back down to his feet, Eli leapt onto its back, sinking his teeth into the top portion of its head. Boden swiped at Nivea but she wasn’t to be dissuaded, she latched onto the side of his neck, biting down with almost as much strength as Eli. Boden continued to roar and buck beneath them, trying to throw them off, and yet, moving closer and closer to the open window.
In a flash Eli saw Boden in his cat form, attacking Nivea’s cat in the rain forest, jumping at her again through the hut where she’d lay in that bed beside Eli wearing Acacia’s necklace. Boden had always been the threat to Eli’s mate. With another blink he saw Boden picking up Crowe’s battered body from that house in Arizona where Ezra had thought he’d killed the human. He saw Boden and Bianca in a truck with Crowe and then Boden and Bianca sitting in the corporate office of the Cannon Group. Boden had been the archenemy of the shifters from that first day he was exiled from the Gungi.
Blinking back to reality, Eli’s teeth sank deeper, he tasted the jaguar’s blood at the back of his cat’s throat. When Boden moved again, taking steps even with Eli and Nivea, a combined total of more than four hundred pounds hanging onto him, Eli knew where the cat would go, what he would do. He hated to do this, hated the choice he’d been given, but Eli relinquished his hold on Boden, swiping his paws over Nivea’s head until her grip on the jaguar broke free as well. She turned to him instantly, growling and hissing as Boden, bleeding from multiple locations, his golden fur stained with red until it almost covered him completely, stumbled a few more steps. Eli ran toward him then, roaring with every ounce of rage, shaman’s poison, and Seer’s power he had in his cat, bumping the wounded jaguar with his large head until it staggered the next couple of steps before toppling over the windowsill, falling into the night.
Cats normally land on their feet and for a minute Eli worried that Boden in all his sadistic rage would somehow manage to survive that fall from eighteen floors up. But the sound of rapid gunfire and the loud roaring of other cats in the area indicated that that had not happened. Boden Estevez was dead. Finally.
* * *
The two jaguars made their way down the stairs, crossing the walkway into the garage but not before looking out to see that chaos still reigned.
Lights flashed from police cars, ambulances, and news cameras. There were people everywhere, police attempting to form perimeter blocks, yellow tape going up around bodies stretched out on the ground. When gunshots sounded from somewhere higher up, Eli pushed his cat against Nivea’s, keeping her shielded as they picked up the pace. There had been guard SUVs parked throughout the garage in anticipation of the shifters needing to make quick getaways. Keys were taped behind the front wheels so that it didn’t matter which vehicle was taken by what shifter.
They ran until Eli stopped at one he knew to be a guard vehicle. He came along its side and shifted back into his human form. Hurriedly going down on one knee, he snatched the key from its hiding place and opened the back door, going straight for the duffle bags the shifters kept filled with clothes. Nivea had shifted as well and was now at his side. It was as he tossed her sweatpants and a T-shirt he thought she could fit into that he noticed her hissing. Turning toward her, he scented her blood and was ready to roar again.
Instead he touched her shoulder, turning her and seeing the blood oozing from several angry gashes at her side.
“It’s okay,” she told him, pulling the shirt down over the scars and putting a hand to his face to divert his attention to her eyes instead. “I’m okay, Eli. Really. Once we get back to Havenway, Ary will sew that right up,” she told him with confidence.
Eli gritted his teeth.
“We don’t have time to stand here, babe. We have to go,” she insisted.
Eli agreed but he
In a flash Eli saw Boden in his cat form, attacking Nivea’s cat in the rain forest, jumping at her again through the hut where she’d lay in that bed beside Eli wearing Acacia’s necklace. Boden had always been the threat to Eli’s mate. With another blink he saw Boden picking up Crowe’s battered body from that house in Arizona where Ezra had thought he’d killed the human. He saw Boden and Bianca in a truck with Crowe and then Boden and Bianca sitting in the corporate office of the Cannon Group. Boden had been the archenemy of the shifters from that first day he was exiled from the Gungi.
Blinking back to reality, Eli’s teeth sank deeper, he tasted the jaguar’s blood at the back of his cat’s throat. When Boden moved again, taking steps even with Eli and Nivea, a combined total of more than four hundred pounds hanging onto him, Eli knew where the cat would go, what he would do. He hated to do this, hated the choice he’d been given, but Eli relinquished his hold on Boden, swiping his paws over Nivea’s head until her grip on the jaguar broke free as well. She turned to him instantly, growling and hissing as Boden, bleeding from multiple locations, his golden fur stained with red until it almost covered him completely, stumbled a few more steps. Eli ran toward him then, roaring with every ounce of rage, shaman’s poison, and Seer’s power he had in his cat, bumping the wounded jaguar with his large head until it staggered the next couple of steps before toppling over the windowsill, falling into the night.
Cats normally land on their feet and for a minute Eli worried that Boden in all his sadistic rage would somehow manage to survive that fall from eighteen floors up. But the sound of rapid gunfire and the loud roaring of other cats in the area indicated that that had not happened. Boden Estevez was dead. Finally.
* * *
The two jaguars made their way down the stairs, crossing the walkway into the garage but not before looking out to see that chaos still reigned.
Lights flashed from police cars, ambulances, and news cameras. There were people everywhere, police attempting to form perimeter blocks, yellow tape going up around bodies stretched out on the ground. When gunshots sounded from somewhere higher up, Eli pushed his cat against Nivea’s, keeping her shielded as they picked up the pace. There had been guard SUVs parked throughout the garage in anticipation of the shifters needing to make quick getaways. Keys were taped behind the front wheels so that it didn’t matter which vehicle was taken by what shifter.
They ran until Eli stopped at one he knew to be a guard vehicle. He came along its side and shifted back into his human form. Hurriedly going down on one knee, he snatched the key from its hiding place and opened the back door, going straight for the duffle bags the shifters kept filled with clothes. Nivea had shifted as well and was now at his side. It was as he tossed her sweatpants and a T-shirt he thought she could fit into that he noticed her hissing. Turning toward her, he scented her blood and was ready to roar again.
Instead he touched her shoulder, turning her and seeing the blood oozing from several angry gashes at her side.
“It’s okay,” she told him, pulling the shirt down over the scars and putting a hand to his face to divert his attention to her eyes instead. “I’m okay, Eli. Really. Once we get back to Havenway, Ary will sew that right up,” she told him with confidence.
Eli gritted his teeth.
“We don’t have time to stand here, babe. We have to go,” she insisted.
Eli agreed but he
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