Page 106 of Her Darkest Possession

"Understood."

I switch the call back to Indigo. "What about now?"

"They're both down," she says with something like grim satisfaction in her voice. "Your men got them."

Hope surges through me. We have our first entry point.

I quickly relay to Kusma, "North entrance is clear. Move in now."

"Moving in, Pakhan."

I wait, listening to the crackle of the connection. Then suddenly—rapid gunfire erupts on the other end, followed by shouts.

"Kusma!" I yell. "Kusma!"

Nothing. Just the sound of continued gunfire. Fuck, they must've been ambushed from either the west or the east wing as soon as they got in.

With so many cameras taken out, there are too many fucking blind spots and ambush points.

Just then, my earpiece crackles to life.

"Tolya..." Roma's voice comes through, ragged and breathless. The sound of gunfire nearly drowns him out. "The Volkovs... they've got at least ten men at the cliffside. Heavy resistance."

I swear under my breath. This confirms it. Lola must have learned about existence of the ventilation shaft from mother. The one place we absolutely need to control, and they've gotten there first.

"They're setting explosives," Roma continues, his voice rising with urgency. "Near where the shaft exits. And they've set up a fucking machine gun. We can't get close enough?—"

A deafeningBOOMcuts through the night, so powerful I feel it in my chest even from here. The ground beneath my feet trembles slightly. From the cliffside, a plume of dust and debris rises into the snowy night sky.

"Roma! Report!" I bark into the earpiece.

Static hisses for several agonizing seconds before Roma's voice returns.

"They've blown it. The ventilation shaft entrance is gone."

I look up at the mansion. The flames are climbing higher now, engulfing the east wing completely. Black smoke billows against the night sky. Time is running out.

The panic room might be fireproof, but if the Volkovs have destroyed the ventilation shaft, then it's only a matter of time that the room runs out of air.

It's now or never.

"Roma," I command through the earpiece. "Pin down as many Volkovs at your position as possible. Kill every last one you can reach."

"With pleasure."

I turn to look behind me. More of my men have arrived, at least thirty strong now. And more vehicles are pulling up every minute. Every one of them is armed to the teeth.

"Boeviki!" I raise my rifle. "With me. We're going straight through the front."

My men don't hesitate when I call for them to follow. In an instant, they surge forward in a deafening roar that drowns out even the steady chatter of gunfire coming from the burning mansion.

We charge across the open ground toward the front entrance as snow swirls around us, firing at anything that moves ahead of us.

Rifles light up the darkness in rapid bursts. The fire consumes more of the building I once called home.

But my eyes are fixed on the entrance.

A massive window on the second-floor collapses with a thunderous crash, sending glass and flaming debris raining down. Through the gaping hole, the inferno inside paints everything in hellish orange light.