“He’s playing games,” Judah told her. “He’s trying to show me how vulnerable Eve is.”
Mercy grabbed his forearm. “Just how vulnerable is she? How powerful is your brother?”
“Powerful enough to cause trouble.” Judah removed her hand from his arm and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “You stay here and protect Eve by any method necessary. Conjure up the strongest spell you know that will guard her from Cael’s attempts to enter her dreams. My brother possesses the power of oneiromancy. He can telepathically enter someone’s dreams and affect their well-being.”
Mercy clutched his hand. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to have a talk with Cael.”
“I should go with you to-”
“I don’t need you.” Judah pulled away from her. “I can deal with my brother. You take care of Eve.”
“You’ll need transportation if you’re going outside to meet him. There’s an old truck parked in the garage. Take it,” Mercy told him. “The keys are in the ignition.”
They shared a moment of complete understanding, bound together in a common cause that superseded any clan rivalry or personal animosity.
Mercy reinforced the shield that protected Eve from outside forces, then placed a special guard around her dreams. Finally she cast a sleeping spell over her daughter, something mild that would keep her subdued for a short period of time without leaving any aftereffects. There was no way to know what Eve might do if she thought her parents were in danger. Then, with the utmost gentleness, Mercy lifted Eve into her arms and carried her child back to the house.
Sidonia, who was removing heavy winter quilts from the clothesline out back, looked up and saw them. She dropped the sunned quilts into the large wicker basket at her feet and scurried toward Mercy.
“What’s wrong with her?” Sidonia asked. “Is she hurt? Did he-”
“She’s fine. Just sleeping. I cast a mild sleeping spell over her.” Mercy held out her child to Sidonia. “Here, take her, then go inside and stay there with her until I come back. I’ve made sure that she’s well protected, but…Guard her with your life.”
Sidonia took Eve into her arms, then looked squarely at Mercy. “What’s happening? Where are you going?”
“To join Judah. His brother has come to the sanctuary. He’s gone out to meet him, to stop him from carrying out the ancient decree.”
“Dear God! That monstrous edict to kill babies.” Sidonia gazed pleadingly at Mercy. “Call the others that are here at the sanctuary to help you. Don’t trust Judah Ansara to save our little Eve.”
“Take her inside now,” Mercy said. “And don’t alert anyone else. Judah and I can handle this.”
“Oh, my poor girl.” Sidonia tsked-tsked sadly. “You actually trust him, don’t you?”
“I-I don’t know, but…yes, I believe he’ll protect Eve from his brother. I believe he cares for Eve as much as an Ansara is capable of caring.”
Mercy rushed past Sidonia and into the house. She retrieved the keys to her Escalade from a bowl on the kitchen counter, then ran back outside and straight to the garage. She slid behind the wheel of her SUV, started the engine, backed out and headed up the road.
When she reached the entrance to the sanctuary, she saw the old truck parked just inside the iron gates, but she didn’t see Judah. Her heartbeat accelerated. She pulled up behind the truck and parked, then jumped out and stopped dead in her tracks. Judah had gone outside. He was standing just beyond the closed gates, his back to her. Four strangers-three men and one woman-stood across the road, all focused on Judah. The woman, probably in her mid-thirties, stood apart from the other three. Two young men, little more than teenagers, flanked the man in the middle, the tall, lean blond with eyes as silvery cold as Judah’s.
Cael. The murderous half brother.
Suddenly the woman noticed Mercy. They exchanged heated glares, and the woman zeroed in on Mercy, sending a quick telepathic zing in her direction. Mercy intercepted the mediocre attempt, added a touch more power to it and returned it to its sender. The zing knocked the woman backward so strongly that she barely managed to keep her balance.
“I see you’re not alone,” Cael said to Judah, who didn’t move a muscle. “Your Raintree whore seems to think you need help.”
Judah stood fast, not responding in any way.
Mercy walked down the road and up to the gate. She stood slightly to Judah’s left, only the closed gates and less than five feet separating her from him.
“The child isn’t safe,” Cael said. “I can breach the shield surrounding this place, so that means others can, too. As parents, you should be watchful. You never know when someone might try to harm Eve.”
“Anyone who tries to hurt my daughter will have to face me,” Judah said.
Cael smiled. Cold, calculating and sinister. And filled with a bloodlust unlike anything Mercy had ever sensed in another being. She realized that this man was as unlike Judah as he was unlike Dante or Gideon. He was what she had believed all Ansara to be: pure evil.
“I don’t suppose you’d like to invite me in and introduce Eve to her uncle Cael?” Judah’s brother made direct eye contact with Mercy for a moment. “I see why you screwed her, brother. She’s remarkably lovely. Which did you enjoy more-taking a Raintree princess’s virginity or making a fool of her?”
“Leave this place,” Judah said. “If you don’t-”
Cael roared like a beast, the rage inside barely controlled. Ten foot flames shot up from the paved road between him and Judah. Mercy moved to open the gates, but she heard Judah telepathically telling her to stay where she was as he drew back his fist, opened it into a claw and whirled his hand in the air. From out of nowhere rain poured down in one spot, onto the flames Cael had created. The water extinguished the fire, leaving only whiffs of gray smoke.
Apparently Judah had the ability not only to create fire but to extinguish it. Dominion over fire was a talent possessed by only a few Raintree, her brother Dante to name one.
“We can end this here and now,” Judah told his brother. “Is that what you want?”
Cael smiled again. “Not yet. But soon.” He looked at Mercy again. “Did he tell you that he killed one of his own to save your life?”
Then, laughing, he turned and walked away toward a black limousine parked down the road. The others followed him like obedient puppy dogs lapping at their master’s feet.
Judah didn’t move from the spot nor did he speak until the limousine disappeared from sight. Then he turned and faced Mercy, the closed gate still between them. “Don’t ask,” he said.
“How can I not ask? I know someone tried to kill me Sunday, and you stopped them. How did you know? Why would you save me?”
“I told you not to ask.” Judah stared at the gate. “I could enter the sanctuary without your help, but it would expend a great deal of my energy. And I don’t want to disturb Eve.”
Mercy opened the gate and held out her hand. Judah took her hand in his and stepped through the protective shield that separated the Raintree sanctuary from the outside world. Once inside, he didn’t release her. Instead, he pulled her up to him, his gaze boring into her, chiseling through the barriers that protected her mind from intrusions. She didn’t try to stop him, knowing that as he worked so feverishly to expose her thoughts, he left his own thoughts and feelings unguarded.
She sensed great worry, a deep and true concern for those he loved. Loved? Was Judah actually capable of love?
“Does that surprise you?” he asked, apparently realizing that she had picked up on his emotions.
Once again shielding herself and ending their mental connection, Mercy jerked free and turned away from him. “I want you to leave as soon as possible. You can’t stay. If the others find out you’re here, you won’t be safe.”
“You can’t protect Eve now without my help,” Judah said.