Page 44 of Savage Hero

I grimace and bear the pain, because slowing down means death. If I had any doubts, the bullet that ricochets with a deathlypingfrom the corner of the doorway Savage hauls me through sets me straight.

We race up a flight of metal stairs that creak and groan under us, then through a dusty open-plan office. It looks abandoned until we crash through the flimsy door on the other side.

A woman screams, tossing a manilla folder in the air before clutching at her heart.

I manage to yell a hoarse, “Get down!” before we zoom past. I can only hope she crawls under the desk or something because fuck knows what’ll happen if the gang of men charging after us sees her.

We dash through a narrow hallway, ill-lit, a sticky feeling carpet underfoot, and then we hit another metal door. This one has a bar across the front.

Savage slams into it, the door opens, sunlight stabs my eyes.

We veer to the right, my beanie whipping off my head as I barely duck in time to avoid slamming my head into the bottom of a fire escape.

Savage lets go of my hand to swing onto the ladder, his weight shoving it to street level.I whirl around, put my boot on the first rung, and yell when I see a man aiming a gun at me from less than two yards away.

I open my hands, my heart flying into my throat as gravity grabs hold of me and throws me to the ground.

There’s no concrete. No slamming impact that drives the air out of my lungs.

I fall into Savage’s arms, sag, and bounce back up again. I land on my feet, arms whirling for a split second to catch my balance before Savage grabs my arm and drags me after him again.

We run until I’m breathing magma. Then we run some more.

At some point, my legs give in. Savage only pauses long enough to turn around, scoop me up, and throw me over his shoulder before we carry on running.

“Stop!” I gasp as his shoulder drives air out of my lungs with every thundering step. “Please, stop!”

“Stop being such a fucking pussy,” he grates. “We’re almost there.”

I claw my fingers into his back, trying to push myself up, but it doesn’t help. If he keeps going like this, I’m going to crack a fucking rib. I look up, my eyes tearing with pain as I search the rooftop behind us. I don’t even know how we got up here, but it’s deserted.

“Please, Savage! Stop! We’ve lost them!”

“Not yet,” Savage yells. “We’re almost there.”

“Fuck you!” I slam a fist into his back. “Put me down!”

“And have you faint on me?” Savage lets out what I guess is supposed to be a laugh, but he sounds as breathless as I feel.

“I didn’t faint!” I punch him again, this time in the kidneys.

He goes down with a grunt that satisfies me more than it probably should, taking into account our current situation. I fly forward and roll a few times before I stop.

Savage is lying on his stomach, his head on his arms. I push onto my hands and knees, wincing as grit bites into the cuts on my palms. “Did I kill you?”

“Should’ve left you back there,” Savage mutters, and then slowly pushes onto his heels. There’s a scrape on his face, dirt all over the front of his white shirt. He stands, puts a hand to his lower back, and shoots me a death stare. “Get up.”

I stand hurriedly and back away when he comes closer. “You wouldn’t stop,” I say, putting my hands up.

Savage shows me his teeth, but his eyes drop to my hands and his face goes wooden. “We were so close,” he says.

The back of my heel hits something. I glance back, and my stomach does a somersault. We’re on the top of a ten-story apartment block, and I’m about two feet away from a shit ton of empty air. My eyes skip over the black chasm to the next-door building. There’s more than a yard of narrow alleyway between the buildings.

I swing back around, my mouth falling open. “We arenotjumping to that building,” I say in the lowest, calmest voice I can manage.

One side of Savage’s mouth quirks up. He touches the side of his face where he’s leaking blood.

“You’re right,” he says, turning and spitting saliva onto the rooftop. When he turns back, his eyes are black pools. “We’re not.”

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