Raintree Read online

  “He tried to talk to me again,” Eve said. “He keeps calling my name and saying if I’ll talk to him, he’ll listen.” Frowning, she threw the picture on the floor, then stomped on it. “But I didn’t talk to him, and my daddy told him he’d better not ever bother me again or he’d be sorry. Didn’t you, Daddy?”

  Judah cleared his throat. “There’s no way Cael can invade Eve’s thoughts unless she willingly allows him in. The shield you’ve put around her will protect her.”

  “Yes, I know.” Mercy motioned to Eve. “Come along, sweetie. Sidonia has lunch ready. Your favorite—macaroni and cheese. With fresh peaches and whipped cream for dessert.”

  Eve eyed her drawings, and the paper and crayons lying on the floor. “Don’t I need to pick up first?”

  “You can do that after lunch.” Mercy exchanged a we-need-to-talk look with Judah, then gave Eve a nudge toward the door. “You run along and tell Sidonia that Judah and I will be there in just a minute.”

  Eve hesitated, glanced from one parent to the other, and said, “You’re not going to fuss at each other again, are you?”

  “No, we’re not,” Mercy promised.

  “I hope not.” Eve slumped her shoulders, sighed and ambled slowly out into the foyer.

  Judah didn’t wait for Mercy to attack. “He’s going to come for me. Soon.”

  “I see.” She took several steps back and closed the pocket doors. “I suppose Eve overheard him say this to you.”

  “She didn’t tell me she heard him, but, yes, I assume she did.”

  “When he comes, you can’t fight him here on Raintree ground.”

  Judah nodded. “I understand your concerns. But if he finds a way to breach the shield around the sanctuary, I’ll have no choice.”

  “Only someone with power equal to mine or my brother Dante’s—”

  “Before you ask—no, Cael is not the Ansara Dranir,” Judah said. “But he is a powerful sorcerer, with an arsenal of black magic tricks.”

  “When he comes here to the sanctuary and calls you out, Eve will be aware of his presence, and she’ll want to do something to help you.”

  “We can’t allow her anywhere near Cael. Somehow we have to make her understand that the fight must be between my brother and me.”

  “She’ll listen to what we say, but whether or not she’ll obey us is another thing altogether.”

  “I’ll find a way to make her understand.”

  “You can certainly try.”

  “When the time comes, I’ll need you to stay with Eve,” Judah said. “If I’m distracted by trying to protect her…”

  “You need to talk to Eve and explain on a level she will understand how important it is for her not to interfere.”

  “Would you allow me time alone with her, without her guard dog?”

  “Yes. I’ll tell Sidonia that you’re allowed to take Eve for a walk this afternoon while I’m working.”

  Judah noted Mercy’s frown and the weariness she couldn’t hide.

  “You’ve been gone all morning, and Sidonia refused to tell me where you were, but Eve mentioned that you were making sick people well.”

  “It’s no secret that I’m a healer,” Mercy said. “This morning, I was with two Raintree seers who can no longer see clearly into the future.”

  “And were you able to restore their powers?”

  “No. Not yet. This happens sometimes, especially when a talent is overused or…I believe with rest and meditation, they’ll be fine.”

  “And what will you be doing this afternoon?”

  “We had a new arrival yesterday, someone who lost her husband and both children in a horrific car accident six months ago. She’s in agonizing emotional pain.”

  “And you’re going to take her pain into yourself. How can you stand it? Why put yourself through such torment when you don’t have to?”

  “Because it’s wrong not to use the talents with which we’re blessed. I’m an empathic healer. It’s not just what I do, it’s who I am.”

  “Yes, you’re right. It is who you are. I understand.” Judah wondered if Mercy would understand that their daughter had been born to save his people?

  Judah spoke with Claude every morning and every evening, using secure cell phones, despite their advanced telepathic abilities. Telephone communication was more difficult for Cael to intercept.

  “He hasn’t returned to Terrebonne,” Claude said.

  “Then where the hell is he?”

  “I have no idea. It’s as if he’s vanished off the face of the earth. Even Sidra can’t locate him. He’s undoubtedly shielding his whereabouts.”

  “Eve drew a picture of him today, after he tried to talk to her.”

  “Could she locate him for us?”

  “She might be able to,” Judah said. “But I can’t risk her getting that close to him. He could capture her thoughts and hypnotize her, or enter her dreams and make her deathly sick.”

  “Wherever he is and whatever he’s doing, he’s up to no good.”

  “What about the warriors who left Terrebonne with him? Have they returned?”

  “No, and several others are unaccounted for.”

  “Then it’s begun, hasn’t it? He’s gradually amassing his army.”

  “Let him.” Claude emitted a grunting huff. “He’s a fool if he believes that a few dozen renegade warriors make an army.”

  “He told me that he’s coming for me soon.”

  “And when he does, you’ll kill him.”

  “We should be there on Terrebonne for the Death Duel,” Judah said. “But that could well be what he expects me to do—return home and leave Eve unprotected.”

  “She has protection. Her mother and—”

  “Raintree protection. It’s not enough for a child such as Eve.”

  “Then do what you have to do. Kill Cael on Raintree ground, then bring your daughter home to Terrebonne where she belongs.”

  After dinner with his daughter and the ever-watchful Sidonia, Judah told Eve that he was going for a walk and would see her before bedtime to say good-night. They had spent hours alone together today, and he felt he had convinced her that she could be of more help to him by not interfering in his fight with Cael than if she injected herself into the situation. He needed to find Mercy and assure her that Eve had listened to him, and that when the time came, she would obey their orders.

  As he headed out the back door, Eve called, “I wish you’d go see about my mother. She’s almost always home for supper, and she wasn’t tonight. Meta must be terribly sick for Mommy to spend so much time with her.”

  “Your mother’s fine.” Sidonia gave Judah a warning glare. “She doesn’t need anything from him. When she’s done her job, she’ll come home.”

  “Don’t worry about your mother,” Judah said. “I’m sure Sidonia’s right and your mother’s fine.”

  “No, she’s not, Daddy. I think she needs you.”

  Once outside, with the sun low in the west and a warm breeze blowing, Judah thought about Eve’s concern for Mercy. He had wondered what would keep Mercy from dinner with her daughter, and suspected that Eve’s take on the problem was accurate. Undoubtedly the woman—Eve had called her Meta—that Mercy was counseling was seriously ill. Was this Meta the woman Mercy had told him about, the one who had lost her husband and children six months ago?

  Had Mercy become so engrossed in easing this woman’s pain that she had taken too much of the agony into herself and was in such bad shape that she either couldn’t return home or didn’t want Eve to see her in her weakened condition? Was Eve right—did Mercy need him?

  Hell. What difference did it make? Why should he care if Mercy was writhing in pain, or perhaps unconscious and tortured by the suffering that rightfully belonged to someone else?

  Don’t think about Mercy. Think about Cael. About finally meeting him in combat.

  Think about Eve. About keeping her safe and taking her home to Terrebonne.

  But he couldn’t h