“This is my territory, Elijah. My realm. Those who enter it are subject to the laws of my people and my laws. Man or beast, it matters little. Armando may be a big deal in South America and in Florida, but he’s no one here.”
Elijah nodded his head. “I’ve been slowly cashing out our assets and putting the money where Armando can’t touch it. He doesn’t know, of course. But I’m hoping to get Rachael and me free of our estate and go back to my homeland. Unfortunately, there are problems.”
“You could come here, Elijah,” Rachael offered. Her voice was muffled against Rio’s chest and he couldn’t see her face. “The elders would accept you, Delgrotto already said as much. No one knows you here. You could have a new start.”
“I don’t even know how anymore, Rachael.” Elijah looked at his sister through long lashes. His eyes were flat and cold. “If I can’t talk to you, my own sister, how do you think I could ever learn to live with others again? Thank you for the offer, but if we manage to remove the threat of Armando, the last thing I intend to do is taint your life.”
Rachael stirred as if to protest, but Rio’s arm tightened in warning. “Let’s just take one thing at a time. Armando is first. Let’s find his mole and put out the word.”
“He’ll know I’m here.”
“All to the good. He’ll want to kill Rachael right under your nose. You’ve already established a research camp as your cover so you look as though you’re trying to appear legitimate to him while you search for her. Just search in the wrong areas so he’ll be convinced you’re combing the region for Rachael.”
“So I’m the dope miles away when he tries to hit Rachael. I don’t think so. If that man sets foot in this country, I’m not leaving Rachael’s side.”
Rachael sighed heavily. “Do you see where I get words like ‘imbecile’ and ‘idiot’ in my vocabulary? Elijah, just this once, please, for me, listen to what Rio has to say.”
“What do you know of this man, Rachael? You’re betting your life on him.”
“I know that. And if you’re insisting on staying, maybe you should listen to him as well, because it could save both of our lives, and that ought to tell you all you need to know. I left home rather than put you in a position of having to...” She trailed off. Only Rio knew she jammed her fist in her mouth to choke back the words before they could be said.
Elijah sat up straight. “I never wanted you dead. Never, Rachael. It was always the two of us. Hell, without you, what did I have to fight for? Why would I bother? I would have disappeared into the jungle and he would never have tracked me. But I didn’t think you could.”
“Because I couldn’t shift?” She turned her head to look at her brother. “I didn’t even know we were capable of shifting. How did you know?”
“It just happened. When I was young, a little boy. Mom told me not to say anything. We always spoke of it in whispers.”
Rio brought up his hand to the nape of Rachael’s neck in a slow massage. “Of course. She was still trying to hide it from her new husband. He didn’t know until later. And then the elders of your mother’s lair found out an outsider knew. It had to have happened that way.”
“Something went wrong. Mom and Dad were very nervous until we reached Florida. They were nervous for a couple of years. Mom wouldn’t allow me to shift and said I wasn’t to tell anyone.” Elijah sighed. “They were trying to protect us from our own kind. They should have been looking toward Armando.”
“He knew, though.” Rio said. “He used to take you places and let you run.”
“If I had just told Mom right away—but I didn’t. Just once, if I had said something to her, they might still be alive.” Elijah fell silent, listening to the soothing rain. “And then when I did tell her, I should have kept my mouth shut. Armando already had made his plans and he killed them.”
“Their deaths had nothing to do with what you didn’t or did tell our parents, Elijah,” Rachael denied. “You can’t take on the responsibility. You did everything you could to keep us alive.”
“I didn’t kill Armando, Rachael. “
“Killing him might set the two of you free, Elijah,” Rio said, “but it won’t bring anyone back, and it won’t make you feel any better.”
“I’ll settle for making certain Rachael is safe. Even if we could find a way to put him in jail, he’d send someone after her and he’d never stop until she was dead. It doesn’t matter if I went against the laws of our people and got a conviction, he’d find a way to kill her. I know him. Armando is vindictive and he hates me. In his mind, I betrayed him. He offered to make me his son. I was the heir to his empire and I went along with it for years. I had to make him believe it.”
