From time immemorial, the Raintree, as a people, had chosen the straight and narrow, taking the high ground, showing an emotional weakness for the welfare of the Ungifted and preferring peace to war. Wizards with far too much conscience.

The Ansara tolerated humankind, manipulated them when they were useful, disregarded them when they were not. Ansara prided themselves on their skills as warriors and defended to the death what was theirs. But they were not monsters, not evil demons. They lived and loved and cherished their families. In that respect, they were no different from the Raintree.

But there were also Ansara like Cael. A few in every generation. Depraved. Evil. True monsters. Often innate sorcerers, they possessed the ability to lure the dregs of Ansara society into their service. They killed for the pleasure of killing. Took great delight in inflicting pain, in torturing others. They were as unlike Judah and his kind as they were unlike the Raintree.

When circumstances required it, Judah had killed. To protect himself and others, or out of necessity, when killing was simply a business decision. He didn’t tolerate disobedience or disrespect. As the Dranir, he possessed unequaled power among his people.

He liked power. Respected power.

He used and discarded women as it pleased him, Ansara and human alike. And once, even a Raintree princess.

Eve tugged on his hand, reminding Judah that he was tied to Mercy Raintree through their daughter, a bond that only death could break.

Sidonia’s agitated voice called Eve’s name.

“Hurry, Daddy, or she’ll catch us.” Eve urged him to walk faster as they sneaked away from Sidonia on the pretense of playing hide and seek.

Judah swept Eve up into his arms. “Hold tight,” he told her.

When she wrapped her arms around his neck, Judah ran, taking his daughter away from unwanted supervision. When they were out of earshot of Sidonia’s threats, Judah set Eve on her feet.

“We got away!” Grinning triumphantly, Eve clapped her hands softly. “She doesn’t know where we are, and she can’t find us.”

“So what do you want to do, now that we’re on our own?”

“Mmm…” Eve deliberated her choices for a couple of moments, then laughed excitedly. “I want to show you something really special that I can do.” She looked up at him, eagerness shimmering in her eyes. Mercy’s green eyes.

“Something new?” he asked. “You’ve already shown me how talented you are.”

“It’s something I’ve never tried before, but I know I can do it.”

Judah glanced around and noted that they were not near the house or any of the cottages. Open meadow lay north and east of them, a bubbling brook to the south and a wooded area to the west. If Eve tried a new skill and it backfired, she couldn’t do much harm way out here. Besides, he was with her to counteract any fallout.

“Go ahead, Princess Eve, test your powers. Try something new. Show me.”

Eve smiled broadly, then stood very still and concentrated. Seconds ticked by. She focused inward, calling forth her power. The ground beneath their feet trembled.

“That’s it. Command your power,” Judah said. “You’re in control.”

The fingers on Eve’s right hand twitched, moving faster and faster. A tiny circle of energy formed in her palm. An orb of golden light, shimmering like translucent diamond dust, grew larger and larger until it filled her hand.

My God! Eve had created an energy ball, the most powerful and deadliest power in any Ansara’s or Raintree’s arsenal. No child before had been capable of creating an energy bolt, and only a select number of adults could do it.

“Eve, be careful.”

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

He zoomed in on the energy bolt his daughter held in her hand, as casually as if she were holding a baseball. “It’s very beautiful, but it’s extremely dangerous.”

“Oh.” Eve’s eyes widened in surprise, a hint of curiosity in her expression. “What does it do?”

Judah considered his options. He could probably dissolve the ball, but if he did, it might injure Eve’s hand. He could ask her to give the ball to him, and then he could dispose of it. Or he could allow her to find out for herself, under his strict supervision, just what such power could do.

“Turn and face the woods,” Judah told her. She did. “Now choose a tree.”

“That one.” She pointed to a towering elm.

“Aim your energy ball at the tree and whirl it through the air.”

Eve swung her right arm backward, lifting it over her head, and flung the psychic energy bolt in the direction of the tree she had chosen. She and Judah watched as the blast missed the elm tree entirely, zooming past it and exploding as it hit a stand of twenty-foot pines. At least half a dozen of the evergreens splintered into minuscule shards and rained down in heavy ash particles to the forest floor.

Holy crap! His little girl had just shot one of the most powerful energy bolts Judah had ever seen, taking out not one object but six.

“I missed my tree, Daddy. I missed it.” Eve puckered up, her bottom lip quivering.

He knelt down in front of her and tucked his knuckles under her chin, lifting her little face so that she looked directly at him. “You might have missed the elm tree, but look what your blast did. All you need is practice and you’ll be able to hit your target every time.”

Tears hung on Eve’s long, golden lashes, and her eyes shimmered with moisture, but she smiled and threw her arms around Judah’s neck.

“I love you, Daddy.”

Judah swallowed hard. I love you, too.

She hugged him tighter. “Mother’s coming.”

“It figures.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing.” Judah gradually eased out of Eve’s embrace as he rose to his feet. “Let me handle things, okay? When your mother finds us, she’s not going to be happy, so we’ll tell her that I’m the one who shot the energy bolt. That way she won’t be angry with you.”

“But that’s lying, Daddy, and lying is wrong.”

Judah groaned. Raintree logic. “Actually, it’ll just be a little white lie, so you won’t get in trouble.”

“Mother will know that I did it. She knows everything.”

Judah couldn’t repress his smile. “Why don’t we put her to the test and find out?”

When Eve looked up at him, he winked at her.

She winked back. “Okay.”

Exactly five minutes and sixteen seconds later, Judah sensed Mercy coming up from behind as he and Eve sat on the side of the creek, their shoes off, their feet in the cool water. He glanced over his shoulder and spied her a good thirty feet away.

When he turned back around, Eve said, “Mother is very upset.”

“Remember, let me do all the talking.”

“I think my mother is the one who’s going to do all the talking.”

When Mercy approached them, Judah and Eve simultaneously turned to face her.

“Hi, Mommy. Daddy and I are just cooling off. It sure is hot today.”

Mercy glared at Judah. “What did you let her do?”

Judah shrugged. “Eve didn’t do anything. I did. I was showing off a little for my daughter.”

“Is that right?” Mercy zeroed in on Eve.

Eve’s cheeks blushed bright pink. “Uh-huh.”

Mercy scanned the area in every direction. When her gaze fell on the empty spot in the woods created by the absence of six large pine trees, she gasped.

Focusing on Eve, she said, “I want the truth, young lady. Did you-” she nodded toward the woods “-do that?”

“Do what?” Eve asked.

Mercy glared at Judah. “Not only did you allow her to do something extremely dangerous, you taught her to lie.”

“No, Mother, please. Don’t be angry with Daddy.” Eve yanked her feet from the creek and hopped up off the ground. “I did it. I zapped a whole bunch of trees. I was aiming at just one, but-” she flopped her hands open on either side of her “-my energy ball kind of went crazy, and all those trees went poof.”

“Oh, God, oh, God,” Mercy mumbled under her breath, then turned to Judah. “Did you help her create an energy bolt?”