Page 74 of Corpse Roads

I’m not the right person to deal with her fragile state. Hell, I was intending to come over here and lay into her until she broke and gave up the truth. Being her fucking white knight was not on the agenda.

“I’ll catch you up later, Richards.”

“Please do,” he says pointedly.

We exchange a rapid conversation through eye contact. I nod again, silently asking him to back down. Richards is more than my colleague—he’s a friend. I don’t have time for one of those today.

Harlow still can’t look me in the eye as we creep over to the door. In the corridor, the matron and several nurses are dealing with a horde of cameramen flooding the department. Perfect.

“Goddamn reporters,” I curse quietly. “We’ll have to find another way out. Keep your head low. Don’t let them see your face. Got it?”

She flinches at my barked order. I force myself to be calmer, holding my hand out again until she has the bravery to meet my eyes.

“I’m sorry. Take my hand, Harlow. I’ll get us out of here, okay?”

She still doesn’t budge. I fight the urge to throw her over my shoulder, kicking and screaming. We don’t have time for this.

“Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?”

Hesitantly, she shakes her head. “I guess not.”

“Then there’s your answer. I promise I’ll look after you.”

Her fingers hesitantly link with mine and I squeeze her hand tight. I’m an asshole, but I do care, regardless of what Theo thinks of the person I’ve become to survive.

Together, we slip out into the corridor and take a right, heading deeper into the bustling hospital. There’s a chorus of shouts, followed by the sound of pursuing feet.

“Call security!” a nurse shouts.

“You can’t go back there!”

“Stop them!”

Throwing an arm around Harlow, I try my best to conceal her face from the flashing cameras. We duck and weave through endless hallways, trying to lose the greedy mob at our heels.

I’ve got no clue where we’re going. Sally and her soul-sucking cameramen are determined to get an exclusive. I refuse to let them humiliate Harlow the same way they did to me.

“Wait,” Harlow blurts.

“There’s no time. Move it.”

“No, stop. In here.”

She throws my arm off and opens a door on our left, leading into a maintenance cupboard. I’m dragged into the darkness as she closes the door behind us, keeping the lights off.

Thirty seconds later, we hear the horde of cameras and Sally’s near-hysterical shouting pass by. The noise grows quieter as we huddle together in pitch-black darkness.

“Harlow?” I search around with my hands. “I can’t see a thing. Where are you?”

The complete darkness, coupled with my one deaf ear, is disorientating. I can’t see if she’s okay. Her fingertips ghost over my arm in a hesitant caress that causes my pulse to spike.

“I’m here,” she whispers back. “Careful, there’s a bucket behind you.”

“How the hell can you see anything?”

“I’m used to the dark.”

Her hand bunches in my jacket, and I can feel the beckoning heat of her body. Grabbing her wrist, I drag her closer, our bodies colliding in the tight space.

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