Leopard 02 - Wild Rain

cats. We don’t want to take the chance on any other leopard prowling around getting killed. We sent out the word, but we can’t be too careful.”
    “Four big-game hunters?” Rachael echoed. “You mean men who hunt big cats for a living? That’s like Armando. I should have guessed he’d do that.”
    Elijah touched her shoulder gently. “I knew he would. We’re prepared for it. You’ll be safe with Tama and Kim.”
    “Don’t you think the leopard spy will come back to watch me? I should be here, where he can give his little daily reports to Armando.”
    “He would never be able to resist killing you,” Rio said. “You felt him, his need for the kill. We can’t risk it again.” Rio caught her face between his hands. “I will not risk you. He’s dangerous, and I have to help Elijah with the hunters. We can’t afford them at our backs. In any case, Armando would send his men here to grab you. You have to go where it’s safe.”
    At once her heart leapt. Rio could do that with a touch, with a look. Rachael forced a smile when she met his gaze. “You know what you’re asking of me, don’t you? I had to stand by and watch Armando ruin Elijah’s life, torture and torment him over me. He used me to hurt my brother. He can’t take you both from me. I would never survive it. You both have to come back to me.” She didn’t look at her brother, but her voice was choked with tears. “Elijah is going to try to sacrifice himself because he thinks there can be no redemption. Rio, you have to find a way to bring him safely back.”
    Rio brushed her mouth with his. “You promised to marry me, sestrilla. My beloved one. We need Elijah to give you to me in a proper ceremony. You can be very sure I’ll bring him back.”
    “Thank you.” Rachael went with the tribesmen. She only looked back once, and both Elijah and Rio were watching her until she was out of sight.
    The two men looked at one another, stripped hastily, and without a word shifted into their animal forms. It was time to go hunting.
    The first night Rio and Elijah took the first hunter. He was lying in the blind, his eye glued to his scope, his finger on the trigger of his rifle. Below him, on the forest floor, a small goat cried out in fear.
    Rio knew the spy leopard walked close, a lookout for the hunters, but they were already inside the hunter’s trap, high in the canopy watching.
    The second night the spy leopard was waiting in the trees above their kill. His yellow eyes glittered with menace, with a promise of retaliation. They had made him look bad, a creature who felt superior to those he worked with, and he had failed in his job. He didn’t want to fail a second time. It was Elijah who made the second kill right under the spy leopard’s nose, slipping down into the blind and dispatching the second hunter where he lay in wait.
    The leopard discovered the kill on one of his sweeps of the area and went berserk, roaring with rage, promising retaliation. He raced through the forest in the direction of Rachael’s small, deserted hut. Rio was grateful she was long gone. The leopard was in a killing mood and wanted desperately to rip something or someone to shreds. Rio followed at a much more leisurely pace, letting the intruder expend energy. He watched from a distance as the shape-shifter ripped apart the small, makeshift hut.
    He was so enraged, he tore furniture into small sticks and smashed the little bowl of orchids.
    Rio gave him no warning, no room to fight, leaping on him from the roof above, teeth sinking deep and hanging on while the leopard rolled and clawed and raked at him. Rio spent most of his life in the forest, most of his life running through the trees both in human and in animal form. The spy leopard had left his normal life for the city and the promise of power and money. He wasn’t nearly as fast or as ruthless. Rio accorded the body the respect of his kind, burning it to a fine ash and scattering the remains before joining Elijah.
    The third hunter was taken at dusk on the third day, and this time they waited until the last of the professionals realized what happened and hurried away from the scene of death. Elijah padded after the lone hunter, a grim elation spreading through him. The hunter had finally conceded defeat and was stumbling back to camp, horrified at the loss of his friends. He clutched his gun to him as if that single item could save him from the terrors of the darkened forest. The man winced when he