From up here, my body is nothing but adrenaline and nausea.
"Vee." Eli's voice cuts through the roar. "Sit down."
"I'm fine."
"You're shaking."
I look down.
He's right.
My hands are trembling so hard my fingers blur.
He pulls me gently to the side, out of the main crush, and steers me to a bench. I sit because my knees are suddenly unreliable.
Below, Ragon gathers Marie up in his arms, cradling her against his chest as if she weighs nothing. She clings to him, sobbing into his neck.
Her scent is terror and pain and something else.
Something hot and seething.
Security escorts the alphas and Marie out of the enclosure area and back up through a staff corridor. Eli keeps one hand on my shoulder, grounding me as we watch them disappear.
"We're leaving. Stay with me."
I nod, numb.
The next ten minutes are a messy blur.
Zoo staff check that we're "okay." Someone thrusts a free drink voucher into my hand like that will help. People gawk. A child loudly asks, "Why is that lady crying," and his mother shushes him.
We regroup near the exit.
Marie is in a wheelchair now, ankles wrapped in a temporary brace, arm cleaned and bandaged. The staff insisted. Ragon pushes her, jaw set. Drake walks beside them, hovering. Jasper trails like a shadow.
Her eyes are swollen from crying. She looks fragile and shaken.
I am concerned.
I am also scared.
Not of gorillas.
Of what happens next.
On the way to the parking lot, she keeps glancing back at me.
Not with gratitude.
With something that looks an awful lot like fury.
We barely clear the gates before it happens.
"Ragon," Marie whispers, voice raw.
He leans down instantly. "What is it? Are you dizzy? Do you need to sit still a while before we get to the car?"
She swallows, tears welling again. "I— I have to tell you something. About what happened."
