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The loud bang on the right side of the car derailed htened on the steering wheel convulsively as the car fought to swerve in the direction of the blown tire Adrenaline dumped intoof the bridge I steered into the skid, even though the retaining wall of the bridge loohtened out and under control just shy of scraping the low concrete barrier

I allowed ht a e pickup truck co up on me far too fast--

The truck slathe breath out of ain, far closer and faster I fought the steering wheel, and for a tiained control Then the truck slaain, andshriek ofon the lip for a heartbeat before tipping over the barrier

The iainst the seat belt again I diive way, but the ive ainst the s as the car began to sink, and within three heartbeats the car had slipped under the surface

I was shrieking inside, but within the car it was insanely quiet, save for the low creak ofsound of water rushing through the vents Stay calether, breath hissing as I fought to undo the seat belt My heart pounded as the water rose past my knees Stay calm, damn it! That was the key to survival Stay calm, wait for the water to fill the car and equalize the pressure, then get a door open

I couldn’t tell if the car was still descending or if I’d already hit bottom I didn’t kno deep the river was or what section of the river I’d landed in For all I knew there was only a foot of water above the car Or thirty The seat belt finally caasp of relief, then had to clutch wildly at the seats as the car began a lurching roll, co stop belly up and nose down

I stabbed at the down button for the , but either the electronics had already gone or there was too much pressure frorily higher I fought the urge to claw at the door, then took a deep breath as the water rose over rabbed the handle and shoved against the door within relief as it pushed open

But only a few inches My relief shifted to horror as I tried again to shove the door open So I groped through the sh wood surface It’s a tree Shitshitshit, the car’s wedged up against a fucking subed tree! Hurricane Katrina had dumped thousands of trees into the ays, and most still remained I sed the fear that screa at the door and claet into the back A pocket of air lingered there still, air that I gulped desperately, but it was shrinking quickly My piece-of-shit car wasn’t airtight by any stretch I was shocked it wasn’t already co how much it leaked when it rained

I sucked in another breath and pushed h the murky water I could see the dark shapes of the tree branches that kept both doors fro more than a few inches

I kicked back up topanic screamed atsliver of calm asserted itself The car was upside down, un--a Glock, which probably would shoot once--I’d most likely kill myself fro hollow points But I still had other options I yankedunder and bracing un around the butt and the barrel with both hands, then drove the end of the barrel into the rear windshield as hard as I could

I felt the windshield give way on the third try, relief flooding lass billoay I pushed up to the sliver of re breath and ducked under the water

I tried to keep my eyes open, but it was pointless I couldn’t even see h all of the silt in the water I felt my way to theand tried to woran to burn froto dig a way through Horror flared throughout that way

My lungs screaain to find the air pocket Only about an inch of air reainst the carpet and sucked in one et out that way I reached foron the e shit! I’d dropped it? Or maybe it hadn’t been fully in the holster?

The pocket of air was gone now Red haze began to creep in on the edges ofto die, I realized with a sick jolt I’d faced certain death once before, but this time I didn’t feel any cal else I wanted to screaful of air just yet The red burned acrossit, I shifted into othersight

I hungwash of potency that swirled around ht that the entire incident with the car going into the river had been an arcane attack, then I realized what I was seeing

It was the river The power of the raw element--a potency that I had never used before, never even been able to see before I was accusto the potency that formed the fabric of the planes, a power that felt sweet and hot and elegant But this … this potency was raw and profound, and I could see how someone could be swept away in it

I steeled myself and pulled at that potency

It resistedthat sort of power--didn’t deserve to hold it, to shape it But I didn’t want to shape it I wasn’t looking for anything elegant or pretty, not nohen I had only seconds left I pulled harder, and then it felt as if a da in on e into athered it cluhas I pulled

And then I pushed As hard as I could Pushed the poay from me in a wave I felt and heardI could feelit all out as the power surged aroundinto a vortex

And then I could push no more I had no more air, no more power I floated in the water, co around me

And then the river pushed I felt it crush intome up and up I suddenly burst above the surface, as if the river had birtheda s to tread water with lie and the bank, but I couldn’t getleft tome back under Shit, so close

The water closed over ain, but before I could sink any farther, I felt a hard yank at asp of pain

"I gotcha!" I heard a voice shout "God darip on ed over the hardainst a tangle of fishing poles and eht?" the voice asked "Was there anyone else in the car?"