Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 121146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
She wasn’t quite sure why she was doing this—it wasn’t because she actually wanted to go with the two big warriors who were trying to Claim her. But she wasn’t afraid to go, either—she’d heard all about how the Kindred were feminists who would never hurt a woman. And she was certain that Peter would call his lawyer and get things cleared up quickly.
In the meantime, she got out of kitchen duty, she told herself. Let Peter’s family make their own Thanksgiving Dinner—maybe they’d appreciate her more when they had to baste the damn turkey themselves!
Also, she’d always wanted to see the Kindred Mother Ship, which was very difficult to get a tour of. She would probably only be up there for a day or two tops, but it would be a nice break from all her snooty future in-laws and their bratty kids. She was always up for an adventure—that was one reason she’d said yes when Peter had proposed to her out of the blue.
And now she was saying yes again, though she didn’t expect anything to come of it.
“My darling, really—you don’t have to do this!” Peter exclaimed, looking at her with wide eyes.
“Yes, she does, actually. Draftees are legally required to report to the Mother Ship and undergo their Claiming period once they get called,” the silver-haired warrior said firmly.
“But don’t worry—if she wants to come back, we’ll bring her back,” the dark one added, with a smirk, which clearly indicated he didn’t believe Celia would want to come back after spending some time with them aboard the Mother Ship.
“I will come back,” she said firmly, shooting the dark warrior a look of her own. “I’m just going with you two in order to keep the peace. I want that understood.”
“Well…” Peter dithered. He still didn’t look happy about the situation. “Look, I’ll pay you each half a million just to turn around and go right now,” he said to the warriors. “That’s a pretty good deal, right? Quite a sum of money just to put this all behind us?”
The silver-haired warrior looked offended and the dark one’s face grew grim.
“Did you just offer to fucking bribe us?” he demanded. “Do you know what the penalty for getting between a Kindred warrior and his Bride is?”
“There’s jail time involved,” the silver-haired warrior said blandly. “And it’s not something you can bribe your way out of.”
Peter looked white. He had clearly never met a situation that couldn’t be solved by throwing money at it before.
“Er, well…that is to say…I only meant—”
“Never mind, Peter,” Mother Frances said, tugging at her son’s arm. “Just let them go for now and we’ll call Bircher immediately.” Bircher was the Thielgood family lawyer who handled all their legal matters.
“Yes, well…” Peter looked at Celia uncertainly. “My darling, are you sure about this?”
Celia nodded.
“I don’t want trouble,” she told him. “I’m sure you can get this all straightened out. In the meantime, I’ll just go with them.”
“Be careful, my darling.” Peter gave her a peck on the cheek and another anxious look. “I’ll get you out of there as soon as I can—this is all one big misunderstanding.”
“I’m sure it is,” Celia said calmly. But inside her stomach was turning flip-flops. Was she really doing this? Was she really going with two huge warriors she didn’t even know, of her own volition?
Except you do know them, whispered a little voice in her head. You’ve been dreaming about them for months.
Which Celia was beginning to think was true. The more she looked at them, the more familiar they were. It was a weird sensation—looking at two strangers she’d never met before and feeling like she already knew them. But it also helped her not be afraid of them. Somehow she knew—though she didn’t know how she knew it—that either of these warriors would kill or die to protect her. Which made absolutely no sense, but it felt right.
She nodded goodbye to her fiancé and his family and stepped out of the Bayshore mansion to go with the two Kindred warriors.
She had no idea that she had just changed her life forever.
3
CELIA
“Come, lelka,” the dark Kindred growled, holding out a hand to her. “Let’s get you out of here and back to the Mother Ship where you belong.”
Celia didn’t know what the strange nickname meant, but it, too, felt familiar. She looked up at the two huge warriors.
“All right,” she said calmly. “I’ll come with you as long as you know I won’t be staying—I’ll be coming back here as soon as Peter’s lawyer can clear this mess up.”
“You say that now, lelka. Let’s see how you feel after the three of us have spent some time together.” The dark Kindred gave her a smirk, his huge, warm hand swallowing her up as the three of them started down the front steps.