The raging underground current filled my mouth and nose in an instant. The bone-deep cold sent my muscles into violent spasms on impact. Postpartum pain and severe blood loss felt like unseen hands dragging me into a bottomless, dark abyss. The water smashed me against jagged rocks, and I drifted in and out of consciousness, hovering at the edge of drowning.
At the same time, Gabriel, after bringing the outside conflict under control, stepped down from the helicopter with steady, unhurried strides and returned to the manor reduced to scorched ruin.
He had believed I was only startled in the basement. But the moment he entered the remains of the main building, Gabriel came to a sudden halt.
Where the basement had stood was now a vast, gaping void ripped open by the blast, steel beams ben
