Raintree: Santuary

FIFTEEN

Sunday, 11:08 a.m.

The Summer Solstice

Eve bounced onto the foot of Mercy’s bed and whispered loudly, “I’ve been up for hours, Mommy. Are you and Daddy going to sleep all day?”

Mercy’s eyes flew open. Startled by her daughter’s cheerful greeting, she woke from a deep, sated sleep. “Eve?”

Wiggling around, making her way up the bed to position herself between Mercy and Judah, Eve spoke a bit louder now that she had roused her mother. “Sidonia told me not to disturb you, but I got tired of waiting, so I sneaked up the back stairs when she wasn’t looking.”

“What the hell?” Judah cracked open one eye and then the other. “Eve?” He shot straight up in bed, exposing his naked chest.

As Mercy lifted herself into a sitting position, the sheet covering her slipped, and she suddenly remembered that she was as naked as Judah. She grabbed the edge of the sheet and yanked it up to cover her breasts.

“Hi, Daddy.”

“Hello, Eve.” Judah glanced at Mercy, as if asking her how they were going to handle this rather awkward situation.

“You’re not going to stay in bed the rest of the day, are you?” Eve looked from one parent to the other.

“No, we…er…uh…” Mercy stammered. “Why don’t you go to your room or back downstairs with Sidonia, and Daddy and I will-”

Sidonia’s voice bellowed, “Eve Raintree, I thought I told you not to disturb your mother. Come here right this min-” Sidonia stopped abruptly in the doorway, her eyes round and her mouth agape as she stared at the threesome in Mercy’s bed. “This won’t do,” she muttered. “This just will not do.” She shook her head disapprovingly.

“Eve, go with Sidonia,” Mercy told her daughter.

Eve eyed her mother from tousled hair to bare shoulders. “Why aren’t you wearing your gown?” She turned her gaze on Judah. “Daddy, are you naked, too?”

Judah cleared his throat but couldn’t disguise the tilt of his lips.

How dare he find this amusing! Mercy glowered at him. He smiled.

“Come along, child.” Sidonia held out her hand. “It’s already summertime weather, and no doubt your mother got hot last night and removed her gown so she could cool off.” If looks alone could kill, Sidonia’s outraged glower would have zapped Judah. Thank goodness her old nanny didn’t have the ability to shoot psychic bolts.

Making no move to leave her parents, Eve asked, “Did you get hot, too, Daddy?”

“Uh, yeah, something like that,” Judah replied.

“Eve, go with Sidonia,” Mercy said. “Now.”

Puckering up as if she were on the verge of tears, Eve scooted back down to the foot of the bed, then slid off and onto her feet. “I woke you up because I needed to tell you that something’s going on. I thought you and Daddy would want to know.”

“Whatever it is, it can wait for a few minutes,” Mercy said.

When Eve dawdled, her shoulders slumped, her head hung low, Sidonia grabbed her hand and marched her toward the door. Dragging her feet at the threshold, Eve balked. Glancing back over her shoulder, she said, “I’m going. But can I ask Daddy one question first?”

“What do you want to ask me?” Judah focused on Eve.

“Well, actually, it’s two questions,” Eve admitted.

When Sidonia jerked on Eve’s hand, she issued her nanny a stern, warning glare.

“Ask your questions,” Judah said.

“Uncle Dante doesn’t have a crown even though he’s a Dranir.” Eve’s eyes sparkled with anticipation. “I was just wondering if you have a crown?”

What? Huh? Mercy’s mind couldn’t quite comprehend her daughter’s comment and question. “Eve, why would your father have a-”

“Actually, I just wanted to know if, since I’m a Raintree princess and an Ansara princess, do I get to wear two crowns? Maybe a solid gold crown and another one that’s all sparkly diamonds. Or maybe just one really big crown.”

Mercy snapped around and stared at Judah, who had gone deadly still. “What’s she talking about?”

