"Ed knows I never stop if pushed. He's known me since I was a child. Sam can't sustain anything for very long. Of the two of us, he'd want to deal with Sam. I just don't back off once I'm dug in on something." He ran his fingertip down the back of her hand, all the way across to caress her fingers. He curled his hand around hers to press her palm to his heart. "Does that scare you, Libby?"

"No. I can handle you, Tyson. Even when you pull your superior act." How could she not, when he looked at her as if she were the only woman in the world. His eyes devoured her, ate her alive. She'd never, in all the years she'd known him, seen him look that way at anyone else-nor seen anyone look at her that way either.

"You're turning me on, going all dominatrix on me." He leaned over to kiss her. "Your mouth drives me crazy. Every time you do that little thing..."

"What little thing?"

He grinned at her. "That. You do this little s.e.xy pout with your lips and all I can think about is kissing you until you're so hot and wet for me I can have you right there and then, or better yet"-his hand slid over the front of his jeans-"I can watch you put those lips to good use."

She tried to stop the slow burn creeping through her body to center deep and low. His voice had gone rough again, and he sucked her finger deep into his mouth.

"Well, try to control yourself, the troops have arrived."

The car screeched to a halt just as the pa.s.senger door opened and Elle Drake leapt out to fling herself at Libby. Libby barely had time enough to stand and catch her. Tears poured down Elle's face. "I couldn't find you. I tried, Libby, but I couldn't find you."

"I'm okay, baby. Ssh. It's all right. We're both all right." Libby soothed her. "This isn't your fault, Elle."

Sarah slammed the car door and ran to her sisters, her arms around both of them. "We were so afraid, Libby. We even tried reading the mosaic, but we couldn't find you."

A second vehicle pulled up behind the Drakes' and Jackson emerged. "You two all right?" His sharp glance raked them both, then settled on Elle's tear-stained face.

Tyson nodded. "Someone tampered with my motorcycle and earlier they were watching us at my house." He turned to Libby. "You go on home with your sisters and I'll stay here with Jackson."

"Are you certain?" Libby asked. "I should take a look at your arm first."

"It's nothing, a scratch. Go on home and let me take care of this."

Jackson pulled his gaze away from Elle to study Tyson. "Go on, Libby. I can take your statement later."

Tyson leaned down to brush a kiss across Libby's mouth. "I'll see you first thing tomorrow."

"If you're certain," Libby said. She followed her sisters to the car.

"What is it?" Jackson asked.

Tyson met the deputy's eyes with a long, level look, allowing him to glimpse the pent-up rage looking for a way to break free. "I took Libby to the house I just purchased. We were up there for a while and she became certain someone was watching us through the front gla.s.s. The property is fenced in and gated. I thought we were safe, although I don't have a security system in place. I dropped Libby's jacket outside on the walkway and when I went to get it so we could leave, I found it ripped to shreds. The cuts were too clean to have been made with anything but a knife. I'm telling you straight up, Jackson, you'd better find the son of a b.i.t.c.h before I do."

Jackson ignored the threat. "Do you think these attempts are directed at you? Or is this about her?"

Tyson shrugged, looked down to see his fists were clenched and made an attempt to open his hands. "I don't have a clue which one of us. I'm in love with her and maybe that's drawn her into danger. I just don't know." He raked his fingers through his hair in agitation. "There were a couple of men in my garage earlier this evening who chased Libby into the house. They had access to my motorcycle as did whoever was at the new house tonight."

Jackson nodded, careful to take down the details. He glanced at the Drake car as Sarah pulled a U-turn and came up along side of them. She leaned out the window.

"Libby's worried about Ty. She wants him to come by the house and let her clean his arm. She says he'll get an infection if he doesn't take care of it."

Tyson stepped up to the car on the pa.s.senger side so he could put his head inside and kiss Libby again. "Sam's good with sc.r.a.pes, Libby. I want you home and safe now. Get moving." He glanced up and down the highway as if he might spot a threat to her.

Libby didn't want to cling to him so she forced a smile. "Great, you're already trying to get rid of me. I'll see you soon."

Tyson nodded and stepped away from the car.

Libby sank back into her seat with a small frown. "I missed something important, something he doesn't want me to know about. I have a feeling it has something to do with my leather jacket."

"You're wearing his." Sarah glanced at her.

Libby nodded. "I dropped mine outside his house. He owns this absolutely beautiful house and we were going in and I dropped the jacket on the walkway. When we left the house, I was running, so I didn't notice it until we were driving out. I just caught a glimpse but it seemed to be in pieces."

"Pieces?" Elle echoed.

"I think it may have been."

Sarah's gaze jumped to the mirror to meet Elle's vivid green eyes. "I don't like this at all, Lib. We all felt the danger to you. It was incredibly strong this time."

"More to the point it was sharp and spiteful. Very directed."

"At me? Or Ty?" Libby swiveled around in the seat to look at her youngest sister.

