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)
“Yes, Warrior—it is I, the Mother of All Life,” she answered. “You must go back to the last place you saw your female. There you will find the reason she left you. After that, you must make your own decisions about what to do. But do not wait too long—by tomorrow noon, she will belong to another.”
Then the Goddess’s voice stopped talking and her overwhelming presence faded. But her visit had given Fierce hope.
“You heard the Goddess!” he exclaimed to his brother. “Come on—where was the last place we saw Celia?”
“The Mother Ship—the Med Center.” Hold got to his feet, looking stunned. “Celia is meant to be with us,” he murmured, almost to himself.
“Which means there must be hope!” Fierce grabbed him by the arm. Come on—let’s go find out what in the Seven Hells is going on so we can get her back!”
50
CELIA
“Suck it in, Cece dear. Come on—do try a little harder! I can’t believe you gained so much weight in a single month!”
Celia’s Mother-in-Law-to-be frowned at her in the mirror as she did her best to zip up the wedding gown. The problem was, she had ordered the gown a little too small in the first place—to give Celia incentive to “lose a little for the big day.” So the gown was tight to begin with and now that she’d put on a few pounds from the pregnancy, it was barely fitting at all.
Dios, I look like a sausage in a too-tight casing, Celia thought unhappily as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. The face that stared back was unhappy and there were dark circles under her eyes. The professional make-up artist Mother Frances had hired had tried his best, but he couldn’t completely hide her lack of sleep.
Part of it was trying to sleep in a strange bed, Celia thought. Peter had prudently whisked them all off to the Downtown Tampa Club, which had private rooms for members. Peter had rented the entire penthouse suite for the wedding party so everyone could stay together.
“This way those two thugs can’t come after you,” he’d said, when Celia asked why they weren’t staying the night at the mansion on Bayshore. “If they don’t know where to find you, we won’t have any problems with them.”
In a way, Celia had agreed with him—it was better that Hold and Fierce couldn’t find her. She was afraid if she saw them she might break down—she was already missing them desperately even though she’d seen them just last night.
After a night of fitful rest, Celia’s Mother-in-Law-to-be had driven her to an exclusive South Tampa salon to have her hair, nails, and makeup done and now they were at their final destination—St. Paul’s cathedral in Downtown Tampa. It was a beautiful old building with soaring spires and an enormous stained-glass window that shed rainbow light over the entire chapel. It would be a beautiful place to get married…if you are marrying the right person. Or people.
Stop it! You have to put Hold and Fierce out of your head, Celia told herself firmly, as she sucked in her stomach and tried to hold still while Mother Frances zipped her into the frothy white gown. You’re never going to see them again. And even if you did, they wouldn’t want you. You’re carrying another man’s baby—of course they wouldn’t want you.
She had yet to tell Peter about the baby. It felt awkward and wrong somehow and she was afraid that he would sense that the daughter they shared was the only reason she’d come back to him.
Actually, though, Peter seemed extremely preoccupied. He and Mother Frances kept going off to discuss things together and Celia had no idea what they were talking about.
“There! Finally!” At last Mother Frances had gotten the gown zipped. She fastened the tiny pearl button at the nape of Celia’s neck and stood back with her hands on her non-existent hips. “There you are. Don’t you look just lovely?” she exclaimed, smiling.
“Er…thank you.” Celia smiled back weakly. She couldn’t believe that in barely an hour she would walk out the door of the little side room at the back of St. Paul’s and go down the aisle of the big, beautiful chapel and say “I do,” and then Mother Frances really would be her Mother-in-Law.
And Peter will really be your husband. Don’t forget that part! whispered a little voice in her head. Celia tried to push it away. She would think about it later, she told herself. Right now she just had to get through the ceremony.
51
FIERCE
“Fierce, I think we need to get some stimulant brew if we’re going to keep this up—we’ve been at it for hours.” Hold swiped a hand over his forehead and sank down in a nearby chair looking exhausted.
“It has to be here somewhere—the Goddess told us we would find the reason Celia left us!”