Unclenching his jaw, Judah ignored Mercy and answered his daughter. “I don’t have a crown. But if you want a crown or two crowns or half a dozen, I’ll get them for you.”

Lifting her shoulders, tilting her chin and smiling like the proverbial cat that ate the canary, Eve turned around and all but pulled a stunned Sidonia out of the room.

Mercy got out of bed, found her robe lying on the floor, snatched it up and slipped into it hurriedly. Then she confronted Judah, who had gotten up, found his discarded slacks and was in the process of zipping the fly when Mercy headed toward him. She marched up to him and looked him right in the eyes.

“Why would Eve think you might have a crown, and why would she think she’s an Ansara princess?”

He shrugged. “Who knows what puts ideas in a child’s head?”

“Uh-uh, mister. That’s not going to work with me.”

“I’m starving. What about you? After the workout we had last night…all night-” he tried using that cocky, aren’t-I-sexy? grin on her “-I need to rebuild my strength.”

Mercy grabbed Judah’s arm. “Answer my question. And so help me, you’d better tell me the truth.”

He didn’t try to veil his thoughts completely, allowing Mercy to momentarily use her empathic ability.

What is the truth between us? We have a child we can’t share. A life we can’t share. I have never wanted another woman the way I want you, have never known such pain or such pleasure. If it were within my power to change the way things are, I would. But I cannot betray my people.

Mercy jerked her hand away, her gaze glued to his face. “You lied to me. You are the Ansara Dranir.”

“Yes, I am, and Eve is an Ansara princess, heir to the throne. According to our great seer, Sidra Ansara, Eve was born for my people. That’s why I rescinded the ancient decree to kill all mixed-breed children-to protect my daughter.”

“No! Eve is my daughter. My baby. She’s a Raintree.” Eve’s words echoed inside Mercy’s head. I was born for the Ansara. “Only a few dozen Ansara were left alive after The Battle. Just how many Ansara are there now? Thousands? Hundreds of thousands?”

“Don’t do this,” Judah told her. “It serves no purpose, and it changes nothing.”

“My God, how can you say that? The Raintree have believed that the Ansara were scattered over the earth and-no, no!”

She backed away from him, her eyes bright with fear. “I worried about how my giving birth to a half Ansara child would affect me, but when I saw no visible signs all these years, I assumed I was for the most part unaffected, but now…”

“You’re wondering how much if any Ansara there might be in you, since you gave birth to the Ansara Dranir’s child. I don’t know, but my guess is none. You seem to have remained totally Raintree.”

“But it’s possible I was somehow affected and I’m not aware of it. When a Raintree woman takes a human mate, he does not become Raintree, but when a woman gives birth to a Raintree child, she becomes Raintree. It stands to reason that when a woman gives birth to an Ansara child, especially the child of the Dranir, it would somehow change her.”

Mercy knew that she could no longer keep Eve’s paternity a secret. If she had even suspected that Judah was the Ansara Dranir, she would have gone to Dante and told him the truth years ago. Was it too late now? It couldn’t be coincidence that the Ansara Dranir had come to the sanctuary and saved her from one of his own. One of Cael’s followers had tried to kill her, but Judah had stopped him. Why? Not because he loved her.

“Cael wants to be Dranir,” Mercy said. “That’s why he intends to kill you. And Eve. He can’t allow your daughter to live, because even if she is half Raintree, she threatens his claim on the throne. My God, it all makes sense now. My child is at the center of an Ansara civil war.”

“Don’t do anything rash,” Judah said. “I swear to you that keeping Eve safe is my number one priority. I won’t let Cael hurt her.”

“You’ve brought this evil here to us!” Mercy screamed. “If you’d never come to the sanctuary, if you’d stayed away…”

“You would be dead,” Judah told her. “Greynell would have killed you.”

“Why did you stop him from killing me?”

Judah hesitated, a look of anguish in his cold, gray eyes. “No other Ansara has the right to kill you.”

