strength.
“They’re coming,” he said and he took her by the hand. “Come on.”
He hobbled back the way she’d come. Back toward the medical lab. At the end of the corridor, they turned right. He tried the first door. When the handle wouldn’t budge he kicked it in with his good leg. He winced with the weight he’d put on the bad one. The door banged against the wall with a loud crash.
“I can’t see a thing,” she said. “Is this the medical lab?”
He stumbled inside and then came out a minute later. “No.”
He did the same with the next locked door. Eve stood in the doorway, not wishing to enter more darkness than she had to and keeping an eye on the end of the corridor where the men would come.
“Ha! Found it!”
A beam of light snapped on and he waved it around the room. She could see the layers of dust covering all the medical supplies.
“Hold this,” he said, waving her inside. He put the flashlight in her hand.
She stepped closer to him as he rummaged through metal shelves to find packages of bandages. He shoved those toward her too.
“Help me,” he said and turned his back to her.
“This is silly. Why don’t you let me—?”
“No. This way or not at all.”
She huffed her annoyance. Tucking the flashlight under her armpit, she knelt to get eye level with his wounded leg. The injury was in the middle of his thigh. She was entirely too close to his perfectly round ass for comfort but if he wasn’t going to let her help, she had no other option.
“ I need antiseptic,” she said.
“No time for that,” he grit out. “Just cover it.”
Her hands were dusty and dirty and she had severe reservations about putting a gauze bandage on him. But if that’s what he wanted, that’s what she’d do. She tore open one of the packages with her teeth and spit out the paper. Eyeing the wound, she realized his pants were in the way.
Great.
“Can you, ah, take off your pants?”
“My pants?”
“The material is in the way.”
“Oh. Right.”
He unzipped quickly followed by the swish of material as he shoved down his pants. And, oh, god , he wasn’t wearing any underwear.
Now she was eye level with his perfectly round, perfectly muscular, perfectly hot ass. She blushed.
“Well?” he asked.
“Right.”
His voice snapped her out of her ass trance as she quickly covered the wound with the gauze.
“There. All done.”
He yanked his pants back up over his hips and spun to face her. “Thanks.”
She wanted to retort with something flippant but they both heard the booted footsteps in the hallway. Running toward them.
“Time to go , sweetheart,” he said. “Get behind me.”
She did as she was told, still clutching the flashlight in one hand. He stepped out into the hallway and fired off several rounds. When they fired back, he ducked back into the room, pressing against the doorframe.
“Eve, I want you to run that way.” He motioned with the gun toward the darkness. Deeper into the tunnels of the maze.
“What about you?” she asked.
“I’ll cover you. And then I’ll be right behind you.”
She hesitated. She didn’t like the idea of running into the darkness alone. Armed only with a flashlight. “Promise?”
Return fire exploded outside their door. The men were getting closer.
“Promise. Now, go.”
He turned back to the open doorway, gun at the ready.
A moment of indecision flashed through her. She didn’t want to leave without him. What if there were more of those disgusting viperfish? She stood on tiptoe to peer over Lucian’s shoulder and saw the men charging toward them. It was all the inspiration she needed.
Armed only with the flashlight, Eve took off into the gloom.
Chapter Five
She heard a round of shots fired behind her but didn’t dare look back. She dragged her lower lip between her teeth hoping Lucian was all right. She didn’t want to be lost in these tunnels alone. That would suck.
She ran until her lungs burned and stopped