Raintree: Santuary

EIGHT

Tuesday, 3:00 p.m.

There were only two Ansara psychics loyal to Cael: Natalie, a girl of twenty, who had predicted that in the upcoming battle with the Raintree, many Ansara lives would be lost but they would not lose the battle; and Risa, older, wiser, more cautious, one of Judah’s discarded lovers who now often warmed Cael’s bed. Neither woman possessed half the ability that Sidra did. The old councilwoman, fiercely loyal to Judah, was the most gifted Ansara psychic. To his knowledge, the only Raintree psychic who had the potential to reach Sidra’s level was Echo. But that little bitch would be dead long before she could harness and control her gifts.

At his request, Natalie and Risa, who intensely disliked each other, arrived at his home together. Cael greeted the two women cordially, then personally escorted them into the living room and offered them refreshments. After they declined his offer, they obeyed his command and took seats on the sleek leather sofa.

He stood over them, glancing back and forth from one to the other. “I need information that I cannot gain by normal methods. You understand?”

“Yes, my lord,” they replied simultaneously, then glowered at each other.

“What I’m going to share with you is not to go beyond this room. If it does, there will be severe consequences.”

Natalie’s facial muscles tightened. “I swear my loyalty to you. I’ll take an oath in blood if your require it, Dranir Cael.”

Smiling, Cael reached down and caressed the blond girl’s tanned cheek. She returned his smile. He slapped her. Stunned by his actions, she reeled backward and gazed at him in shock.

“I displeased you?” her voice quivered.

“Not at all,” he said. “The slap was merely a test to judge your reaction.”

“Yes, my lord,” Natalie replied.

“I’d prefer not to be tested,” Risa told him when he turned to her. “I’m your loyal servant, but I am not your doormat. You’d do well to remember that.”

Cael focused directly on Risa, tall, elegantly slender, with black hair and dark blue eyes. When he was Dranir, he would prove to her that she was whatever he wanted her to be. The thought of forcing her to lie prostrate before him while he walked across her prone body brought a wide smile to his face. “I will remember,” he told her.

“Why did you summon us?” Risa asked, giving Natalie another displeased sidelong glance.

“I want you to work together to find the answer to a question. I need you to seek a child named Eve. I believe she’s Mercy Raintree’s daughter.” Then Cael added, “The little girl has powers, so be forewarned.”

“How old is the child?” Risa asked.

“Six.”

Natalie laughed. “A six-year-old with powers that we should fear?”

Cael nodded. “Unusual, but not unheard of. Remember, she is a Raintree princess.”

“What do you want to know about this child?” Natalie asked.

“I want to know who her father is.”

“What possible interest could the paternity of a Raintree child be to you, my lord?” Risa asked.

Cael barely managed to control his anger. How dare Risa question him? But for now, he would allow her disrespect to go unpunished. He realized she was jealous that he had shown an interest in Natalie, and by summoning them to his home together, he had placed the younger psychic on an equal level with the older. For the present, he needed Risa. Once she had served her purpose…

“Why I am interested in this child is not your concern,” he said. “Not at this time.”

Apparently finally realizing that she had stepped over the line, Risa acquiesced without further comment. She bowed her head, then turned to Natalie. “Prepare to link your mind to my mind.”

The two women sat facing each other. Risa took both Natalie’s hands in hers and stared into the younger woman’s eyes. “Go deep and let yourself travel across the ocean to the Raintree sanctuary, but do not project your thoughts into the future. Concentrate solely on the child named Eve.”

Natalie nodded agreement.

“I will clear the path for you, so that you can reach the child’s mind,” Cael said, certain that if he had made contact with Eve once, he could break through the barrier surrounding her once again. He found the anticipation exhilarating.

Judah walked along the beach, Claud eat his side, as he so often was. His cousin had been at his side, literally and figuratively, since they were boys. They had shared many things over the years-their first taste of liquor, their first woman, their first kill. They had left the island and gone to America to college together, and had joined the business world together as young men.

“Could it be a trick of some kind?” Claude asked.

