Page 19 of My Dark Horse Prince

“What?” I whisper. “I found my friend, thanks to your help. I’m pretty sure you kept me warm overnight, and then you got me here. You have no idea how grateful I am. But someone owns you, and you need to be a good boy and let Aleks take you to them.” I rub his nose. “Alright?”

He snorts. Loudly.

“I mean it.”

He slides his head up under my shoulder, and I realize that he’s bracing me to help me walk.

Tears well up in my eyes.

No one, other than Kris, has ever helped me. Even my heart horse, who’s amazing, has never really paid enough attention to when I was hurting and tried to lend a hand—er, or a head, as the case may be.

“I’ll be fine,” I whisper. “I swear I will. Kris will help me find a doctor.”

I realized it the moment I said the words aloud—she will do whatever it takes to help me. In fact, my best friend has already opened the passenger side door for me. Her face is earnest, concerned, and attentive.

“I’m sure you called,” she says. “I’m so sorry. My phone broke.”

“She dropped it in the toilet.” Aleks’s lips are twitching again. “She was too preoccupied playing that stupid game.”

“Not Clash of Clans again?” I’m laughing too. “I told you to quit wasting time on that.”

“There was a war attack I had to do, alright? I can’t let my team down.”

“I did try to call,” I say, “but I didn’t want to ask for this kind of help on the phone anyway.” Plus, now I get to see what she’s doing out here. Even though I’m the one begging for help, I can’t stop feeling like she might need me almost as much as I need her. Something about her and Aleks feels. . .strange.

“I’m so sorry. We’ve been so busy I just haven’t had time to go get a new phone yet.”

“I’m unbelievably lucky that you happened to be coming here,” I say. “What are the odds?”

“Actually, the crazed butler from earlier called Aleks,” Kris says.

I’m releasing Grigoriy the stallion to slide into the car, but I freeze. “What?”

“Aleks is the caretaker for this place right now, while its owner is lost.”

“He called Aleks ‘his lordship.’” Maybe that was a stretch, but being a caretaker is still a much better job than a traveling horse trainer. But does it mean that Kris will be stuck here? I selfishly hope not.

“We can talk more later. We’ll see Aleks soon, I’m sure?” She glances his way.

He nods, but he’s too busy staring intently as he approaches the stallion to pay much attention to us.

I slide into the seat and close the door. Kris presses a button to turn over the engine, and the car roars to life. But the second she puts it into gear and starts to drive, my beautiful bay begins to freak out, bucking and rearing and tossing his head like a lunatic. Kris slams on the brakes to avoid hitting him.

Grigoriy’s rearing back and screaming so loudly I can actually hear him over the growling of the engine.

“What’s going on with him?” I ask.

Kris blinks, and then she turns slowly toward me. “I think we’d better not try to leave.” She kills the engine and climbs out. “Aleks, why were you freaking out after the Grade One? When they kept sedating you?”

He freezes, her enormous, beautiful boyfriend. His head turns slowly. “I was panicked.”

I can barely hear him, so I open my door and use the frame to stand up next to the car. “Panicked? Wait. They sedated a person back in Ireland?” What are they saying?

“After the race ended, they dragged me away from you,” he says.

“That’s what I thought.” She claps her hands and raises her voice. “I need all of you to turn and go inside the house, right now. No questions. No peeping out windows. Just go.”

“There aren’t any windows facing us from the house,” Aleks says.

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