The telephone rang. Startled, Mercy shivered and glanced at the bedside clock. A call this late in the evening was no doubt more bad news. Rushing to the telephone on the nightstand, she caught her bare toe on the wool rug and barely managed to right herself. Clumsy. She reached the phone before the fifth ring and didn’t bother checking the Caller I.D.

“Hello,” Mercy said.

“Hi, yourself. Are you okay? You sound out of breath.”

“Echo?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“I’m fine. But you’re not all right, are you?” Mercy said, sensing her young cousin’s uneasiness. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Look, before you get all bent out of shape, I’m all in one piece and I’m safe.”

“Safe from what?”

“Gideon didn’t call you, did he?”

“He phoned early this morning to tell me about the fire at Dante’s casino, but he didn’t mention you.”

“He didn’t know about it then.”

Mercy closed her eyes and concentrated, bringing her clairempathy powers into play. She made a habit of using her lesser powers, such as her ability to sense the emotional and physical condition of others from a distance, only when necessary.

Echo was an emotional wreck but was putting up a brave front. And she was scared.

“Who are you afraid of?” Mercy asked.

“Jeez, I wish you wouldn’t do that without telling me. You’re probing around inside me, and I didn’t give you permission to.”

“You called me. I didn’t call you,” Mercy reminded her.

“You’re right. Sorry. I’m in Charlotte, staying with a friend. Dewey. I’ve told you about him.”

“The saxophone player?”

“Yeah, that’s him. Anyway, Gideon knows where I am. As a matter of fact he sort of sent me here. You see…well…somebody killed my roommate, Sherry, last night and…well…you know how Gideon can talk to spirits and all-”

“Do you need to come to the sanctuary?” Mercy asked.

“God, no! I’m fine right here. Honest. It’s just there’s a possibility that whoever killed Sherry killed her by mistake. You see, she’d dyed her hair blond and pink, just like mine, and-”

“Have you had any visions recently about being in danger?”

Echo laughed nervously. “Gideon asked me the same question.”

“Well?”

“Heck, I don’t know. You know what it’s like with me. I’m always getting these weird visions.”

“Come home,” Mercy said.

“Nah, I’ll stay here for a few days, then we’ll see.”

“Echo, be careful. Just in case.”

“Sure thing.”

Lost in thought, Mercy held the phone for a bit too long after Echo hung up, long enough so that she heard the recorded message asking her to hang up and dial again. She placed the receiver on the base and sat on the edge of the bed. Echo was such a free spirit, so independent. Mercy worried about her because her parents didn’t. They were too busy jet setting around the world.

Who would want to kill a sweet girl like Echo? Okay, so she had some really flaky friends, like Dewey the saxophone player, and she did play in a band. Musicians were notorious for taking drugs. Was it possible that Echo had heard or seen something she shouldn’t have? Or could it be even more ominous? Maybe she’d had a vision that threatened someone.

Mercy didn’t like the idea that three Raintree psychics-

“Mommy!”

Mercy’s heart stopped when she heard Eve’s terrified scream. She jumped up, yanked open her bedroom door and raced across the hall to her daughter’s room. When she flung open the door and rushed into the semidarkness, she saw Sidonia trying to calm Eve, but Eve was fighting Sidonia not only with all her physical strength but with a little magical power kicking in, too. Books and dolls and stuffed animals flew around the room, whirling and spinning as if hanging from invisible wires and being propelled by a storm-force wind.

“Mommy!”

Mercy concentrated on breaking the energy that kept the objects levitated. Eve didn’t fight her, so within seconds all the objects dropped to the floor, a book hitting Mercy on the arm and two stuffed animals grazing Sidonia’s head. Sidonia moved aside as Mercy sat down on the side of the bed and took Eve into her arms.

“It’s all right, sweetheart. Mommy’s here. Mommy’s here.”

Eve clung to Mercy, her small body trembling uncontrollably.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Mercy asked.

“It wasn’t a nightmare.” Eve’s voice quivered.

When Mercy smoothed Eve’s long, blond curls out of her face, she realized her daughter was sweating profusely, her hair and face damp with perspiration.

“My daddy’s in trouble,” Eve said. “We have to help him.”

Mercy exchanged a quick, concerned glance with Sidonia, then concentrated fully on her child. “It must have been a nightmare. I’m sure your father is all right.”

“He wants to kill my daddy.”

“Who wants to kill your father?”

“That evil man. He hates my daddy and wants to kill him.”

“What?”

“I won’t let him hurt my daddy.” Eve grabbed Mercy’s hand. “We have to help Daddy.”

“All right,” Mercy said. “In the morning we’ll contact your father, and you can warn him that someone evil wants to harm him.”

“Why can’t I talk to Daddy tonight?”

Knowing how stubborn Eve was, Mercy realized that there was only one way to reassure her daughter. “If you need to contact Judah right now, then go ahead.”

“No!” Sidonia cried. “What are you thinking, letting her use such powers without testing her first? And to contact that man…”

Mercy glanced over her shoulder at Sidonia. “Eve has already spoken to her father. As a matter of fact, she connected my mind and Judah ’s and listened in. Didn’t you, my little minx?”

“Heaven help us,” Sidonia mumbled.

“Go to bed in your own room,” Mercy said. “I’ll stay the night with Eve.”

Grumbling all kinds of dire warnings, Sidonia shook her head sadly, then left mother and daughter alone.

Eve looked up at Mercy and asked, “May I talk to my daddy now?”

“Yes, you may.”

Mercy didn’t doubt that there was someone out there, besides herself, who wanted Judah Ansara dead. Although she knew very little about him, she did know that he was probably enormously wealthy. When they’d first met, his lifestyle had indicated he was a man with a vast fortune. He had told her that he was an international banker. Being an Ansara, he was hardly a legitimate businessman. There was no telling how many illegal deals he had bartered and how many enemies he had made over the years.

Eve closed her eyes and concentrated. While she was deep in thought, Mercy held Eve’s hand and connected to her daughter’s mind, sharing her consciousness.

Daddy.

No response.

Daddy, can you hear me?

Silence.

Eve opened her eyes and looked at Mercy. “He’s not answering me. He won’t let me in.”

Mercy sensed that her child was on the verge of another psychic hissy-fit. She squeezed Eve’s hand. “We’ll try together.”

Eve’s precious smile melted her mother’s heart. Judah ’s smile.

Mercy was grateful that Eve resembled her so much, with her slender frame and blond hair; and thankfully, she had been born with the Raintree eyes. Unfortunately, she also bore the Ansara blue crescent moon birthmark, which lay hidden beneath her hair. And from the first moment Eve had smiled, Mercy had known that she had inherited her father’s mouth.

After Eve closed her eyes, Mercy did, too, and together they called out to the same man.

Daddy.

Judah.

Beauport, Terrebonne, the royal palace, 11:00 p.m.

Judah sat alone in his bedroom, unable to rest, his mind filled with thoughts of the secret council meeting earlier that evening. There had to be a way to stop Cael without plunging the Ansara into a bloody civil war. It had taken them two hundred years to regroup and rebuild after The Battle with the Raintree. Hiding away on this island in the Caribbean, slowly growing in size and strength until they were once again a mighty clan, the Ansara now ruled a vast economic empire, fueled by both legal and illegal activities worldwide. As far as the world of mankind knew, Judah Ansara was a banker.