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emigrated from England and my mother’s family disapproved of her choice to practice voodoo.” Her hand reached to unconsciously grab his hard thigh as they darted off the interstate and hit a side road with a sudden burst of speed.
    She understood he was trying to determine if they were being followed, but…yikes.
    “You must have been lonely,” he said, taking several more turns before they were back on the interstate.
    It took a minute for her to catch her breath. “Yes.”
    “I can’t even imagine,” he mused. “I was smothered to the point of near insanity. I love my family, but a male needs his space.”
    Her lips twisted, hiding the envy that sliced through her heart.
    How many nights had she dreamed that she was surrounded by a loud, loving family that actually cared whether she did her homework or ate her vegetables?
    “Spoiled,” she said beneath her breath.
    Naturally he heard her. It seemed they actually did possess the acute senses of a puma.
    “Don’t worry, they’ll be anxious to smother you as well.”
    Her head jerked around to meet his teasing glance. “Me?”
    “Of course.”
    “Why would they care about me?”
    “Because they’re Nurturers and they’re morally compelled to fuss over people.”
    She scowled, telling herself that he was being ridiculous.
    And even if he wasn’t, she didn’t want complete strangers fussing over her.
    Did she?
    “I won’t be there long enough for anyone to notice me,” she protested.
    A mysterious smile touched his lips. “We’ll see.”
    Knowing it was pointless to argue with the stubborn man, Sage settled back in her seat and concentrated on the world that whizzed past her. Anything to keep herself from thinking of how far away she was from the safety of her tiny cottage.
    She lost track of time as Lian concentrated on weaving through the increasing traffic, one eye on the rear view mirror to make sure they weren’t being followed.
    Then, just as they reached the outskirts of Baton Rouge, she was jerked out of her inner thoughts as a black truck zoomed from a side ramp and slammed directly into their rear bumper.
    “Lian,” Sage cried in fear, certain they were about to die in a fiery crash.
    Lian, however, expertly turned into the spin, somehow managing to avoid the other cars as he whipped them around and then headed for the nearest exit.
    “Hang on, sweetheart.”
    * * *
    Lian didn’t have the same skills as Jean-Baptiste behind the wheel, but he did have a car with a finely tuned engine that could hit two hundred miles an hour, and the lightning quick reflexes of a cat.
    Within a few miles he’d managed to shake the black truck and disappear among the suburbs of Baton Rouge.
    Still, he remained on full alert.
    There was no way in hell the intruder could have followed them from his researcher’s house.
    Which meant that the bad guy had enough cohorts to watch the roads for the very distinctive Lamborghini. Or he’d managed to tag the car with a tracking device.
    Either way, Lian had to get off the streets.
    Winding his way toward the older district that lined the banks of the Mississippi River, he at last turned onto a dead-end street that had seen better days.
    Beside him Sage sucked in a deep breath, clearly suffering from shock.
    “Why are you slowing?” she demanded in husky tones.
    “We need to lie low for a few hours.”
    She furrowed her brow, studying the dilapidated homes and air of aging decay that shrouded the entire neighborhood.
    “Here?”
    “Trust me.”
    She brushed back a silvery curl that had come loose from her ponytail, her hand unsteady.
    “As if I have a choice.”
    Lian pulled into a narrow alleyway, regret stabbing through his heart.
    When he’d gone to collect the mysterious Dr. Parker for Xavier, he hadn’t considered that he might put the man in danger. And even when he’d discovered that the researcher was a fragile young woman who was terrified to be forced from her home, he’d still insisted that