Mercy couldn’t breathe. Her pulse pounded in her head, and for a millisecond she thought she might faint. “I understand. Dranir Judah had already claimed me as his kill.”

Sidonia’s screams echoed up the stairs, down the hall and through the open door to Mercy’s bedroom.

“Eve!” Mercy cried as she ran past Judah on her way out of the room.

Judah followed her down the backstairs. When they entered the kitchen, they instantly saw what had frightened Sidonia. Levitating several feet off the floor in the middle of the kitchen, Eve hung in midair, her mouth open, her little body stiff, and rotating slowly around and around. Her long, willowy hair floated straight up, parting in the back to reveal a glimpse of the blue crescent moon birthmark that branded her an Ansara. Her eyes faded from Raintree green to shimmering yellow-brown, then back to green. Soft, golden light twinkled on each of her fingertips.

Mercy rushed toward her daughter but couldn’t touch her. A barrier of some kind protected Eve, sealing her off completely from everything around her.

Judah shoved Mercy out of the way, and he, too, tried to breach the shield around Eve. “It’s impenetrable.”

“This has never happened to her before,” Mercy said. “Is Cael doing this? Are you doing it?”

“No, I don’t think this is Cael’s handiwork. And I swear to you that I’m not doing it.” He stared at their child, who was deep in the throes of some unknown type of transformation. “Maybe it has something to do with Sidra’s prophecy.”

Grabbing Judah’s arm, Mercy demanded, “What about the prophecy?”

“He’s trying to change her.” Sidonia pointed a bony finger at Judah. “He’s drawing the Raintree out of her. You see the way her eyes are going from green to gold.”

“Hush, Sidonia.” Mercy looked at Judah, her gaze imploring him.

“Sidra says that Eve is a child of light, born for the Ansara.” Judah focused completely on Eve. “As her father, I’d die to protect her. And as the Dranir, I am sworn to protect her for the sake of my people’s future.”

Mercy wasn’t sure what to believe. Was Judah telling her the truth, or at least a half-truth? Or was he lying to her? “We have to do something to stop this.” She tried again to penetrate the force field surrounding Eve but was thrown backward from an electrical charge the shield emitted. “There has to be a way to break the barrier.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Judah said. “Look at her. She seems to be returning to normal.”

Eve floated down to the floor, landing easily on her feet. Her hair fell about her shoulders, and the light on her fingertips disappeared. She glanced from Judah to Mercy, her eyes once again completely Raintree green.

“Eve? Eve, are you all right?” Mercy asked, choking back tears.

Eve ran to Mercy, her arms outstretched. Mercy lifted her daughter into her arms and held her possessively. Resting her head on Mercy’s shoulder, Eve clung to her mother. When Judah approached, Mercy gave him a warning glare, all but snarling in her protective mother mode.

Suddenly Eve lifted her head and gasped. “Oh, shit!”

“What?” Mercy and Judah asked in unison.

“Where did you ever hear such an ugly word?” Sidonia, ever the grandmotherly nanny, scolded.

Eve looked at Sidonia. “I heard Uncle Dante say it. And Uncle Gideon.”

Mercy grasped Eve’s chin to gain her attention. “When did you hear your uncles-”

“Just a minute ago,” Eve said. “I heard them both say it. Uncle Dante said it when he found out that the bad Ansara caused the fire at his casino. And Uncle Gideon said it when he found out that the person who killed Echo’s friend was a very bad Ansara.”

“How do you know about the fire?” Mercy asked. “And Echo’s roommate?” She hadn’t told Eve anything about either incident.

“I heard what Uncle Dante and Uncle Gideon were thinking when they said ‘oh, shit’ right before I said it.”

If Eve had heard her uncles’ thoughts correctly, then that meant only one thing. “They’re trying to kill us.” Mercy realized the horrible truth. “The Ansara went after each of us-Dante and Gideon and me and…oh, God-Echo!” Holding Eve tightly, she started moving backward, away from Judah. “You knew what was happening, didn’t you? Has it all been a lie? Are you and your brother really allies?”

