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“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.”
