Raintree: Sanctuary (Raintree 3)

“No, I haven’t changed my mind,” Mercy told him in no uncertain terms. “But Eve is not willing to let you go and I don’t want her constantly upset.”

What sort of game was Mercy playing, blowing hot and cold? Go away. Come back. Never see Eve again. Call her occasionally.

“Tell Eve that I’ll call her soon.”

“I’ll tell her. And Judah…”

“Yes?”

“You know how I feel about you.”

Judah smiled. “I know. I’m Ansara and you’re Raintree. We’re mortal enemies.”

“That’s right. I just wanted to make sure we understood each other.”

“Sleep well, Mercy. And dream of me.”

Tuesday, 1:45 p.m.

Cael had been informed that Judah had returned to Terrebonne late yesterday and had spent this morning in his office, was in fact still there. Unfortunately Cael didn’t have any spies among his brother’s office staff, so other than relying on minions who watched the royal palace from afar, he had no knowledge of what was going on behind closed doors.

He had wasted the entire morning in fruitless efforts to discover the identity of the person whose thoughts he had overheard last night. The child…the child. She could be our downfall. The voice had been male and slightly familiar, yet contemplatively soft and not quite recognizable.

Frustrated by his failure, Cael had gone to the brothel an hour ago and vented his anger by beating one of his whores, then taking her savagely. Refreshed by these amusements, he was now prepared to try a different tactic in his search. If he couldn’t discover who had been voicing concern about a certain child and how she could be “our” downfall, perhaps he could find the child herself.

“Who are you? Where are you?” Cael asked aloud.

The doorbell rang, but Cael ignored it. One of the servants would see to it. He didn’t concern himself with mundane matters.

Was the child a threat to the Ansara? Our downfall. What child could possess the power to threaten the mighty Ansara?

My child? Cael thought.

But he had no children. He had made certain of that.

Judah’s child?

Why would the Dranir’s child pose a threat to the Ansara, especially a female child?

Are you out there, little one?

Do I have a niece being kept hidden away so that I cannot find her? Had Judah secretly married and fathered a child? He couldn’t imagine his brother producing a bastard child.

Bastard child. The child…the child. She—

Mercy Raintree had a bastard child!

Could it be that this Raintree child was somehow a threat to the Ansara?

Little Raintree princess, open your mind to me, allow me entrance.

Nothing.

Mercy Raintree’s daughter, I wish to speak to you.

Dead silence.

If only he knew the child’s name.