Page 22 of My Wild Horse King

“Show me what?” I ask while the entire group of them exit the elevator.

“There’s something about our family that we didn’t know,” Kris says. “Dad says there were old journals, but our great-great-uncle or someone took them when he left Latvia for the United States. It’s unlikely we’d have believed them in any case.”

“Journals?” Some old family illness or something better not be why they just torched my Black Rock meeting. I wouldn’t put it past Dad to send them here asking for money for expensive genetic tests or something. It feels like I’ve been duped once again.

“The journals probably go more into our connection to the Romanov family and the other royal families of Russia that had special magical powers.”

Oh, no. This is not going anywhere good.

“Yeah, see, we lost him.” Kris turns and looks at Aleks. “Just do it.”

“Do what?”

But instead of answering me, something very, very strange happens. There’s a churning blur my eyes can’t make any sense of, and then suddenly, standing in my entryway, alongside the five uninvited guests, instead of Aleksandr, my sister’s new Russian husband, there’s an enormous black stallion.

My phone rings again, in this bizarre moment.

The horse’s nostrils flare and he looks right at my phone, then back up at my face, as if to say, “Are you going to answer that?”

I can hardly believe it’s happening, but the giant black horse actually tosses his head at my phone and whinnies.

“Fine.” I snap my phone against my ear. “Yes, what?”

“Mr. Belmont. We must have been disconnected before. This is agent Theodore Price with Homeland Security. It’s rather urgent that we speak. You’re currently the only contact we have for Katerina Yurovsky, and she has now gone missing. Instead of needing a sponsor for her visa, we’re beginning to believe she might present a direct threat to our national security. If you don’t voluntarily submit to questioning, I’m afraid we’ll need to track you down and detain you. Trust me. That won’t be good for either of us.”

“Did you say youlostsome woman named Katerina Yurovsky?” The wheels in my head are spinning a hundred miles an hour. Could this be connected to the three Russians in my room right now? What would they find when they interrogate me? And how could this destroy my IPO more thoroughly than Kris’ uninvited appearance already has?

“We had an. . .incident unlike any we’ve ever experienced before,” Agent Price says. “But we’re going over all the details. You can be sure of that.”

“Under what circumstance did this woman disappear?”

Kristiana looks decidedly uncomfortable, and I’m almost positive that she knows this missing criminal.

“I’m happy to fill you in on additional details when we meet,” he says. “But for now, can you confirm your address? I’ll be coming by myself in the next hour or so.” He rattles off my home address, and if I weren’t freaked out, I might be impressed. It’s not listed.

“Is a home visit tonight really necessary?” I ask. “I’m happy to come to you tomorrow.” Which is a complete lie.

“We feel it is both necessary and urgent,” Agent Price says, “yes.”

“Alright,” I say. “Fine. Yes, that’s my current address, and I’m home now.” I glare at Kristiana. As far as I can tell, this whole thing is her fault.

“—still can’t find the horse, sir,” someone says in the background.

“Thehorse?” I ask, my gaze cutting sideways at the mighty black stallion still watching me carefully.

“Yes, as I said, I’ll give you more details, but somehow this missing person, this Russian national, managed to summon a horse or something, and while we were dealing with the appearance of that rather large and untrained beast, she escaped.”

“I’ll be waiting for you.” I hang up. “Who wants to tell me what in the world is going on and who this Katerina Yurovsky is?” I glare at the stallion. “Because there’s no way that it’s a coincidence that you’re suddenly a horse, and that she somehow escaped US custody with the help of a horse.”

“It wasn’t with the help of a horse,” Kristiana says. “Like Aleksandr, sheisthe horse.” She shrugs. “We have a lot to catch you up on.”

6

KATERINA

I’m not a total idiot.

This may not be my century, but I’ve done an alright job figuring things out. I can use the internet, now, kind of, and I know some things. Before leaving Russia, I went back by Aleksandr’s house, and wonder of wonders, the staff let me inside. They must not have gotten a message from Aleksandr saying that I’d run.

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