Ice-cold force crashes through the tunnel.
I lose my footing instantly.
The little girl screams in my arms.
Then Clay catches both of us against his chest before the current can rip us away.
The water keeps rising.
Waist deep.
Chest deep.
Children crying.
People struggling to stay upright.
The river gates are still only halfway open.
“We’re not gonna clear it in time!” Lucas shouts.
Russ shoves another child through the opening.
Gabriel reaches back for Hannah.
“GO!”
The roar behind us grows louder.
More water coming.
Much more.
Clay grips my face hard enough to force my attention onto him.
“You trust me?”
My heart stumbles.
Always dangerous when he looks at me like that.
“Yes.”
Without hesitation.
Without doubt.
His eyes soften for the briefest second.
Then he takes the little girl from my arms and shoves her safely toward Gabriel.
Before I can ask what he’s doing—
Clay wraps one arm around my waist and launches both of us straight into the freezing river outside the flood gates.
The current swallows us instantly.
53
