Urban Mythic: Thirteen Novels of Adventure and Romance, featuring Norse and Greek Gods, Demons and Djinn, Angels, Fairies, Vampires, and Werewolves in the Modern World

by C. Gockel

  I’d never been a fan of idle gossip, but Bianca had piqued my interest, “So, the guy you wanted to marry – did he know?”

  She didn’t want to talk about it. Her eyes fell from mine when all she said was, “He knew.”

  “He was an okay guy? It was just his family that your mom didn’t approve of?”

  She forced a smile at me. I knew there was more to this story that no way would she tell a stranger. “He was... is an incredible guy. It’s not his fault what his parents or grandparents did, but Mom was convinced that an apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. She absolutely hates his grandfather and told me she would never give me her blessing.”

  “So how did you pick Drake?”

  “I’d known him forever. He’s sweet and kind. I knew we would mesh okay.” I couldn’t help but notice that Bianca still wouldn’t look at me, and I knew she needed a subject change.

  “I wonder if my mom was telekinetic?”

  Bianca answered, “She was a Chiron, so I’m sure she was.”

  Bianca said, “Chiron,” with reverence, as if it was a big deal. I didn’t want to press her about it, but knew I needed to find out more about my mother’s family. “So do you think, since my mom’s dead, I won’t ever be able to do telekinetic stuff?”

  “You can still talk to your mom, right?”

  My cheeks flushed. I was defective, and Bianca would be the first person outside my family to know. “I can see her, sometimes, but I can’t hear her.”

  “Really? You know, she’s right here with us now.”

  “How can you tell?”

  Bianca giggled at me, “Duh, I can see her.”

  “Does she want to say anything to me?”

  Bianca looked past my shoulder and nodded, “She said she’s proud of you. You handled yourself with strength and courage, but there is something she needs to tell you about Mr. Richardson.” Bianca paused for a second, looking back at me, “She doesn’t want me to know. She’s still very strong.” Bianca furrowed her eyebrows as if sizing up my invisible mother. “Once someone passes over, their strength seems to diminish by the day until after a while they just leave entirely. Your mom must have been seriously strong while she was alive because she doesn’t seem to be weakening.”

  I chuckled, “I don’t know, I never saw her lift a semi-truck in the air, but she was tough – she didn’t take crap from anyone.” I wasn’t sure why I felt such a kinship to Bianca, but I confessed, “I miss her. So if she died before she could teach me all the stuff I’m supposed to know, does that mean I’ll never be like everyone else?”

  “I bet the two of you find a way. You just need to practice communicating with her.”

  I was seriously excited that both Gretchen and Bianca believed it was only a matter of time before I’d work out the kinks. Bianca was looking off into the distance, and I wondered if there was something more she wasn’t telling me. “So this guy you didn’t choose, that you wanted to – why was he on your short list?”

  Her face took on a sad look, one foreign to the happy expressions I’d seen up until now. “We went to college together. Centaurs aren’t allowed to date, at least not unsupervised. But we pushed the envelope and met each other at movies, football games, the library, none were ever technically a date because we never went together – we just happened to keep meeting each other. He was who I saw in my future.”

  “If you can tell the future, and you see him there, doesn’t that mean you’ll end up with him?”

  “I wish. I can’t see the future. But when I dreamed of the future, he was the one I was tied to.”

  “But you picked Drake anyway?” This didn’t make sense.

  “Don’t get me wrong, Drake’s great. My family approves, and I care about him.”

  “But you wanted someone else. Does he know?” I felt bad for Drake. This whole concept seemed ludicrous.

  “Drake knows.” She dropped my stare and seemed ashamed of what she shared next, “They were best friends. We all grew up together.”

  I felt my eyes widen, “Best friends?”

  “Past tense. They haven’t spoken since my parents made the announcement.”

