Page 88 of My Dark Horse Prince

“I have a favor to ask,” I say, keeping my eyes averted.

“Okay.” His voice is deeper than I recall it being.

My hands are shaking, so I press them against my breeches and push until they stop. “I need to beat Brigita at the showjumping World Cup in Riga in seven weeks.” I swallow. “You heard what she wants at the barn.” I exhale forcefully. “And you know what that means, I think?”

I wait, but he doesn’t say anything.

“If we lose, she wins you.”

“Okay.”

“Will you do it?” I turn toward him slowly.

“Do you think I can?”

“Aleks does,” I say. “And more importantly, Kris does.”

“Okay.”

“And you’re already in decent shape.” I can’t help a downward glance at his chest and shoulders, confirming that statement. I feel the heat rising in my cheeks.

“Okay.”

“But you’re the one who’s really risking everything. I mean, if we lose, it would be awkward at the least. Dangerous at the most.” I inhale sharply, now concerned that he’s going to say no. He should say no. “Besides. I’m in terrible shape, and I haven’t done this in a long time. Even if you’re perfect, we could still lose.”

“I’ll do it,” he says, “but I have a condition.”

“A condition?” I turn to face him.

His eyes are wide and sincere. “I can’t live the rest of my life as a horse. And you can’t bear to be around me as a man, but you’re the only one who can change me.”

I notice he doesn’t mention that he misses me. He doesn’t say that he wants to be near me. I’m just his key to freedom. Is that what it was all along? Was the rest all some kind of act?

It doesn’t matter.

“What do you want?”

“I’ll do anything you need, but I get two hours a day as a human.”

“And you stay entirely away from me?”

“No dice,” he says. “I have to be close to you, or I can’t keep you safe.”

Keep me safe? “I’m not in danger here. Aleks is here.” I turn away from him again. Looking at him is hard, but I can’t tell whether it’s because I sort of miss the Grigoriy I knew before, or whether it’s my fear from the Grigoriy he really was underneath that veneer he used around me.

“For now. But he can’t stay here forever. I need to regain my powers and be able to protect you myself.”

Protect me? This is all really confusing. I keep staring at the ground as if it may hold the answer.

My boots are shiny and new, but they don’t help at all. I have to discover my path myself. “I’ll do half an hour.”

He grunts, and I realize he’s going to argue.

“It’s what I can manage,” I say.

“Fine.”

I snap my eyes back toward him, and he’s smiling. “I’d have taken ten minutes.”

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