“Don’t jump to conclusions,” Judah said. “Everything I’ve told you about Cael is the truth.”

“Just like everything you told me about you was the truth?”

Judah took several steps toward her.

“Stop!” Mercy shouted. “I mean it. Don’t come near me or Eve.”

“Mommy, don’t be mad at my daddy.” Eve gazed into Mercy’s eyes.

Suddenly the telephone rang.

“Answer it, Sidonia,” Mercy said.

Sidonia scurried across the room and picked up the portable phone from the charger base. “Hello.” She sighed. “Thank God, it’s you. Yes, she’s here.” Sidonia brought the telephone to Mercy, all the while glaring at Judah as if she thought her evil stare could keep him at bay. “It’s Dante.”

“Dante?” Mercy said as she took the phone.

“Don’t talk, just listen,” he told her. “We’re under attack from the Ansara. They were behind the fire here at the casino, and behind the attempt on Echo’s life. Don’t ask me any particulars. Just believe me when I say that I know it’s only a matter of time before they strike the sanctuary. It’ll be soon. Today would be my guess since-”

“Today is Alban Heruin.” Light of the Shore, the summer solstice, lying between Light of the Earth and Light of the Water, the equinoctial celebrations. “The height of the sun’s power.”

“I’ve just boarded the jet, and we’re leaving Reno. I’m on my way home. Gideon has already left Wilmington. We should both be there by late this afternoon.”

“Dante, there’s something I need to tell you.” How could she explain to him that this was all her fault?

“Whatever it is, it’ll have to wait.”

“Please-”

“Just hold things together until we get there. Understand?”

“I understand.”

“And if a woman named Lorna tries to contact you-she’s mine.”

The dial tone hummed in Mercy’s ear. “Dante?” She flung the phone down on the kitchen counter, then turned to confront Judah.

“Daddy’s gone,” Eve said.

Mercy visually scanned the room. Judah was gone. When had he left, and where was he now?

A couple of seconds after Dante called Mercy, Judah heard Claude’s telepathic message. You’re not answering your cell phone again. Damn it, Judah, all hell’s broken loose and you’ve left me no choice but to-

All hell’s broken loose here, too, Judah told his cousin. Mercy knows that I’m the Dranir.

That’s the least of our problems right now.

Judah ran up the back stairs. Look, if you’re about to tell me that Cael not only sent someone after Mercy but after her brothers and her cousin Echo, too, don’t bother. Dante just called Mercy, and I listened in on their conversation.

Then they figured it out just about the same time the council did, Claude said.

Don’t say anything else. Give me a minute. My phone’s upstairs.

We don’t have a minute to waste.

Judah rushed into Mercy’s bedroom and searched for his cell phone. He finally found it lying on the floor next to his shirt, covered with one of his socks. He picked it up and called Claude.

“What do you know that I don’t?” Judah asked.

“We received information that Cael is somewhere in North Carolina,” Claude said.

“That’s no surprise.”

“We suspect that he has up to a hundred warriors with him, and they’re somewhere between Asheville and the Raintree sanctuary.”

“A hundred! How the hell did he-crap! He’s been recruiting these people for quite some time, hasn’t he? Which isn’t really a surprise.”

“Well, this will surprise you-according to our informant, Cael is planning an all-out attack on the sanctuary sometime within the next twelve hours.”

“Damn! What does Sidra say? Why didn’t she see this coming?”

“She’s not sure, but she suspects that Cael has somehow cloaked the details of his plan so that none of our Ansara seers were able to clearly foresee it. And he’s probably put some kind of spell on all the Raintree seers, as well.”

“We can’t let this happen,” Judah said.

“We can’t stop it.”

