“Oh no.” Sophie looked horrified.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Kat said, apparently worried by the way they were looking at her. “They have this stuff called bonding fruit that, uh, makes you more flexible in certain areas. If you know what I mean.”
“And that’s supposed to make it okay?” Liv demanded.
“I don’t know about ‘okay,’ but supposedly it keeps the whole process from hurting.” Kat’s cheeks were pink. “Not that I want to find out first hand.”
“Kat, that’s awful! You can’t let them do that to you. You have to get away from them!” Liv leaned forward, wishing she could reach through the viewscreen and drag her friend to safety.
“That’s what I’m trying to do,” Kat protested. “But first we have to find this rare flower—it only grows in a certain part of Twin Moons.”
“Seriously?” Liv raised an eyebrow at her. “You can’t come home because you and Lock and Deep are going to go flower picking together?”
“We have to. It’s the only way to dissolve the bond.” Kat sighed. “We’re going to bring it back to Mother L’rin and she’s going to make some kind of special bond breaking medicine or something.”
“Well,” Sophie said doubtfully. “I guess if that’s the only way you can get free of them…”
“It is.” Kat ran a hand through her hair. “Look, I told you it sounded crazy, didn’t I? But I have no choice. And I swear as soon as I get the stupid bond dissolved I’ll be on my way back.”
“Well, if you have to, you have to.” Sophie sighed philosophically. “Just try not to take too long. You do realize I can’t plan my wedding without you.”
“Or my baby shower,” Liv put in.
Kat shook a finger at them. “You’d better not!”
“Of course not.” Liv smiled. “So how are things otherwise? Are Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee behaving themselves?”
Kat shook her head. “I just don’t know. Lock is a sweetheart, as always. But Deep…well, Deep is Deep. And I mean that both literally and figuratively.”
Sophie frowned. “Meaning what—that you two are still fighting?”
“We have what you could call an uneasy truce right now,” Kat said. She looked behind her and then leaned closer to the viewscreen and lowered her voice. “But I found something out about him. Something he did—”
“Kat,” a deep male voice said from somewhere off screen. “The ship leaves very soon. You need to hurry.”
“Just a minute!” Kat looked harassed. “We have to leave on the flower hunt tonight and the guys are waiting outside the shuttle so I can talk to you two privately. But I guess they’re getting impatient.”
“Forget about them,” Liv said. “Tell us what you found out. Is he an axe murderer? A gigolo?”
“No,” Sophie cut in. “She said it was something he did. What did he do, Kat? Was it awful?”
“Kat!” said the deep male voice again. “We have to go now.”
Kat sighed. “Sorry, I guess I’ll have to tell you later. But believe me, you will never guess in a million years. Love you both.” She blew kisses at the viewscreen and Liv and Sophie did the same.
“Kat, just tell us—” Liv started to say but then the viewscreen went blank as their friend’s picture flickered out.
“Crap!” Sophie sounded disappointed. “What do you suppose she was about to say? What did Deep do?”
“I have no idea.” Liv frowned. “But knowing him, I’m guessing it wasn’t random acts of kindness. I just hope Kat will be okay.”
Sophie looked troubled. “I hope so too.”
Liv gave her twin a comforting hug. “I’m sure she’ll be home soon and then we can get the scoop directly from the source.”
“I guess.” Sophie didn’t sound convinced. “But I think I’ll ask Sylvan what he knows about Deep…just in case.”
Liv nodded thoughtfully. “I’m going to grill Baird too. And we can compare notes later.”
She just hoped she didn’t find out anything too awful about the dark twin’s past. If Kat was already halfway bonded to him, there was no telling what might happen to their friend.
Chapter Seventeen
“So we’re actually going to sail to this continent place on a boat?” Kat eyed the green wooden boat with the pale pink sail doubtfully. It looked very picturesque rocking on the golden water—but not very safe. And despite living in Florida all her life, Kat had never learned to like sailing—she was always afraid she’d fall off whatever boat she was on, into shark-infested waters. “Why can’t we take the shuttle?” she asked Lock. “We could just fly there, find the fi-fi flower, and be back in a couple of hours.”