  “I’m sorry.” It was all I could say. This Centaur selection process seemed dumb; I looked back at the table and wondered how Drake felt about the whole thing. He may have found a woman to carry on his bloodline, but he’d lost his closest friend in the process. Maybe because I hadn’t grown up knowing what I was or because I didn’t feel particularly tied to my ancestry, I couldn’t imagine the pain the three of them must have gone through. “So do you still talk to him? The other guy?”

  “No, it’s too painful. He knew it was a possibility. We all knew how my mother felt about his grandfather. We’d hoped that she could let the past be, but it was too much a part of her.”

  “What’d his grandfather do to your mom?”

  “He tried to buy her.”

  “Buy her?”

  “His bloodline was in jeopardy. My family’s one of the few Centaur lines that isn’t wealthy. He was desperate and made a plea to my grandparents for my mom. When they declined, he went to the bank and bought the note on their farm. He evicted them and humiliated them in front of everyone. My mom’s never forgiven him for it.”

  “Holy crap, that’s terrible.”

  “Centaurs can be ruthless, especially Centaurs who are approaching the end of eligibility. Choose wisely, Camille. My mom isn’t the only one that something like this happened to.”

  “From what I can tell, I don’t think money is much of an issue, but thanks for the warning anyway.”

  “There are lots of other ways families can be manipulated.” Bianca whispered, “Like trading.”

  The hair on the back of my neck suddenly stood on end, “What’re you talking about?”

  She looked in all directions again. “You didn’t hear this from me, but...you’ve got four eligible brothers, right?” I nodded, not know where this was going. “If your parents get desperate for one of their sons to be married, they could trade you to another family in exchange for a wife for one of their sons.”

  “What? No way!”

  “It happens all the time, Camille. If you don’t choose someone quickly, your family will choose for you.”

  I didn’t want to bring up the arrangement I’d made with Kyle Richardson. She and Drake weren’t anywhere around when it happened, and it wasn’t something I wanted others to know about. With that agreement, there was no way I could be auctioned off to the highest bidder, but the idea that this was done to others turned my stomach. I wondered why the family had been so welcoming: it couldn’t be for that. I felt a pit forming in my stomach. I didn’t want to believe her.

  Bianca must have sensed that she had struck a chord because she said, “A friend of mine, Grace, told me about you.”

  I was still reeling from the fact that maybe my family wasn’t as genuine as they had appeared. When I looked back at her, I didn’t have the strength for anything more. I was worried I might fold in on myself.

  “Grace can see the future. She always tells me that as far as actually seeing someone’s future, free will has a lot to do with it. Knowledge of the future has a way of impeding fate, so she rarely tells me anything good.” Her wide smile reappeared, her eyes sparkled, “But she did tell me: you and I are going to be best friends. None of the choices either of us makes in this lifetime will drive a wedge between us.”

  Just like that, I had a new BFF. I had called my best friend in California, Daniel, several times during the week. He was excited that things were going so well and was a little shocked when I told him about the new car and about intending to stay a little while longer – I couldn’t wait for the night to be over so I could call and tell him about Bianca.

  After Bianca left, I went into the house and sat in my bedroom. I thought about what she’d said — the telekinetic powers. I tried to think of a time my mom did that in front of me and laughed out loud when I remembered – her purs
e! My mom’s purse was always stuffed full, so full, it was impossible for me to find anything in it. Yet she never even looked in the enormous bag: she just reached in and it seemed like whatever she wanted jumped into her fingers. I remembered one time when I had looked in her purse for the car keys for five minutes before dropping it onto the table in frustration. She walked over to the table, put her hand in the bag, didn’t even look at the gaping mess, and said, “Here they are,” then tossed the keys to me.

  I shook my head at the memory. Still chuckling to myself, I looked above the mantle and saw a beautifully framed picture of a white Arabian horse cantering up a rolling hill. Another memory unfolded. The terror from the memory washed over me. I was a little girl, maybe five. We had moved into a second floor apartment that had a high security garage at ground level. My mom had just unloaded the last box. The garage had one of those heavy steel doors, and she said, “Cami, get away from the door. It’ll squish you like a bug.”

