Switched: Brides of the Kindred 17 (42 page)

“
We look forward to greeting you,” Sylvan said
formally.

“
And we can’t wait to meet you too, Frankie,” Liv said,
smiling. “Oh, but how should we describe you to the person Sylvan
sends to meet you? I mean, your regular body.”

“
Tell them she is a small Earth female with long, beautifully
curly black hair, big brown eyes, and a large, luscious posterior,”
Kerov said, answering for her.

“
Kerov!” Frankie exclaimed and blushed.

“
Well—it’s true, isn’t it?”

“
You got the ‘large’ part right anyway,” Frankie muttered.
“But yes that’s about right I guess.”

“
Duly noted,” Sylvan said. “I’ll have someone waiting at the
HKR building.”

“
And I’ll call Lacy right now,” Liv promised.

“
Thank you! Hopefully I’ll be seeing you soon.” Frankie took
over Kerov’s face and smiled again. “Bye!”

“
End Communication,” Sylvan said and the screen went
blank.

“
Whew.” Liv looked around. “Wow—now
there’s
a complicated relationship. At least when we got
switched with our men we didn’t both have to share the same body.
Can you imagine?”

“
No.” Kat shivered. “And I don’t
want
to imagine! I’m just glad I didn’t have to switch
with my guys.”

“
They switched with each other, though—didn’t they?” Sophie
asked. “I’ll never forget that. Deep in Lock’s body was something I
hope I never see again.”

Kat laughed. “You
and me both, doll. You know, Lock claims there are still people on
the Mother Ship that won’t speak to him because of the awful things
Deep said to them while he was in his body.”

“
Okay, well I’d better make this call,” Liv said. “And I don’t
want to use a Think-me—it will make the poor girl think she’s going
crazy if my voice just pops up in her head.”

“
I
know
I
thought I was going crazy
the first time you contacted me that way,” Sophie said. “Here, use
my comlink—it’s wired for Ship to Earth communication in case
Sylvan has to go down while I’m up here.”

“
Thanks.” Liv took it from her and punched in the number
Frankie had given them. It rang a few times and then Kate heard a
sleepy voice on the other side say,

“
Hello?”

“
Hi Lacy,” Liv said. “Listen, you don’t know me but I’m a
friend of Frankie’s and I have a favor to ask you…”

Chapter Nineteen

“
I
knew
it. I knew something
wasn’t right with you! It hasn’t been right for days!” Lacy glanced
over at Kerov as she drove. “So you’re not even Frankie, are you?
You just what—took over her body? Like some kind of body
snatcher?”

“
I
did not ‘snatch’ her body,” Kerov growled. More and more he was
wishing that Frankie had not had the bright idea to call her
friend. Lacy seemed both righteously vindicated to be right that he
was not her friend and angry that he had taken Frankie’s
place.

“
You have a better name for it?” Lacy demanded as she made a
turn. She was driving recklessly in Kerov’s opinion but luckily it
was still the early hours of the morning so the Tampa streets were
all but deserted.

“
We were Switched, through no fault or intention of mine.
Frankie has taken over my body as much as I took over hers and it
has not been pleasant for either of us,” he snapped.

“
Hmph,” Lacy sniffed. “Not pleasant? That’s all you can say
after you practically ruined her life? You screwed up her chance to
teach Yoga at The Lotus Pond, not to mention sabotaging her date
with Professor Ramlow.”

“
I
was not lying when I told you that male had nothing but lecherous
interest in Frankie,” Kerov protested. “He did not deserve
her.”

“
Oh, and you think
you
do?” Lacy
spat, obviously getting more and more upset. “As if! You Kindred
think you can steal away any woman you want to live up in your
Mother Ship—well let me tell you, you
can’t have Frankie!
She doesn’t want anything to do with
the Kindred.”

“
Yes.” Kerov took a deep breath. “That has been made
abundantly clear to me many times over by Frankie herself. Please
don’t concern yourself—I know she wants nothing to do with me. That
is why we are traveling to the Mother Ship—to get separated from
each other so that we can go back to our normal lives.”

