Chapter 2

I never thought Sasha, trying to butter up Hugh, would lock me in Caesar's enclosure and then inject it with enough stimulant to make it go berserk.

"Ten! Nine!"

I started the countdown, each number forced out between clenched teeth.

In the enclosure next door, the tiger caught the scent of my blood and went crazy, slamming into the fence between the two enclosures until the whole structure boomed.

"Sasha! Sasha, do something! I'm terrified!" Hugh screamed, his voice so high it hardly sounded like him.

Sasha panicked and babbled, "Honey! Honey, stop counting! Stop! The door's busted! I'll get a tech. I'll get someone to fix it right now!"

I stopped the countdown.

The gash on my arm burned hot. In the beat before Caesar lunged again, I scrambled up the ornamental tree set into the fake rock, hauling myself up with both hands and feet.

Before I could catch my breath, Sasha's voice crackled through the loudspeaker, barely hiding the mockery.

"Oh, no, honey, what are we going to do? The tech says he's off for the day and won't be here until tomorrow. How about you just spend the night there?"

Below, Caesar slammed his massive body into the trunk. The whole tree shuddered, like it might snap any second. I wouldn't last an hour like this, let alone the night.

The blood loss made my head swim, but it was nothing compared to the cold gnawing through my bones. "Sasha, are you insane? You want me dead, don't you?"

Sasha and Hugh laughed over the loudspeaker, not even trying to hide it. "Lucian, you just figured that out?"

She cleared her throat, like she was tilting her phone to make sure the camera caught every inch of my mess.

"Thanks for that thrilling little escape, honey. The viewer count just shot up again! Guess you're not completely useless after all."

A rock whistled past and smashed into the trunk beside me.

Hugh kept scooping up stones and hurling them one after another. "What are you doing up there? Get down! The top donor says that if you fall out of that tree, he'll tip more on the stream!"

Sasha started shrieking too, her voice thin with excitement. "Lucian, did you hear that? Hurry up and get down! If you can't make us any more money, I'm not even buying you an urn after you're dead!"

They treated my life-or-death situation like a cheat code for views.

I held the remote up, ready to say something, when Caesar slammed the trunk again, and the whole tree bucked hard. All I could do was hang on to the rough trunk and feel the splinters bite into my palms.

Seeing how wrecked I was, Sasha strolled to the gate and laughed from behind the bulletproof glass.

"Lucian, quit acting. The real director's secretary called me a few days ago, saying he's overseas on a site visit and won't be back anytime soon. You think I'm buying that you're actually the director?"

My heart lurched. I'd forgotten that, to keep it a surprise, my secretary had been managing my identity for me.

She paused, her voice turning syrupy. "Besides, you're the kind one, aren't you? It's not even closing time. There are still visitors outside. Do you really want to let the predators out and get people hurt?

"Be good. Come down and share a nice little moment with Caesar. That's what everyone wants to see."

My heart sank. Unless I had no choice, I didn't want any innocent person getting hurt.

I'd thought that was my last card, the line she wouldn't cross. I hadn't realized she'd already banked on my kindness and weaponized it.