Elle shrugged. "I don't know. It felt like you, but I'm tied to you. I couldn't tell. And how in the world would they know you'd even get on his motorcycle?"

Sarah sniffed. "Most people would never consider that a woman of your intellect would even get on the thing."

Libby turned her head to stare out the window with a small secret smile on her face. Libby the bad girl. Her first lecture from big sister. She was grown and a doctor, but it felt like an earth-shattering achievement. Danger and making love and riding on a motorcycle. She wouldn't take back a single second of her night with Tyson Derrick.

"Just in case you'd like to know, Lib," Elle said, studying her fingernails, "Sarah not only has been on a motorcycle, she owns one and drives it."

"For work! For work, you wench," Sarah emphasized. "I'm in security and I do all sorts of things for the job. Libby's a doctor and much more-fragile."

Libby whipped her head around. "I'm so not fragile. I'm a doctor. I don't hang out in a high-rise either, Sarah, I fly to Third World countries where people don't have medicine and their world is filled with power hungry murderers. I am not a pansy."

Sarah held up one hand in surrender as she maneuvered through a switchback. "I didn't mean to offend you, Libby. I was being protective."

"Well, don't. Why is it everyone thinks I need protection? Hannah and Joley both need more protection than I do. You do, too, Sarah. I don't do anything that warrants protection."

Sarah flashed a small grin. "You go out with Tyson Derrick."

Libby huffed out a breath and tried not to smile. She did more than go out with him. She hugged the knowledge to herself. "I do, don't I?"

Elle shook her head in disgust and settled back in her seat with a slight frown. "Another one bites the dust. Just so you know, Hannah isn't going to be happy with you. You were her last line of defense."

Libby bit her lip. "I know she won't be happy. I think deep down she knows she should be with Jonas, but she can't accept him. He's too dominating. She's afraid she can't stand up to him and eventually he'll realize she isn't the strong woman he wants, but someone weak."

"Hannah isn't weak," Sarah denied, shock in her voice.

"Of course she isn't," Libby said. "Hannah thinks she is and that's all that matters. She isn't like the rest of us and she knows it. She never has been."

"She believes we'll all have families and she'll be alone in our house," Elle added. "She laughs about it, saying she'll be the strange old lady with cats, but she isn't laughing on the inside."

"And she isn't eating either," Libby said. "We have to find a way to help her."

"Joley's been trying to get her to eat a little," Sarah confided.

"Joley?" Libby was amazed, but then, on second thought, realized it was like Joley. She talked a good game, and played the part of the musician for the crowd and her adoring fans, but she loved her sisters just as fiercely as they loved her. And Hannah was different. She was the fragile one, even though she would deny it with her last breath. "Of course Joley would notice and try to do something about it. How many accidents have there been in the kitchen?"

All three girls laughed and it helped to dispel the terrible tension. Libby let her breath out slowly as the house came into view. The lights were blazing in welcome, the heavy gates wide open. Hannah and Joley waited on the wide verandah with anxious expressions and even Sarah's guard dogs ran in circles barking a welcome. The moment Libby was out of the car, Hannah and Joley nearly knocked her flat as they dragged her into their arms.

"I was so afraid," Hannah said, somewhere between laughter and tears. "Don't you ever scare us like that again."

"You aren't hurt, are you?" Joley stared at her leg and took her hand, turning it over to wince at the gravel embedded there.

"It's painful, but I heal fast."

Hannah stepped back to stare at her. "Libby, you have been with that man. I thought he had broken ribs. I was sure you were safe."

Joley nudged her taller sister. "You mean you thought you were safe. Libby is a fallen woman."

Libby carefully folded Tyson's jacket and set it on a chair with a loving caress her sisters couldn't miss. "I made certain I didn't expend a lot of energy, but I sped up his healing every time I saw him. Just a little touch here and there." She gave them a dreamy smile.

"Stop mooning, you goose, and let's get you cleaned up." Hannah put a hand on Libby's back, felt her wince as she yanked up her shirt. She whistled and pulled the material back in place. "You've been having a good time, haven't you?" She gestured toward a chair and waited until Libby removed her jeans so she could kneel by her to begin the difficult job of cleaning her leg. Joley started to work on her palm.

"I'm going to marry that man," Libby announced.

Sarah turned back from the window to face her. Hannah covered her mouth to keep the gasp from being heard. Joley and Elle exchanged a long look of near despair.

"Are you certain, Libby? You haven't been seeing him that long."

"Longer than you think," Libby said. "I remember watching him argue with a professor at Harvard. I knew he was right, but the professor was so arrogant and Ty was making a mortal enemy. I wouldn't have done it. I would have agreed and taken the good grade and simply have quietly known I was right. It was the principle, the fact that Professor Harding was teaching an entire cla.s.s something inaccurate. Tyson didn't care if that man could fail him, it mattered that the material was taught correctly. I knew then, at that moment, that he was someone special. He stands up, Sarah."

"Can you stand up to him? A man should make you feel good about yourself, Libby. I saw your face when you talked to him back in school. He made you cry."

