Total pages in book: 172
Estimated words: 155984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
At the last possible second, as the younger male came rushing in, Istrebitel leapt into the air, right over the top of him, whirling in midair to face the golden leopard who couldn’t stop his charge. Istrebitel landed hard on the younger male’s back, snapping the spine, just as the golden leopard’s intention toward him had been. The young male screamed, flopping to the ground, unable to rise.
Istrebitel reared up, going onto his hind legs to meet the incoming charge of the golden leopard. Shturm charged from behind him, seizing one of the commander’s back legs and snapping it in two with a vicious bite. The golden leopard fell over backward. Istrebitel rushed in and bit down on the throat of the leopard while Shturm eviscerated him with one sharp claw and then left Zakhar to finish both leopards off while he went looking for other prey.
It took time to kill all ten leopards and by that time, the next wave had swept into the side yard from the woods. Drake’s team was there to stop them, but security was Sevastyan’s job. He didn’t just simply hand it over to others. He shifted enough to get information.
“Ambroise. Closest threat.”
“Sneaking up on the garage. Two factions, looks close to twenty count. These leopards joined forces, coming in from your property and the meadow. They have someone directing them up on the hill just past the meadow out of my line of sight. He’s calling the shots.”
Sevastyan snagged his phone as he hurried around the side of the house toward the garage. “Christophe, send me another team. We’ll need at least another five leopards, maybe more.”
“Roger that,” Christophe said.
There were no more messages from Flambé. He read the last one from her again. So your cousin can have his laugh. Fuck you both. Did she really believe that?
Damn it. She’d made it more than clear that she believed Mitya thought her nothing but a sex object. Did she think he’d deliberately leave her if there was any way he could get to her? What if she couldn’t get to him?
He texted with one thumb as fast as he could. Baby, please, for God’s sake. I’m in the middle of a fucking nightmare here. I need to know you’re safe. At least get into the tunnel. I can come to you there.
He didn’t know how, but he’d find a way. He could get away. There had to be a way. He couldn’t leave her in need. Shturm couldn’t leave Flamme. If nothing else, he could see for himself she was alive and well. See how bad it really was for her.
There was no answer by the time he’d rounded the corner of the house, and he’d run out of options. He had to shift. He shoved the phone into the side column of the verandah and shifted while he ran, knowing Zakhar, Zinoviy and Vikenti were right behind him, their leopards coming equally as fast. A shot rang out and he felt a burn along his left shoulder. They had sharpshooters as well. Fuckin’ Ambroise had missed that. He’d have a talk with him about that. You couldn’t afford to make mistakes in Mitya’s security. He didn’t accept excuses.
Three shots answered, two from the garage roof and one from on top of the house. He hoped like hell they dropped the sniper. That had come from somewhere along that hill just beyond the meadow. He knew the exact spot a sniper would choose because he’d been there hundreds of times. His men had been there hundreds of times. They’d damn well better not miss, because he’d pointed that place out to them as a weak spot in their defenses.
Sevastyan ran into a solid wall of leopards. It looked like a sea of spots coming at him out of the dark. That didn’t slow Shturm down in the least. If anything, he sprinted, choosing his target, malevolent eyes staring at his next victim as he rushed toward the big male. This was a pale black leopard, the darker rosettes spread throughout his coat.
Zakhar came up on his left, Kyanite on his right. Zinoviy and Vikenti had dropped back and spread out farther so that they flanked him. Behind them more leopards borrowed from Mitya’s various friends joined him as they tore straight into the sea of leopards coming at them. There were no more shots fired, at least not at the leopards coming together in a fierce clash of claws and teeth. Sevastyan wasn’t certain if that was because the other side didn’t have another sniper or they had no way to identify their leopards in combat.
His snipers began to systematically shoot one bullet at a time, making each count. He had reiterated over and over that they were not to take a shot in a combat situation with leopards unless they were absolutely certain who they were shooting at. Leopards fighting were ferocious and fluid. They rolled on the ground, raking and clawing at one another, changing position. They leapt into the air, turning with flexible spines, tearing and charging, smashing like freight trains to drive one another off their feet. They rose up on hind legs, biting at genitals and trying to eviscerate their target. There was no telling how suddenly one would switch from one side to the other. Sevastyan had drilled it into his shooters not to make mistakes. He didn’t want them to take a shot, even a critical one, if they weren’t absolutely sure of it.