For a moment no one moved. The space Milo had vanished into seemed impossibly still, as if the world itself hadn’t caught up to what had just happened. Then the first scream came. High. Sharp. Certain. “He fell—!” “Where did he go?!” Arjun didn’t wait. He was already moving, pushing through the crowd, past outstretched hands and confused faces.
His heart was pounding too fast, too loud, drowning everything else out. He knew. Even before he reached the edge, he knew. There was only one place beyond that railing. Only one. “Move!” he shouted, forcing his way to the front. People stumbled aside, some already backing away as realization spread.
Arjun reached the barrier and stopped. The enclosure stretched out below. Wide. Open. Unforgiving. The lion enclosure. Near the base of a tree, something small shifted. Milo. Alive. But not alone.
Across the clearing the lioness had already seen him. And she was moving.