Blood Debt (Touched Series Book 1) (14 page)

My whole life I had known the word.  It had always been in my vocabulary.  Never having called anyone that name, my eyes gave him my answer.  I could feel the glossiness and used all my willpower to keep them from leaking.  I could feel the enormous smile begging to be released along with the rouge tears.  I held it all in and simply replied, “Okay.”

W
hen
we
stepped off the front porch together, jitters threatened to envelope me
as I looked at all the people I didn’t know.  Will must have sensed how nervous I was
when he confessed, “Having found you is a dream come true for me.”
  It was exactly what I needed to hear.  His love for me gave me the strength I needed to
face all the strangers on the g
rounds.

I had been walking on air, floating three feet above the ground.  I w
as going to my brother’s wedding with my dad
tonight
- j
ust a short week ago, an event and a circumstance I would have never dreamed possible. 
The air I was floating on suddenly got too thin
,
and I felt my foot miss the bottom step.  I instinctively knew I was getting ready to do a face plant on the pavement in front of at least two hundred people I’d never met.  My arms flailed out to the sides as if I were a bird about to take flight.

Chapter
11

In that single second my mind was able to think clearly about three things: I was going to look like a complete idiot in front of everyone,
the impending
scab on my face would be both painful and embarrassing
,
and I was sure I would ruin this amazing dress.  It’s
laughable
how
quickly my mind
had all three complete thoughts as my eyes squinted and my arms flapped
in
mid-air
. 

Instead of the
rough
cement of the sidewalk, I felt two
strong,
calloused hands.  One cradled my face while the other
hooked under my
abdomen. 
Those two hands
lifted me up from my swan dive and placed me gently on my feet on the sidewalk. 
Initially I thought Will had caught me, but when I looked up
,
I saw those hands were at
tached to a
stranger
.  

I should have been embarrassed with my clumsiness, maybe a little awkward that such a hu
nk
of a man had just saved me from making a complete spectacle of myself in front of hundreds of people – but I didn’t.  Instead, my eyes took him in.  I was wearing shoes with at least a three inch he
e
l
,
and he still towered over me.  His eyes were
ice
blue – almost turquoise
.  His dark blonde hair was
short, and although impossible to see his frame th
rough his tux, his body took on a
“V”
shape
with broad shoulders
and a narrow wa
i
st
.  A g
reat smile spread wide on his face
. 
I waited for some smart-alecky remark about my gracefulness, but he
turned to Will and
said, “
I hope she’s all right.
” 

Amazed that I wasn’t a bloody mess,
“How did you catch me?  Where
’
d you come from?”

His warm smil
e grew into a Cheshire
c
at grin
, “I, uh, saw
her
falling.  Thought
she wouldn’t
want to spend
her
brother’s wedding in the emergency room.”

W
hen Will and I stepped off the porch, no one had been anywhere near us
. 
I knew because I was focused on all the people off in the distance
.  So unless this guy was the invisible man, he
had
literally materialized out of nowhere.
  It was strange, but he was looking at Will, not me. 
“Well, thanks.  I’m Camille.”  I held out my hand in an effort to shake his.

This handsome stranger looked at my hand, then to Will with a
frightened
look on his face.  Will
was
standing
at my side and casually slid his hand
over the top of
mine,
gently
pushing it down from where it hung in
mid-air
.  “Drake, we’re so glad you could come tonight and celebrate with us.  How is your father?”

Drake angled his body so that I was no longer in his direct line of si
ght
.  He answered Will
, “His construction business is doing well. 
He sends his regrets
that he couldn’t be here
.
”
  I didn’t know what to think
.  T
his Drake guy had caught me in mid-air but refused to accept my hand or allow me to thank him properly.  Instead he pretended as if I weren’t there.  After the welcoming I’d received from Gus and Chris earlier, this guy’s response to me had me dumbfounded. 

Will was all smiles when he said,
“I’ll make sure to catch up with him
soon
.  Thank you, Drake, for your quick action.”
 
Will’s eyes darted in my direction, making it clear that he was appreciative of Drake for not letting me swan dive into the cement. 
Will placed his hand on the small of my back and guided me forward
, away from Drake
.  Once we were several strides away, he leaned down and whispered to me, “I should have warned you. 
Betrothed m
en will not address you directly and under no circumstances will they physically come in contact with you.”

“
But he caught me in
mid-air
. 
I was just trying to say thanks.”

“
It’s okay
.  H
e’s not offended.  He knows you aren’t familiar with our customs.  I am sorry I wasn’t paying closer attention.  I didn’t realize you’d lost your footing until Drake had already caught you.”

“I didn’t even see him near us until he caught me.”

Will smiled and nodded, “Centaur men are very fast.”

“Like Superman fast?”

