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)
But you were supposed to take your name out of the Draft when you got engaged or married. And so Celia had assumed that her name had been removed—Peter had sworn he would take care of it the same night he’d presented her with the massive square-cut diamond ring.
So she stared up at the two huge warriors and shook her head.
“I don’t understand—there must be some mistake. I’m engaged to be married in a month,” she told them. “My name shouldn’t even be in the Draft Registry anymore. You must have the wrong woman.”
The dark one gave her an intense look.
“You know damn well we don’t have the wrong woman, Celia,” he growled. “You know because the three of us have been Dream-Sharing for fucking months.”
Dream-Sharing? Celia stared up at him, not sure what to say. Could it be that all the strange dreams she’d been having of the people she couldn’t remember when she woke were about these two?
“What’s this? Is there a problem?” Peter suddenly appeared by her side and then Mother Frances took the other side.
“Oh Peter, thank goodness you’re here!” she exclaimed. “I’m not quite sure but I think these two are claiming that Cece is supposed to go with them?”
“What for? Is she being arrested for something?” Peter asked blankly.
“First of all, don’t call her ‘Cece,’” the silver-haired Kindred said, frowning. “It’s disrespectful and Celia doesn’t like it. Second, we’re not here to arrest anyone—we’re here to Claim our bride.”
“Your bride?” Mother Frances’s hands fluttered to her pearls. “But Cece belongs to my Peter! He’s going to marry her on Christmas Eve. We’re all here to plan the ceremony!”
The two Kindred frowned briefly at each other in apparent consternation.
“I think there must be some mistake,” Celia told them. “My fiancé, Peter, had my name taken off the Draft Registry the day after he proposed to me. Didn’t you, Peter?” she added, looking at him. She had to admit that next to the Kindred warriors, he looked kind of puny. But she hastily pushed the disloyal thought away. “Peter? Didn’t you have them take my name off the Draft?” she asked again, since he hadn’t answered immediately.
“Er…well…” He cleared his throat. “I most certainly did! Or rather, I had my assistant do it. If she forgot then it’s not my fault.” He lifted his chin and scowled at the warriors. “But either way, we’re engaged to be married. So as my darling Cece told you—there must be some mistake.”
“There’s no fucking mistake,” the dark warrior growled. “Her name was called in the Draft and we’ve been Dream-Sharing with her for months. She’s ours!”
“Well you can’t have her, so that’s that!” Peter declared. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re trying to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner here. You’ll need to leave or else I’ll call the police on you!”
“Call them if you want—they’ll back us up.” The silver-haired Kindred produced an official looking document and showed it to Peter. “This is Celia’s Draft Notice. It’s all signed, sealed, and official. It gives my brother and me the right to take her with us for a full solar month to undergo the Claiming Period aboard the Kindred Mother Ship.”
“But…but this can’t be right!” Peter blustered. “I’ll sue you—both of you!”
“Sue if you want, buddy,” the dark warrior growled. “No court on this tiny little planet will side with you—the Earth still needs Kindred protection from extra-terrestrial threats, which means we still get to call brides and Celia is our bride.”
“Well, you simply cannot have Cece! Not now!” Mother Frances exclaimed. “We have all this wedding planning business to get through! And besides, who will finish the Thanksgiving dinner? She hasn’t even gotten the yeast rolls in the oven yet!”
All this time, Celia had been standing there, feeling like she was lost in a trance. Her eyes kept tracing the strangely familiar features of the two Kindred warriors, as though she was trying to find where they fit—like two random extra jigsaw pieces left over after the puzzle is completed. Now she opened her mouth, unsure what was going to come out and heard herself say,
“I’ll go with them.”
“What?” Mother Frances gasped.
“What?” Peter demanded. “But darling, what about all the wedding preparations?”
“Your mother is taking care of all that,” Celia reminded him. Indeed, once she’d signed the Prenup, Mother Frances had swooped in and basically taken over the entire wedding, right down to choosing the cake, the venue, and the dress. Celia had been irritated at first—this was supposed to be her special day—but eventually she had given in, just to keep the peace.
“But…but I’ve heard they make you do things!” Mother Frances breathed, looking up at both of the huge warriors in horror. “Sexual things!” she added in a scandalized whisper.
“I won’t do anything I shouldn’t,” Celia said firmly. “I’m just going to go with them to keep the peace until Peter can get this all straightened out. I, er, don’t want things to come to blows,” she added, thinking that her fiancé was no match for even one of the enormous warriors—let alone both of them.