. I can date anyone I want. I just can’t commit to anyone until Gage Richardson finds someone else to marry him.”
“Isn’t the whole purpose of dating to find a husband?”
“Uh, no. Dating is about going out and having fun with someone who likes doing the same things you do. Once you get to the point that you can’t live without that person – that’s when marriage discussions begin.”
“You don’t have to date. You’ve got me. We like doing the same things, and you don’t have to worry about me having romantic feelings for you.”
“That’s not dating, that’s hanging out with my brother, and no offense, but if that’s what I have to look forward to for the next five years, I need to find a fast moving car and a tree. Liking someone in a romantic way isn’t a bad thing.”
“It is when you can’t act on it.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to do it the normal way? Find a girl you like, regardless of who her grandparents were? Go out and have fun.”
“I can’t.”
“You won’t. Do you see her, over there, in the green capris?” There was a gorgeous brunette who was sitting at a table, reading a book and sipping on an Icee, off by herself, oblivious to the action all around her. “Go talk to her. She won’t bite you. You might even find that she’s fun to hang out with.”
“Have you heard anything I’ve said?”
“Yeah, and I think it’s a crock of crap. Love can’t be dictated or treated like a business deal. It’s in your heart. If you don’t follow your heart, how are you ever going to be happy?”
“I’d be so happy to know that I was responsible for our bloodline coming to an end.”
“Bruce already took one for the team. You four are free to do whatever you want.”
“You’re right, and I want to do things the traditional way.”
“Okay, but don’t look down your nose at me for not buying into the whole bloodline thing.”
Brent wasn’t as angry as he had been, but I guessed he knew he wasn’t going to win this argument, so he stopped trying. As we were walking toward the gate, the girl in the green capris looked up from her book and smiled at Brent; he lost his stride and nearly tripped. I jabbed him in the rib with my elbow and offered to get her number for him.
His only response to me was a glare. Had it come from anyone else, it would have shrunk me two inches on the spot.
Brent didn’t want to go anywhere else. We got into the car; he turned up the stereo and headed straight back to the house. I tried to read his mind, not certain that I wanted to know what he was thinking, but I kept coming up empty. I got the feeling that he was going to say something important, but we were in the driveway, and he still hadn’t said a word. I wondered if I touched him, like I did Drake, maybe I could read his mind, too. I lost my nerve – I wasn’t sure what he’d think of me purposely trying to read his mind. Tomorrow I’d have to ask Gretchen about etiquette when it came to listening to other’s thoughts.
As he shut off the car, I broke the silence, “I asked Gretchen about the Lost Herd today.”
“You what?!”
“You didn’t tell me I wasn’t supposed to.”
Brent let out a heavy sigh, “What’d she say?”
“She told me I wasn’t supposed to ask and some stuff about a Centaur named Rupert that killed his own kids.”
“Rupert? She said his name was Rupert?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I need to show you something.”
Chapter 20
Camille Benning – Charleston, SC
Blood Debt Page 21