“We can try. Call in the Select Guard. Have as many as will fit on the jet come with you immediately. Have the rest follow as soon as possible. Bring them here to North Carolina. Fly into Asheville. Civilian dress for everyone. Understand?”

“Yes, my lord. We need to be as inconspicuous as possible. They can change into uniform on the way to the sanctuary.”

“I’ll arrange ground transportation for you, and when you arrive outside the sanctuary boundary, I’ll be waiting for you,” Judah said. “Contact me when you’re close. In the meantime, once I’m certain Mercy can safeguard Eve during the battle, I’ll make plans of my own.”

“I know your first priority is to protect Princess Eve. But once she’s no longer in harm’s way, it will be too late to turn back. It will be all-out war between the Ansara and the Raintree. Cael has left us no choice but to fight now.”

“Then we’ll fight,” Judah said.

“Where’s my daddy?” Eve asked as Mercy knelt in front of her daughter. “Where did he go?”

“I don’t know,” Mercy lied. She suspected Judah had either left to join Cael or was making plans to do so. “But you mustn’t worry about your father.” She cupped Eve’s beautiful little face with her open palms. “Listen to me, sweetheart, and do exactly what I tell you to do.”

“All right,” Eve said, her voice shaky. “Something really bad is wrong, isn’t it?”

‘Yes, something really bad is wrong. Your father’s brother is going to come here and bring some other very bad men with him. So I’m going to send you with Sidonia to the Caves of Awenasa, and I’m going to invoke a cloaking spell to keep you and Sidonia safe.”

“I need to be here,” Eve said. “With you and Daddy. You’ll need me.”

Mercy choked with emotion. “You can’t stay here. Your father and I can’t do what we have to do if you’re here. I’ll be-we’ll be too concerned about you. Please, Eve, go with Sidonia and stay there until I or Uncle Dante or Uncle Gideon comes and gets you.”

Eve stared at Mercy, a soulful expression in her true Raintree green eyes.

“Tell me that you understand and that you’ll do as I ask,” Mercy said.

Eve put her arms around Mercy’s neck and hugged her. “I’ll go with Sidonia to the caves. You can go ahead and do the cloaking spell. I won’t try to stop you.”

Mercy heaved a deep sigh of relief. “Thank you, my sweet baby girl.” She hugged Eve with the fierceness of a warrior facing possible death, knowing she might never see her child again.

When Mercy finally released Eve, she stood and turned to Sidonia. “I’m trusting you with the most precious thing in the world to me.”

“You know that I’ll guard her with my life.”

Eve went to Sidonia and took her hand. The two waited while Mercy spoke the ancient words, invoking the most powerful cloaking spell she knew of, one that would make it difficult-hopefully impossible-for anyone to track and find Eve.

Mercy stood at the kitchen door, and watched while Sidonia led Eve across the open field and toward the higher mountain range. The Caves of Awenasa were over three miles away, deep in the forest that covered the far western mountainside. Within minutes, both Sidonia and Eve disappeared, the cloaking spell in full effect now, protecting them from detection, guarding them from harm.

Believing that Eve was safe and that she would instantly know if anyone had penetrated the cloaking spell, Mercy hurried upstairs to dress and make preparations for what was to come: battle-perhaps the final battle-with the Ansara.

Fifteen minutes later, dressed in black pants, knee-high black boots and a crimson blouse, Mercy came down the front stairs and headed for her study. Dante would contact all Raintree within driving distance first, and then word would go out to Raintree around the world. How many could actually make it to the sanctuary before the Ansara attack, she didn’t know. There were only a handful visiting the home place right now-less than twenty in all, and some of them not at full strength. And her guess was that another twenty-five or so could be here within a few hours.

She also had no way of knowing how many Ansara comprised the forces Judah and Cael would bring down on the sanctuary, or exactly when the first attack would take place. Soon, certainly. Within a few hours? Before sunset?