“
If Frankie even has a life to get back to,” Lacy grumbled,
sounding only a little appeased. “Her whole family thinks she’s
crazy after your outburst last night, you know.”

“
Yes, I’m aware of that. Look—the Human Kindred Relations
building!”

Kerov pointed out
the window, feeling a great surge of relief. If he had to hear any
more about how he wasn’t good enough for Frankie and how he had
ruined her life he thought he might explode. Truly he had done his
best for her—he was sorry it hadn’t been good enough. But there was
nothing he could do to change the past and he was tired of being
chastised for it and reminded of how unworthy he was to be with the
petite, lovely Earth girl whose body he was inhabiting.

“
All right,” Lacy said, pulling in to the parking area. “Do
you want me to come with you?”

“
No, thank you. I prefer to go alone.” Kerov took a deep
breath. “Thank you for the ride, however and for waking me up so
that I could come here.”

Lacy pulled up in front of the building and let her vehicle
idle. “I don’t know—maybe I
should
come with you. How do I know that Frankie will ever come back?
I mean, women go up there and they just
stay
.”

“
That is because they are bonded to Kindred warriors,” Kerov
growled, losing his patience. “Since Frankie has no interest in
bonding herself to one of my kind this should not be a
problem.”

“
Well…all right.” She sighed. “But have Frankie call me as
soon as she can. And don’t forget the clothes I packed her—she has
to have something decent to wear.”

“
What’s wrong with what I, I mean, her body is wearing now?”
Kerov looked down at himself. The garments he was wearing covered
Frankie’s body decently with no flesh showing—he didn’t see a
problem.

“
You’re wearing the Sponge Bob Square Pants PJs I got her as a
joke gift last Christmas and her Hobbit Feet slippers.” Lacy eyed
him critically. “I know you were in a hurry to get here but don’t
you think you could have changed into a t-shirt and jeans at
least?”

“
I
am sorry you disapprove of my clothing choice for Frankie’s body,”
Kerov said stiffly. “I will be certain to give her the case you
packed so that she can change as soon as we have Switched back into
our own bodies.”

“
Fine.” Lacy threw up her hands. “Just be careful with my best
friend’s body. And tell her to call me as soon as you
can.”

“
You have said that already and I agreed. Can I go now?” Kerov
asked flatly. As far as he was concerned, he couldn’t get away from
Frankie’s best friend fast enough.

“
Go then.” Lacy pointed a finger at him. “You just better send
Frankie back in one piece
and
in her right mind.”

“
Believe me, I would like nothing better.” Grabbing the case
full of extraneous clothing Lacy had packed, (what made her think
Frankie needed half her wardrobe for a simple overnight stay on the
Mother Ship?) Kerov finally exited the vehicle.

He breathed a sigh
of relief as he saw Lacy drive away and turned to face the Human
Kindred Relations building. Finally he was done with Frankie’s
annoying best friend. He didn’t know why she would choose such a
person to spend time with. Lacy was grating and abrasive—nothing
like Jorn who was always positive and pleasant to be around.

Then he remembered Frankie’s assertion that his best friend
was in love with him and felt a surge of discomfort. Could she be
wrong? But if so, why had Jorn accepted a kiss from her while she
was in his body? One thing was for certain, if he
did
get back to his own body permanently
his next meeting with his best friend was going to be extremely
awkward.

Kerov sighed as he
walked towards the tall silver building. There was a lobby type
area in the front which he could see through the glass windows.
Long gray couches lined the walls and there were desks staffed with
humans as well as some Kindred guards on duty.

Just as he was about
to get the door, someone else grabbed the handle first.

“
Allow me lovely lady,” said a smooth, somehow familiar
voice.

