1. P R E V I O U S L Y : On "ZooPhobia"

EPILOGUE

HILLCREST INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS

NAIROBI, KENYA

"Touch me one more time."

"Yeah? That a dare, luv?"

"D--- right it's a dare. C'mon, white boy—try it."

"Whatchya gonna do, huh? You gonna fight me, eh?"

"Fight you? Naw; I'mma beat yo' b---h-a-- all the way back to London."

"You li'l c***! I'll teach you a lesson!"

D'kala N'chaba narrowed his eyes as he rounded the corner. Shouts, hoots, and hollers echoed rang through the hallway as the other members of the student body gathered around to watch Ryker Madison, a wrestler and rugby player, throw hands with Kia Sosoto, a straight-A transfer student and gymnast—who also happened to be D'kala's best friend.

"Oi! Stay still, b---h!" Ryker snapped, trying to land a hit on the slippery Kia.

"You're actually trying to hitting a girl, Ryker?" a student named Pradesh called.

"Don't be a jerk, Ryke!" another student, Jessica, put in.

"SHUT UP!" Ryker shouted at them, turning away from Kia for a split-second—

—and that was all it took.

A wide grin came to Kia's face as she tore into Ryker's with her claw-like fingernails, making him cry out in pain. She leapt into the air and landed a roundhouse kick on his head, knocking him back into the lockers before unleashing a flurry of kung-fu strikes on his face, chest, and stomach. Ryker couldn't even raise a hand to protect himself, and in a few seconds, he was slumping to the floor, bloodied and barely conscious.

"HA! Told you not to test me, boy!" Kia spat, her eyes alight with triumph.

Then she let out a shout of anger as two other boys grabbed her arms, wrestling her away from Ryker. "Hey! Lemme go!" she yowled as they shoved her up against the lockers on the opposite side of the hall.

"Not a chance, p---y!" one of the boys, Duke Donner, sneered.

"Yeah!" the other boy, Vaea Laumoli, agreed. "You mess with Ryker, you mess with us!" He reared back, his left hand clenched into a fist.

A fist that was grabbed from behind, halting the impending blow.

"And if you mess with her," D'kala snarled, squeezing Vaea's wrist tightly, "you mess with me."

Vaea paled. Both he and Duke quickly stepped away from Kia as D'kala released Vaea's wrist. "Hey, easy, DK," the Samoan boy said nervously, holding up his hands in feigned innocence. "We weren't gonna—"

"I do not care," D'kala interrupted in a growl, "for your excuses." His lip curled, baring his teeth in warning. "Leave. NOW."

Vaea and Duke nodded and ran over to Ryker, helping him to his feet and hurrying away.

D'kala glared after them for a moment before shaking his head and sighing, trying to shrug off the fury that bubbled just beneath the surface. He turned to Kia and asked, "Are you alright, Kia?"

Kia scoffed and smoothed out her clothes. "I'm fine, DK," she replied breezily, tossing her hair and turning toward the lockers. "I had it under control."

"You were pinned against the lockers by two boys twice your size," D'kala pointed out as Kia began rummaging through her locker.

Kia put on her backpack, turned around, and smirked. "Like I said: under control."