Rachael signaled to the elder to take a gun and move into the shadow of the bedroom out of sight. Only when he had merged into the gray did she reach out and lift the bar. "Only one person better step through that door and you'd better step through with your hands raised." She moved again, so they wouldn't be able to get a fix on her voice if they came in shooting.

The door swung open slowly. "I'm not armed, Rachael."

For a moment she couldn't think. Couldn't breathe. Her heart pounded like a runaway drum and her mouth went dry. She stood there, fighting for air, uncertain what she would do. Rachael cleared her throat and forced the words out. "Come in, shut the door and bar it. I want to see your hands every second."

"d.a.m.n it, Rachael. You know who I am." The door was slammed just that bit too hard. Elijah dropped the bar in place and swung his head to glare at her. Tall, muscular, broad-shouldered, his black hair fell in the same riot ofwaves as hers did. "What the h.e.l.l were you thinking, taking off like that?"

"Why are you here?" She didn't lower the gun an inch.

"Put the d.a.m.n thing down before you shoot yourself. You wouldn't shoot me, not in a million years, so quit pretending you're tough." He took a step toward her.

"She might not shoot you, but I have a very clear shot and I won't hesitate,"

Delgrotto said in a low, disembodied tone.

Rachael watched her brother stiffen, watched the shock spread over his face.

He'd always been so careful, paid attention to every detail. "Rachael, tell him who I am."

"Elijah Lospostos. My brother. You have a lot of explaining to do Elijah." She was looking at his bare feet, jeans, and unb.u.t.toned shirt. "You shifted into the form of a leopard, didn't you? How long have you been able to do that?"

He shrugged. "I've been traveling fast, Rachael. It wasn't easy picking up your scent, not until I found it in the leopard form. I had a h.e.l.l of a time getting away from camp with that guide always watching my every move. I could use something to drink, and I wouldn't mind sitting down. And put the guns down.

What kind of welcome is this? I traveled a thousand miles to save your b.u.t.t."

"No one asked you to, Elijah," she said softly. "I never asked to be saved." She blinked back tears. "Do you know a man named Duncan Powell?"

Her brother went ramrod stiff. "Has he been here? He's a killer, Rachael and he's one of us. He'll be able to track you anywhere. Duncan is one of Armando's hired guns. If he's here..."

"He's dead," she interrupted. "He left a cobra in my bedroom and then followed me here." She lifted her chin and glared at him. "Why did you come?"

Elijah pulled out a chair from the table and sank into it. "I told you why. Why do I always come after you? You 308.

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can't go running around unprotected, Rachael. If Armando gets his hands on you ...".

"He'll have me killed? He's been trying to do that since I was nine. You should have let me disappear, Elijah. I didn't go to the police, I didn't say a word to the authorities about Tony and I wouldn't. I just want out. You should have let me go."

"You think Armando's going to believe you drowned in a river without seeing the body? h.e.l.l, Rachael, you've forgotten everything I taught you. He knows you're here. He's coming after you with everything he's got."

"And so you dropped all your business and hastily rushed off to the wilds of the rain forest to save me die way you always do."

"Rachael, what's this about? Why didn't you come to me, talk about this? Of course I followed you. I'm not going to allow him to kill you."

Rachael placed the gun on the sink and pressed her back into the wall beside it.

She looked small and vulnerable instead of the woman who had been so ready to fight just minutes earlier. Tears glittered in her eyes. "No? I thought it might be a help to you. Isn't that what you said, Elijah? Didn't you hope he'd find me and take the burden off your hands once and for all? Didn't you tell me yourself your life would be so much better, so much easier if I were dead?"

He stood up so fast the chair went over backwards, taking a step toward her. The elder, deep in the shadows, stirred, reminding him to be cautious, and Elijah stopped. "Rachael. Do you honestly think I came here to kill you?"

"There's a price on my head."

"To keep you alive. Armando moved fast. He picked up the girl who wore your clothes and a wig. She was sent to me via messenger and it wasn't a pretty sight."

Rachael turned her face away, her hand going to her throat in a protective gesture, a sound, much like strangling, emerging.

"This gun is getting heavy Rachael" Delgrotto said. "I

think you and your brother should be alone. I doubt if he poses much of a threat, but Rio might come back unexpectedly. I'll go onto the verandah."

"Rio couldn't possibly return before dawn." "He travels with those small leopards. It's likely one went to warn him."

The color drained from Rachael's face. "You have to go, Elijah. Get out of here right now."

Elijah waved her words away. "Look at me, Rachael. Turn your head and look at me. I want to see your face when you tell me you believed I sent those men out to kill you. d.a.m.n it." His fist hit the tabletop. "I spent my life fighting to keep us alive."

"You said you wished I was dead."

"I never said that." He glanced at the elder, frustration plain on his face.

Delgrotto took the hint and slipped outside to leave them alone. "All right, the truth is, I don't know what the h.e.l.l I said to you that day. I was terrified for you and angry at you for not confiding in me. I had to shoot Tony right in front of you." Elijah swept a hand over his face. "I knew what that would do to you, shooting him in front of you."

