My Wild Horse King (The Russian Witch's Curse Book 4)

4. Katerina

Idon’t trust Leonid. Trusting him was the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. But I’ve also learned not to underestimate him. That was the second dumbest thing I ever did.

So when I hear that they’re flying to the United States to warn Kristiana’s older brother of the risk Leonid poses. . .

I’m torn. I want to get away from that lunatic and never look back. I want to run with them as far and as fast as possible. The only thing that might keep me safe from Leonid in the long run is distance. He might decide he wants to take over the whole world, but I’m hoping he’ll be busy with Russia and other nearby countries, at least for a while.

And if this Gustav person never challenges him, maybe he’ll let sleeping dogs sleep.

But Alexei. . .he’s already lost his powers. He has no way to protect himself, no matter where he may run. To make matters worse, he’s gotten confused by this woman, and he thinks he’s in love with her. She’s the trashiest, most irritating and base woman I’ve ever met.

I hate her.

If I’m being honest with myself, my dislike is probably directly proportional to the magnitude of Alexei’s love for her. I’m smart enough to know that, at least, but I still dislike her. And I think if Alexei’s mother were here, she would agree with me. The two of them are a disastrous pairing.

Even so, she’s what he wants.

Above all else, I want Alexei to find the happiness I never have. I want him to have everything his heart desires. He deserves it. He’s only ever done the right thing. He brings joy to everyone around him. He’s Russia’s golden boy in looks and actions.

So I’ve pretty much resolved to run with them—and if he and Miss Trashy go south, well. I’ll be there to pick up the pieces. But after I pack my bag, I leave my room to find out how soon everyone’s leaving. No one’s anywhere to be seen, so I walk outside. The voices I hear in the garden are male, and I don’t try to eavesdrop, but I’ve always been pretty good at it.

I can’t seem to help myself.

“—how long you can go without talking.” It’s Grigoriy.

“Oh, stop,” Alexei says.

My heart jumps, just hearing his voice.

“I’m just saying, for sisters, they aren’t very similar. Mirdza’s so much more reserved. Polite. Calm.”

“Adriana’s passion is one of the things I love most about her.” His words are like a dagger in my heart.

“Not when she’s mad at you,” Grigoriy says. “And I hear she’s really ticked that you ignored her for days and days.”

“I still think she should dump me,” Alexei says. “I’m powerless now. I can’t protect her. I can’t protect anyone.”

If saying he liked Adriana was a dagger, this feels like an evisceration. It’s partially my fault. If I had done something, could I have warned them off? I knew Leonid wanted the water powers most of all. I knew he meant to gain enough leverage to take them. It was all he wanted that night, and he’d have given up most anything to get them.

“You’re still strong,” Grigoriy says.

But even I can hear the lie.

I can’t change the decisions I made in the past. I can’t fix things I broke. But I might be able to convince Leonid to trade information about the man who poses a threat to him in exchange for releasing Alexei’s powers. I know he can do it—he granted my brother and Mikhail their powers back.

So it’s possible.

If I go back to Leonid on my own with useful information on Gustav, it might be enough. He might agree to release Alexei. With his powers back, would he look at me again? Smile at me again?

When he tires of Adriana, when he realizes how wrong for him she is. . .it wouldn’t hurt to be in his good graces. It wouldn’t hurt to be the one who restored him to his former strength and abilities.

But to do that, I have to see Leonid again. After betraying him.

The very idea terrifies me. Leonid can’t be predicted. No one ever has any idea what he’ll do. Normal people can’t comprehend how he’ll react to things. It’s not even entirely his fault. His father was. . .

No one who was raised as he was turns out to be healthy.

Would he even agree to see me? He let me leave. I know he could’ve stopped me from leaving, and I know why he didn’t. I know all his biggest weaknesses, and I know the depths of his strength too. Will he let me back in? And how will he react when I tell him why I’ve come?

It takes me a few hours, and I’m worried I’ll wind up on a plane to New York before I finally get the information I need, but then I hear it.

Gustav’s legal name.

That’s information that Leonid could flail around for weeks and weeks before discovering himself. With this, I’ll be able to generate some goodwill. It’s not easy to escape—there are so many of them that it feels like someone’s always watching—but even Adriana’s distracted during the security line.

