Page 55 of Sweet Betrayal

“Sorry. Coming through,” he shouted, leaping after her. She scrambled aside just in time as he landed hard, rolled, and popped to his feet.

He yanked her up. “We’ve got to keep moving.”

She clung to his hand with a death grip as they sprinted up a side street and ducked into another crumbling building across the road. This time, he charged straight for the stairs and took them two at a time, spiraling upward until they reached a metaldoor barely hanging on its hinges. He shoved through it and they burst onto the roof.

“Lie down,” he ordered.

She threw herself onto the tarred rooftop, chest heaving. Tom crept over to the edge, crouched behind the low wall, and peered at the street below.

Heavy boots thudded through the building beneath them.

Her pulse was racing. “Are they coming?” she croaked.

A loud bang below answered her question.

He glanced back. “It won’t be long. We need to move. Can you keep going?”

“Yes, let’s go.” Waiting around to get caught wasn’t an option.

“We’re going to have to jump.”

Her mouth went dry. “Oh my God. How high is it?”

“That’s not important. The gap’s only about a meter wide. You’ll make it. I’ll go first—just follow my lead.” She stared at him like he’d lost his mind. They were at least three stories up.

But he was serious.

“If you don’t follow, you’ll be left behind,” he warned.

That got her moving.

Tom backed up a few steps and ran. He cleared the gap with ease, landed solid, and turned to hold out a hand.

“Come on.”

Don’t look down. She chanted the words in her head as she stepped back.

The soldiers were coming. Their boots pounded the stairwell.

Now or never.

Tom’s hand was waiting. “Now, Hannah!”

She sprinted forward. The edge of the roof rushed up. She launched herself—and landed hard at his feet.

She’d made it.

But there was no time to celebrate. He yanked her behind a cement block just as soldiers burst onto the roof behind them.

“You okay?” he whispered.

She nodded. “I think so.”

“Good. Because I need you to do that again.”

Her heart dropped. “Again?”

Sweet Jesus.

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