Page 34 of Her Darkest Possession (Baryshev Bratva #2)

INDIGO

I'm sitting with Amara and Svetlana, drinking tea and watching the first snow of the season drift lazily past the windows while a fire crackles in the nearby fireplace.

It feels surreally peaceful, considering everything that has happened.

Svetlana's recovery is going well. Although she's still not at a hundred percent, she's now able to get out of bed and take a few steps now. Walking is still harder than it used to be for her, but she insists on doing it, and told me that she's tired of staring at the same four walls.

"Do you think Anatoly will be home soon?" Amara asks, blowing on her chamomile tea.

"I hope so," I say, cradling my own cup between my palms and relishing in the warmth that flows from it. "Roma went to deliver the evidence personally. Once they see the security footage, they'll have to release him."

I'm halfway through taking a sip when a thunderous BANG echoes through the mansion. The teacup slips from my fingers and shatters against the hardwood floor.

"What was that?" I whisper, my heart suddenly racing.

Svetlana sits up straight, her relaxed demeanor vanishing instantly. Her eyes dart around. But as quickly as she rises, she immediately falls back, wincing from pain.

She swears under her breath as she tries to get back up.

More bangs come, this time in three rapid successions.

Vassily bursts through the door, his face ashen and his gun drawn. "We need to move. Now."

"What's happening?" I demand as I walk over to help Svetlana to her feet.

"Volkovs," he says grimly. "Roma just called me to warn me about them. We need to get to the panic room before they arrive in force."

A flash of light outside the window catches my eye, followed by another bang.

"Are those—" Amara's voice trembles.

"Gunshots," Svetlana confirms, and she grabs onto me as I hoist her to her feet.

Vassily comes over and takes Svetlana from me, wrapping his arm around her waist to support her weight.

"I've got her," he tells me. "You take your sister."

I reach for Amara's hand just as something slams into the window. This time, the sound it makes rattles my teeth.

The glass cracks, and the cracks spiderweb out in a perfect circle, but the window still holds. Temporarily frozen, I stare at it for a moment, and that's when I remember when I was brought to this mansion as Anatoly's bride and contemplating just how I might be able to escape.

When Svetlana looked at me and told me that the windows are bulletproof.

But bulletproof doesn't mean much if the attackers are determined enough. Nothing is truly impenetrable. With enough time, even this glass will shatter.

And then, as if to remind me of the very real danger we're in, another bullet hits the window in almost the same spot. The cracks expand further.

"We need to go!" Vassily hisses. "There isn't much time."

I squeeze Amara's hand tighter. She looks terrified, and I can't blame her. After everything she's been through with Lola and Grisha, now she's caught in the middle of a full-scale Volkov assault.

"Davai!" Vassily calls over his shoulder.

We move swiftly through the hallway towards the west wing where the panic room was. Last time, Anatoly told me to stay in it, and I didn't listen.

Not this time.

More shots ring out from different directions. Bullets ping and slam into both the stone facade and the glass, their impact sound like sledgehammers.

We're under attack from multiple sides.

Gunfire erupts from elsewhere in the mansion in a rapid rhythmic pattern that seems to shake the walls of the house with how loud they sound.

Anatoly's men are returning fire, I realize.

Each staccato burst makes me flinch. I pull Amara closer as we rush after Vassily. Two guards rush past us, their heavy footsteps thunder through the downstairs hallway.

We run down the hallway towards the west wing, my fingers interlaced with Amara's. Ahead of us, Vassily has slung Svetlana over his shoulder and is running at full speed.

We've barely made it to the west wing when I hear the distinctive sound of glass shattering somewhere behind us. A rush of cold winter air immediately floods the hallway, carrying with it the scent of snow and gunpowder.

Men's voices start shouting in Russian.

Suddenly, an ear-splitting BOOM rocks the entire mansion. The floor beneath my feet actually vibrates with the force of it. I chance a look behind me, my hair whipping across my face.

Oh no.

The massive front door has been blown completely off its hinges. Smoke billows through the gaping hole where it once stood.

Three men immediately rush inside. The rifles in their hands rises, and one of them points it directly at us.

Svetlana shouts something in Russian at Vassily, and he barks a response back.

She immediately reaches down and pulls a gun from under his jacket.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

One of the intruders crumples to the floor like a marionette whose string has been cut. The other two dive for cover.