After entering her study, she picked up the phone and dialed Hugh’s cabin. He answered on the third ring. “Hugh, it’s Mercy. I need you to gather up all the Raintree visiting here at the sanctuary and bring them to the house. Do this as quickly as possible.”

“All right,” he replied. “Can you tell me what this is about?”

“I’ll tell all of you as soon as you get here.”

Mercy could hardly believe what was happening. She felt like such a fool-for the second time in her life. Both times thanks to Judah Ansara. How much of what he’d told her had been lies? Part of it? All of it? One thing she didn’t doubt: he wanted Eve and was willing to kill Mercy to get her.

And she also believed that he had killed one of his own people to stop the man from killing her. Because Judah had claimed her as his kill and wouldn’t allow anyone else the honor of taking the Raintree princess’s life. No doubt Dante was also Judah’s kill. And perhaps Gideon, too.

How was it possible that she loved Judah, loved him as much as she hated him? Why had she let down her defenses, even for a few days, a few hours, a few moments?

All the while Judah had proclaimed Eve was in life-threatening danger from his brother, had it simply been a ruse, a plot the brothers had concocted together? Had Judah’s purpose in staying at the sanctuary been to keep Mercy distracted?

No, it wasn’t possible that he had fooled her so completely.

Then where is he? Why isn’t he here explaining himself to me?

Damn you, Judah. Damn you!

Reno, Nevada, 9:15 a.m. (Reno time)

Lorna hadn’t taken the time to make any calls while she’d still been at Dante’s house; instead, she’d grabbed his address book, checked to see that both Mercy and Gideon were listed, then run for her old Corolla. While she was on the way to the airport, she put her cell phone to use. She knew she didn’t have time to fly commercial, but she didn’t know how to go about renting a jet. She had a pocket full of cash and one credit card with a five-thousand-dollar limit. If that wasn’t enough money, she didn’t know what she would do.

The only person she knew in Reno who might be able to help her was Al Franklin, Dante’s chief of security. He wasn’t exactly on her favorites list, but Dante not only liked him, he trusted him-and this was an emergency.

Thank God, thank God. Al’s number was listed, too. She’d been afraid Dante would have all his numbers stored on his cell phone, which he had with him. Swiftly, keeping one eye on the twisting road, she punched in the numbers.

“’Lo?”

The sleepy voice reminded her that it was-she glanced at the dashboard clock-not yet ten o’clock on a Sunday morning.

“This is Lorna Clay!” she half yelled. “Dante’s gone-there’s trouble at Sanctuary-he might get killed! I have to get there. How do I hire a jet?”

“Whoa! Wait-what did you say?”

“Sanctuary. There’s trouble at Sanctuary. I need a jet!”

“How is Dante getting there?”

“I don’t know!” Why was he playing twenty questions? Why didn’t he answer her questions? “He just ran out. I’m about half an hour behind him, I think.”

“Go to the airport,” Al said swiftly. “He has two corporate jets. He’ll take the bigger, faster one. I’ll call and have the smaller one fueled and ready. It’ll take longer-you’ll have to put down somewhere for fuel-but you still won’t be more than an hour, hour and a half, behind him.”

“Thank you,” she said, almost sobbing with relief. “I didn’t think-”

“You didn’t think I’d help? You said the magic word.”

“‘Please’?” She didn’t know if she’d said “please,” but she’d definitely said “thank you.”

“Sanctuary,” he said.

Wilmington, North Carolina, 1:00 p.m.

Hope Malory paced the kitchen nervously as she waited for the phone to ring. Gideon hadn’t been gone much more than an hour, so she really shouldn’t expect his call so soon, but still…she was anxious. He owed her a serious explanation.

When the phone finally did ring, she lurched forward and grabbed the receiver. “Hello?”

She held her breath as she waited for Gideon’s calming, reasonable voice on the other end of the line. Her first clue that it wasn’t Gideon was the lack of static.

A woman’s smooth voice caused Hope’s heart to drop. “Is this the Gideon Raintree residence?’