And after I duck away, the rest is simple.

Stupid Aleksandr made it simple. He gave me identification and money on my third day with them. He told me that no one should ever feel trapped. And thanks to him, I’m not. I waltz right out of the airport and hail a cab.

It’s shockingly easy to get from the airport to the new czar’s palace. Of course, once I’m outside, I realize how far I am from Leonid’s side. The place is even more heavily guarded than it was before, with external patrols of men with guns making sweeps, and as I sit and watch, I realize there are cameras everywhere.

The cameras are still new to me.

Everyone in this time period is used to them. They’re no big deal to everyone now, but to me, taking exact recordings of everything that happens so you can watch it as many times as you want?

If I had been able to record that first night with Alexei, and if I could replay it over and over, how much would that mean to me? How much would he recall of our time together? Would recordings have made a difference? I think back to the first ball—how surprised my dad was—how beautiful Alexei was—how I cherished that silver and blue ball gown. . . Even a single photo would mean the world to me now. Reliving it in my head just isn’t the same.

A hand grabs the hair at the nape of my neck and yanks backward. “Katerina. I didn’t expect to see you.” It’s Mikhail.

I would know who it was even if his hand wasn’t blisteringly hot. Even if I couldn’t smell the faint whiff of brimstone that always clings to him. No one else has quite the same level of glee in his tone when he’s caught someone unawares. When we were younger, he used to do the same thing with lizards.

“I wish I could say Leonid will be happy to see you, but I’m not sure that’s true. He wasn’t pleased that you left when you did.”

I square my shoulders and send a little zap through my entire body—not a lot, but enough that he drops my hair.

“You’ve always been such a b?—”

“Watch yourself,” I say. “You can’t really go around flaming people in broad daylight, whereas I could fry you like a bug in a zapper and play it off as the effect of a taser.”

“We’re about to go inside where there’s far worse than me, and he’s very unhappy with you.” Mikhail tilts his head. “I don’t have to fry you. I can just sit back and watch what he does.”

“Alright, you two,” Boris steps through the gate. “No more bickering. Leonid heard you’re here.” My older brother really should be on my side, but he never has been. He’s always and forever only on his own side.

“I came here of my own volition,” I say. “I don’t need a police escort.”

“Alexei turned you down again?” Boris asks.

“Lurking around and peering at what kind of security measures are in place is hardly a surrender,” Mikhail says. “Did he really turn you down again?”

“He’s already upgraded.” Boris frowns.

I kick dirt at them so hard that it flies up in their eyes, and then I march past them both.

The guards on this round of patrols were here when I left—they know me. At least, they know enough to be afraid of me. I’m not really proving anything, but it feels nice to be walking in a few steps ahead of idiot one and two. I breeze down the main hall, only having to zap one guard who decides I may not be authorized. He jumps back quickly, which is always a little gratifying, and I continue on my way. But when I reach the throne room, it’s irritatingly empty.

Boris is practically huffing when he catches up to me. A little dirt shouldn’t have set him that far behind, so maybe he’s let himself get out of shape.

“He’s not here.”

“You’ve always had a knack for stating the obvious,” I say. “Just tell me where he is.”

His mouth twists in irritation, but he mutters, “Follow me,” as he turns on his heel and storms out.

I don’t expect to wind up outside, but that’s where we are after I follow Boris down a long hallway I’ve never walked and through the side gate.

In fact, I’m staring at the barn. Leonid didn’t grow up wealthy like we did, and he knows almost nothing about horses. In spite of his best efforts, he’s never been able to shift into his horse form, since he hasn’t mastered all his magical abilities yet. I think that’s why he’s never been too keen on horses. He avoids stables and riding, as a general rule.

This is the last place I expected to see him, but as we walk up, I can’t help noticing what he’s doing.

Blowing things up.

Spectacularly.

And then, more surprisingly, he’s putting them back together. It’s not quite as elegant, but it’s working disturbingly well.

First, he stares intently at a large, round bale of hay. Then he spreads his hands and shoots his fingers outward. The bale of hay explodes, but before the pieces can even flutter to the ground, his hands flex and then come together, and as he tightens them back into a ball shape, the hay sucking back in, the broken pieces knitting together and reforming into a bale. Even the string tightens back down, the threads weaving together and retying.

