Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 130947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
“Well, it was a closed secret to me.” Liv shook her head. “Baird never said a thing about it.”
“He can’t during the claiming period. A bride isn’t allowed to have any contact with her family during the entire thirty days,” Jillian explained. “Of course if you have someone you really want to talk to…”
“I do, I really do,” Liv said eagerly, thinking of Sophie’s cryptic letter. “My sister—you remember Sophie?”
“Of course—we were all in that horrible Mrs. Tanner’s home-ec class together, right? Go ahead.” Jillian handed her the wire circlet. “Just put it on and make sure it’s touching your temples. Then think really hard of the person you want to contact. Oh, and be sure you let them know right off the bat they’re not going crazy. I nearly gave my poor mom a stroke the first time I started talking right in her head. She thought she was hearing voices—and not in a good way.” She laughed.
“You mean it? You don’t mind?” Liv was already fitting the thin silver wire over her head and pressing it against her temples.
“Of course not—I know what it’s like to be homesick. Just don’t tell anyone or we could get in trouble.” Jillian looked suddenly worried. “Keep it short, okay?”
Seeing the worried look on the other woman’s face, Liv almost took the silver wire off her head. But the urge to contact her twin and make sure she was all right, not to mention finding out what the letter she’d sent meant was too strong. “I’ll be quick,” she promised. Then she closed her eyes and concentrated. “Sophie? Sophie can you hear me?”
Chapter Nineteen
“Sophie? Can you hear me?”
Sophia blinked and looked around her studio. It was really just a spare room in their townhouse she’d converted with drop cloths and an easel but the light was good and she’d done some of her best work here. Not that anything was coming out right now, not since Liv had left. Come to think of it, that voice had sounded just like—
“Sophie?” whispered the voice in her head again. This time Sophie was sure it wasn’t her imagination.
“Liv?” she asked tentatively. “Uh, where are you? Are you like, invisible or something?” She knew it sounded weird but who knew what was possible with alien technology?
The voice in her head laughed. “Hardly. I’m just contacting you from the Kindred ship using a Think-me. Like a Kindred cell phone.”
“Oh. Okay.” Then it really hit her. “Liv! It’s so good to hear from you! I miss you so much!”
“I miss you too, womb-mate.” Her sister sounded wistful. “How are things on planet Earth?”
“Horrible,” Sophie said frankly. “The summer is dragging and Kat and I are bored stiff without you. Not to mention my art’s coming out like crap.”
“What? You do fabulous art—your paintings are gorgeous. What’s the matter? Don’t you have any inspiration?”
“Too much inspiration is more like it. For some reason I keep painting the same thing over and over again.”
“What are you painting?”
“More like who.” Sophia blushed, looking at the half finished canvas in front of her. She really hoped her sister couldn’t see her as well as hear her.
“Who, then?”
“Well…” Suddenly Sophie had a horrible thought. “Liv, you’re not, uh, calling me to tell me you’re giving up, are you?” she asked, her heart in her throat.
The answer was immediate. “No, of course not. You know I’m not a quitter.”
“So you haven’t, uh, bonded with him?”
“No…” There was a longish pause and Sophie knew if her sister was right in front of her, she’d be able to see Liv nibbling her bottom lip—a habit she had when she was nervous or indecisive.
“Liv, what is it?”
“It’s just…Baird is not so bad when you get to know him. And I have to be honest, I’m finding him er…harder and harder to resist.”
Sophie slapped herself on the forehead, heedless of the yellow paint on her hand. “Oh my God, that reminds me—I have to warn you.”
“Warn me of what?”
“I’m so stupid, just chatting away and not even thinking when I’ve been dying to get in touch with you.”
“Does this have anything to do with the letter you sent me? ‘A rose by any other name would not smell as sweet.’ What was that all about, anyway?”
“It’s about Baird. Liv, you can’t trust him!”
“Why not?” Liv’s tone sounded worried.
“Well for starters, did you know he was in some kind of horrible Scourge prison camp only three days before he claimed you?”
“Well, yeah, I knew that. So?”
“So?” Sophie asked the empty air impatiently, wishing she could grab Liv and shake her. “So, he could have like post traumatic stress disorder. He might attack you at any time!”
“I really don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” Liv said dryly. “For all the Beast Kindred’s scary reputation, he’s one of the most controlled people I’ve ever met. I mean, you wouldn’t believe…uh, never mind. Anyway, he’s very in control of himself. Was that all you wanted to warn me about?”