Page 76 of Savage Reins
Mira swallows hard. "The numbers. I switched them before the race. Rusalka ran under Thunder's Shadow's number."
The confession guts me. She fixed the race under my nose and I never saw it? "You did what?"
"Renat, please." Her gray-blue eyes are desperate. "Rusalka had it. She had everything it took to win. We just… we fixed the race incorrectly."
"Fixed the fucking race, you little cunt," Dima snarls.
"Thunder's Shadow was favored but…." Mira turns to face him. "Rusalka was faster, stronger, better trained. But nobody would bet on her because she wasn't the favorite. So I made her the favorite."
"By lying." Vadim's voice cuts through the tension. "By making us all accomplices to fraud."
"By ensuring the right horse won the race." Mira's jaw tightens. "The horse that crossed the finish line first earned that victory."
"It looked to me like Thunder's Shadow took that victory… And the entire audience saw it too." Lev's voice is ice. "You're telling me you want me to believe your little mare is wearing a fake number, that you fooled the entire commission?"
"I saved my life." The words tear from Mira's throat. "And I saved the ranch. The debt called for the winning horse. That horse won even if it was the wrong number."
"That number," Alexei growls, "wasn't the number assigned to your horse. She's worthless to us. She came in third in the eyes of the world."
"My horse isn't worthless. She proved that today."
The tension in the room coils tighter. Dima has his gun trained on me while Lev circles closer to Mira. She doesn't back down, doesn't flinch, even as three dangerous men close in around her.
"Why?" I have to ask. Have to understand. "Why would you risk this? Do you understand you could face prison time for this fraud?"
Mira's eyes find mine. "Because I was terrified she would fail. Terrified she wasn't ready. If Rusalka ran under her own number and lost, you'd kill me. So I gave her Thunder's Shadow's number and him hers. I thought he would win. He was favored. When the race was over, the right number would win and the debt would be settled."
"The debt," Lev says quietly, "required an honest victory. Not a shell game."
"The victory was honest. Rusalka earned every stride of that race. You saw her run, you just thought it was Thunder's Shadow."
"I saw her run under a lie." Dima moves closer to her. "You made us look weak. Made us look like fools who got beaten by nobodies."
"You didn't get beaten. Your horse won."
"Our horse wearing a bad number." His hand moves to his gun. "That's not the same thing."
I watch Mira's face as the weight of her situation settles in. Three armed men surrounding her, all of them wanting blood.Dima's weapon still aimed at my chest. No way out that doesn't end in violence.
"There has to be another way to resolve this." I keep my voice steady. If what Mira is saying is true, the commission will sort it out. And Rolan will back her up. I will make him.
"There is." Vadim's smile is cold. "The way I already told you."
"No," I growl. "There has to be another way."
"The only way," Lev interrupts, "involves the girl paying for her deception."
"What deception?" Mira's voice rises. "I told you the truth. Rusalka won because she was the better horse."
"You lied about which horse was which." Lev pulls his weapon. "That's fraud, girl."
The gun appears in his hand smooth as silk. He presses the barrel against Mira's temple. She goes rigid, but her eyes stay locked on mine.
"Stop." I take a step forward. Dima's gun swings to track me.
"Stay back, cousin. This doesn't concern you anymore." Vadim's warning is nothing to me.
"The hell it doesn't." I draw my own weapon, aim it at Lev's chest. "Lower your gun."
