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?”
“Not nearly.” Sophie waved her brush in the air in agitation. “There’s something else too and it’s really important. What do you know about something called a mating scent?”
“Mating scent?” Sophie could almost see her sister shrug. “Uh, I may have heard the term. I know the Kindred place a lot of importance on smells.”
“That’s because they use them to seduce their brides. When a Kindred warrior claims a woman as his own, his body immediately begins making a pheromone that’s specifically tailored to her DNA,” Sophie said rapidly, quoting as well as she could remember from what Sylvan had told her.