“For what purpose? If it’s not the truth, why would Mercy want me to believe that Cael knows about Eve? Why tell me that he actually exchanged psychic blows with my daughter?

“To lure you back to North Carolina?”

“For what reason? The woman despises me and has made it perfectly clear that she doesn’t want me anywhere near Eve.”

“Forgive me for asking, but are you sure Eve is your daughter? Isn’t it possible that-”

“She’s mine.” Judah was as certain of that fact as he was that the sun would rise in the East tomorrow morning.

“If Cael even suspects that this child is yours, he will try to kill her,” Claude said. “And no one would stop him or judge him for his actions, because he would be obeying the ancient decree to kill any mixed-breed child.”

“I’m going to call a council meeting tonight. Only those loyal to me. And I will announce that I have revoked the ancient decree. With nothing more than my signature, witnessed by two council members, I have the power to revoke any decree.”

“The council will want to know why-”

“I am the Dranir. I am not obligated to answer to anyone, not even the high council.”

Claude paused, laid his hand on Judah ’s shoulder and made direct eye contact. “Is now the time to alienate even one council member? Cael is preparing for a premature war with the Raintree. The more high council members he can turn against you, the easier it will be for him to follow through with his plans.” Claude squeezed Judah ’s shoulder. “Your brother won’t stop until he kills you or you kill him.”

Judah pulled away from his cousin. “Are you saying that I shouldn’t protect my daughter?”

“I’m saying that your priority should be keeping Cael in check. Only you can prevent him from destroying us.”

“And you think I should be willing to sacrifice my daughter’s life? Don’t you believe I can protect Eve and also safeguard my people from my insane brother?”

“Why is the child so important to you? You didn’t choose to father her. You didn’t even know she existed until two days ago. And you can’t forget that she is Raintree.”

Judah seethed. “Eve is Ansara!”

“No, she isn’t,” Claude said. “She is only half Ansara. The other half is Raintree. And she has been reared for the past six years within the Raintree sanctuary by Princess Mercy. If your daughter had to choose between you and her mother, between the Ansara and the Raintree, who do you think she’d choose?”

Whirlwinds of sand swirled upward from the beach, shooting high into the air. Fire shot from Judah ’s fingertips, and the ground beneath their feet trembled.

“Enough already. I get it,” Claude said. “You’re pissed at me for speaking the truth.”

Claude understood Judah as no one else did and accepted him without question. Instead of being irritated by Judah ’s hair-trigger temper, his cousin usually seemed amused. There were times when Judah envied Claude’s innate calmness, an inner peace that he himself didn’t possess.

As Judah ’s anger subsided, the whirlwinds died down one by one. He flung red-hot flashes out toward the ocean, where they sizzled and died in the salty surf. Then, when he continued walking up the beach, Claude followed, neither of them saying a word. The tropical June sun warmed them, while at the same time the breeze off the water cooled them. The Ansara lived in paradise.

“I can’t claim Eve until after The Battle, when the Raintree are defeated,” Judah said. “If I try to take her before then…”

“What will you do about Princess Mercy now that you know she gave birth to your child?”

“Nothing has changed. Mercy is still my kill on the day of The Battle.” Judah paused and looked out over the ocean toward the far horizon. Now that she had come into her full powers, Mercy would be a worthy adversary. She would fight him with all her strength. “As long as the Raintree exist, they will be a threat to us.”

“It won’t be easy to kill your child’s mother.”

“My father had Cael’s mother put to death. He never regretted it.”

“Uncle Hadar hated Nusi for what she did to your mother. Nusi was an evil sorceress, and crazy, just as her son is.”

“And Mercy is Raintree. That alone is reason enough to kill her.”

Before Claude could respond, they noticed one of the servants from the palace, a youth named Bru, running down the stairway that led from the palace grounds to the private beach. He waved his hands and called out for the Dranir.

When Bru reached them, he bowed hurriedly before gasping several deep breaths and saying, “Councilwoman Sidra is waiting for you, my lord. She said to tell you that you must come to her immediately. She has dire news.”

