I needed to make the call: a promise was a promise. I was hoping to get his voicemail, but no luck; he picked up on the third ring. The voice who answered said, “Daniel’s Orphanage. You make ‘em, we take ‘em.”
I looked at the phone to make sure I’d dialed the right number. “Uh, Daniel, it’s Beau.”
“Shit, I didn’t recognize your number. Sorry, man.”
Daniel was a good friend of Cami’s. He’d been driving the whole family crazy trying to get in touch with her the last couple months. As a way to get him to back off, I told him that as soon as I heard anything about Cami, I’d call him. I chuckled, “How many people hang up on you when you answer the phone like that?”
He grunted. “Usually only friends stay on the line. What’s going on?”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “She was here for a couple hours last night.”
Daniel shouted, “She was there?! Where’s she now?”
“She flew out last night.”
“Where to? Back to San Diego?” His voice was hopeful. The two were close. Cami had only stayed with us for a week, but most of the funny stories she had shared involved Daniel. When Daniel didn’t hear from Cami for a few days, he flew here to Charleston to find her. Cami’s grandmother had kidnapped her and taken her to her estate in Florida. Daniel went into a psycho rage when he arrived and Dad told him she was gone.
“No. Calm down a minute. I told you I’d let you know as soon as I heard anything. She escaped from Zandra’s house last night. She stopped by here when I wasn’t home. I didn’t actually see her, but my mom and dad did. They chartered a jet for her, and she was gone before I got home from work last night.”
“Where is she?”
“I’m not sure. She’s got someone with her, so she’s okay.”
Disbelief engulfed his voice, “How do you know if she’s okay if you haven’t seen her, Beau?”
“My dad wouldn’t lie to me. Zandra doesn’t have her anymore.”
“And you believe him?” Daniel growled.
Daniel had taken a swing at my dad the night he came looking for Cami. It was actually more than a swing; he punched him square in the jaw. They had no love for each other; worse yet, both were suspicious of the other. Before I dialed, I knew that Daniel would need more of an explanation than I could give him. “I know you don’t care for my dad. I can understand why you think that, but he’s one of the good guys. He loves Cami and wouldn’t let anything happen to her.”
I could hear the doubt in his voice, “Don’t hand me that line of shit. She was kidnapped, and he didn’t do anything about it.”
I caught myself shaking my head at the phone. “Daniel, your dad talked to you, right?”
A heavy sigh echoed back at me. “I know what I am, Beau. But thanks for reminding me that I’m just a lowly human.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t think that way. Neither does Cami. But you know why Dad was a jerk to you?”
“It’s not up to him to decide who Cami’s friends are.”
“No, you’re right. But I saw it when you were here that night, and I hear it in your voice now. Cami is a lot more to you than some pal.” I paused, hating to say it, but he needed to know. “She’s found a full-blooded Centaur. She’s off the market, man.”
His response was sharp. “She was locked up for months! I’ve heard how this works. I’m sure she got free last night and your dad shoved some guy on her. That’s bullshit. Cami would never agree to it. She doesn’t take to people trying to run her life.”
“You’ve got it all wrong, Daniel. The Centaur she’s with helped her escape. He wasn’t chosen by Dad. Cami picked him. They flew out last night.”
“Where?” The wariness in his voice returned. I started to think this call wasn’t such a great idea after all.
“I don’t know where they went. I promised you if I heard anything, I’d call. She’s safe.”
Daniel’s voice quieted; I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or himself. “I was there you know. I went to Florida. The old bat wouldn’t let me see her.”
If Dad couldn’t get Cami out of Zandra’s grips, why would Daniel even try? He had to be clueless as to who Zandra was. The direct descendant of Chiron and Daniel tried to get tough with her? He’s lucky he’s still breathing. Rather than tell him he was an idiot, I said, “No, I didn’t know. When? And what would have possessed you to do that?”
“I had to do something, Beau. I couldn’t just sit on my hands and pretend everything was fine. I had to try.”
He couldn’t see me, but I nodded at him anyway. Pangs of guilt enveloped me. Daniel had gone on a suicide mission and survived. I hadn’t even tried to go after her. Not against Zandra. “Does your dad know?”
Daniel chuckled, “Oh yeah, he knows. He threatened to disown me if I set foot into his world again.”
“Your dad’s protecting you by telling you to stay away from Centaurs. There are things you don’t understand.”
Daniel snickered, “That’s the funny thing: the whole time I was growing up, Dad pretty much said his family didn’t exist. Now I find out there’s this other whole bunch of relatives who he talks to all the time, but I’m not good enough even to warrant an introduction. Screw ‘em. I don’t want to meet any of ‘em, anyway.”
While I was trying to figure out what to say, he added, “It wasn’t ‘til a year ago that I even found out about the Centaur thing, you know? Dad doesn’t want me anywhere near the pure-bloods.” He was trying to play it off like it was funny to him, but I could hear his bitterness when he said the word, “pure-bloods.”
“Daniel, I know it’s hard. Centaurs have been living this way forever. It isn’t you. It’s just tough to shake thousands of years of tradition. Look, I’m going to be in the same boat as your dad soon. I doubt I’ll see much of my family after a year from now. I’m sure it’s hard on him.”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. So, just because a female Centaur doesn’t choose you, you’re suddenly a lower class, not worthy to mingle with the pure-bloods?”
“You have to understand, it’s just our way. Like it or not, it’s your way, too. Most half-bloods don’t know anything about Centaurs. Your father could get in a bunch of trouble for telling you about Centaurs. The more you know, the greater your risk.”
“Risk from what? If I told anyone, they’d put me in a straight jacket. Besides, Cami and I are just friends. I’m not her boyfriend. I never have been, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit on the sidelines and let something happen to her again.”
