Page 26 of My Dark Horse Prince

Other people may have wind powers and magical horses and piles of gold. But for me, the biggest magic in my life is this—a chance to fix my leg. It means that, very soon, if I’m lucky, my life might be worth living again.

6

Nothing in my life ever goes this well.

Being fired? Being stabbed on a train and chucked out the window? Those are the types of things I expect to have happen to me.

Even having a horse turn into a man right in front of me feels more likely than having someone offer to pay for an expensive surgery. Magic wands saving the day? It’s just not how my life works. Not ever.

Bad gets worse. Terrible days fall apart. Everything goes into the crapper.

That’s my life.

“Mirdza?” Kris’s brow is furrowed.

“Yeah.” I meet her eyes.

“Are you alright?”

We’re standing in the room she says they just finished remodeling. It’s absolutely beautiful, and it’s peaceful too. I can tell that Kristiana chose all the furnishings and tile and wall colors. Everything is white and blue and bright, just like her. I’m sure she’s wondering whether I’m okay with watching a horse turn into a human.

“I can’t figure something out. Grigoriy says he healed me?” I blink. When I open my mouth, the words barely come out. “How? Because I think I should have died.”

She bites her lip.

“Just tell me. I’ve accepted the rest of this just fine, haven’t I?” I have to. After all, I lived it.

“Aleks can heal people too,” she says. “But it’s strange. It’s linked to their elemental power, and each of their abilities differ a bit.”

“Wait, who’s they?”

She winces. “I mean, if you know about the others, it can’t hurt to tell you there are two more men whom we don’t talk to—they cursed Aleksandr and Grigoriy and Alexei somehow.”

“Where’s Alexei? Relaxing in a nearby mansion?”

Kris smiles. “That would be nice, but no. We aren’t sure where he is. If I’m being honest, before today, I think Aleksandr was starting to give up hope of finding them. It’s been a horrific day and a half for you, but this is the happiest I’ve seen him in a long time.”

“Glad my nightmare has been good for someone.”

Kris pivots on her heel and pulls me against her chest, tightly. “I’m so glad you’re alright. I can’t even imagine how terrifying that must have been.”

“It’s fine.” But tears roll down my cheeks now that I finally feel safe. “To be honest.” I hiccup. “I remember thinking that it would be better to just die than to never get my leg fixed. Even if I had to choose again, I’d still get on that train to come ask you for money.”

“I’m so sorry my phone broke, and I’m sorry such horrible people are out there, controlling the world.” She finally releases me. “I promise, we’ll take care of you from here on out.”

“Violent men are more common than the alternative,” I say. “Sadly.”

“Aleks is a little violent,” Kris says. “Or maybe a lot violent, but not with me.”

I don’t argue with her. I hope it stays that way, but in my experience, violent men are just violent, period. The interchange between Yevginiy and that mother is evidence of that. One of the things she said was that he promised he never hit women. His ridiculous exceptions show how stupid it is to trust that one violent man may be different than the others, at least with regards to you.

“Let’s get you cleaned up.” She points at a bathroom, and I don’t even wait for her help to hobble inside. I nearly cry when I see there’s a tub. Sitting in a shower to clean myself off feels. . .more pathetic somehow, and there’s no way I can balance on one foot and do it all standing. I’d risk slipping in the tub, and with the way my leg is right now, I can’t even contemplate how that would go.

I close the door and start the arduous process of removing my clothes. Every single article of clothing somehow jostles my leg, and each movement causes shooting pains. I sit on the top of the toilet seat and nearly pass out while peeling my filthy pants off.

Yet, my shoulder’s perfect. There’s not even a scab or a mark where I was stabbed. It’s baffling.

“If he could heal me, why didn’t he fix my leg?” I shout.

---