I'm a nationally certified animal trainer running the Lion King, Caesar's final assessment. I've barely stepped into the enclosure corridor when the steel guillotine door slams down behind me.

My wife's laughter crackles over the loudspeaker.

"Everyone, we're doing the ultimate challenge today! We're locking the so-called number-one animal trainer in the Lion King's enclosure and taking bets on whether he wets himself in ten minutes!"

Caesar crouches low and rumbles a warning. I reach for my tranquilizer gun but stop cold. The liquid isn't the right color.

In a phony sing-song voice, the veterinarian, Hugh Archer, says, "Lucian, I forgot to mention, I swapped your tranquilizer darts for pepper spray so you won't hurt Caesar by mistake.

"You two are so close. Just win him over with love!"

I look at Caesar, his eyes bloodshot from the stimulant, and it clicks. Hugh still resents that I stopped him from touching a tiger with his bare hands a few days ago.

I tune out the trash blaring over the loudspeaker, pull a remote from my pocket, and hit the button. It's the master switch for the electric fence gates around every predator enclosure in the zoo.

If I don't make it out, no one does.

I held up the remote and yelled at the surveillance camera, "Sasha Fields! This is the master switch for the electric fence gates around every predator enclosure. If I press the buttons, it won't just be Caesar.

"Every animal in here will get out! This zoo is right in the middle of downtown. Think about the casualties. You and Hugh would both face the death penalty!"

My voice shook with rage, but every word landed clean.

The loudspeaker cut out for a beat, then Hugh Archer's terrified scream came through. "Lucian! Don't do anything stupid! Calm down!"

Sasha Fields scoffed, nothing but contempt in her voice. "What are you so scared of, Hugh? He's bluffing! Only the actual zoo director has the master switch. You actually think an animal trainer like him could pull that off?

"Alright, folks. Want to see me rile up the Lion King? Light up the live chat. Tip big, and I'll make it happen!"

I almost laughed from pure rage. Keeping my eyes locked on Caesar, I shouted into the loudspeaker, "Sasha, ever wonder how someone like you, with zero qualifications, became zoo director so easily?"

I rolled hard to the left, slipping past Caesar's pounce.

"Because I'm the real owner of this zoo!" I roared, my chest burning.

The loudspeaker went dead.

I was breathing hard as I shouted the secret terms Sasha and I had signed. Her breathing turned ragged, like a hand closing around her throat.

Finally, she panicked. "Honey, don't do anything crazy! I was kidding, okay? Don't take it seriously! I'm opening the door right now. I'll let you out. Please, don't hit the buttons!"

But Caesar didn't give me a beat. I dodged too slowly. His claws raked my arm, ripping open my heavy work gear. My skin peeled back, blood gushing fast.

The thick metallic tang spread, and Caesar let out a thunderous, eager roar. The steel guillotine door didn't budge, and my stomach kept sinking.

"You've got ten seconds, Sasha Fields! Open it now!"

She once told me her dream was to own a zoo, so I sank everything into buying this place in secret. To keep the pressure off her, I parked it with a third party and signed a secret contract naming her director.

I was going to tell her tomorrow, on our wedding anniversary, as a surprise.

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.

When I fell silent, Sasha flashed a satisfied smile. "Lucian, you don't have parents or anyone else. You're an animal trainer. If the animal you trained kills you, people will call it a workplace accident, right?

"So just die peacefully. I'll use what you bring in now to raise our kid."

Our kid?

My ears rang. I barely had time to process before Hugh eased up and settled a hand on Sasha's belly, casual as anything.

His voice was syrupy and gross. "Lucian, relax. I'll take good care of Sasha and the baby for you. After all, they're both mine now. Oh, and when you're dead, the zoo should pay out a nice death benefit, right?

"That's a tidy sum. I'll do you a favor and spend it for you."

They played off each other, shameless as hell, and my stomach lurched. I swore if I made it out alive, I'd tear them limb from limb!

Their shameless trash talk lit up the live stream, kicking off another wave of tips.

To flatter the gawkers watching, Hugh grabbed a long pole and jabbed at me through the fence. "Get down! Lucian! Get down!"

The pole caught me right in the wound. Intense pain ripped through me, and my grip nearly slipped.

I clung to the trunk, skin scraped raw and bleeding, twisting away from the pole while keeping an eye on Caesar, who was getting wilder below.

The moment Caesar coiled to spring, I launched for a shorter ornamental tree nearby. Caesar missed, hit the ground hard, and let out a roar that shook the air.

The blast of sound threatened to split my eardrums, and the blood loss left my head swimming.

Caesar was already too far gone. No matter how I tried to calm him, he wouldn't listen, his bloodshot eyes pinning me in place. Despair washed over me.

Just then, the walkie-talkie clipped to my collar crackled to life. "Lucian? Lucian, how is it going over there? Is the assessment done?"

It was Wayne Griffin, my coworker.

Like grabbing a last lifeline, I jabbed the transmit button with shaking fingers. "Wayne! Hel—"

Sasha's bright voice cut into the channel, drowning out my weak call. "Wayne, don't distract Lucian. He's settling Caesar. No chatter. This is a critical moment."

She was on a walkie-talkie, too, and cut my line.

All I could do was listen to Wayne's apologies. "Oh, sorry about that. I thought Lucian was done. He's really dedicated. I'll let him get back to it."

There was a crackle, then silence.

My hope guttered out.

In the split second I went blank, Caesar seized his chance. His huge body launched up, his paw raking across my back. My shirt tore, flesh peeled, and a pain I couldn't name tore through me from behind.

His weight ripped me off the trunk and slammed me to the ground. Everything inside me felt shoved out of place. The pain nearly blacked me out.

The metallic tang climbed my throat, and Caesar's breath blasted my face. When he opened that bloody maw and lunged, I snatched a broken branch and drove it between his jaws with everything I had.