Turning in surprise,
Kerov saw that it was Commander Sylvan. His spiky blond hair and
pale blue eyes seemed almost to glow in the artificial lighting. He
was dressed just as he had been on the viewscreen—wearing tall
black boots, black uniform trousers, and a sapphire blue uniform
shirt. Kerov frowned. Though the Kindred Commander was easily
recognizable, there was something different about him—something
that didn’t quite jibe with how he’d looked during their viewscreen
conversation. But try as he might, Kerov couldn’t quite put his
finger on it.

“
Commander Sylvan?” he said, surprised as the Commander held
open the door for him.

“
Yes, indeed, lovely female.” The Commander gave him a broad
grin which showed his Blood Kindred fangs. “How do you do this fine
night?”

“
It’s me—Kerov,” Kerov said, remembering that the Commander
couldn’t possibly recognize him in Frankie’s body.

“
Oh yes, of course. Nice to see you again.” Commander Sylvan
nodded at him perfunctorily.

“
But…this is the first time you’ve seen me,” Kerov protested.
“I spoke to you earlier this evening but I was in my own
body.”

“
Is that right? Well, how absolutely lovely.” Commander Sylvan
seemed distracted, barely paying any attention to what Kerov was
saying. He was clutching a small black satchel to his broad chest
and seemed more interested in keeping it safe than having a
conversation.

Kerov frowned. “Did
you come down from the Mother Ship just to greet me? It was very
kind of you, if so, but not necessary.”

“
Well we try to offer every service and courtesy aboard the
Mother Ship.” Commander Sylvan waved the hand not holding the
satchel vaguely. “All part of the service, don’t you know. Could
you excuse me please, Perov? I have urgent business to attend
to.”

“
It’s
Ke
rov,” Kerov
said but the Commander had already brushed past him and headed into
the heart of the HKR building. Kerov could hear him ordering a
shuttle to take him directly to the Mother Ship with no
delay.

“
At once, I said!” he barked at one of the guards. “And no,
I
don’t
have time to undergo the
safety search procedure. You know who I am—don’t waste my
time!”

Kerov frowned again.
If Commander Sylvan had come to meet him, why would he be in such a
hurry that he would leave without him? Was Kerov supposed to take
another shuttle?

Just then an Earth
woman who looked to be in her late thirties came up to him. She had
long brown hair pulled into a bun at the top of her head and kind
brown eyes that reminded him a little of Frankie’s.

“
Hello, are you Kerov?” she asked, smiling. “I was told to be
looking for you.”

“
Yes, thank you.” Kerov nodded at her gratefully and hefted
his case. “I was told to report here to be put on a shuttle to go
up to the Mother Ship at once.”

“
Well, we had one standing by but Commander Sylvan just
commandeered it.” She frowned. “You know, I didn’t even see him
come down but he certainly was in a hurry to get back up there
again! Anyway, it’ll only be about fifteen minutes to call another
one. Can I offer you a cup of coffee or tea while you
wait?”

Kerov searched
Frankie’s memory and nodded.

“
Tea would be nice. I enjoy a soothing hot beverage from time
to time.”

The nice female gave
him a slightly strange look but only nodded.

“
Of course, dear. Just have a seat on any of the couches and
I’ll bring it to you.”

Kerov did as she
said, sinking down into one of the gray couches and breathing a
sigh of relief. He put the small case Lacy had packed to one side
and promptly forgot about it. His mind was on many other
things.

Finally, he was
going to get this problem resolved. He would have his own life back
again and be the only one inside his own body, just as Frankie
would be the only one within hers.

So why did the
prospect of his impending freedom make him feel so sad and
bereft?

* *
* * *

“
Here it comes—here it comes! I know it’s them this time!”
Frankie did an impatient little dance causing Kate and Liv to move
hastily out of the way of Kerov’s size fourteen boots. Sophie and
Kat had stayed behind with their kids but Liv’s son was with his
father at the moment. She and Kate and Commander Terex had met
Frankie’s shuttle and then agreed to wait with her for Kerov’s as
well.