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  He peeked back to the woman on the side. She hadn’t moved.

  “Come here,” he snapped, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand before he patted down the dead man.

  She didn’t move.

  He ordered her again in German. She lifted her head and sighed softly then shuffled toward him. Her steps were slow, as if she bore some unseen shackles on her thin legs, but her speed—little that it was—remained constant. Ethan took the syringes, checked to make sure they were capped and put them in his pocket. Then he removed the boots and socks of his jailer.

  The entire time, alarms blared and she stood like a statue.

  “Come,” he barked in German.

  Again, she listened but he noted her hesitation. He yanked the tray from her hands and tossed it away. Her body jerked and trembled.

  What kind of man leaves a woman in with a prisoner? Either she’s expendable or the racist fuck trusts her.

  He snaked his arm around her neck, grateful his fingers were around the man’s assault rifle. He held the side arm in the hand by her throat. “You’re my ticket out. Where’s the exit? And I will kill you first if you lead me to a trap.”

  Her body never stopped trembling as she pointed down the darkened passageway. In the back of his mind, he could hear his grandmother’s mental reprimand about how wrong it was to treat women in such a fashion. He pressed the muzzle against the junction of her neck and shoulder.

  “Don’t test me,” he commanded in guttural German.

  His prisoner never spoke a word as she pointed him to his freedom. Tense, exhausted, he remained alert when they came to a dead end.

  He growled under his breath. “I warned you.”

  She pointed up and he followed with his gaze. A hatch along the wall with a rough ladder built into it.

  Ethan pushed his exhaustion to the back of his mind. “We’re about to get all kinds of personal. Same rules apply.” He shouldered the rifle, pushed her toward the ladder. Shoving the handgun in the front of his nearly destroyed pants, he pressed against her. “You climb with me. Don’t be stupid.”

  Still nothing verbal from her. She reached out and began to climb. He mimicked her, keeping her tight between him and the ladder. At the top, she halted and he reached over her to open the hatch, inch by inch.

  Blue sky dotted with white clouds had him squinting as tears sprang to his eyes. After months of near darkness, this sliver of real light bordered on painful. He nudged her up one more step. It wasn’t pretty but he got them out.

  One hand around her mouth, he closed the door, his gaze darting around. Backing away, toward the thick waiting rainforest, he moved them from the groomed area of the compound.

  Voices had him dropping flat to the ground, eyes locked with his hostage, the barrel of the Desert Eagle by her chest between her breasts. No anger was in her eyes, only acceptance of whatever he decided to mete out to her. It rubbed him wrong.

  She held his gaze and barely blinked as two men passed by. Perhaps she’s not working with them. He had a hard time believing these arrogant replicas of the Third Reich would employ—much less trust—a black woman. He moved without delay as the men continued on. Not very thorough with alarms going off.

  Ethan breathed easier when the rainforest swallowed him up. At least now he had a chance. More alarms blared and he realized his escape had been noted.

  A feral grin crossed his face. Time for some payback. He turned to the woman. He ran his gaze over her then around. Stepping away, he took hold of some vines.

  “Against the tree.”

  She didn’t argue and he roped her tight with as much speed as he could. Patting his pocket to ensure the syringes were there, he met her gaze. “Keep quiet and I’ll come back and cut you free. I have no designs to hurt you if you follow what I say. You help them and I’ll kill you as well.”

  Again, not so much as a sigh. She’d resigned herself to her fate. There went that damn niggling again. He tapped the gun against his cheek as he backed away. He had some men to kill then a home with a life to return to.

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  About the Author

  USA Today Bestselling author Aliyah Burke is an avid reader and is never far from pen and paper (or the computer). She is happily married to a career military man. They are owned by six Borzoi. She spends her days at the day job, writing, and working with her dogs.

  Aliyah loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website details and author profile page at https://www.totallybound.com