The poachers noticed the animal just in time, screaming as they ran from it. The ape snarled, chasing after them.
“Next one.” Cerise waved me on.
We unlocked every cage we saw. Lizards, monkeys and birds fled toward the jungle and my heart swelled at the sight of them escaping their small prisons.
Cerise unlocked an enclosure with a little blue fox, whispering quietly to soothe it. The fox tilted its head as if paying attention to her words. The door opened, and the animal took a tentative step toward Cerise, sniffing her hand. We both froze as it gave her a subtle lick and then took off toward the woods.
We turned to each other and the expression on Cerise’s face had me wanting to scoop her into my arms and kiss her with every fiber of my being. The awe in her eyes, the uninhibited elation, had me falling into theabyss of her.
Of course she wanted to be an animal healer. It was apparent that was where her true passion was.
Breaking our gaze, I glanced over my shoulder. The ape had disappeared, along with the man with the ponytail. The fire was out, but I didn’t see the other poacher.
Cerise moved to the last cage containing a beautiful parrot, its feathers full of greens and blues and yellows.
“Hey! What the fuck are you two doing?” Eyepatch appeared from behind a nearby tent.
“Hurry, sunshine,” I urged, standing to face the threat and blocking him from Cerise.
“You’re dead, you bastard,” he said, swinging for me.
I ducked, avoiding his blow. He swung again, but I dodged that one too. He was large, wide, and definitely stronger than me. But I was faster. I lowered myself and ran at him, trying to knock him over, but it didn’t work. His stocky body hardly moved as he gripped the back of my shirt and tossed me aside before lunging at Cerise.
A hand wrapping around her braid, he pulled her toward him, her knees buckling. She screamed, and I saw red.
I darted forward and swung, punching him in the face harder than I thought myself capable. He went down, moaning and clutching his eye as he released her.
Cerise stumbled, gasping. I shouted, clutching my hand to my chest, as agony tore through my knuckles.
“Oh goodness, Liam!” Cerise rushed over. “What happened?”
“I think I broke my hand,” I said through clenched teeth.
“From punching him?”
“Yes, from punching him. I’ve never gotten into a fist fight in my life. I’m sure I did it wrong.”
“Let me see.”
“No. We need to get away from here and then you can look,” I argued.
We headed toward the trees when Cerise yelped. Eyepatch had grabbed her ankle. Before I could help, Cerise snatched anearby bucket and hit him over the head. “Unhand me, you lout!”
The man went slack.
“Oh no…did I kill him?” She backed into me, staring at the poacher lying on the ground. I wrapped my arm protectively around her waist. “Liam! Oh gods, please tell me I didn’t kill him!”
“I doubt it. You just knocked him unconscious.”
My hand throbbed but I did my best to ignore it. The animals now free and the poacher unconscious, I pulled her tighter against me. “Let’s go.”
We found our belongings,but left and made camp somewhere else. If any remaining poachers were searching for us, it wouldn’t have been smart to stay where we had originally been kidnapped.
“Will you let me heal your hand now?” Cerise asked, standing before me.
She had already set up the tent at my insistence, while I had gotten a fire started. I wanted our camp to be settled before she attended to my injury.
“Yes. I think that’s a good idea. It hurts a bit more than I wanted to admit.”
