Hannah
The river swallows us whole.
Freezing black water crashes over my head as Clay drags me beneath the storm-dark surface of the Dâmbovi?a River.
The current is brutal.
Violent.
It tears at my body hard enough to spin me sideways beneath the water.
For one horrifying second—
I lose him.
Panic detonates instantly.
Not Sentinel.
Not the tunnels.
Clay.
Then strong fingers lock around my wrist.
There.
Relief hits so hard it almost hurts.
Clay yanks me upward through the freezing current just as we break the surface gasping into pounding rain.
“Hannah!”
I choke hard, fighting for air while river water slams into us from every direction.
The city rises around us in blurred gold lights and storm shadows.
Old Bucharest bridges overhead.
Rain hammering concrete embankments.
Sirens somewhere in the distance.
Chaos.
Complete chaos.
Clay wraps one arm around my waist immediately, keeping my head above water while the current tries to drag us downstream.
“You with me?”
Barely.
But yes.
Always yes when it comes to him.
I cough hard.