Judah broke into a run, flying up the rock stairs, Claude and Bru following. Undoubtedly Sidra had experienced another vision. If she said the news was dire, it was. She never panicked, and never exaggerated the importance of her revelations.

When they reached the palace grounds, they found the old seer sitting calmly on a lower level patio, her wrinkled hands folded and resting in her lap. Her husband, Bartholomew, stood behind her, as always, her fierce guardian.

Judah went to Sidra, and when she tried to stand on unsteady legs, he helped her back into the chair and knelt at her feet. As the Dranir, he didn’t bow to anyone, but Sidra was not just anyone. Not only was she their greatest soothsayer, she had been one of his mother’s ladies-in-waiting and her dearest friend.

Sidra squeezed Judah’s hands. “I have seen the mother of a new clan. She is a child of light. Golden hair. Golden eyes.”

Judah’s gut tightened. He would never forget the moment when he had seen his daughter’s eyes flash golden, just for a millisecond. “The child’s existence-what does it mean for the Ansara?”

“Transformation,” Sidra said.

Judah looked up at Bartholomew and then over at Claude. Transformation? Not annihilation? Not their downfall? And not their salvation.

Sidra clasped his hands tightly once again. Judah focused on her. “If you are to save your people, you must protect the child from…” Sidra’s voice grew weak, her eyelids fluttering wearily. “Guard yourself against Cael, against his evil. You must reverse the ancient decree…today.” Sidra dropped off into a sudden and deep, restorative sleep, as she usually did after a powerful vision sapped her strength.

Bartholomew lifted the cloak from his shoulders and laid it across his wife, then faced Judah. “My lord, you know which ancient decree she was talking about.”

Judah rose to his feet. “Yes, I know.”

“Sidra believes her vision to be a true one,” Bartholomew said. “If it is…there is a mixed-breed child out there somewhere, a child who is half Ansara and half Raintree.”

“Yes, there is.”

“You already knew of the child’s existence?” Bartholomew asked.

Judah hesitated. “Yes.”

“After what Sidra has seen, I agree that you have to protect the child,” Claude said. “Write a new decree and sign it, with Bartholomew and me as witnesses. Revoke the ancient decree that demands the death of any mixed-breed offspring.”

“Claude is right, my lord.” Bartholomew glanced down lovingly at his wife. “Sidra believes Cael will try to kill the child, and you must not allow that to happen. Without her, the Ansara are doomed.”

“I swear on my father’s honor that I won’t let anything happen to the child,” Judah said. I’ll protect you, Eve. Do you hear me? No one will harm you. Now or ever.

Mercy sensed a triad of minds searching inside the sanctuary boundaries-powerful thoughts that had combined in order to increase their strength. Instinctively, she realized the psychic exploration originated from far away. Laying aside the book that she’d been reading-an ancient script filled with spells and incantations of protection-she concentrated fully on the hostile energy. It took only a minute for her to understand the danger.

Ansara!

One mind was leading the other two, guiding them as it struggled to contact Eve.

I won’t allow it. Closing her eyes and taking a deep, strengthening breath, she concentrated on surrounding Eve, adding extra protection to the magical boundary that already guarded her.

It’s all right, Mother. I’m not afraid of him. He can’t hurt me.

Oh, God, Eve. Don’t! Whatever you’re thinking about doing, don’t do it.

Silly Mommy.

You’d better listen to me, Eve Raintree!

No, I’m Eve Ansara.

Striving to maintain the second level of protection around Eve, Mercy opened her eyes and ran from her study, seeking her daughter. She found Eve sitting on a cushion on the floor in the living room, surrounded by an array of stuffed animals, all marching around Eve, their little stuffed appendages bounding up and down against the wooden floor.

“Eve!”

Eve gasped. Her eyes widened as she faced Mercy and abruptly aborted the spell she had used to animate her stuffed animals.

“I was just practicing.” Eve’s beguiling smile pleaded for understanding.

“That man-your father’s enemy-did you say or do anything-”

“Don’t worry.” Eve stood, shoulders straight and head held high. Self-assured in a way few six-year-olds were. A true princess.