  For the first few seconds I did as I was told, but just as the door reached the halfway mark, I saw my stuffed white horse forgotten inside, laying on a box. That white horse had been my constant companion as a child. I didn’t want it to be locked inside, so I dashed under the closing door to save it while her back was turned. I had tripped on the return trip out of the garage, and my legs were in the garage door’s path. It wasn’t one of the new doors that instantly pops back up if something is in the way; all five hundred pounds trapped me and pressed hard on my legs as I screamed.

  I could feel the gears trying to turn in an effort to use the door as a guillotine on my legs. She didn’t come to me, she didn’t scream for help, she stood several feet away and looked at the door, willing it to let me free. As her concentration increased, I felt the pressure of the heavy door subside. Her voice sounded strained when she yelled, “Now, Cami, pull your legs free, now.” I did and a second later the steel door crashed to the cement and locked itself into the eyelets securing it in place. When I was free, she wiped the hot tears from my cheeks, lifted me into her arms and carried me upstairs.

  As a child, the fear of nearly losing my legs paled in comparison to the shame of disobeying her. Once the tears subsided, I confessed, “I’m sorry, Momma, my horse is scared of the dark.”

  “It’s okay, Cami. Sometimes I’m scared of the dark, too.”

  “You made the door let me go.”

  “Shhh, don’t tell anyone. It’s a secret.”

  Never once did we talk about it again. I could remember having fuzzy dreams of the incident, but this was the first time the whole event replayed in my mind. Something about the painting of the white horse and the conversation with Bianca made me remember. I wasn’t sure if my mom’s spirit was still anywhere near me, but I talked to her anyway.

  “You moved the door. When I was little – when we moved up to Orange County, you kept the door from crushing my legs.” Nothing, I didn’t smell her perfume, I didn’t see her, but I continued anyway, “You have to teach me how. I know you didn’t want this life for me, but you have to help me.” Still nothing. I wanted so badly to see her, or know that she was with me. The words were out before I could stop them, “I can’t lose you again. Show me how to talk to you.”

  Chapter 15

  (Camille Benning – Charleston, SC)

  I walked downstairs to find Brent with a bowl of oatmeal, reading the Sunday funnies. He asked me, “So’d you have fun last night?”

  “I guess so. That stuff with Kyle Richardson was a little over the top, right?”

  “Which part? The part where you told him you’d marry his son if he couldn’t find anyone better, or the part where you threatened to kill him in front of everyone?”

  “Yeah, both were a little crazy.”

  “Camille, you can’t go around threatening people, especially Herd Leaders.”

  “It looks like I can. I did.”

  Brent rolled his eyes, “Okay, you can’t do it without getting in trouble.”

  “Like what, someone’ll take my birthday away?”

  “There are worse things than joining the Richardson Herd.” I remembered Bianca’s warning last night and felt an iciness taking hold toward Brent.

  “All right, I’ll bite. What are some of the things they can do to me?”

  “Send your mother’s spirit to the pasture for starters.”

  “What? Why? They can’t do that!”

  Brent placed his hand over mine, all the humor drained from him, “Yes, they can. Spirits aren’t supposed to stay in our world. If one starts to create problems for living Centaurs, a Herd Leader can have them banished.”

  “But, I haven’t even talked to her yet!”

  “Then don’t threaten Herd Leaders. If I were you, I’d call Mr. Richardson and apologize. New or not, he won’t stand for you threatening him in front of everybody.”

  I gritted my teeth, “I told you, it wasn’t a threat — that was my promise to him.”

  “Camille, you aren’t back in ‘the hood.’ There are repercussions for your actions here.”

  “The hood? I grew up in Oceanside, you jackass.”

  Brent let go of my hand, “I know this is hard for you. I’m just trying to help.”

