Page 47 of My High Horse Czar

He’s still holding out his hand, so I finally reach out and take what he’s offering. It’s a bank ledger, and it also has a debit card on top of it. “This says Alexei Romanov,” I say.

“We can transfer the name, according to Aleksandr.”

“Do you even have identification?”

“Aleks, as the first to wake, has already taken steps to prepare for my awakening.”

“He’s a pretty good friend.” I flip open the book and glance at it. In big black letters, it has an amount printed—balance. Sixty-three million rubles.

I drop the book.

“You agreed to help me acclimate,” Alexei says, as if he didn’t just hand me an absolute fortune.

“I can’t take that,” I say. “Aleksandr gave that to you, and you’ll need money. Surely the world hasn’t changed that much—it’s as important today as it was back then.”

Alexei frowns. “That’s the smallest of the accounts Aleksandr gave me to repay the loan.”

“The smallest—accounts? Plural?” I can barely believe what I’m hearing.

“With that, hopefully you can feel more able to leave, if you’re insistent on doing that.”

It’s enough to repay Nojus with a little left over. It’s enough to change my entire life. “I can’t take it,” I say.

“I did save you twice,” Alexei says, “but you saved me, too. I was stuck in my horse form, and I need your help to even access my own powers.”

His powers.

This entire thing is so surreal that I’m still struggling a little bit. “I did promise to help you acclimate.”

He smiles, and that makes his eyes light up. His beautiful, strong lips curve, and he shifts a bit, the muscles in his shoulders, his arms, and in his lean frame shifting—no, rippling. “You did.”

I reach over and grab the bank book—one token protest would have been enough, and I tried giving it twice. Now it’s mine. “What did you have in mind?”

“Grigoriy tells me that they have entire shops that have lots of readymade clothing you can simply choose from. No tailors needed.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“I’d like to see one of those shops. Also, he says we need something called a phone.”

“Grigoriy knows a lot.”

“Don’t worry,” he says. “I’ll catch on even faster than he did.” He leans closer.

The hair on my arms stands up as a bizarre kind of thrill shoots through my entire body.

“Grigoriy’s a bit of an idiot compared to me.”

“Hey.” Grigoriy’s passing by the doorway, and he looks ready to punch Alexei.

“And he’s very, very fun to tease.” Alexei’s grin widens, and I notice for the first time that he has dimples. Not one. Two absolutely lovely dimples, one on either side of his mouth.

I am in a lot of trouble. I may have sworn off fate, but it looks like it’s not going to be so easy to shake. “Alright, so we’re going shopping, then?”

“I think you should practice using his magic first,” Mirdza says. “No way of knowing what might happen when we go out.”

“That’s true,” Alexei says. “Do you mind letting me practice it a bit?”

“If you’re rusty at all, it could get messy,” Grigoriy says. “Go outside. Aleks and Kris just finished renovating.”

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