Page 107 of The Devil's Wrath

“I love you too, baby. More than I’ll ever be able to show you.” He held me close, his hand rubbing soothing circles on my back.

Bright lights flooded the front of the car, and we turned to see a black SUV parked at the opposite end of the bridge.

I shielded my eyes with my hand. “What do you think they’re doing?”

“I don’t know,” Theo answered.

“Maybe they’re having car trouble?” I offered. “Do you think we should go check?”

“We can look when we drive by,” Theo said, putting the car back in park and pulling off the shoulder. “Put your seatbelt back on.”

As we approached the SUV, a feeling of unease settled in the pit of my stomach. Something about the situation felt off, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Theo must have sensed it too because his jaw clenched as he neared the parked car.

Suddenly, the doors of the SUV flew open, and four men dressed in dark clothing emerged, their faces obscured by masks. My heart leaped into my throat as I realized they were armed, their weapons glinting menacingly in the headlights.

“Theo!” I cried out in warning, but it was too late.

He slammed on the brakes, the tires sliding across the icy pavement. Gunshots rang out, ricocheting off the bulletproof glass. I screamed, and he threw the car into reverse, desperately trying to put distance between us and our attackers.

“Hold on!” he yelled.

The car fishtailed on the slick road, the back end slamming into the guardrail with a sickening crunch. Pain exploded in my side as I was thrown against the door, my vision blurring at the edges.

“Wrenly?” his panicked voice pierced through the ringing in my ears. “Wrenly, are you okay? Talk to me, baby.” His hands frantically patted me down, searching for injuries.

I groaned, blinking away the spots dancing in my vision. “I’m okay,” I managed to say, wincing as I tried to sit up straighter. A sharp pain lanced through my side, and I gasped, clutching at my ribs.

He reached over, his fingers gently probing my ribs. “Nothing feels broken. We?—”

Before he could finish his sentence, headlights through the passenger’s window blinded me before the SUV rammed into us. The impact was like being hit by a freight train. My head snapped to the right, the seat belt digging painfully into my chest as the airbags deployed with a deafening bang. For a moment, everything was still, the only sound the hissing of the destroyed engine.

We were trapped, teetering over the edge of the bridge, the deep, dark water flowing swiftly below us. I looked over at Theo, blood covering his face from a large gash on his temple. The SUV rammed into us a final time, sending us completely over the edge. The shock of the impact into the river disoriented me, and for a terrifying moment, I didn’t know which way was up.

The river surrounded the vehicle, creeping up the windows until it covered the entire car. I watched it, my head spinning from the collision. Then, icy water hit me like a thousand knives, stealing the breath from my lungs. Panic clawed at my throat as the frigid water seeped into the car, the pressure making it impossible to open the doors as the water swallowed us whole. The river’s current tossed us about like ragdolls as the car rapidly filled. I frantically clawed at my seatbelt, my numb fingers slipping on the buckle as I struggled to find the release button. Beside me, Theo was already free, yanking at my belt.

“Hold on,” he grunted, his voice strained. “I’ve got you.”

With a final tug, the belt came loose, and he pulled me into his arms. As the car filled with water, the pressure made my ears pop. “What are we going to do?”

“We have to wait until the pressure equalizes,” he said urgently, his voice muffled by the rising water. “Then we can open the doors.”

I nodded, trying to quell the panic rising in my chest. The icy water was already up to our waists, numbing my legs. He pulled me close, his strong arms encircling me protectively.

“Take a deep breath,” he instructed. His voice was calm despite the panic in his eyes. “When the car is fully submerged, I’ll open the door and we’ll swim out together. You have to kick hard, and don’t let go of me, no matter what.”

I nodded, my teeth chattering. The water reached our necks, and I took a final gasping breath before it closed over our heads. The silencewas eerie, broken only by the creaking of the car as it sank deeper into the river’s depths, hitting the bottom with a thud. Theo tugged me toward the door and braced his feet against it.

With a forceful push, the door burst open, and the surge of water almost wrenched me from Theo’s grip. We tumbled into the murky depths, the current threatening to drag us away. I kicked vigorously to reach the surface with Theo dragging me along. My lungs were on fire, desperate for air as my vision narrowed. Just when I felt I couldn’t hold on any longer, we broke through the surface, gasping and choking. The freezing wind stung my face as we bobbed in the turbulence. The current tried to drag us back down, but Theo’s strong arms kept me afloat.

“I’ve got you,” he panted as he swam us toward the embankment. “Just hold on.”

My teeth chattered violently as he dragged me through the frigid water. Each stroke was a Herculean effort, his muscles straining against the current and the weight of our waterlogged clothes. The rocky embankment seemed impossibly far away as my consciousness wavered, the cold and shock taking their toll. But his strong strokes propelled us forward until, finally, my feet touched the rocky bottom.

We stumbled onto the shore, collapsing onto the frozen ground in a shivering heap. He immediately pulled me into his arms, his body shaking violently against mine.

“Are you okay?” he asked through chattering teeth, his eyes roaming over me, checking for injuries. A sudden, terrifying thought struck me, and I clutched my stomach. “The b-baby . . .”

“Shh, it’s okay. The baby is okay,” he soothed, though I could detect a tremor of fear in his tone. He massaged my arms in a desperate attempt to revive warmth in my frozen skin. “We need to get help.”

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