Page 97 of Her Darkest Possession

"Oh, is that so?" Lola taunts.

"When I get home," I continue, ignoring her mocking tone, "I'm going to kill you both. I'm going to fucking end this."

"I'm sure you will, Tolya." Lola's laughter echoes through the phone, high and manic. "But your threats don't fucking matter anymore."

"Not a threat, you fucking bitch," I snarl. "A promise."

"Promise away, then. It won't change anything," she says, her voice suddenly hardening. "Because I'm already here."

My blood turns to ice as Roma peels away from the curb and towards the highway heading east.

"Our war ends now, Tolya," Lola continues. "Your farce of a marriage ends now."

"You're making a mistake, Lola."

"No, you were the one who made the mistake. You're the one who continues to make mistakes, because you've grown soft." She laughs coldly. "If you had chosen me from the start, wewouldn't be having this conversation right now. If your whore had the wisdom to not run from my brother, I wouldn't have to do this to you. And when you let her pass judgment on your own mother's fate instead of acting like the pakhan you're supposed to be, you might have one final chance to tell that cunt goodbye. But you've squandered every opportunity that has been placed before you. And now you're going to pay the price."

I bang on the dashboard, urging Roma to go faster. But he's already going as fast as he can. The final light of day fades, and in the headlights, I see the unmistakable dance of the first snow of the year.

Hope starts to fade from my heart.

No, no, no!

Snow means car accidents. Snow means traffic delays. Snow means that maybe by the time that I get to the mansion, Lola will have made good on her threats.

"Lola, please." I force myself to say the words that I never thought I'd ever say. "Please don't hurt her. Please don't hurt Indigo! She's innocent in all of this. Your quarrel is with me! Not her!"

"See, that's where you're wrong. My quarrel is withbothof you. You killed Grisha for her. I'm just evening the score." Her voice turns to ice. "A brother for a brother. A bride for a bride."

"LOLA! DON'T FUCKING DO IT!"

"Do you remember what you said to me the last time we talked like this?" she asks softly. "You told me that you will burn everything in my world to the ground, sift through the ashes for my bones, and throw them into the Hudson."

My heart stops. Everything around me—the car, Roma's cursing as he swerves around slower vehicles, and the snow trying to stick between each swipe of the windshield wipers—fades away into nothingness.

All I can hear is Lola's tittering laugh on the other end of the line and the blood rushing in my ears.

"This is what happens when you make the wrong choices, Tolya," Lola says softly. "You chose that whore over me. You choose love over the bratva. You chose wrong on everything that matters. And now you pay the consequences"

Silence hangs for a moment between us, pregnant with threats.

Then the line goes dead.

"LOLA!" I roar into the phone, but it's useless.

I slam the phone against the dashboard as a guttural scream tears from my throat. My hands shake with rage and pure fucking terror.

Every muscle in my body tenses as if preparing for a fight that isn't here yet, against an enemy I can't reach in time. My breath comes in ragged bursts and the metallic taste of blood fills my mouth.

I've never felt this helpless before in my life. I've never felt this goddamn weak.

"Faster, Roma!" I roar, even though he's already pushing a hundred and weaving through the snow and traffic like a madman.

I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to think. The moment I do, I see Indigo's face. Her hazel eyes looking back at me earlier today when we were painting our baby's nursery.

No. This can't be how it ends. I won't let it end like this.

"Call Vassily," I order Roma. "Warn him what's about to happen."