Page 34 of My Wild Horse King

“Okay.” Gustav sits on the edge of his now-denuded bed. “But you said?—”

“I’m not done.” I lean against the doorframe. “When she gave them to the group of people, she picked one person whose powers would control all the others. It was someone who kind of ran things, at the time.”

“Wouldn’t that have been the Romanovs?” Gustav runs his hand over his chin, and the tiny hairs on his face make a rasping sound.

“The Romanovs had just become the new ruling family before she stepped in. The last few families that took over for Rurik couldn’t hold the throne. It had been hard on the entire country. The family behind their appointment. . .well, I thought you were Rurikid like Leonid, but now I think that person was your ancestor.”

Gustav blinks.

“Which means, if you learn how to use Baba Yaga’s magic, you could potentially defeat Leonid. You’re the only one who might.”

“Which is why he wants me dead.”

“It is,” I say. “If you learn how to use the powers you can control, you become a threat to him, and once that happens. . .”

“He’ll eliminate me.”

I nod. “Leonid’s become terrible. He’s extremely powerful. He’s hot-tempered and rash. But in this case, his behavior’s predictable. He told me he would return Alexei’s powers to him?—”

“If he marries you instead of Adriana.”

“So that I can ensure he’s not plotting,” I say.

“You’re loyal to Leonid?”

“Not exactly. Let’s say that I know enough to be afraid of him.” I shrug. “And I’m smart enough not to move against him. I came here to try and convince Alexei to be smart, too. Even if he doesn’t marry me, he needs to leave Leonid alone. But for you, I came to warn you that if you want to carry on with your American life here, you should. Never touch your magic, and Leonid will leave you be.”

“But if I lift my littlest magical finger, then bam?” He lifts both eyebrows. “I’ll be squashed like a bug?”

“Something like that,” I say.

“Your pretty boy’s in luck.” Gustav’s lip twists. “I happen to want nothing to do with any of this, and I have zero plans to challenge him in any way.”

“Finally, someone smart.”

A wave of exhaustion rolls over me. “Time to sleep.”

“Past time.” Gustav yawns, and I find myself yawning in reply.

I’m several steps down the hall when he asks another question from the doorway. “When you start your training, how do you learn to access this magic?”

“I thought you wanted nothing to do with it.” This sort of question isn’t promising.

“Have you ever had an allergy to something?” Gustav asks. “You have to understand what you’re allergic to in order to avoid triggering it by accident.”

It’s a fair point. “In order to awaken our powers, we have to commit a selfless act.”

“But if I do something selfless in order to awaken my powers, isn’t that no longer selfless?”

“I’m too tired to debate with you in English,” I say. “But I’ll tell you this. When I was seven, I released a mouse from a trap. I was terrified of mice, and I didn’t want to loose it. If I got caught, I would’ve been punished. But it looked so miserable, and it was shaking, and I knew what it was like to be afraid. I couldn’t leave it in the trap to be killed. When I pulled the side of the trap up to free it, the mechanism broke my finger.” I hold up my right hand, showing him how my fourth finger’s still crooked. “If your sacrifice has no cost to you, it won’t do anything.”

“Should be easy enough to avoid.” He nods. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

“Good luck with your meetings tomorrow,” I say. “If I had any money, I’d buy some of your company myself to try and help.”

“You’ve done more than enough.” Gustav’s smiling as he closes the door, and it’s not the worst thing I’ve ever seen.

When I go to sleep, it’s the first time I haven’t been imagining Alexei’s smiling face in a very, very long time.

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