Page 221 of The Harbinger

“Da,“ he grunted into the phone, his tone clipped and guarded.

I sucked in a deep breath, my stomach dropping faster than the plane losing altitude. “It’s me.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes.” I nodded with a smile despite him not being able to see.

“Then why are you calling?” His words sliced through the air like a sharpened blade. His voice was like a cold slap to the face, wiping the grin right off my lips.

Had he really become so closed off, so distant, so quickly? Had his walls already gone up around his stone heart?

“I just... I wanted to talk to you before we landed,” I stammered, my words tumbling out in a jumbled mess.

“I’m cleaning up this mess, Mia.”

My chin quivered, and my eyes burned as I leaned back into the headrest and gazed out through the panoramic window. “I’ll make it quick.” A moment passed, and then I spoke again. “How long am I supposed to be staying here?” My voice trembled with uncertainty, his silence pressing down on me like a crushing weight. “You never did say.” Silence greeted me on the other end of the line, and I frowned, glancing at the phone to make sure the call was still connected. “Sacha?”

“You don’t belong here.”

I clutched at my chest, my new shirt bunching up in my fist as a sharp pain pulsed through my chest. “But I...” I started, my voice trailing off as tears streamed down my cheeks. “What if I don’t want to stay?”

“You’ll stay because it’s what I want you to do. Goodbye, Mia.”

“Wait.” I gripped the phone tighter, my voice cracking. “Don’t you want me? Won’t you miss me at all, even a little?” The silence on the other end bled into my psyche.

“More than anything in this world.”

The phone clicked, and I dropped it from my ear, the deafening silence echoing through my mind. I clutched the device to my chest, forcing down the sadness and despair that threatened to overwhelm me. But it was no use. The floodgates opened, tears streaming down my face unchecked.

By the time the plane’s tires touched down, I was utterly drained, as if every ounce of life had been sucked out of me. There was nothing left, no strength or hope to carry on.

He had plunged a knife into my heart just as I had sliced his throat, leaving me bleeding out and gasping for air. It was the ultimate revenge plot that would leave me withering and dying for years, the pain of my wounds festering and torturing me until I could no longer take it.

And in the end, Sacha had won. He always did.

The doors opened, and Vlad stood over me, his hand outstretched for his phone. I handed it to him, but not before memorizing Sacha’s number. Unbuckling my belt, I stood, then walked off the plane to the SUV.

Vlad opened the door, and I slid inside. He shut the door, rounded the back, and climbed into the driver’s seat with Grigoriy in the passenger seat.

“Will you come inside with me?”

He shook his head and drove off the tarmac. “No. You’re on your own now.”

“And what if they ask where I’ve been? What if I tell them everything that happened to me, and I get the police involved?”

“I think you and I both know that wouldn’t be wise.”

“What would he do?” If I caused him enough strife, would he find me? Or would he be watching to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid?

“Don’t do anything to draw attention to yourself in hopes that he’ll come back for you. He won’t. His decision is final.”

I ground my teeth, my fist clenching in my lap as Vlad pulled to a stop near a two-story home with a pitched roof, white siding, and snow piled high on the sides of the sidewalk that led to the front door.

“Just take me back.” I cried, my feet itching to step out of the vehicle and see my family, the family I barely knew, while my heart boarded the plane and crossed the ocean to be with him again… where it belonged.

“I can’t do that.”

“I don’t want to be here, though.”

---