Elijah looked into Rio’s eyes with the focused stare of his kind. “You probably can’t understand that kind of twisted hatred, but he wants to kill Rachael more than he wants anything else. I chose her over him. That’s the way he looks at it. She held some kind of power over me, otherwise, I would have become his son.”
“But you made your move too soon and you couldn’t get him. Why?” Rio returned the focused stare, every bit as unblinking and merciless.
“He came to me one night and told me it was time to clean house. He wanted Rachael dead. He said he knew I couldn’t do it, so he wasn’t asking me to kill her, he didn’t need a sign of loyalty. He told me he was going to do it himself, that he wouldn’t take the chance that any of the men would dishonor her first.” Elijah drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair. “That’s exactly how he put it to me. He was casually talking about killing my sister, but not to worry, none of the men would be allowed to rape her first.”
“So you had to make your move.”
“I had my men in place. I had a loyal following. I got Rachael to a safe house and made my move. Unfortunately, he was still too strong. He knows the way to defeat me is to get to her. She’s everything I care about. You know that, don’t you, Rachael? I swear I don’t know what I said to you when I pulled you out of that car, but Tony was taking you to Armando, and you would have been sent back to me in pieces.”
“It’s all right,” she said softly. “Elijah, I’m sorry I ever doubted you. Whatever was said is forgotten. Please forgive me for the terrible things I was thinking.”
“Who could blame you, Rachael? We’ve lived with betrayal for so long it’s become a way of life for the both of us.” Elijah shifted in his chair. “So tell me what you want me to do, Rio. Let’s see if we can manage to hash out a plan to remove the threat to Rachael.”
Rio rocked Rachael gently, a soothing, comforting gesture he was barely aware of making. Her body trembled in his arms. She was overwhelmed by everything but hung on to her calm demeanor because she was Rachael and that’s what she did. She had a way of moving him, turning him inside out over the simplest things. He felt the love she had for her brother and the fear for him all mixed together.
“Have Tama take you downriver, far downriver, as many miles as possible. We’ll start the rumor that Rachael’s shoe was found. Then let’s get an informant on the river to tell a government official in front of Armando’s mole that Rachael is living in the forest. Once the mole gets the information to your uncle, he’ll send his leopard out to confirm first.”
“Or kill her.”
“Or kill her,” Rio agreed. “That will be the most critical time. You’ll have to put your trust in me and stay a long way away. I’ll try to keep you informed, but this won’t work if he even thinks you’re anywhere near her. He’ll sense a trap. You’ll have to be downriver and on the lookout for a hit on you.”
Rachael stirred restlessly, shooting an apprehensive look at her brother. “What kind of protection did you bring with you?”
“I have some of my best men. In the forest, it won’t be easy to surprise me, not even for his leopard assassin. Rachael, don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself,” Elijah reassured.
“Elijah’s right, sestrilla,” Rio murmured softly, adding his own reassurance, “I suspect your uncle would want him alive, would want him to suffer with the knowledge of your death before anything else. If we’re wrong and he sends the leopard to kill Elijah, you have to have faith in your brother’s abilities. He’s stayed alive and kept you alive all these years. He won’t be taken easily. And Tama will be with him. There isn’t a better guide, or a more responsible one, unless it’s Kim.”
Rachael bit at her knuckles. “I don’t like this, I don’t like us separated when he comes after us.”
“He won’t come if he knows you’re with Elijah,” Rio said patiently. “He’s afraid of Elijah. Your brother is probably the only man he is afraid of. That’s why he has to destroy him before he kills him. And the only means he has of destroying him is through you.” .
“I know of his leopard assassin, Rachael,” Elijah added. “I can take him if he comes at me. I can take him in either form, human or animal.” There was complete confidence in his voice.
Rachael nodded and managed a faint smile, but Rio could feel her body trembling. He pulled her closer, trying to protect her from her brother’s all-seeing eyes. “Once Armando has entered the country, Kim Pang, Tama’s brother, will get word to Tama. You can head this way the moment Armando has entered our forest. I’ll have a few of my men standing by with radios to let us know where he is. He can’t take animal form, but he’ll come in with hunters, hoping to protect himself. What do you think, Elijah?”
“I think I’m going to trust you with my sister’s life.” Elijah stood up, stretched, a completely feline motion. His eyes were hard and cold and without mercy. “Don’t let me down.”