“Pshaw . . . Superman was
a comic strip character
. . .
But I guess that’s pretty accurate.  Most
Centaurs
can sprint short distances at the s
peed of sound.”

My mouth opened and my eyes widened
.  H
e couldn’t be serious.
  “The speed of sound?”

“Well, I could say ‘faster than a speeding bullet,’ but depending on the caliber and weapon the bullet is shot from, some bullets travel several times faster than the speed of sound.”

“You’re serious?”

“Camille, I know this is all new to you.  I rather hoped we would have been able to slowly immerse you into our ways, but now I wonder if we shouldn’t have assembled a handbook of some kind.”  Will’s smile never
wavered
,
but there must have been something else he desperately wanted me to know.  Just as he opened his mouth, he stopped and his posture abruptly changed
– his hand still resting on the small of my back was now rigid
. 

“William, it’s so nice to see you again.”  A tall, thin man, somewhere in his late forties or early fifties was walking directly toward us.  He stopped directly in front of Will with what I could only
describe
as a
forced
smile
.  “I’m happy that one of your sons is finally taking his place in the kingdom.  I genuinely hope your other
four
are not forced to settle
for
a human.
”

William ignored the snide comment and graciously said,
“
W
e’re very happy for Bruce, too.”

“
One is enough for your
blood line
,
so you have my heartfelt congratulations.”

“
Thank
you
.
”
  Will was looking around the yard and out to the grove
. 
I recognized the look
: 
he was planning a getaway from this guy.
 

“I heard the bride’s father required a handsome dowry be paid
. 
I hope that
’
s an ugly rumor?”

“Kyle, the negotiations of the heart are not for any of us to speculate on.”

“The heart, or the wallet?”
  Kyle gave a hearty laugh and slapped Will on the back.

I looked at Will
,
wondering if he had really bribed the bride’s father. 
If it were a lie, he would be screaming right now, defending the honor of the bride and her father.  At least I thought so
. 
I didn’t know him all that well, but he didn’t strike me as someone
who
would let a verbal assault go unanswered. 

The man’s eyes roved in my direction.  I felt the weight of his stare
;
I wasn’t
frightened
, but definitely uncomfortable.  “So this is Camille Chiron.  It is lovely to meet you
.  You look just like your mother
.” 

I looked at Will, silently asking if I was supposed to shake his hand or not.  I didn’t want to look like a complete idiot
and was desperately hoping for some sort of an indication on what I should or shouldn’t do.  I wanted to correct him
. 
I’d been Camille Benning my whole life
.  T
his week I’d gotten used to being called Camille Strayer, but no one had ever called me Camille Chiron
.  S
till unsure of what was and wasn’t acceptable, I simply replied,  “Thank you.  Did you know her very well?”

“Better than most
.  W
e were betrothed.”  He didn’t drop his stare a
s
it went from uncomfortable to excruciating.  Then a light bulb went off
: 
this was the man my mother owed her blood debt to.

Will ended the conversation abruptly,
“Kyle, I was hoping we could have our discussion after the nuptials.” 
I felt my own nervousness straighten my back and widen my eyes
as reality set in that this man believed I owed him my life
.
 

The weight of his stare was nearly painful.  The look on his face did not match his words, “I wouldn’t dream of delaying such an important event.  Of course we can talk after.”

H
e didn’t flinch, move
,
or break eye contact with me.  I
felt
Will’s hand urging me forward.  I could
imagine
why my mother had rejected him
.  Although every person I saw looked like they’d stepped of
f of
a magazine cover, there was something about Mr. Richardson that didn’t feel right
:  a
weakness of some kind
, as if a part of him w
ere
missing.  I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was definitely something amiss when I compared him to all others in attendance. 
I couldn’t see what would have ever gained her interest in him to begin with.  As I looked at the guests, young and old
,
there was definitely a
common thread
- attractiveness.  They weren’t attractive
in a Venice Beach kind of way, but in a Hollywood Movie
S
tar kind of way.  Tall, muscular, full heads of hair, charismatic smiles
,
and thoughtful words greeted me with each new introduction. 
I wondered silently wh
at was so different
about
Kyle Richardson.

As we took our seats waiting for the ceremony to begin, I could feel eyes watching me. 
I worried that Kyle Richardson was staring me down, but when
I turned my head
, I was
just in time to see Drake
, the man
who
had caught me in
mid-air
,
turn away.   He sat next to a beautiful lady
.  Her
long blonde hair
flowed
nearly to her waist
; she had
high cheek bones,
a
light complexion and perfect posture.  She looked like the poster child for
beauty.  As I continued l
ooking
their way, she turned
her
gaze toward me and gave me a sli
ght
grin
in
silent greeting
and raised her fingers in a casual hello
.  Wow
,
I could see why Drake wouldn’t want to
rock the boat with her
.
  I shared a half-grin with her and
moved my gaze to where Bruce stood up front with the minister
.