A hail of gunfire from the second-floor thunders through the mansion. The two other intruders fall.

Pandemonium erupts all around us. The mansion has transformed into a war zone in seconds.

Men are shouting—some in English, and others in Russian. The words blur together into a cacophony of noise that pounds against my eardrums. I can't even begin to make sense of any of it.

And amidst the sound of chaos, men are dying.

I see one of Anatoly's guards take a shot to the shoulder. He spins, returns fire, and then takes another bullet to the chest. He crumples against the wall, leaving a smear of crimson as he slides to the floor.

The bullets crack overhead like rubber bands snapping against the wall, only a thousand times louder. I duck, and pull Amara down with me.

"We can't stop!" Vassily shouts, still carrying Svetlana. "Almost there!"

We rush forward, staying low.

"Miels!" Amara screams as a bullet whizzes past, so close I feel the hot air brushing against my cheek.

Finally, we reach a wall. It looks completely ordinary—nothing to indicate it houses a panic room behind it. Vassily sets Svetlana down and punches numbers into a pad that's hidden behind an otherwise ordinary looking light switch cover.

Svetlana grunts as she pushes herself up to a better position and keeps her gun trained on the hallway behind us.

A mechanical click sounds. The wall swings inward, and reveals a steel door behind it with another keypad.

I can't help but think about the absurdity of needing two sets of codes to get into the panic room. If the Volkovs were any faster, we might be dead by now.

Don't think about that, we're not out the woods yet.

Vassily punches another code into the second keypad, and this door slides open with a pneumatic hiss to reveal the panic room.

The large panic room has reinforced steel walls and basic, practical furniture. There are multiple monitors that show the security feeds throughout the mansion. Below them is a console that I can only assume is used to switch the numerous views.

Boxes line the walls, and there is enough dry food and supplies to last us for days. Vassily drags Svetlana in. Amara and I quickly follow.

He taps a code into another door, and it unlocks, revealing a closet filled with an arsenal of guns. Everything from rifles to handguns and guns that I can't even begin to name.

He grabs several and starts passing them out to all of us.

Svetlana accepts a rifle, and expertly checks it. Amara and I receive a handgun each and I look down at it stupidly.

I don't know how to fire a gun.

As for Vassily, he grabs a rifle off the rack and rushes out of the panic room.

"I'm locking this door behind me," he says. "Don't open it for anyone. If they don't know the code, it's a trap."

"Where are you going?" I reach for him.

He places his hand on my shoulder and pushes me back into the room. "I made a promise to Tolya to keep you safe, Indigo Malcolmovna. And that's exactly what I'll do."

"No!" I grab Vassily's arm before he can leave. "You can't go out there alone. Stay here where it's safe."

"I can't," he says firmly, prying my hand from his sleeve. "I have a duty to protect this house and everyone in it."

"If you go out there, you'll die!" My voice cracks on the last word. Despite everything, I don't want to lose him.

Svetlana pushes herself up from where she's slumped against the wall. "I'm coming with you," she announces, her voice strained but determined.

Vassily just smiles sadly. "Sveta, you're in no condition to fight. Besides..." He gestures toward Amara and me. "They'll need someone here who knows what they're doing."

The look in his eyes—resigned, almost peaceful—makes my stomach drop. He's not planning on coming back.

"Wait!" I call out as he turns to leave. "Please, just wait."

Vassily pauses at the doorway, his hand on the frame. "There's no time, Indigo."

I rush forward, throwing my arms around him. "Thank you," I whisper against his chest. "Thank you for helping us."

He stiffens, clearly stunned by the gesture. Slowly, awkwardly, his arms come up to return the hug.

"I'm sorry," he whispers in my ear. "For everything before. For what I did."

The gunfire is getting louder. Closer. Men are starting to round the corner of the west wing now.

I pull back, looking up at his face. "There's nothing to apologize for, Vasya."

His eyes search mine, and there's no fear in them.

"If I'm dead when Tolya comes back," he says. "Will you tell him I went down fighting?"

Tears well up in my eyes at the grim determination in his voice.

I nod. "I will."

Vassily gives us all one final nod, steps through the doorway, and closes the heavy steel door behind him. The lock automatically engages with a heavy metallic thunk that sounds so final. And the moment it does, all sound fades away.

"Indigo." Amara's voice sounds behind me, tight with fear. "Look."