Blood Debt (Touched Series Book 1) (4 page)

Bart pulled the car in front of a restaurant and handed the keys to a valet.  I had nearly forgotten we were going to get
lunch
,
and after the last couple minutes
,
I wasn’t sure I could hold any food down.  As we stepped out of the car, I was again blasted by the heat.  Luckily
,
it was exactly five steps from the curb to the restaurant
’s door
,
and we were again in the cool. 

I had always been a little on the tall side for a girl, I was 5’10” – I looked at my newly found brothers
: 
Brent was the tallest of the three and
had to be at least 6’3
”
.
  Ben and Bart were both a couple inches taller than
I was
.  As we walked to the hostess
standing behind her podium
, I could see the family resemblance with two more tall, slender men
waiting
right in front of us.
Aside from the height and dark hair, I didn’t look much like them.
Of the two
who
were waiting with the hostess, t
he one closest took a couple steps toward me and grabbed me in a strong bear hug, “Hey
,
little sister!  We’re glad you’re here! I’m Beau.”

My mind was working again
,
and I realized the next brother to take me in a hug was Bruce even before he introduced himself.  He
gave me a quick hug
, sweet, but not bone-crushing like Beau
, “Nice to meet you
,
Camille
. 
I’m Bruce.”

“It’s nice to meet you both, too.”  I’d never been shy my whole life, but at this moment, I
wasn’t feeling like a social butterfly
.  Luckily, each of my newly discovered brothers was genuinely welcoming and completely over-the-moon charming.  As I looked at them, the
i
r handsome looks were obvious, the same perfect toothy smiles, warm brown eyes,
dark brown hair,
and dimples
.  Conversation had steered clear of me
;
I’d been worried I’d have a repeat of the awkward conversation in the car
with the two new brot
hers
, b
ut Beau and Bruce were more interested in talking about plans for my time here
,
rather than how I came to be.

After a
lunch
of
fresh seafood,
appetizers oozing butter and starches,
over an hour of great conversation,
I
came to a single conclusion
: 
If I never met my father, I wouldn’t feel slighted.  I’d never
dreamed that I would have
a sibling, let alone five
who
were beyond cool
,
each seem
ing
really excited to have a little sister
.  Not one of them
seemed to care that I was only a half-sister
.  I’d never been a pessimist,
so I refused to give in to the feeling that this was all
a little too
good
to
be
true.  Rather than question whether these guys were really glad to see me or if they were just the world
’
s best actors, I decided I’d just relax and enjoy
it
.

Bart looked at his watch as a sneaky grin emerged, “It’s barely noon
.  W
e could buzz over to the club and take the boat out for a couple hours.”  His suggestion had been made to the group, but he quickly turned and added, “I’m sorry, Camille, I guess I should be asking you.  I know these guys are up for it.”

The energy these five had was euphoric
. 
I couldn’t think of anything I wouldn’t want to do so long as they were around.  “Sure, okay.”

As we were walking out of the restaurant, it occurred to me we
had
never paid.  Having spent plenty of time as a waitress, I put on the brak
e
s and said, “Wait, w
hat about the check?
”

Bart shook his head, “We’re here a lot.  They’ll just put it on our membership.” 

I still felt a little nervous
as
we approached the hostess
,
until s
he called out to Beau, “Mr.
Strayer
, I trust everything was to your liking?”
  Beau
,
the oldest of the group
,
was leading the way to the door.

Beau shot her a big smile, “Perfect
,
like always, Janice
.  T
ell Peter he outdid himself today with the Shrimp Pasta.”

Janice wasn’t wearing a nametag and
didn’t seem
the least bit concerned that we didn’t sign a piece of paper
.  She had star
-
struck eyes as we filed past her.  I was just a few steps away when Brent stopped, looked at Janice and said, “Oh,
wait. 
This is our little sister, Camille.  She’s visiting from California.  Could you let the staff know she should be added to the membership and has full
privileges
.”

“Yes, Mr.
Strayer
.  I’ll take care of it right away.  Welcome to Charleston
,
Miss
Strayer
.”

I felt my heart flutter a little, not because she had called me by the wrong last name, but because Brent took the time to tell her that I belonged.  I was
n’t
some visitor
-
I was their little sister.  I had been in this magical place less than two hours
-
I
had
found five brothers
who
I didn’t know I had
and
was developing
a
real
kinship to
them
already
.  I had never been overly emotional, so the wetness in my eyes trying to get out felt completely out of place. 