  “You want to help me? Find Gage Richardson a wife so I’m not stuck with him, and get it out of your head that I’ll ever be like everyone else.”

  “I already know you aren’t like anyone else. My issue is the more waves you create, the harder this’ll be for everyone.”

  “The harder what will be?”

  Brent looked over his shoulder, after verifying that no prying ears were present, “Centaurides are super powerful. You know why Dad has such a successful business? Because Mom knows what the stock market is going to do. All five of us work with Dad, but no one recommends anything to our clients unless Mom says so.”

  “How is that powerful?”

  “That’s how all Centaur women are. The matriarch is in charge of everything.” Brent looked over his shoulder again, still satisfied that we were alone, “There’s no way Dad met your mom the way he said he did. Mom would have destroyed him.”

  “I’m not following you, Brent.”

  “Something more went on, and we aren’t going to find out what it is until you can figure out how to communicate with your mom.”

  “People have affairs, Brent.”

  “Not Centaurs, not ever.” His voice had a finality to it. There was something more that I hadn’t been told. Brent asked me, “Can you hear her at all?” I shook my head that I couldn’t. “Has Dad said anything to you about the Lost Herd?”

  “The what?”

  “Never mind. I just wondered.”

  “No one’s told me much of anything. What’s the Lost Herd?”

  “It’s probably nothing...I’m not sure.” We heard footsteps coming down the steps and Brent visibly tensed.

  Will came around the corner wearing plaid pajama pants, fluffy sheepskin slippers and a white t-shirt. His face was unshaven, and he went straight for the coffee pot. “You two’re up early today.”

  Before I could answer, Brent answered for us, “We’re just leaving.”

  Will looked at his watch, “Where to?”

  “On the boat with Bianca and Drake.”

  Will looked disappointed, “A little more notice and I would have tagged along.”

  “Sorry Dad. Camille and Bianca hit it off last night. Thought they’d like to go catch some sun. We’ll be back in a few hours.”

  “Sounds good. Keep the radio on.”

  Brent hadn’t mentioned going out on the boat, although it sounded like a great idea. I felt much more at ease asking Bianca questions than I did Gretchen, especially after what she told me last night. From what Brent started talking about, I wanted to find out what else he could tell me, too.

  Chapter 16

  (Drake Nash – Charleston, SC — Sunday Morning)

  I heard my phone ringing and groped for my nightstand, trying to make the ringing s
top. We’d stayed out pretty late, and I had worked the last thirteen days in a row. Today was my only day off for a while, and I planned to spend it in bed. When I picked up my phone, I saw Brent’s smiling face staring back at me from the screen on my Droid, waiting for me to answer. I wanted to push “ignore.”

  It might be important. I could hear the gravel in my own voice, “This better be good, Brent.”

  “Good Morning, Drake. Sleep well?”

  “Why are you calling so early?”

  “Bianca and Camille decided they wanted to make a trip out on the water today. You up for it?”

  My blood froze. For a second it felt like it had turned to ice and my heart forgot how to push it through my veins. “Uh, I guess so. When?”

  “Camille and I are in the car now. We can pick you up in five minutes.”

  “Stop for coffee. Make it ten.” I pushed “end.” My palms were already sweating. I said to no one but myself – this is a seriously bad idea.

  When my dad told me that Bianca had chosen me, I didn’t think I could ever ask for anything more in my life. She was smart, educated, funny, beautiful, and she came from an honorable family. She had her pick of any eligible Centaur out there and had chosen me. I didn’t even know I was in the running. My best friend growing up had been in love with her since he was twelve, so in love that he took risks, chances he wasn’t supposed to take. None of our kind is allowed to date before betrothal, but he said he didn’t care. It was Bianca or no one for him. When she chose me, I didn’t know what to say to him. He called as soon as he heard, to tell me congratulations and wish me the best – but that was the last time I talked to him. He hadn’t called in over a month, and I assumed our friendship was now officially over.