“But that’s the only upside. Until we figure out who is after us this time, I think it’s best if you stay at the Lafayette Plantation.”
“You have a plantation?” Stephanie asked.
“It actually belongs to Gabriella Bordeaux. She and Luke Buckley are also products of the clinic. They were on the run, too, and hooked up with us.”
As they drove west, Stephanie slumped against Craig.
We don’t know what happened back at Reynard’s estate. I don’t even know if my father is all right.
He is. I saw him duck under a table.
Well, he got what he wanted. Reynard paid his debts, and I didn’t have to marry the man.
She let her head drop to Craig’s shoulder, and he held her close, marveling that the two of them were finally safe.
Rachel broke into their silent conversation.
“The plantation’s a good place for you to hide out—until we get the mess straightened out.”
“You think we can?”
“Yes,” she answered with conviction. “And I hope you want to join us in our group defense efforts.”
“Of course,” Craig said. “What you did back there was pretty impressive. How did you do that trick with the lightning bolt?”
“It’s not difficult. We can teach you.” She huffed out a breath. “I’m sorry we didn’t come to help you sooner, but we had to be sure about you.”
“About our being children from the clinic?”
In the driver’s seat, Jake made a wry sound. “No. That part was pretty obvious. She means sure that you were friendly. The first people we met from the clinic tried to kill us.”
Stephanie gasped. “Why?”
“They thought they were the only ones with our kind of mental powers, and they couldn’t stand the idea of anyone else having them.”
“Nice,” Craig answered.
“You were a twin?” Rachel asked Craig.
“Yes. My brother Sam and I must have developed powers together right from the beginning. When he was killed, I thought I’d never find that again.” He pulled Stephanie closer as he spoke. “Then I found Stephanie and discovered there was more than what Sam and I had shared.”
As they drove to Lafayette, Jake and Rachel told them about the plantation—and the clinic.
“I remember going there as a little girl,” Stephanie said.
“But I didn’t,” Craig said. “My mom never bothered with rules if it suited her to do something else. We were from the DC area, and she didn’t take me and Sam back to Houma after we were born.”
“Right now, the two of you probably want to decompress,” Jake said.
“There are guest cottages on the grounds,” Rachel said. “You can have one.”
Craig was still feeling dazed as they pulled onto the Lafayette plantation property. He blinked when he saw the sign for Chez Gabriella.
“She was a pastry chef in New Orleans,” Jake explained. “She’s funding the plantation with this restaurant in the main house—where she grew up. But it’s only open on the weekends. That gives us the run of the place the rest of the time. We’regoing to move the housing farther from the restaurant, but we haven’t had time to do it.”
When he pulled up in front of a semicircle of cottages, another man and woman hurried down from the main house.
“Gabriella and Luke,” Jake said.