Everyone
was standing
inside the door when Bart explained
to me
, “No
sense
standing in the heat
;
they’re bringing the cars around for us.”
 

As if his words could make beautiful German automobiles appear out of thin air, two identical BMW sedans pulled up in front of the restaurant.  I’m sure my mouth was gaping open when I commented to no one in particular, “You have matching Beamers?”

Brent, standing next to me said, “Yeah, that was Dad’s idea.  He didn’t want any of us to feel slighted
,
so we all got the same car.  I tried to talk him into a Camaro,
but
that was a big no go.
”
 
I did the math in my head
. 
I knew there was no wa
y to get that model for under $5
0,000
,
and
W
ill had bought five of them for his sons
. 
Who does that?
My mind flashed to my earlier idea that my family was a part of some religious cult.

We drove just a few short blocks and left the cars with another valet
. 
I looked at the inconspicuous sign indicating that this was the Yacht Club. 
When Bart suggested we go out on the boat, I was expecting. . . well, a boat.  
As we walked past the club to the pier behind it, Beau was again in the lead and made his way to the furthest slip.  The largest
y
acht in the harbor was directly in front of us and displayed the name, “Easy Money.”   Holy moly, this wasn’t some little cabin cruiser or something to buzz around the harbor on
;
we could take this thing to the Bahamas.  I was careful not to suggest it
.  T
he little time that I’d spent with the five led me to believe we’d be at Nassau by dinner
time
if I w
ere
n’t careful.   

Although much more comfortable around them after
lunch
, I reminded myself that something didn’t feel right about them.  There was a reason a person had instincts
,
and I refused to ignore mine
.  I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something felt wrong.  I sent another text to Daniel, “Going 4 a ride on the yacht w/ 5 brothers, will call U later.”   As I put my phone in my purse
, the pessimistic part of me wondered how far I could swim if I had to. 
 

Chapter
3

Zandra

A granddaughter.  How had Angela hidden from me all this time
,
and
how had she
found a way to give birth and hide
her children
as well?  Where had they been?  I
had
searched the planet, the far off mountains of Tibet, the vast Sahara desert, the rain forests of South America
,
and every disgusting third world city in between
.  Every time I heard a whisper of where she might be, I searched.  No stone was left unturned.  She couldn’t possibly have hidden in plain sight all those years.  She had been protected by a magic more powerful than my own – but whose? 

Angela had been dead to me, for years
-
since the day she ran away.  She abandoned her family, left us to pay her debt.  I knew she still breathed, somewhere, but none of my powers could find her; that could only mean that she was protected by another.  Who in our society would be willing to cross me? 

That putz she lured in may have been a pure-blood, and the bastard daughter they conceived may be in my lineage, but something was wrong. 
Had she
been born without a twin
?
  Were things changing or had Angela tapped into a new source of magic?  Was our
blood line
finally diluted?  William Strayer was not worthy of Angela
.  H
e knew it.  He had no idea what he was up against if he intended to keep this granddaughter from me.  She
and her brother were the
last in my line.

When Angela’s body died, I could feel her spirit enter the spirit world.  Even in death she refused to answer my calls.  Angela paid as much attention to me in death as she had in life
;
that would change soon.  Camille was my heir
;
she would be exactly the leverage I needed.  We’ll see how long Angela can ignore my calls when her precious daughter is living the life that Angela
herself
escaped. 

Isaac
, her father,
indulged
Angela
too much as a child, co
d
dling her
, constantly accusing me of abuse
. They deserved each other; let
her join him in the
pasture.  Until his death I had always wondered if he had hidden her from me.  Once he passed into the spirit world and I still could not locate Angela
,
I knew that he hadn’t betrayed me after all.  I never believed
Isaac’s
denial until his death proved his words true.

With that knowledge I was at a loss as to who could have protected her
. 
I wondered if
my worthless brother
Zethus was involved
.  H
e swore the arrow didn’t exist.  All these years I
wondered if it was his
arrow
that cloaked
Angela from me, but if that were true, Camille would still be under its protection.  Once Angela passed, I
felt
Camille, I knew she existed.
 
I had zero
e
d in on Southern California
,
and
in
a few more days, I would have found her apartment.  I was close
. 
I knew I was close.
But why can’t I feel her brother?

I listened to her phone call with William Strayer – she w
as already
in Charleston
by now
.  He would let his guard down
.  H
e wasn’t a protector
.  T
he fool
didn’t stand a chance against me.  It was only a matter of time
. 
I needed to be patient
, as patient as I had been the last
twenty-eight
years
- I need
ed
only be patient for a few more days.