Chapter 134: The Reunion

ALEX

“Get the hell off of me!” I yell out, struggling with all my might as the guards take my wrists and begin tying them to the bedposts.

My mind races furiously as I try to find a way out of this.

Being whipped by a psychopathic Spanish queen was definitely ~not~ part of the plan.

Ariel and the others are probably already halfway to the plane by now.

Which means I’m truly on my own until they notice I’m not there.

~Shit.~

I try once more to kick the guards and pull away from them, but they’re like unmovable boulders. Once I’m fully secured, they step away, allowing Esmeralda to come closer.

“Now, now, Alex…,” Esmeralda coos. “How many lashes should your punishment be?”

“Uh…none?” I answer.

“Silence!” she says, cracking the whip against the floor, which startles the hell out of me. “I wasn’t asking you.”

“Oh. You weren’t?”

“No!” she cries out. “From now on…I’m the one in control. Whatever I want, you’ll give it to me. Let’s just start with twenty and see if you feel a little more cooperative after that, shall we?”

She raises her whip and I grip the bedposts, tensing my body in anticipation of the pain.

But then I hear a massive ~ROAR~ come from somewhere outside.

“Bubbles?”

I breathe a sigh of relief as I turn toward Esmeralda. She lowers the whip and looks out the window, scanning the dark gardens.

“That’s strange,” she says. “My baby never roars unless he’s found some prey.”

And then, with horror, I realize who might be out there.

~Goddess…~

~Ariel.~

I start to struggle against my restraints, feeling my body fill with a new fire to protect my mate from harm.

“LET ME GO!” I scream out. “YOU CRAZY BITCH!”

Esmeralda lets out a sigh and throws the whip down on the ground.

“You know, you’re really no fun at all,” she says, with a bored tone to her voice. “Why don’t I just feed you to the tiger instead?”

I grit my teeth as the guards hoist me to my feet.

I’m happier to be heading toward a monstrous tiger than I am to be here.

Especially if it means getting closer to Ariel.

~I just hope she’s okay.~

ARIEL

We sprint deeper into the maze, the tiger right on our tails.

~Goddess…how the hell do we get out of this place?~

I glance over my shoulder, scanning for the tiger.

But it’s…gone.

“Wait!” I cry out. “I think we lost it.”

We all come to a stop, searching the shadows for any sign of the beast.

But I barely have time to catch my breath before the tiger leaps from the shadows, its claws outstretched.

I yell as it tackles me to the ground, and I struggle with all my might to keep it away from me.

The tiger’s jaws snap shut just inches away from my face.

I scream as its spit sprays all over me, and I use every ounce of strength in my body to keep it from getting closer and ripping my face off.

The tiger’s giant muscular body is practically crushing me, and I can barely breathe as it pins me down and tries again to tear my throat out.

But then suddenly it yelps out in pain as Jo kicks it off of me, and it goes flying into a bush nearby.

She helps me up, just before the tiger comes leaping back out of the bush toward us, hissing.

We manage to dodge out of the way, turning to face the tiger as it skids on the ground and readies for another attack.

It didn’t exactly look thrilled before, but now it looks completely ~pissed~.

I glance over at Mateo, who’s still clutching Isabella in his arms.

“Um, a little help here?” I yell, dodging another swipe of the tiger’s claw.

He sets Isabella down gently and sprints over, jumping onto its back. It roars angrily as it tries to throw him off, but he holds on tight to its thick coat of fur.

“TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF MY BUBBLES!” a voice screams out from behind us.

Mateo gets startled and the tiger throws him off, sending him rolling on the ground. The rest of us turn toward the voice in surprise.

Esmeralda approaches us, and the tiger leaps excitedly toward her, rubbing its head against her legs and purring as she scratches under its chin.

Surrounding her are two dozen guards with machetes. And right next to her, bound by thick ropes, is Alex.

Our eyes lock and flash with relief; thankfully we're both mostly unharmed.

But that relief doesn’t last long.

“Now, what do we have here?” Esmeralda says, staring at Isabella with curiosity. “My dear little sister sneaking out in the middle of the night. How cold of you not to say goodbye.”

A few guards step toward her, but Mateo immediately steps between them, pulling out his sword.

“You touch her, you lose your head,” he growls.

“Mateo,” she says coldly. “You should be ~dead~.”

“You should have done a better job,” he shoots back.

“Oh, well, this time you can be sure of that,” she hisses.

She looks over at all of us and then shoots me an evil smirk.

“Guards, kill them all,” she says casually. “And give their corpses to Bubbles for dessert.”