Deceived Read online

  She twirled like a woman showing off a new dress, only she was actually showing off her new body—which was a really pretty one, Liv admitted to herself.

  “Well…do you want to come home with us, Nana?” Sophie asked uncertainly. “Would you like to meet my husband, Sylvan? He’s the Head Chancellor of the Kindred High Council.”

  “Oh, I know! Barsis here was telling me about him when I asked who was in charge around here and then your name came up and then I realized you and your sister must be here on this big ship we’re all in,” Nana said, smiling.

  “It’s actually a spaceship, Nana,” Sophie pointed out. “And we’re orbiting around the moon.”

  Their Nana seemed to take the news easily enough.

  “Well, that’s not too surprising, considering the last thing I remember is being captured by those aliens who said they were recording my essence and making a kind of recording or copy of me.” She frowned. “Is that what I am? A copy of the real me?”

  “Uh…maybe,” Liv said carefully.

  “Where is the real me then?” Nana wanted to know. “Still married to your Pop-pop down on Earth?”

  “Um, Nana…I’m not sure how to put this,” Sophie said uneasily. “But, well…you’re not exactly, uh, alive anymore. And neither is Pop-pop.”

  “Oh my!” Nana put a hand to her heart, looking disconcerted for a moment. Then she seemed to shake herself and take the news in stride. “Well, then at least I haven’t cheated on your grandfather,” she said, clearly looking on the bright side. “And that means I won’t have to divorce him to stay with Barsis here.” She cast a loving look at the big Kindred who returned it with a smile.

  “Your mother’s mother is a truly exceptional woman,” he growled softly. “After my mate died, I thought I would never find another to love but she has proved me wrong. I am so glad her soul came to reside within the body of the pairing puppet I chose to meet my needs.”

  “Uh, sure.” Liv cleared her throat uncomfortably. “Look, Nana, it’s been a long, long day,” she said. “Would you like to come home with Sophie or me and meet our families? You have great-grandchildren now. But they’re all in bed at the moment,” she added, not sure how she felt about introducing the pairing puppet to her kids as their great-grandmother.

  “Oh my! Just think of that—great-grandchildren! And I just love being a grandma too!” Nana clasped her hands joyfully, her big blue eyes sparkling.

  Actually now that she thought of it, Liv decided the pairing puppet bore an uncanny resemblance to pictures they had seen of their grandmother when she was young. She had turned into a little old lady by the time Sophie and Liv came to know her, but in her youth, she had looked a lot like she did right now.

  “Would you like to meet them?” Sophie asked, smiling a little. “I have twins—a boy and a girl named Kara and Kaleb.”

  “And I have a boy named Daniel,” Liv put in.

  “Oh girls, I would love to meet your sweet babies!” Nana exclaimed. “But as you say, it’s getting late and I don’t want to wake them up. Could we maybe get together tomorrow?”

  “Well, sure—I guess.” Liv thought about asking to get off work early so she could meet with her deceased grandmother who was now in the body of a pairing puppet somehow and dating a Beast Kindred. She could only shake her head. Why did crazy things always happen on board the Kindred Mother Ship? This wasn’t as bad as the time she and Baird had switched bodies right before Daniel was born or the lust gas that had incapacitated everyone for about a week, but it was a close second or third for sure.

  “Let’s all do an early supper together,” Sophie suggested. “That way you can meet our kids and our hubbies both at the same time.”

  “That sounds good but what will Nana be doing until then?” Liv asked. “Are you, uh, going back to the Pairing House, Nana?”

  “Oh no—at least, not tonight, although I might go later for a change of clothes,” Nana said. “For right now, Barsis is going to take me for a night on the town. And then I’ll probably, um, sleep at his place. If you girls know what I mean.” She winked at them broadly.

  “You will definitely spend the night with me, lovely female,” Barsis growled softly. “It will be my pleasure to care for you in every way.”

  “Um…” Liv cleared her throat. “Okay well—let’s make it a date. Dinner at five at my suite. I’ll, uh, send you directions by my hubby, Baird. He can bespeak Barsis.”

  “That will be more than acceptable,” the Beast Kindred growled, but he had eyes only for their Nana.

  “Yes, that will be lovely.” Nana gave them both a bright smile but it was clear she was being drawn into the Beast Kindred’s orbit. They were drifting together like an iron filing pulled by a magnet, Liv thought.

  Since she didn’t want to see her grandmother getting busy—even in the body of a pairing puppet—she grabbed Sophie by the arm and started to leave.

  “Oh wait—let me get a hug before you go!” Nana exclaimed.

  She drew them both into an embrace at the same time, just as she used to when they were kids. Liv was a little uncomfortable at first but then Nana whispered, “I love you my little sweet peas!” exactly as she had when the two of them were little and Liv felt her eyes filling with tears.

  “We…we love you too, Nana. We’ve missed you,” she said. She wondered if she ought to tell Nana that her daughter—their mother—as well as their father had both died in a car wreck when she and Sophie were in their senior year of high school but she didn’t want to ruin her night.

  “We love you, Nana,” Sophie echoed. “I don’t know how you’re here but, well, you’re welcome on board the Mother Ship.”

  “Thank you, sweetheart.” Nana gave them both a kiss on the cheek and smiled. “Now, you two run along and I’ll meet you for supper tomorrow night. And I’ll see if I can scratch up the ingredients for my special banana pudding too.”

  “Oh, we haven’t had your special pudding in years!” Sophie exclaimed. “Every time I try to make it, it doesn’t come out right.’

  “Were you trying to use that stuff in a box for pudding mix?” Nana rolled her eyes. “You have to make your pudding from scratch or it’s no good! Well—I’ll bring you some tomorrow. I’m sure we can manage it. Can’t we, Barsis?” She looked up at the big Beast Kindred who smiled at her.

  “We can manage anything you like, Ruth. Anything.” He lifted his bushy black eyebrows expressively and Liv realized it really was time to go.

  “We’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, smiling at her Nana. “Good night!”

  “Good night,” Sophie echoed and then the two of them let themselves out of the privacy room, leaving their Nana to explore her newfound sexuality in her newfound body with her newfound Beast Kindred boyfriend.

  Chapter Thirty-three

  “I have no idea what is going on here but it is freaking weird.” Liv shook her head and took another sip of hot cocoa. After the run in with their Nana, any thought of an early night had flown right out the window. They were both in Liv’s suite and Baird was there too. Sylvan was making sure the twins were asleep before coming over but he was taking longer than expected.

  “So you say that the spirit of your deceased mother’s mother now resides inside the body of a pairing puppet?” Baird asked, as though trying to make sure he was getting it right.

  “Yes, she does apparently,” Liv said flatly. “And she’s dating a Beast Kindred named Barsis. In fact, more than dating since they’ve already done the ‘sex act’ as Nana calls it.”

  “I don’t remember Nana being so, uh, sex positive, when we were growing up,” Sophie remarked.

  “Well, to hear her tell it, Pop-pop was no great shakes in the bedroom so maybe there wasn’t much to be positive about,” Liv pointed out.

  “I know Barsis.” Baird nodded approvingly. “He’s a good male. He’ll be a good addition to the family.”

  “We weren’t exactly looking to add family members, you know,” Liv pointed out.