Page 89 of My Trojan Horse Majesty

I rub my hands across my face and blink repeatedly. My head’s pounding, and I don’t feel very strong, but. . . the bond to Izzy is gone. I can’t sense her, but I can sense something else.

My magic. It’s still intact.

And, perhaps more telling, I no longer need physical contact with her to use it. I straighten. “Is she—did Izzy?—”

“I like this.” Grigoriy chuckles. “Now you’re acting almost as nervous and effeminate as you always looked.” He kicks a rock that rolls right up and nails me in the knee.

Without even thinking, I flick the fingers of my right hand and fling it right back at him. He can’t block with wind, so it strikes his shoulder. Hard. He cries out like a little girl.

That makes me smile.

“Maybe don’t call him effeminate,” Mirdza says. “I like you to be able to walk and talk.”

“Where’s Izzy?” I ask again, more forcefully this time.

“Do you even care anymore?” Katerina asks. “Her parents said she wasn’t doing great, but then,bam, all of a sudden she was fine. She woke up. She talked to them, for a while actually, saying all kinds of disgusting things about how great you were, but then. . .” She sighs. “She came to look at you. She touched your face, and then she got pale. She slumped a little. She was clearly tired. She laid down in their car and just. . .went to sleep.”

“Not until after Gabe and I separated successfully,” Gustav says. “It wasn’t fun, but it seemed way less horrible than what you just went through. I guess we should count that as a win.”

“He did spasm and writhe a lot,” Katerina says, “but not nearly as much as you did.”

“But now?” I ask. “Where’s Izzy now?”

“Once Gabe woke up and started talking, she totally passed out.” Katerina shrugs.

“You said that already.”

“Yeah, well, she looked like she might sleep for a while, so they just. . .” Katerina points. “They left with her and Gabe both asleep in the back of the car.”

They left?

I shake my head. “She wouldn’t leave me.”

“Effeminateandstupid,” Adriana mutters. “Apparently the key to Leonid’s intelligence was his evilness.” She snickers. “She was sleeping, idiot. She didn’t leave—they left you with her in tow. Then once they got a mile away, they called Kris. You weren’t convulsing again, so they decided their job was done.”

Their job of disconnecting us. Right. I struggle to my feet.

Aleksandr offers me his hand.

I’d rather cut mine off than take it. I stand up and shove past him, not even bothering to glare. “You know, if I wanted someone more powerful than I was to return my magic to me, I might not insult them from the second they wake.” I shrug. “But what do I know? I’m just an effeminate moron.”

By the time I reach my car, they’re all scrambling along behind me in a very satisfying way.

Kristiana shoves Aleksandr. “—told you that you shouldn’t have let them?—”

Adriana’s poking Alexei’s side. “—save people when you can’t even fill a glass with water. A shotglass.”

I can’t help a chuckle. “None of you are supposed to be using your magic at all. Weren’t you listening? Use your immense wealth, that I haven’t taken from you thanks to my unappreciated largesse, and get on a plane back to Russia, stat.”

Gustav clears his throat. “But if you could just?—”

“No.” I shake my head. “Once you’ve landed, send me a text message and let me know you’re no longer at risk of waking anything horrible here. Apologize, from the heart, and I’ll consider letting you play with your toys again.”

Kristiana opens her mouth, but Aleks slaps a hand over it. “We’ll book some flights.”

“But you should remember that Izzy won’t like you if you’re mean to us,” Gustav says. “No one that shiny could like a villain.”

I hate that he’s right, because being a hero’s a realdrag. “Just go.”

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