My twenty-ninth birthday was last weekend. I didn’t want to wait around another year. I didn’t want to become one of those pathetic Centaurs – promising anything and being united with a Centauride whose hand was forced by her family. I couldn’t bear the thought of being married to somebody who only did it out of obligation. A plan began to form in my mind. Would I have the strength to put it into action?
I could leave. I could start a new life now: maybe start my own financial consulting business, forget that I was a Centaur, and escape from all the pressures that came with it. I was ready to live my life, even if it wasn’t the life my parents had always wanted for me. I took in a deep breath before I could chicken out and asked, “Hey, I was thinking of taking a trip out your way, but I don’t know anyone. Any chance you’d be willing to hang out with me for a couple days? Maybe show me around?”
Daniel’s voice was edgy, “Weren’t you listening? I’ve got to make sure Cami’s okay.”
“She’s not here. I don’t know where they are, but Dad hooked them up with passports, so I’m guessing they’ve left the country. How about I come to San Diego, you show me around, and by the time you’re sick of me, she’ll probably resurface.”
“Can’t you just ask your dad where she went?” he pleaded.
I couldn’t blame the guy, but what he didn’t understand was that I’d already asked Dad a hundred different ways before I made this phone call. I
f Dad knew where they went, he wasn’t telling anyone. “I already have, Daniel. If I stick around here, I’ll go nuts. The way Cami talked about San Diego, I want to check it out. Maybe I won’t miss her so badly if I’m there.”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” He paused for a minute before he asked, “You sure this isn’t some sort of Centaur hit squad thing?”
I couldn’t hold my laugh in if I’d wanted to, “You watch too much television, Daniel. We don’t have those, and if we did, would a hit squad call to tell you he’s coming to see you?”
“Yeah, I guess not.”
After Daniel and I hung up, I called the airport and bought my ticket. This was the first step; a shiver ripped through my body, as if warning me not to go. I had wrestled with the decision to carry on my family’s bloodline for months as it became more likely a Centauride would not choose me of her own free will. My family was more to me than the DNA we shared. Every happy memory in my life was tied to one of them.
The first time I got a hit in t-ball as a kid, Brent, still in diapers, had escaped Mom’s watchful eye and met me at home plate. The other team’s catcher didn’t want to hurt him. Brent refused to move out of the way, so I got a homerun, and, from then on, Brent was my good luck charm.
I remembered teaching Bruce how to surf. I was only a year older than he was. He must have been around seven and was terrified of the ocean. I held out a board to him, he took it and said, “If I drown, Dad’s going to be pissed at you.” He didn’t drown, and within a couple hours, he was giving me tips on how better to time catching the waves. Bruce was a natural, but any time someone complimented him, he always said, “Beau showed me that.”
Ben was three years younger than I was. He’d always been a little on the shy side, but at all of my games, it was his baritone voice I could hear over everyone else’s cheering me on. It was his shirtless painted body in the stands, shouting to me. I closed my eyes and could still picture it as if it were yesterday.
Bart’s first word was “Mom,” his second was “Bubba.” I was “Big Bubba” to Bart until he was well into first grade. I’d been helping him with his homework one evening, and I signed the sheet he needed to take back to school the following day. When Bart saw my name, Beau Strayer, he asked, “What’s that say?” I told him it was my name, and he got a sad look saying, “But, you’re my Big Bubba.”
Could I really just walk away from them? What would they think of me for not giving everything I had to finding a Centauride? Giving up on finding a Centauride meant I had given up on my family.
My eyes clouded as I remembered the last several phone calls sharing the news of recent betrothals. None had chosen me. I couldn’t take one more rejection. I couldn’t keep holding it together as my life unraveled around me. Leaving my family was more than just geography. If I went through with it and started a family with a human wife, my human family would never know my Centaur family.
I looked at the e-ticket staring at me on the computer. Monday morning I’d be on my way. I considered hitting the delete key, but a new emotion seeped into my consciousness: the idea to be free, to love who I chose to love, to have a career I wanted, to see the world through human eyes.
San Diego was as good a spot as any, and the transition might not be so hard if I had a pseudo-family to cling to. Now I just needed to find a way to break it to my family that I was done waiting; I was going to start a new life without them.
Acknowledgements
Blood Debt would not have been possible without the support of several incredible people. Linda Brant, my aunt, has painstakingly edited and polished Blood Debt. Rebecca Ufkes, Kris Kendall, Charles Young, Melissa Balentine and Jennifer Nunez volunteered to be Beta Readers—their feedback was invaluable.
Interestingly enough, I didn’t pick the title for this book or this series – I let friends and fans do that for me. Many thanks to Keren Spencer for naming the book Blood Debt and to Bridget Howard for naming the series Touched. It was quite an amazing feat when neither had read it, and I think you’ll agree they could not have come up with two more appropriate names!
The beautiful cover was designed by Amber McNemar at e-Think Graphics.
I wish there were a way to single out each of the independent authors out there who have helped and inspired me along the way, but a thank you to each one would be a book in itself. A few that I cannot leave out are: Shelly Crane, Rachel Higginson, Charlotte Abel, Amy Bartol and Shannon Dermott – each one has been an incredible inspiration to me and I highly recommend their books!
Book bloggers are the unsung heroes for indie authors. There have been many that I feel indebted. One that deserves a special place on this page is Mandy at: www.twimom101bookblog.blogspot.com. She has become a dear friend and is a true indie advocate.
Finally, my husband, Toby, has been supportive of my every adventure. Thanks for all the nights you made dinner and did homework so that I could follow my dream!
All my love,
Nancy
Blood Debt Page 44