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)
53
CELIA
The chapel had been decorated within an inch of its life in elegant silver garlands and white satin ribbons. There were four silver and white Christmas trees in the four corners of the church as well, all of them with long, glittering fake icicles hanging from them and silver angels at their tops.
It definitely wasn’t the way Celia would have decorated if she’d been able to do it herself—it was ostentatious and showy and had Mother Frances’s taste written all over it. Still, she supposed she was lucky to be having a wedding at all, considering everything she’d gone through and everything she’d done in the past few days—or the past month if you counted the weeks she’d lost in the wormhole.
It was a long, elaborate ceremony with a lot of kneeling and vowing and standing and praying and she went through the whole thing on autopilot. All the time, she kept thinking of the awful things the Goddess had showed her in the mirror…and then trying to assure herself that it had all been a hallucination…just a fever dream brought on by stress and pregnancy hormones and not enough sleep…
And then somehow they were coming to the end of the ceremony. Peter was standing beside her in his tux, looking charming and polished and the pews were filled on both sides with the Thielgood friends and relations since Celia had no one but a few friends to come to her big day. The priest had on a long, flowing robe and he raised his hands and said,
“If any man here knows any reason why these two shall not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
“I told him to leave that part out!” Peter hissed, looking peeved. “It’s really so unnecessary! It—”
“We do!” a voice shouted from the back of the church.
Celia turned, feeling like she was in a dream. Running down the aisle were Hold and Fierce. There was a desperate look on their faces as they rushed past the pews filled with shocked and disapproving wedding guests.
“We have a reason why Celia shouldn’t get married!” Fierce growled as they finally reached her. “Because we’re fucking in love with her! And we think—we hope—Celia loves us too.”
54
CELIA
“What are you two doing here?” Celia stared at them in amazement. She’d been so sure they wouldn’t follow her—that her note had driven them away. She’d made it as cool and impersonal as she could, not wanting to leave them any hope at all. Yet here the two of them were, interrupting the wedding, and she didn’t know what to say.
“Yes, what are they doing here? Mummy—these two oafs are ruining my wedding!” Peter exclaimed.
“Hang on, darling—Mummy’s coming!” Mother Frances hurried up to where Hold and Fierce were standing.
The twins had changed back into their Kindred uniforms with tall black boots and tight black trousers and the long-sleeved emerald green shirts that looked so good on both of them. Celia couldn’t help comparing the two tall, muscular warriors with Peter—her fiancé looked wimpy and weak in comparison.
“We’re here because we love you,” Hold said to her, ignoring both Peter and his mother.
“And to say we’re sorry,” Fierce added. “I know what an ass I’ve been, lelka. I drove you away and I’m fucking sorry for it.”
“Stop this nonsense and leave at once!” Peter’s mother exclaimed, before Celia could answer either one of them. She was looking at the large, elaborate clock hanging high on the wall at the back of the chapel. “It’s nearly one o’clock!” she exclaimed. “We must finish the ceremony!”
Her words sent a wave of distrust through Celia as she remembered once again everything she’d seen in the mirror.
“Tell me something,” she said to Mother Frances. “Is the reason Peter has to marry me before one o’clock because if he doesn’t, he loses his inheritance?”
“What?” Mother Frances looked shocked. “How did you find that out? Who told you?” she demanded.
“So it’s true?” Celia turned to Peter, who was just standing there, gaping. “Is it also true you were seeing some other girl named Madison while I was gone with Hold and Fierce, so you could marry her instead, if I didn’t come back?”
Peter turned positively pale.
“Now Cece, darling—I don’t know what that lying little bitch has been telling you, but I can promise that I’ve always been faithful to you.”
“What about on your ‘business trips’?” Celia demanded. “Are you telling me you weren’t sleeping with other women then?”
“I…I…” Peter stammered, shaking his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” He got out at last.
“This is all ridiculous!” Mother Frances insisted. She looked at the clock and then looked at the priest. “Father, quickly—continue with the ceremony! We don’t have much time!”
“Er…” The elderly priest looked befuddled. “Do you, Peter Frederick Thielgood the Third take this woman, Celia Marie Alvarez as your lawfully wedded wife?” He finally went on. “To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”