“I sent him and the other two away,” Eve said. “They wanted to know who my father was and-”

“You didn’t tell them, did you?”

“Of course not.” Eve stepped over a tiger and a bear as she approached Mercy. “I shut them out. It made him mad.” She gazed up at Mercy, a deceptive innocence in her green Raintree eyes.

Eve had been headstrong, stubborn and not easy to control before Judah entered her life, but she was always Mercy’s sweet little girl who might resist her mother’s wishes but would obey in the end. Without being able to pinpoint exactly the moment it had happened, Mercy recognized that Eve was no longer under her control. Perhaps it would have happened eventually, when Eve was older, whether or not she ever met her father, but somehow meeting Judah had changed Eve. And it had forever altered Mercy’s relationship with her daughter.

“I love you just as much as ever.” Eve wrapped her arms around Mercy’s waist, laid her head on Mercy’s tummy, and hugged her.

Mercy caressed Eve’s head. “I love you, too.”

Eve eased away from Mercy and looked up at her. “I’m sorry you’re sad because I’m an Ansara.”

Mercy bit down on her bottom lip in an effort to neither cry nor scream. Sighing heavily, she looked right at Eve. “I am Raintree. You’re my daughter. You are Raintree.”

“Mother, Mother.” Eve shook her head. “I was born into the Raintree clan, but I was born for the Ansara. For my father.”

A shiver of realization chilled Mercy, sending the cold, hard truth shooting to her brain. The fear that she had kept buried deep inside her since Eve’s conception came out of hiding, bursting from her in a psychic energy storm that shook the entire house.

Mercy seldom if ever lost control of her powers, but this reaction had been entirely involuntary, a knee-jerk response to suspecting that her daughter’s destiny was to save the Raintree’s mortal enemies.

Eve grabbed Mercy’s hand, instantly calming her. For one brief instant, as mother’s and daughter’s powers linked, Mercy felt the immense power Eve possessed.

Once again in control of herself, Mercy said, “Your father’s people, the Ansara, and my people, the Raintree, have been enemies since time immemorial. Sidonia has told you the stories of our people, how long ago we defeated the Ansara in a terrible battle and only a handful of their kind survived.”

“I love it when Sidonia tells me those stories,” Eve said. “She always tells me how mean and bad the Ansara are, and how good and kind the Raintree are. Does that mean I’m both good and bad?”

How was it possible that one minute Eve was wise and powerful beyond her years, and then the next minute she seemed to be only an adorable six-year-old?

“We are all good and bad,” Mercy said.

“Even my daddy?”

“Yes, perhaps.” Mercy could not bring herself to tell Eve that Judah was as wicked and evil as all his kind. But how do you know that to be true? a taunting inner voice asked. Judah is the only Ansara you’ve ever known, the only one you’ve ever met.

The Raintrees’ knowledge of the Ansara came from historical accounts two hundred years old.

And from an inborn psychic instinct that Mercy could not deny.

Tuesday, 8:45 p.m.

Three whores from his private brothel stroked and petted and pleasured Cael as he lay on black satin sheets. Risa and Natalie had disappointed him bitterly earlier today. He had sent both women out of his sight, placing all the blame for his failure to penetrate Eve Raintree’s mind squarely on the psychics’ shoulders. He had spent hours fuming, the anger inside him building to an explosive point.

Needing to release his rage and find temporary ease and forgetfulness, he had sent for a diversion. Each of his whores had taken her turn under his whip, screaming and begging as his blows brought blood to their backs and buttocks. Their pain aroused Cael unbearably, adding heightened sensation to the sex act. As the redhead with the talented tongue brought him to yet another climax, Cael clutched her by the hair of her head, making her scream in pain as he shuddered with fulfillment.

As he rested there, sated and sleepy, the double doors to his bedroom suite swung open as if a gale-force wind had ripped them from the hinges. Cael laughed when he saw Alexandria storming into his private quarters. No doubt she would throw a jealous tantrum.

“Send your whores away,” she said, her voice oddly calm. “I need to speak to you without an audience.”

