There was the sound of movement almost directly below them. The man in the control room opened his locked door. “Starved, Bart. What took so long?”

“Fuck you, Terry. I’m getting you food first. You think it’s easy cooking for so many? Gaton brought in a whole new crew he’s so paranoid.”

Elijah lifted his head, did a quick sweep of the surrounding yard and he leaped, driving Bart into the house with both feet. Joaquin was right behind him, going over the two rolling figures on the floor of the entryway to hit Terry in the chest like a battering ram. Terry fell back into the control room.

Bart began to shift, clearly unaware that Elijah was leopard as well. Elijah was there before him, his huge male coming eagerly to the fight, head and arms already shifting, slashing, a silent kill as the claws ripped out the throat. He didn’t need the suffocating puncture his male wanted to add. Elijah controlled him, controlled the need for blood. His male was difficult to control when fighting. He liked it. Elijah liked it.

He shifted completely back to his human form and dragged the body into the control room. Terry lay dead on the floor. Joaquin’s work was always fast and efficient. He had the body dumped in the corner, and Elijah tossed Bart on top of Terry, out of the way.

“Blood in the hall. Too much to hide. We got to do this fast,” Elijah informed Joaquin. He touched his earpiece. All the men were wired. “Evan, we’re good.”

Evan responded immediately, rolling out from under the verandah, and was in the house so fast he was almost a blur. He didn’t even glance at the two bodies in the corner or at Elijah and Joaquin. He was already in complete control, reaching for the wide board to shut down the recording equipment. “I’ve got this. Go.”

Elijah and Joaquin went, closing the door behind them. It locked automatically. “We’re sweeping the house now,” Elijah informed the others, signaling Joaquin to go left. Joaquin didn’t like it. Didn’t like having Elijah out of his sight, but he went.

The plantation house was enormous, a tribute to the elegance and decadence of days gone by. Cordeau had modernized the home, updating the wiring and plumbing, but the house retained the old-world feel. Elijah could smell and feel the call of the swamp. He was leopard and he would always want the freedom of the wild close. This would be Joshua’s home. He would take it over, and they would clean up the lair Cordeau had allowed out of control. It wouldn’t be easy. Drake was cleaning up the lair close by and he’d had several challenges to his leadership. No doubt Joshua would as well.