Great. An old girlfriend. A wannabe girlfriend. Maybe a telemarketer. “Yes, but he’s not-”

“Not there, I know,” the woman said, not quite so smoothly this time. There was an almost undetectable hint of panic in her voice. “There’s no time for a proper explanation, but-”

That was the wrong thing to say. “I don’t know who you are, but ‘no time for a proper explanation’ isn’t going to earn you any points with me today.”

Before Hope could hang up the phone, the woman laughed in a nervous but friendly way that caught her attention. “I can only imagine. I’ll make this brief, then. My name is Lorna Clay. Dante and Gideon need us. I’m coming your way on a jet that’s scheduled to land at Fairmont Executive Airport just west of Asheville shortly before six this evening. If you can pick me up, I’ll explain all that I can while we’re on our way to the Raintree home place.”

Hope glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall and did some mental math, taking into account the horsepower in Gideon’s Challenger. “I’ll be there.”

During the early afternoon, Mercy spoke to the eighteen Raintree visiting the home place, and together they began making preparations for the attack. By mid-afternoon, ten Raintree who lived within easy driving distance had arrived, including Echo, who had come flying in, tires screeching and horn honking. Her psychic abilities were powerful, but she had not yet mastered them, making her predictions a hodgepodge of sights and sounds and feelings. Mercy knew that one day soon, Echo would fulfill all the promise she now showed, including a latent empathic ability.

The moment Echo stormed into the house, she began calling Mercy’s name as she ran from room to room. She shoved open the door to the study. Wild-eyed and frantic, she rushed toward Mercy and grasped her hand. “I’ve been going nuts all the way here. Seeing things. Hearing things. Help me, please.” Echo clutched her head. “It won’t stop. I had to pull off to the side of the road twice on the way here.”

Mercy grasped Echo’s trembling hands.

Bloody sunset. Silent twilight. Death and destruction. Mercy saw what Echo was seeing and understood the girl’s panic. Working hurriedly, Mercy drew the fear and confusion from her young cousin’s mind, and infused her with calmness and a sense of purpose. But Echo’s mind fought what her subconscious perceived as interference and control.

Mercy clutched Echo by the shoulders and gave her a gentle shake. “Calm down. Now. We need you. I want you to concentrate. Can you do that?”

Echo quieted. “I-I can try.”

“Good girl. Concentrate on the Ansara, think about the warriors who will soon attack the sanctuary. Try to find them.”

“You mean…”

“I mean go deep and search for the Ansara who are close enough to reach the sanctuary before sunset.” Mercy squeezed Eve’s shoulders. “I’ll be right with you every step of the way. I’ll feel and see what you do.”

Echo closed her eyes. “I’ll do my best.”

Mercy gave her shoulders another reassuring squeeze. “Concentrate on the name Cael Ansara. He’s the Ansara Dranir’s brother.”

Echo nodded and closed her eyes again.

Mercy followed Echo, her mind and her cousin’s separate and yet connected. Echo went deep within herself, while Mercy stood guard as she gently guided her cousin on a single, focused path.

A convoy of trucks filled with men, flanked front and back by jeeps, rolled along the highway. Cael Ansara, dressed all in black, rode in the first jeep.

Suddenly Echo saw only darkness and heard the screams of the dying. She fought to emerge from the vision, but Mercy urged her to fight her fear and follow through until the end. As if in accelerated motion, Echo’s sight flashed over the faces of the Ansara warriors inside the trucks, and with Mercy’s assistance, she absorbed minute traces of their emotions. The overwhelming hatred and savage bloodlust Echo sensed frightened her, and Mercy could no longer keep her focused. Realizing it was best not to force the matter, she helped Echo pull back from the vision as she took all the Ansara emotions from Echo and into herself.

“Crap!” Echo’s eyes flew open, and she jerked away from Mercy. “There were at least a hundred of them. And they were all thinking about coming here, killing every Raintree in sight and capturing the home place.”