Libby nodded. "I know. I just didn't understand him back then. He thought I had all kinds of confidence, that I was some sort of royalty. Why do people think that of us? I know Jonas does with Hannah, and for years I've heard how popular we were. I didn't feel popular in school. Did any of you? Ow!" She glared at Joley and jerked her hand away.

"What does that mean anyway?" Joley asked. "I was leader of the pack. Does that make me popular? I just couldn't take having rules. And stop being a baby. You're a doctor, for heaven's sake, it's supposed to hurt."

"You still hate rules," Sarah said, frowning. "I don't know how you do it, Joley, and you still stay as sweet and as innocent as you do."

Joley made a face. "Ugg. Never repeat that in public. Or in front of Mom or Dad. That's just wrong, Sarah."

"All the girls hated me," Hannah said. "I walked into a room and they immediately got really nasty looks on their faces. I was so painfully shy I couldn't have talked to them anyway, but it made it worse. They all thought I was stuck up and haughty. I didn't even know what haughty was the first time I overheard someone call me that." She poured a dark-looking liquid into a bowl. "This is going to hurt, honey, so take a deep breath. We want it clean though."

Tears swam in Libby's eyes for a moment as the antiseptic flowed over her leg, but she choked back the gasp and rubbed Hannah's shoulder in commiseration. "School was rough on you, Hannah. I didn't pay all that much attention to what other people thought of me. I had all of you and I was perfectly happy."

"That's because everyone loved you, Libby," Joley said. "And if they didn't, they were afraid I'd beat them up. And I would have, too. If Jackson doesn't figure out who is threatening you, I'm going to have to do the investigating myself." She pa.s.sed Hannah the tube of antibiotic cream.

"That will win you points with both Jonas and Jackson," Sarah said.

Elle made a face. "Big bad Jackson. Guess we should all hide in the closet so we don't ruffle his feathers."

"What is it with you and Jackson?" Hannah asked.

Elle shrugged, turning her face away from her sisters. "He's driving me crazy."

"He never talks," Sarah pointed out. "How in the world could he drive you crazy?"

"He doesn't talk to you, Sarah. That doesn't mean he doesn't talk to me."

The sisters exchanged puzzled looks. "When?"

"All the time."

Hannah stood up and crossed the room to wrap her arm around her youngest sister. "What does he say to you, Elle?"

Elle let her breath out slowly and turned back to them. "He doesn't approve of me."

"What a shocker," Joley said, curling her legs under her. "Jonas doesn't approve of any of us, especially Hannah, and no one approves of me. Elle, sweetheart, tell the guy to drop dead. That's what I do."

Elle flashed a small smile. "Believe me, I do."

Hannah shook her head. "She doesn't mean he speaks to her as in physical talking, do you, Elle? He's telepathic, isn't he?"

Elle's hand went to her throat and she pulled away from her sister, her face going pale. "How did you know?"

Hannah ignored the question. "Can you shield yourself from him?"

Elle shook her head slowly. "I've tried. He's too strong."

"What does he want?" Sarah said. "You should have told us right away, Elle. Jonas would make him stop."

"No, don't say anything to Jonas," Elle said. "He won't stop and Jonas would try to make him. It would ruin their friendship."

"Have you told him to stop?" Sarah asked.

Libby saw the utter weariness and despair on Elle's face, her eyes so dark and shadowed it broke Libby's heart. "We can help you, Elle. Let us help you for a little while. You'll figure things out in your own time. No one has the right to rush you or dictate to you." She sank to her knees in front of her youngest sister. "Abbey should have the wedding she wants, not what the world wants for her. And you deserve that as well. You have the right to choose."

"Do I? Do any of us? Do we really have the freedom or does destiny decide for us?" Elle whispered, her voice strangled. "Because the only choice is whether we carry on the legacy or we end it. That's a h.e.l.l of a responsibility."

"Every seventh daughter before you has had to make that decision," Libby said, her voice gentle, "and you have to make your choice, Elle. You have that right. But you don't need outside pressures, not from anyone. We can help you." She took Elle's hand and held out her other hand to Sarah. Sarah took Libby's hand and held out her other one to Joley.

Joley brushed a kiss on top of Elle's head as she linked hands with Hannah. "You don't always have to be strong, honey. That's why you have us. Together, we're pretty much unbeatable. Let's see him get past this shield." She hesitated and then shrugged. "While we're at it, let's add me into the circle, too. I could use a little boost to stay protected."

Silence followed her seemingly casual statement. The admission coming from Joley was shocking. She rolled her eyes then winked at Elle. "See, little sister, you don't always know everything, do you?"

"I thought I did."

"What is it, Joley?" Sarah asked warily. "We don't know any other telepaths."

There was a small silence. Joley began to rub her hand against her thigh as if it bothered her. It was a gesture they were all becoming too familiar with.

"Ilya Prakenskii." Elle whispered the name. "He has to be a telepath."