Naked and reeking of sex, Cael shoved the women aside as he eased to the side of the bed and stood to face Alexandria. When he looked her in the eye, he saw neither anger nor jealousy.

With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the whores. “Go. Leave me. Return to the brothel.”

The women obeyed instantly, hurrying to put on their robes as they exited the room. Once they were gone, Cael walked over to Alexandria and smiled at her.

“You disappoint me, my love. I had expected a jealous tantrum.”

“You flatter yourself if you think I care who else you screw, now or in the future. As long as I rule at your side as the Dranira, you’re welcome to keep as many whores as it takes to satisfy your sexual appetites.”

Cael’s smile widened. “We make a perfect couple.”

“Only if you can defeat the Raintree and kill Judah.”

Cael lifted his black silk robe from the floor and slipped into it. “I intend to do both very soon.” He reached out and stroked Alexandria’s cheek. “What brings you here tonight? You said you needed to speak with me privately.”

“I have learned about a secret meeting of the Dranir and three council members.”

“When?”

“This afternoon.”

“Who met with Judah, and why?”

“Claude was there, along with Bartholomew and Sidra.”

“Sidra?”

“I don’t know who arranged the meeting, but Sidra and Bartholomew showed up at the palace and stayed for several hours.”

“That old witch probably had a vision of some kind. I’ve been careful to protect my plans from others. That is why only I know the exact moment when we will strike the Raintree. I cannot risk Sidra seeing-”

“We have more to concern us than Sidra foreseeing your plans,” Alexandria said. “Judah has done the unthinkable.”

Pure fear gripped Cael. He hated the fact that his brother could evoke such terror in him. “What has he done?”

“He has revoked an ancient decree. Judah signed the nullification proclamation. Claude and Bartholomew acted as witnesses.”

“Which decree was overturned?”

“The one declaring that any mixed-breed child would be put to death.”

“Why would Judah…?” The child, the child. She could be our downfall.

“What it is?” Alexandria asked. “What do you know?”

Cael grasped Alexandria’s arm and yanked her to him. Eye to eye with her, he growled. “Such a child undoubtedly exists. And for Judah to revoke a decree issued thousands of years ago, this child must be very special to him.”

“Are you implying that Judah has fathered a Raintree woman’s child?”

Cael snarled. “Not just any Raintree woman, but a Raintree princess. Mercy Raintree has a daughter named Eve, a little girl with extraordinary power.”

Wednesday Morning, 1:49 a.m.

Mercy debated her options. Try to handle the situation alone. Contact Dante and tell him the truth about Eve’s paternity. Trust Judah to protect Eve.

If only she had another choice.

But whatever decision she made, it needed to be made soon. No later than tomorrow morning.

Sidonia knocked before entering the study. She paused several feet away from where Mercy stood in front of the fireplace, staring up at Ancelin’s sword.

“Eve is finally asleep,” Sidonia said. “It’s time you were in bed, too. You need rest.”

“I can’t rest until I decide what to do.”

“Call Dante.”

“As much as I dread the thought of confessing my sins to my big brother, I may have no other choice.”

“He’ll be angry. No doubt about that. He’ll want to hunt down Judah Ansara and kill him,” Sidonia said. “Is that what’s stopping you? You don’t want Dante to kill Judah?”

Mercy snapped around and glared at Sidonia. “It’s possible that Judah could kill Dante.”

“That’s hardly likely. You know as well as I do that Dante has not only his own unique individual powers, but he possesses the abilities inherent in all Dranirs. Judah would be no match for him.”

“We don’t know what powers Judah possesses, but they must be very great for Eve to be endowed with such incredible abilities.”

Sidonia walked over to the desk and picked up the telephone. “Call Dante. Do it now.”

Mercy stared at the phone, a war of uncertainty being waged inside her.

The study door burst open. Wearing her pink footed pajamas, Eve bounded into the room, wide-awake and all smiles. She ran to Mercy, grabbed her hand and said, “Come on. Let’s go.”

“Go where?” Mercy asked.

“To the front door to meet him. My daddy’s coming. I let him in.”