light leaked out from under the privacy screens. What had attracted the spy’s attention? He waited a heartbeat. Two. It wasn’t that he saw movement behind those screens. He sensed it. Flambé wasn’t fast asleep in the closet. She was up and moving in that room.
Cursing under his breath to himself, Sevastyan took advantage of the spy’s inattention to his surroundings and began a freeze-frame stalking. It was a slow process, but he was moving out into the open behind the leopard. At any moment the other cat might turn its head and see him, but the closer Sevastyan got, the more of an advantage he would have. He wanted to get this kill over fast so he had more time for the next. The longer it took before the others knew they were being hunted, the easier it would be for him and his men.
The leopard lifted its head, stretching its neck high toward the house, testing the air. Sevastyan rushed the last few feet and was on the other cat, slamming his weight down hard on the spine while he sank his teeth into the throat, driving deep for the killing bite. The spy desperately tried to throw him off, bucking and throwing himself to the ground, trying to roll, but Shturm was an extremely heavy leopard, all roped muscle, an experienced killing machine, and he never once let up with the suffocating bite.
The leopard was gone fast, faster than Shturm was happy with, so it took a few minutes before Sevastyan could regain control of him. They had to drag the body into the brush so none of the enemies could spot the carcass. He didn’t want any of the men on his land to escape or communicate with Franco in any way. He wanted them just to disappear. Franco would wonder if Sevastyan had found them and killed them, but his ego wouldn’t allow him to believe that he could do so. Then his conspiracy-theory mind would kick in and he’d begin to think his men had deserted him. Their disappearance would drive him crazy, even when his brothers pointed out the obvious to him, that Sevastyan was from a criminal family and of course he’d killed all of Franco’s men.
They were leopard and the carcasses had to be burned so there was no chance of their bodies being discovered. All shifters were careful about that law. It mattered little if they were rogue or decent, they protected what was left of their species, although Sevastyan did wonder about men like Franco.
Shturm dragged the dead leopard into the heavier brush and kicked leaves and dirt around it in disgust before he crouched low, waiting for Kirill and Matvei. The two leopards joined him and then all three moved into the thicker grove of trees where three of Franco’s men were secreted high in the branches watching the house a good distance away.
Sevastyan had spotted one of the leopards from his second-story window a few hours earlier. The animal had paced on the tree limb several times, unused to staying in one position for very long. By the time he’d been in his early teens, Sevastyan and his leopard had learned the importance of being absolutely still for hours. The consequences to both animal and human if either made the mistake by so much as shrugging a shoulder or easing a cramping muscle had been a severe beating. Consequently, both were adept at disappearing into the shadows, or in many cases, right out in the open without being spotted.
It had taken longer to find the other two animals hidden in the branches of the trees. Sevastyan had slipped out onto his roof and, stretching out in a prone position in one of the indentations beneath the newly built shelters he had constructed for just such a purpose, he patiently watched for his prey.
Eventually another leopard gave himself away by swishing his tail. It was the only movement, but it was enough to disturb the leaves, drawing Sevastyan’s attention. He marked the position of the tree and the branch and then began to calculate the position another leopard might be in based on where the first two in the trees were.
Sevastyan had remodeled a good deal of the Dover home for security purposes, paying close attention to the roof and the surroundings. The roof had been problematic when they had been protecting Ania. He didn’t want the same difficulties if he was attacked in his home. He had