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  “She has to practice, doesn’t she?” Judah said as he set Eve on her feet.

  Eve looked up at Judah with absolute adoration. Mercy winced.

  “There are safer ways to practice,” Mercy said.

  Eve clutched Judah’s hand, as if she knew he would protect her from her mother’s displeasure. “Daddy can help me with my lessons.”

  “No!” Mercy all but screamed the one word response.

  “Why not?” Eve whined.

  “Because your father is leaving today.” Mercy shot Judah a warning glare, daring him to contradict her.

  “No, Daddy, please don’t leave.” Eve tugged on Judah’s arm. “I want you to stay.”

  “I have to go,” he told her. “I can’t stay.”

  “You’re making him go away!” Eve shouted at Mercy. “I hate you! I hate you!”

  Eve clenched her teeth tightly and narrowed her gaze, concentrating on her mother. Without warning, a high wind came up and the sky turned gray. Streaks of lightning shot out of the clouds and hit in several spots surrounding Mercy.

  Stop! Judah ordered his daughter. I know you’re angry, but you might hurt your mother. You don’t want to do that, do you?

  Immediately the wind died down, though the thunder continued to rumble repeatedly. Within moments the sky cleared and the sun reappeared.

  Judah began to understand his daughter’s true powers. He had never known a child of six who was capable of half of what he’d seen from Eve. And he also understood Mercy’s concern for their child. Untutored power such as Eve possessed most certainly could be dangerous, not only to others but to Eve herself.

  With tears caught in her long, honey-gold lashes, Eve ran straight to Mercy and threw her arms around her mother’s unsteady knees. “I’m sorry, Mommy. I didn’t mean it. I’d never hurt you. I love you. I don’t hate you.”

  Mercy lifted Eve into her arms and hugged her fiercely to her breast. Judah exchanged a glance with Mercy and noted the sheen of tears in her eyes.

  “I know. I know.” Mercy soothed her remorseful child. “You must promise me that you will try harder to control your temper and not use your powers when you’re angry.”

  “I—I promise…I’ll try.” Eve clung to her mother.

  Judah turned and walked away.

  “Daddy!”

  He paused and glanced over his shoulder. Eve was resting on her mother’s hip, her bright Raintree eyes shimmering with tears. “Will you come back to see me very soon?”

  “I’ll come back to see you when the time is right,” Judah replied.

  2:00 p.m.

  The house was unusually quiet, with Sidonia working in the herb garden and Eve taking an afternoon nap. Mercy sat alone in her study, the blinds drawn, the lights out, and thought about her predicament. Judah was gone. But for how long? He had left with nothing settled between them. In less than twenty-four hours he had saved her life, discovered he had a daughter and turned their world upside down.

  Who had tried to kill her last night, and why? How could Judah have known? And why would he bother to save her life? Was it possible that like her, he had never been able to forget their brief time together?

  Stop thinking romantic nonsense!

  Judah Ansara is no mortal man, nor is he Raintree. He doesn’t love, he conquers. And that’s all you were to him—a very special conquest. Never forget that he knew you were a Raintree princess before he took you to his bed.

  For all these years, she had been certain that if she ever saw Judah again, she would feel nothing except fear for her child. She was afraid, deathly afraid, of what Judah might yet do. But she wouldn’t lie to herself. There was more to her feelings for him than fear.

  Sexual attraction is a powerful thing.

  She suspected that Judah was not as indifferent to her as he had proclaimed. And perhaps, if that was true, she could use it to her advantage. Just how far would she be willing to go to protect Eve? As far as was necessary, even if it meant seducing Judah and using her feminine wiles on him.

  Be totally honest with yourself. You know what has to be done.

  Yes, she knew. There was only one sure way to protect Eve from her father. Even if Eve never forgave her, Mercy had no choice but to kill Judah.

  The thought of killing the man she had once loved, or at least had believed she loved, created a tightening in her chest. She had been born to heal, not destroy. But she had also been born a Raintree princess. The blood of warriors, both male and female, flowed in her veins.

  Mercy looked above the mantel over the fireplace and visually inspected the golden sword hanging on the wall. Dranira Ancelin’s sword, the one she had used in The Battle against the Ansara. Her ancestress had also been an empath, a healer who had used her powers for good. But when called upon to defend her clan, she had fought alongside her husband. When they came to the mountains of North Carolina and built a refuge for themselves and their people, Ancelin had placed her sword above the fireplace in what had then been the living room of her home. The jewel-encrusted, golden sword had not been removed from that spot in two centuries.

  “That sword has great power,” her father had once told her. “It can be used for no other purpose than to defend the Raintree, and only a female descendant of Ancelin can remove it from the wall.”

  She had always known the sword was hers and sensed that someday she would be called upon to use it. But she had never thought that she would use it to kill her child’s father.

  “Judah. Oh, Judah…”

  Mercy?

  She heard Judah’s voice as clearly as if he were standing at her side.

  Had he heard her thoughts? Did he know that she…?

  Judah?

  Why have you contacted me? he asked telepathically.

  I didn’t contact you. You contacted me.

  Silence.

  Hurriedly, Mercy protected her thoughts, although she had believed she was already safe from anyone’s mental probing.

  She heard Judah’s laughter.

  I don’t want to talk to you, she told him. Go away.

  I would if I could.

  What do you mean by that?

  Have a talk with our daughter. Tell her that she mustn’t connect us again.

  Eve did this? Mercy asked. That mischievous little…Eve, you’re listening, aren’t you? Cut the connection now. Your father and I do not want to—

  Sooner or later you’ll have to talk to each other again, Eve said.

  Silence. Eve had severed the connection to Judah. And to herself.

  Mercy sighed, then walked across the room and stopped in front of the fireplace. She lifted her hand to Ancelin’s sword and caressed the jewels glimmering in an intricate design on the hilt.

  When Judah returned—and she knew that someday he would come back for Eve—she would do what any mother would do to protect her child from certain damnation. She would fight the devil for her daughter’s soul.

  Beauport, on the island of Terrebonne

  Monday Evening, 8:15

  When Judah arrived at Claude’s home, half a mile from his own palatial estate, Claude’s wife, Nadine, met him at the door. After bowing to him and then welcoming him with a kiss on the cheek, she escorted him into the large, open grand room of their elegant home. As instructed, Claude had assembled members of the high council whom he trusted without question. When Judah entered the room, everyone stood and bowed. Claude and Nadine were as dear to Judah as any beloved brother and sister could be. And he respected few as he did Councilman Bartholomew and Councilwoman Sidra. He quickly studied the others congregated, including Galen, Tymon, Felicia and Esther. His cousin Alexandria was conspicuously absent. Undoubtedly Claude shared Judah’s suspicions, believing that Alexandria had aligned herself with Cael.

  Judah looked directly at Claude. “What have you been able to find out?”

  “As you know, we have several spies in Cael’s camp,” Claude said. “Each one reports to a different council member under the guise o