Page 72 of New Blood

She came up for air. “Jude! No!”

She turned around her own axis, looking for any disturbances in the water, anything that indicated where he was. By helping her free herself, had Jude not had enough time to free himself? He was bigger than her. Was he stuck in the window?

“Jude!”

All of a sudden, a huge air bubble rose to the surface, and with it, Jude’s head emerged.

She lunged for him, grabbing him, tears mixing with the water.

“I thought I’d lost you.”

Sobbing, she put her arms around him while continuing to tread water.

“My leg got tangled up in the seatbelt when I went through the window.”

He squeezed her. Together they swam the few feet to the edge and pulled themselves out of the water.

Breathing hard, they sat on the cold ground, taking a moment to recover.

Danielle wrapped her arms around him. “Without you, I wouldn’t have made it. You saved my life.”

He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Without you, I have no life. I will always save you.”

“I love you, Jude.”

“I love you more.”

The sound of a car approaching made her look over her shoulder. She saw Violet’s BMW stop on the road they’d been on only moments earlier. She jumped out.

“Oh my God!” Violet called out, her hand pressed to her mouth.

Jude rose, then reached out his hand to help her up. As they got closer to Violet and her car, he said, “I need your phone, please.”

Violet nodded and pulled it out of her pocket. She bridged the last few feet between them and gave it to Jude.

“When I saw that you swerved in that last curve, I turned back. Oh my God. Thank God you’re both alright.”

Danielle let out a breath. “If Jude hadn’t been with me, I wouldn’t have made it.”

Violet took off her coat. “Here, put this on. You must be freezing.”

“It’s gonna get all wet.”

Violet shook her head. “I don’t care.”

Grateful, Danielle took off her own soaked jacket and put the thick coat around her.

“What happened?”

“The brakes failed,” Danielle said.

“Oh God.”

They both fell silent.

Jude was talking on the phone. “Ask Heath or Chase which of their trucks can pull the car out of the water. Yeah. Alright. No, that’s fine. We’re riding back in Violet’s car. Thanks, bro.”

He discontinued the call and handed the phone back to Violet.