Rio arrived at dawn, dragging her into his arms, raining kisses over her face. Elijah was with him, real and solid, hugging her hard, telling her how brave she was.
“Did it work? Did he go back to Armando and tell him I was living here alone and you didn’t know about it?” Rachael’s voice was muffled against Rio’s shirt. She inhaled him, touched him, needing to feel his enormous strength when she felt so fragile.
“It worked, Rachael,” Elijah assured. “He went back to Armando like the good little spy and reported everything he saw.”
“I felt how eager he was to kill me,” she said. “I don’t know what he would have done if Kim and Tama hadn’t shown up.”
“I did too,” Rio acknowledged. “He was in my sights the entire time. He never had a chance, sestrilla.”
“Now what do we do?” Rachael asked.
‘Tama and Kim are going to escort you to their village. You’ll be safe with them. Armando will send his men back
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here to the hut and they’ll find it empty. They’ll stake it out thinking you’ll come back. In the meantime, we have to get rid of his big-game hunters. It looks as if Armando instructed them to bag him a leopard. He knows he can’t take Elijah at his camp with all the guards there, but he believes Elijah is shifting at night and hunting for signs of you.”
Elijah grinned at her. His gaze remained flat and cold. “It’s like him to bring in professional hunters. He couldn’t very well tell them I’m a shifter. That would take away one of his big secrets.”
“The hunters staked out a goat hoping to draw in a leopard. There aren’t supposed to be any big leopards in these parts, only the clouded leopard and the smaller 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
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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, bis 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.