The Book of Shadows—it hit that barrier, and it was like—like an explosion or something—

“Cole! Nadia!” The inside of the car was almost entirely dark now that the lights were as dead as the engine, but she could make out the shadow of her father trying to clamber into the backseat with them. “Are you all right?”

“We’re okay,” Nadia managed to gasp.

“The water—”

“I see it!” Already the muck was rising—or was the car sinking? Nadia couldn’t tell.

Dad stopped trying to get in the back with them; instead he managed to push open the passenger-side front door and climb out of the car. For one moment, Nadia felt crazy terror stab her—he’s left us, where’s Dad, where’s Dad?—but then Cole’s door opened and Dad reached inside to pull her little brother free.

“Daddy!” Cole wailed as he clamped his arms around their father’s neck. Raindrops fell into the car now, hard and stinging. Nadia managed to undo the straps of his safety seat, so Dad could lift him.

“That’s right. Daddy’s here. Nadia, I’m going to get Cole out of this ditch and come right back for you. Right back! Hang on!”

Nadia nodded, too quickly, because her whiplash-stung neck ached. She clawed at her seat belt, freeing herself just as the water rose high enough to wash over one of her legs. The seat belt had been keeping her out of the mud, and she tumbled into it. It was cold—so cold the mere touch of it numbed her to the bone. A long scrape along her forearm stung tears into her eyes. She was clumsy now, and even more afraid than before. But it didn’t matter as long as she could still climb out.

She braced her feet against the armrest and tried to stand; she was dizzy, but she could do it. Where was her father? Was he all right?

Lightning flashed. In the blaze of that sudden light, Nadia glimpsed someone above her.

He was her age, perhaps. Dark hair, dark eyes, though she could tell nothing else in the night and the rain. But in that flash of lightning, she’d already seen that he was beautiful—so much that she wondered if the crash had dazed her into seeing phantoms, delusions, angels. Thunder rolled.

“Take my hand!” he shouted, reaching into the wreck.

Nadia grabbed his hand. His fingers wrapped around her wrist, and they felt like the only warmth in the world. She let him tow her upward, helping him by climbing as best she could. Rain spattered against her face and hands as she emerged from the wreckage, and her rescuer slung one arm around her waist to pull her away from the car, onto the nearby bank of the ditch they’d crashed into.

As they flopped onto the muddy ground, lightning crashed again, painting his face in eerie blue. He must have seen her more clearly, too, because he whispered, “Oh, my God. It’s you.”

She drew in a sharp breath. This guy knew her?