“Aren’t you going to stay?” Rachael asked, looking close to tears again.
“I have to be back in camp. You never know if he has eyes or ears planted and I don’t want to blow the plan before we have a chance to see if it will even work.” Elijah loomed over them, tall and dangerous and very alone. “You take care of her, Rio.” He brushed Rachael’s head with a gentle kiss, touched her shoulder and went out into the night.
Rachael tried to pull away from Rio to go after her brother.
“Let him go. This is hard for him, to let loose of you after all these years. He needs to be alone. People like us need space, Rachael. He has to find his own way. He’s spent a lifetime concentrating on keeping the both of you alive. He’ll need to adjust in order to find another reason to go on. The forest is where he’ll find it. He doesn’t know that yet, but it will call to him.”
She ran her hands over his body, inspecting him for damage after his long run. “You need rest, Rio. At least come to bed with me.”
It sounded good to him. He wanted to lie down beside her, hold her in his arms and feel her warmth after the terror of thinking someone was attacking her. He lay for a long time listening to the wind moaning in the trees. Listening to the songs of the rain through the canopy. Listening to the rhythm of her breathing. Holding her soft body next to his, her hair crushed in his hands, his body wrapped protectively around hers. He remembered thinking happiness was an illusion, that life was simply to live until it was over, giving service to his people. Happiness was this woman in his arms. He allowed himself to drift off with the scent of her filling his lungs and the feel of her imprinted into his flesh and bones.
RACHAEL gripped the railing and leaned over to peer at the forest floor below. “I think I’m going stir crazy.” She turned around to smile at Rio, half sitting on the banister. “Is that possible out here in this huge forest? And don’t say I’m in one of my little moods either!”
“Sure it is. Waiting is always the most difficult part. We know the mole passed the word, so it won’t be much longer. I received word that Armando and a huge party arrived and were making their way up the river. We’ve got people in place watching him. He brought four big-name game hunters with him, which did cause a bit of a problem as the officials don’t encourage that sort of thing.”
Rachael shivered. “Knowing that man is walking in the same forest is frightening. Armando is truly evil, Rio. It won’t take him long to send out his men.”
“I know, but it’s what we’ve been waiting for. This is probably our last chance for a little fun. They aren’t in our area yet.”
“I hate that Elijah is so close and I can’t go see him.”
Rio reached out to take her hand, holding her open palm over his heart. “At least this has given us some time for your leg to heal properly.”
She turned her calf this way and that, frowning. “Properly? Is that what you call it? At least I have a leg. And Fritz is better too. He went out this morning around dawn to hunt food with Franz. I thought that was such a good sign.”
Rio tugged on her hand until her body was tight against his. “We don’t have to stay here if you’d rather go play,” he invited softly.
Rachael looked up at him, his weathered, beloved face. She knew every inch of that face, by touch, by vision. There was a playful gleam in his eyes, one rarely seen by anyone other than Rachael. She loved that boyish, mischievous side of him that crept out at unexpected times. “Is it safe?”
“At the moment. I didn’t expect Armando to come himself so soon, but it doesn’t really change anything. I’m expecting your uncle’s assassin to come checking any day now, but the forest animals will alert us. We don’t have to stay here in this house if you want to stretch your legs and play a bit. I have one or two beautiful spots I haven’t had a chance to show you.” His fingers crushed strands of her hair, rubbed them together. “We’ve been putting all our energy toward rehearsals for the arrival of your uncle and we haven’t managed to take a much-needed break. The temporary hut is built, we’ve moved you in, we have people up and down the river and in the forest keeping an eye on them. I think we can take a small break.”
Rio hadn’t chanced a single late night run since her brother had shown up. He didn’t want to leave her alone and he felt it was better to give her leg a chance to fully heal. The lure of the forest was on him, calling continually.
Rachael’s smile widened and she peeled off the shirt she was wearing, flinging it aside without hesitation. It left her standing in her silky thong and nothing else.
Rio smiled. Breathing Rachael in was becoming a habit. “Maybe we should just stay here,” he murmured softly. Her breasts were beautiful, full and ripe and so perfect he had to touch them. His fingers whispered over her skin, tugged at her nipples just to see them peak for him.