Rachael faced her brother across the table. "You killed him, Elijah. You killed Tony because he was with me. You became the very thing we both abhorred."

"You aren't thinking, Rachael." He dragged his hands through his hair in agitation. "He knew about us. He knew what we were. Worse, he belonged to Armando's crew. He was feeding him information."

"You don't know that."

"Who was he Rachael? How did you meet him?"

"Marcia Tolstoy is his sister. She introduced us. We weren't dating. He was just a nice man, lonely like me."

"He wasn't a nice man, and he wasn't Marcia Tolstoy's brother. Armando paid her to tell you that, and before you say she would never do that, remember everyone has a price. Armando found hers. If you'd told me about Tony, I 310.

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would have checked him out quietly and let you know to break off the friendship.

By the time I found out about him, you Were already in the car with him. I didn't have time to take him down easy. He was taking you to one of Armando's warehouses."

"We were going out to dinner."

"Have I ever lied to you? Never, Rachael. It's always been the two of us, ever since we were children and there was only us."

"How do I know you're telling me the truth? How do I know what's the truth and what's a lie? My uncle murdered my parents. I thought he loved us. I thought he loved Mom and Dad. Dad was his brother. What does that tell a child, Elijah? The world isn't a very safe place and you can't trust anyone. Not even family."

Raphael swung around and filled a gla.s.s of water for him, needing something to do.

"I would never, under any circ.u.mstances, order your death. You're my sister, my only family, and I love you. You don't have to believe me, Rachael. I know you're hurt and angry and very mixed-up. I didn't have time to talk to you."

"You had time to pull me out of the car before you killed him. And you had time to lock me in the house afterward."

"You were hysterical. He went for his gun, Rachael. You didn't see him make his move because you were fighting me as I pulled you out of the car. You wouldn't listen to me and you were threatening to go to the police. I did my best to carry out Dad's wishes and make the business legitimate. It hasn't been easy. I know too much about Armando, just as you do. He can't allow us to live. As long as he thought I was with him, that I could control you, we both were safe. Once I made my move against him, Armando wanted to kill you not only to punish me, but to silence you. You should never have talked to Tony."

Her dark eyes flashed. "I would never tell an outsider our business, certainly not a man I knew nothing about. I

"And he never asked you questions about me?" "He asked if you were my brother and I said yes. You are. It's common knowledge. It shouldn't have gotten him killed."

"Rachael, let's start with something we know. Tell me you know I love you. You must know everything I've done in my Me I've done for you. For us. To keep us alive. I was a child too. I had no power. No one to help us. I had no choice if we were to stay alive. I had to join with Armando or he would have killed us both on the spot. I traded my soul for a chance for both of us to live."

She flung herself into his arms. "I know you did. I know you did it for me. I knew you could have gotten away if you didn't have me to try to protect."

"Does it really make sense to you that I spent all those years protecting you and now I'd suddenly want you dead?" He wrapped his arms around her, hugged her hard. "It was so awful. I felt responsible and I didn't know why you would do such a terrible thing. Power corrupts, Elijah. I've seen you fight it. You tried to make the business legitimate, but at the same time, you had to do the things that allowed Armando to think you were a part of the business." "I had no choice but to run the business the way Armando wanted. We inherited half of everything, Rachael. Armando wanted it all, and he wanted it to remain his. When he found out Dad wanted to get out from under it, he had them followed. He discovered Mom could shift into the form of a leopard. He found his perfect a.s.sa.s.sins.

Stealthy. Cunning. Intelligent."

"So Dad took us all to Florida." "That was because Mom was afraid her people would harm Dad. So he moved us to the Glades. Mom could still run, and he was out from under the business. But of course it didn't work that way. He owned too much and knew too much. He was slowly trying to get out from under the companies. Armando wasn't going to let that happen. All the while I was out with my wonderful uncle, doing his 312.

little tasks for him because he let me ran free. I was so stupid. I told Mom and Dad that Armando knew about me shifting, that I did it all the time in front of him. Mom had been so secretive and I wanted her to know it was okay, that he didn't mind. They were both so upset, and they must have talked to him. Armando arranged to meet with Mom and Dad and he killed both of them."

"And I saw it." Rachael pulled away from him. "I'll never forget his face when he turned and saw me standing there."

"Do you think I liked doing the things I had to do? He held you hostage, Rachael. He never bothered to hide what he did from you. The more you knew, the more of a liability you were to him and the more I had to do to make it worth his while to keep you alive. He needed me. I was like Mom and a tremendous a.s.set to him. And he knew that he couldn't kill both of us and get away with it. As soon as possible, I made certain he knew there was proof, if something happened to either of us."

"But Elijah, I saw you do things just like he did them. You're not the same.

You've grown distant and colder. I tried to talk to you about it land you brushed it off."

"He was making another move against us. And I was planning to kill him. I didn't want you involved." He said it bluntly. "If you knew, you'd be as guilty as me.

You couldn't know the things I had to do. One of us had to be something Mom would be proud of." He looked down at his hands. "If it makes you feel any better, I never killed an innocent. I never stooped that low."