Elijah launched himself into the air, leaping on the kid’s back, hitting him with enough force to knock him over. The boy rolled in the leaves and insects, and Elijah kept going without breaking stride, his large paws making no sound as he paced alongside Conner.

Conner sent him a small nod of appreciation. Isabeau turned her face against his side and muffled a small laugh.

“You did good, Isabeau,” he praised. “You didn’t panic.”

“I knew you’d come,” she said, shocking him.

There was a quiet acceptance in her voice. She might not realize it, but she trusted him a lot more than she let on. “He didn’t threaten me at first. He was shocked when he came out of the brush and I was there.”

Conner sniffed his disdain, his cat chuffing in annoyance. The kid hadn’t used his leopard senses even when he was hunting. His disdain for Adan had left him handicapped. He hadn’t done his homework. He didn’t even realize who he was hunting. Adan’s skill in the rain forest was known far and wide, yet the young man hadn’t been aware of him.

“What village do you come from?” Conner asked, suddenly suspicious.

“My village is in Costa Rica,” Jeremiah said cheerfully. He shot Conner a quick grin. “I’ve been around. It’s not like I’ve never been out of the forest.”

This time Rio charged him, knocking him flat. He hit the kid hard enough to produce a grunt of pain. As Rio moved off the boy, he cuffed him hard with his large paw, his claws retracted, but definitely a reprimand.

Jeremiah rolled, came up in a crouch, scowling at the large leopard as he dusted himself off. “Hey! I have been around.”

“Obviously you didn’t learn respect,” Conner pointed out. “You have five elders here and an elder from one of the local Indian tribes as well as a female. So far I haven’t been impressed.”

The boy had the grace to look ashamed. “I just want to see some action,” he said.

“How did Suma contact you?” Conner asked.

“Internet. He put an ad up asking for help. I figured I was just the thing he needed.” Jeremiah stuck out his chest.

“Young. Impressionable. Stupid.” Conner spat on the ground.

“Hey!” Jeremiah’s cocky grin faded to another scowl. “I just want some action. I don’t want to spend my entire life locked up in some boring village with the elders telling me what I can and can’t do. I’m fast.”