Mercy staggered slightly as she struggled to dissolve the evil emotions trapped inside her. She could hear Echo talking to her, then felt her cousin shaking her, but she couldn’t respond, couldn’t return to the here and now, until she had disposed of the last particle of negative energy.

Several minutes later she slumped over, weak from the inner battle. Echo caught her before she hit the floor.

“Damn, that scares me,” Echo said. “I’ve seen you do it before, but it’s not an easy thing to watch.”

Mercy offered her cousin a weak smile. “I’m all right.”

“You saw what I saw, didn’t you? There are so many of them, and they’re heading here today.”

“I know. We have to be as prepared for them as we can be. Dante and Gideon are on their way. I expect them to arrive sometime between five and six.”

“How many Raintree do we have already here or that can make it here by the time Dante and Gideon arrive?” Echo asked.

“Not enough,” Mercy said. “Not nearly enough.”

5:40 p.m.

By late afternoon on the day of the summer solstice, a small band of Raintree were ready to go into battle to defend the sanctuary.

The clear blue sky slowly darkened with rain clouds moving in to obscure the sunlight. The rumble of distant thunder announced a brewing storm. But Mercy knew that Mother Nature had not created the impending tempest. Cael Ansara’s forces had breached the protective shield around the Raintree sanctuary and were at this very moment charging toward the handful of Raintree prepared to defend their home place.

She had sent out Helene and Frederick as scouts, because of the few Raintree under her command, they possessed the strongest telepathic abilities and therefore could send her instant reports on the positions and movements of Cael’s troops.

In times past, when the Raintree went into battle, their empathic healers were called upon to fight, but their primary purpose on the battlefield had been to attend to the wounded. Today Mercy had no choice but to be all warrior. Until Dante and Gideon arrived, she would lead her people against the Ansara, and then she would fight beside her brothers, a united royal front with combined powers. Temporarily outnumbered more than two to one, the Raintree had to hold out against the invaders by any means necessary.

Reinforcements from the nearest towns and cities had joined the others who were visiting at the sanctuary, giving Mercy forty-five fighters to combat over a hundred renegade Ansara. The odds were not in their favor, but those odds would improve as more and more Raintree arrived at the home place.

Standing alone in her study, she bowed her head, closed her eyes and mediated for a few brief moments, focusing on the challenge she faced. Not only was the sanctuary threatened, but so was her daughter’s life.

Mercy reached above the fireplace mantel and ran her hand over Ancelin’s sword, the one the Dranira had carried on the day of The Battle two hundred years ago. According to legend the sword was much older, thousands of years old, and enchanted with an eternal magic spell. Only a royal empath could wield this powerful weapon, and only against great evil. If Raintree lore was correct, once Mercy used the weapon, it would then be known as Mercy’s sword to future generations.

Using both hands to lift the heavy weapon from its resting place, Mercy recited the words of honor that Gillian had taught her. Once in her possession, the sword’s weight lightened immediately, enabling Mercy to hold it easily in either hand.

Knowing that Eve was safely hidden in the Caves of Awenasa, protected by a cloaking spell and guarded by Sidonia, Mercy concentrated solely on leading her people against the Ansara.

Now, prepared in every possible way, she went to join her troops. When she emerged from the house, she was met with rousing shouts from those assembled, a show of respect and confidence. Twenty men and women stood before her, and the others were already strategically placed in and around the battlefield Mercy had chosen. The western meadow was protected by high mountains on all sides, and it was miles away from the Caves of Awenasa. The dozen Raintree who lay in hiding were ready to attack as Cael’s troops drove farther into the sanctuary.

Mercy lifted her sword high into the air and keened the ancient battle cry. Following her lead, the others yelled in unison. The sound of their combined voices rang out across the sanctuary and mated with the late afternoon wind, carrying the Raintree call to arms far and wide.