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The city moved past the windows. The lights and the noise were a blurred canvas as I focused on our destination. Nell was quiet beside me. Not the quiet of defeat, I heard that brain of hers ticking away. Searching for loopholes and contingencies. Processing all possibilities that no one else was even considering.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To my parents."

She snorted. "Is that how this relationship is going to go? You tossing me into a car and locking me away at mommy and daddy's?"

I didn't take the bait. I needed my parents' advice. The mark was not a birthmark. I ran through the list of what it could be. A wolf's mark — possible, but none of the wolves she had contact with had been near her. And this was a healed mark, so it couldn't have happened recently.

Darius Omondi had been in her office. He had kissed her hand. The way he'd looked at her had been proprietary, like he'd had a claim on her.

He had smelled… off. Not a wolf. But a predator still. I knew there were other beasts in this world aside from wolves. My mother had told tales of dragon shifters. My hands tightened on the wheel. I wouldn't hesitate to fight a fire-breathing dragon for my mate. Unfortunately, fire wasn't going to be my next opponent. It would be water.

We reached the bridge. I saw the trucks too late. Two of them, heavy commercial vehicles, positioned across the lanes with the coordinated precision of an operation that had been rehearsed. It wasn't until I saw the logo for the Volki that the clear and present danger registered.

The enforcer unit in front braked hard. Their vehicle took the impact of the first truck. I had half a second. It was enough to register the geometry of what was about to happen.

The second truck came from the right. The barrier was on the left. There was no space between them that a car could fit through.

Half a second was not enough time to react.

The impact came from the right side with a force that lifted the car. The full momentum of the commercial truck traveling at speed, hitting a sedan with the intention of putting it over the barrier, was exactly what happened.

The world tilted.

The barrier.

The drop.

Nell screamed. That's when fear kicked in for me. I was tough to kill. If she got hurt, it would end me.

The water came up fast. The car hit the river. The sound was like a thousand Fourth of July fireworks going off at once. Everything became impact and cold. The vehicle filled with black water in the dark. The car sank.

I had my seatbelt off before we stopped moving. My door was jammed. The impact had warped the frame. The water was at my knees and rising.

Nell worked at her seatbelt with both hands. The buckle jammed. The water was at her waist. She was frightened. It almost made me want to smile. Didn't she know that I would never let anything or anyone near her? The water called me a liar as it raced in to surround her.

I reached across her and snapped the buckle free with my claw. The belt released. I had my arm around her and was looking at the door.

The car was not yet fully submerged. If I waited until it equalized, I could open the door, but by then we would be deeper. Nell could not hold her breath that long, and I was not going to wait.

I kicked the door.

Once. Twice. The warped frame held it closed. I kicked it a third time with everything the wolf had. It gave — swinging outward against the pressure of the water. The river poured in around the edges, cold and black and tasting of the city.

"Breathe," I said. "Deep breath. Now."

She did as she was told

The cold of the river was a physical blow, even for me. For Nell it would be worse; the shock of it, the darkness, the disorientation of which direction was up in the black water. I kept my arm around her and drove us upward with everything I had. The wolf's strength fully deployed. My legs worked against the current that was trying to separate us.

She was not deadweight. She was not panicking. She swam through the water like she was born to it. Her arms dove upward. Her arms were pulled toward the surface. Still, I did not let her go. I did what she was doing, but with one arm around her waist. The other punched towards the surface.

I could see the faint disturbance of light through the dark water, the bridge above it, the city's ambient glow. Twenty feet. Fifteen. Ten.

Then the hands.

Multiple sets, came from above. They reached down through the surface. The hands found Nell before I could prevent it. She was pulled upward, away from me. I reached for her ankle. Caught it. Held — one second, two. The current and the hands above, my grip below, Nell in the middle.