Page 42 of New Blood (Werewolf Alliance #1)
D espite Jude’s reassuring words, Danielle felt panic engulf her.
Her entire body was tense, and she couldn’t even feel her hands—they were clutching the steering wheel so tightly.
She was lucky that Jude was with her, because if she’d been alone in the car, she wouldn’t have known what to do.
She would most likely already have crashed into the tall wall or rolled over the car in a curve.
Jude’s instructions were clear and concise. She could feel the car slowing a little bit as Jude applied the handbrake. She’d always thought that if the foot brake didn’t work, the handbrake wouldn’t either.
“Now. Turn slowly to the right.”
As she did so, she felt the car trying to resist her, the tires locking. Fear slammed into her, and she held her breath.
Jude released the handbrake again, and the tires turned.
She’d overcompensated with the steering wheel when the tires had locked, and now the car was jolted to the right, nearly lifting off the road.
She swerved as they drove over uneven ground, rocks and stones sounding as if they were ripping the car’s chassis open like a tuna can.
Despite the downhill slope, the uneven terrain helped slow the car, but she knew they were still too fast to come to a stop before reaching the pond.
“Remember,” Jude said, “unbuckle your seatbelt the second we hit the water.”
She couldn’t answer, her throat too dry to form any words.
A couple of seconds later, the car lost the ground beneath its wheels, and they plunged into the water.
The power with which they hit the water made her jerk forward, while the seatbelt tightened and the airbags deployed.
It knocked the wind out of her, stunning her for a moment. She was unable to think, let alone act.
“The seatbelt,” Jude cried out next to her.
His words jolted her into action. She pressed the release button, but nothing happened. In panic, she pulled on the belt, but it had tightened over her torso, not leaving her a single inch of movement.
Water was already filling the car, covering her legs.
Before she knew what was happening, the seatbelt loosened, and she realized that Jude had used his claws to cut her free.
She willed her fingers into claws, knowing what to do now, and sliced through the airbag to make enough space so she could move.
She reached for the window and dove through it. Just as she thought she was stuck, she felt Jude’s hands on her backside, giving her a forceful shove.
She landed face down in the water and kicked her legs against the car door, and lifted her head out of the water. Treading water, she turned around and saw the car diving into the water at an almost 90-degree angle, its trunk in the air. A moment later, the water swallowed it completely.
“Jude!” she screamed. She swam toward where he should have come up and reached into the water, trying to find him. Taking a deep breath, she dove beneath the surface, but it was too murky to see anything.
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.
“Get in the car, before you both get hypothermia,” Violet said firmly.
As they got into the car and drove back to the house, Danielle was surprised by how resolute Violet sounded. In the face of an unexpected situation, she turned out to be very practical and decisive. She’d never really seen the youngest Gallagher family member in this light.
The moment they reached the house, several people came running. She was glad to see Priscilla with two large blankets in her arms.
“I can run you a hot bath,” Priscilla offered, after wrapping her in the blanket.
She handed the second one to Jude.
“Thank you, Priscilla.”
Austin nodded at Jude. “I’ll take care of everything. You two, go get warm. I’ll let you know when we’ve towed the car.”
“Appreciate it,” Jude replied.
Jude put his arm around her. “Come, we both need a hot shower.”
She nodded, agreeing, though she needed more than just a hot shower. She needed something to wipe away this scary memory and make her feel alive.