Page 68 of My Wild Horse King

“You founded a company that makes all its revenue from horse-racing. Your parents both loved horses, right?”

“Why do you say that?” He glances at me.

When our eyes meet, for some reason, it makes my heart race. “I mean, just from what I’ve heard about how Aleks and Kristiana met.”

He frowns. “How did they meet? She bought him thinking he was a horse, right?”

I fill him in on what I’ve worked out, which is basically just the broad strokes. She was gambling on her own horse winning—some horse named Five—and then he was going to lose. But then this big black stallion, who must have overheard how much she needed to win,letsher win. So when she sees him being abused, she spends the winnings buying him, instead of spending it to save the family farm.

Gustav shakes his head. “I swear, that’s how my family always is. They can have the money in their hand, but if there’s a horse thing calling them, they’re categorically unable to make the right decision.” He sighs. “And that’s why I hate horses. I actually loved horses, right up until I saw one kill my mother. Her love for racing, her love of horses, it destroyed her. It destroyed my dad. And it’ll destroy Kris, too, because she always puts them first.”

“I don’t blame you,” I say. “Leaving all that behind sounds like the smart move.”

“What?” His head snaps sideways.

“Horses are born looking for a way to injure themselves.” I shrug. “I do like them a lot, but it’s the simple truth.”

“I’m pretty sure my mother thought that was part of their charm.”

I can’t help adding, “In horses’ defense, humans kind of do the same thing.”

“They do,” Gustav agrees. “But at least we can articulate our reasons. For a horse, they’re often injured because they saw a plastic bag.”

“But not for horse-shifters,” I say. “When we take our horse forms, we aren’t stupid like they are. So you shouldn’t push that dislike onto us.” I’m not sure why I want him to like the idea of shifting into a horse. It doesn’t really affect me, except in the sense that Leonid’s coming, and he’ll probably kill us all unless Gustav figures out how to stop him.

As if we’re on the same wavelength, Gustav asks, “Do you really think he’s coming to America to kill me?”

“I’m not sure,” I say. “Every time I thought I understood Leonid, he surprised me.”

“He was your servant,” Gustav says. “People never pay attention to their servants.”

“He was also my friend,” I say. “Or at least, I thought he was for a while.”

“What changed?”

“Once I gave him my magic, he wanted more.” I fold my hands in my lap and look down at them. “He became obsessed with it, really.”

“He stopped caring about helping you win over Alexei, I take it?”

That was what made me the angriest. “Not only that, he told me I was an idiot for loving him.” He might have been right about that, in retrospect. “He told me no one ever starts loving someone who’s as pathetically desperate for that love.” It hurt when he said that.

“Sounds like he knew that from past experience,” Gustav says. “Did he love you?”

“Leonid has no idea what love is. His father was the only family he had, and he was totally crazy. It made him unstable.”

Gustav’s quiet for at least twenty more miles. We almost miss our turn.

Once we’re on the new road, one we’ll be sticking with for a while, I try for a safer question, one about his company. “Why’d you start Trifecta?”

“What?” He seems genuinely surprised by the question.

“You hate horses,” I remind him. “And Trifecta’s a combination totes company—which handles on-track betting—and online gambling, and you said it allows people to buy a share in various racehorses, too.”

“Right. It covers all the angles of betting, so as a businessman, it’s a marketshare-spread, so to speak.”

“But you hate gambling?—”

“Because the house always wins,” he says. “What better play than tobethe house?”

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