Page 31 of Braxton

Temporary relief washed through her and she sagged against him.

“We need to move. Over there.”

He nodded toward another outbuilding and they hurried over. Quinn noticed a small square opening at the base of the wall and dropped to her hands and knees. “In here!”

The spotlight continued to comb the area and Brax just managed to get in behind her before it swept over where they’d just been standing. She stood up, dusting her hands off, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the gloom.

“What is this place?” she asked.

“I don’t know, but I feel like I just crawled through a big doggy door.”

The uneasy feeling she had earlier intensified as she breathed in, trying to determine the smells that assailed her. Hay…wet rocks…feces.

Oh, God.

“I think—” Before she could finish the sentence, a low, rumbling growl filled the air. At the same time Brax lifted his phone’s flashlight. The beam of light caught on an animal’s eyes reflecting back at them.

A big lion stared at them, its tail swinging back and forth in agitation.

“Fuck,” Brax hissed, backing up a step.

Shit.They were in a lion enclosure. Even if they managed to crawl back out before getting mauled, Quinn knew they’d never be able to outrun the big cat and get past the netting. And if theysomehow made it, Mesa’s men had a giant searchlight sweeping the grounds for them and they’d most likely get mowed down by machine guns first.

She let out a soft breath, knowing she shouldn’t move, but also knowing they had a limited amount of time left before Simba decided to attack. Her gaze shifted to the nearby wall and she saw what she needed.

“I have a plan,” she murmured. “But I’m going to need you to distract him.”

“Oh, sure, right,” Brax responded dryly. “You want me to wind up as his dinner?”

“Let’s hope he isn’t hungry.”

Brax let out a shaky breath. “I’m going to reload and that’s the only distraction you’re getting, Q.”

She didn’t want him to shoot the animal, but she didn’t want to get mauled to death, either.

While Brax slowly reached for a new clip of ammunition, Quinn took a cautious step back and sideways. The lion growled again, this time louder and more threatening, and moved into a crouched position. It looked one second away from pouncing as she reached the wall and grabbed the braided leather bullwhip off the peg.

Quinn had never held much less used a bullwhip before in her life but, at that moment, she channeled her inner Indiana Jones and cracked the tip against the rocky ground. It was tricky and she nearly snapped it back in her face.

“Get behind me,” she ordered Brax, covering him and cracking it again. “And get out.”

The lion stood up to its full height and stepped forward.Shit.Shouldn’t he be scared? Maybe she wasn’t doing it right. Using her wrist, she snapped the length of leather out and it hit the ground right in front of the animal. The lion roared, backing up, and she tightened her sweaty grip on the handle.

“Q, c’mon,” Brax whisper-hissed. He had crawled out, but had his pistol in one hand and the sliding door to the lion’s den ready to slam down with his other.

All she had to do was get out of that opening. And she really, really didn’t want the lion getting hurt. It wasn’t his fault Mesa had bought the poor thing for his own warped entertainment.

After another firm crack of the bullwhip, Quinn lowered to her knees and cautiously began to back out. Once her shoulders passed through the small door, the lion leapt across the space separating them.

“Drop it!” she cried. The moment her head was clear, Brax slammed the door down and locked it into place. The lion banged against it and she fell back onto her ass in the grass.

“Are you okay?”

She gave a shaky nod, hand still clutched around the whip’s handle. Brax pulled her up to her feet and right into an embrace. Somehow, they’d escaped unscathed. But they weren’t out of the woods yet.

“He might be able to get out another way.” Brax grabbed her hand. “We need to move.”

Gripping his hand, they hurried toward the netting. But they hadn’t even made it two steps before the bright spotlight washed over them, illuminating them in a blinding flash.

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