“See, this is why children shouldn’t be allowed to hike the Narrows,” a middle-aged man observed to his teenage son, calm as a nature documentary narrator—as though an actual child wasn’t currently drowning right in front of him.
“Yes, let’s judge a single mother in her time of crisis!” Juliette shouted as she blew past him. “Super helpful!”
He looked at me with an expression that said,you might want to get control of your woman.
“You heard her!” I yelled, flying after my spitfire.
“No—you stay!” Juliette shouted at the mom. “I’ve got her.”
“No, Jules!” I yelled. “I’ll get her!”
But she raced farther up the bank as if she couldn’t hear me. When she’d gained twenty feet on the girl, she cut hard right and flung herself off the edge of the cliff.
In that suspended second, as her arms locked around her knees, cannonballing straight into a flood, two truths hit me hard and fast: First, I wanted to marry this woman someday. And second, if that water was even half as violent as it looked, I might never get the chance.
No way was I going to let her do this alone.
I launched myself off the embankment. A curse tore free just before the river closed over my head. The water was muddy, blinding, and ten times stronger than it had been earlier. As soon as I broke the surface, I swam hard, cutting through the torrent.
Juliette grabbed the girl by the back of her shirt, but the current ripped her away. Just downstream from them, I caught the girl as she floated by. The crowd cheered.
She wrapped her arms around my shoulders, sobbing.
“You’re doing great,” I said. “So brave. Can you help me kick?” She whimpered, but her legs started kicking.
I turned us back to Juliette, just in time to see the undertow steal her. As the last of her hair disappeared, mystomach dropped out entirely. I’d been in plenty of sketchy situations. I’d nearly lost Boone once in a fire. But not knowing where Juliette was—that was a panic I’d never known.
“Jules!” I screamed. “Jules!”
“I’ve got her,” a man said, suddenly dog-paddling next to me. He was massive—with biceps and shoulders that belonged on a different species. He pried the girl from my arms.
I plunged beneath the surface, arms sweeping through a storm of sticks and debris. But I didn’t see a sign of her—not a strand of her hair or the toe of her shoe. Nothing.
Thirty seconds must’ve passed. It felt likeIwas drowning from fear. I surfaced, took a breath, and dove again, praying harder than I’d ever prayed before.Please help me find her. Please.I’d almost given up hope when something that felt like fingertips grazed my knee.
My hand shot out, locking around her wrist. I yanked her against me, hugging her tight and kicked up, up, up. Once we erupted through the surface, she gasped like someone who’d been waiting to die.
Her face twisted, lips curled. “G-Griff,” she sobbed.
“It’s okay. Don’t talk.” I crushed her to me.
She gasped again, her body shuddering as she cried.
“Try to swim with the current, sideways to shore,” I said.
We pumped our legs as hard as we could. No way was I letting her go, but swimming with only one arm was slow, grinding work.
Ten feet from the bank, the giant and two more guys just as big had made a chain toward us. I didn’t know if they were part of a Descendants of the Neanderthals convention, but I was grateful they were there. When the closest guy was almost within reach, I pulled Juliette in front of me and shoved her toward them.
He passed her to his friend. But as he reached for me, the current tore me away.
“Griff!” Juliette screamed from atop a rock.
Completely spent, lungs burning, I almost let myself sink—just for a second—to steal one breath before fighting again. But another man—an angel, really—muscled me to solid ground.
I fell onto the rocky bank. My lungs burned as I tried to take a deep breath. With all the strength I had left, I reached down, took his hand, and tugged him up. We backed away from the water, staring at it like it were the mouth of an abyss.
I was a bit of an adrenaline junkie. You had to be to runintofires. But that? Had been just as terrifying as any fire I’d ever fought.