I’ve never seen anything like it.

“The elements work together, you know,” Leonid says, his eyes still trained on the bale of hay. “All living—and unliving—things have an electric charge, and most living things are made with at least some component of water. Add in fire, and you know, there’s not much I can’t do.” He drops his hands and looks at me. “Not much, but soon, there won’t be anything.”

“I’m not sure,” I say. “The only people who can use wind and earth just left the country.”

Leonid smiles. “It will take me some time to fully master my abilities here. As you know, once I gain a new affinity, I’m wiped out for days.”

I did know. I debated telling the others—they seemed to be struggling to grasp why he let them leave. They had no idea that their departure was exactly what he needed. Had they stayed, he’d have collapsed in front of them. They might have caught him and caged him while he was down.

“I didn’t share your secret,” I say. “Instead, I came here, offering to share one of theirs.”

“But you want something for it.” Leonid sighs. “That’s the problem with you, Katerina. It always has been. You’ve had countless opportunities to be on my side, but you never take it. In your heart of hearts, you’ve always been his.”

We both know who he means. He’s the only man I’ve ever really loved. Even if to Alexei, it was always fake.

To me, it’s always been real, and Leonid has been the only one who saw that. “You won’t be shocked at what I’m here to offer.”

Leonid raises one eyebrow. I find it hard to look at him sometimes. He’s so beautiful, like a work of art, or someone out of a painting. Even when he’s wearing a look of displeasure, his beauty cuts like a knife. “Go ahead.” He waves his hand through the air. “Offer it already.”

“I’m sorry. Did you have a full day of exploding things planned, and I’m interrupting?”

He laughs. It actually makes his face even more unbearably perfect. But it’s not the same kind of beauty that Alexei has. No, Alexei’s like the horse, running through the field. He’s like a shining golden retriever, smiling at the world. Leonid’s beauty is different, deadly—like nightshade, or a blue-ringed octopus. He’s a poison dart frog, or a leopard that’s half-starved. He’s as likely to destroy you while you ogle him as anything I’ve ever seen.

“You know what I’m here to ask for.” I cock my head. “You know what I want.”

“I can’t give you Alexei, even broken though he is. Someone else already wandered along and snatched him up.” He looks as irritated by that as I am.

I scowl.

“Ah. That’s it. You think if you can be the one who fixes him. . .” His smile broadens. “You have never been creative, not a day in your life. Ah, Katerina. You’re so predictable, and just like the dozen other times you’ve sacrificed yourself for him, you could serve him his powers on a silver platter and he still won’t even notice you.”

I set my jaw. “Will you release his powers or not?”

“It doesn’t really matter to me, you know,” Leonid says. “My power is unchanged, whether I release his back to him or refuse.”

“Right,” I say. “Giving them back costs you nothing—you’ll still be the only person who can wield all three powers combined.” I can’t help thinking of the bale of hay—which could be most anything on earth—and shuddering.

“You know that I don’t do things for nothing.” Leonid steps toward me, the angle of his mouth sharp, and the glance in his eyes predatory. “So what are you offering that I need?”

“I—well.”

He steps closer still, and as he draws right up next to me, a chill runs up my spine. “Nothing.” His voice is a bare whisper now. “There is nothing you have, Katerina, that I want.”

“The one person who could ruin your plans, the one person who could take it all away. . .” I swallow.

His eyes go hard. Dead. “You should not bring him up.”

“If his claim has priority. . .”

“She didn’t say it did,” he says. “She said it might.”

“But if it does.” I wait. He must have been thinking about that night, the pleading with Baba Yaga, and how pathetic he was. The trouble, she told us, was that she’s gifted her power to humans twice, and she’s not sure exactly how the magic will interact. . . And if it was Gustav’s family that had supervisory access to all five powers, which it must be since Kristiana’s a null, then they won’t know who draws from the higher point until they go head-to-head.

“You may struggle to believe this,” Leonid says, “but I don’t want to attack him. I hope he stays hidden away, head in the sand, forever.”

“You’re right,” I say. “I don’t believe you.” That’s not something Leonid would ever count on. Nothing in his life has ever gone his way. He’s the kind of person who takes care of problems before they can attack. “I know you’ve been looking for him, but you’ll never find him.”

“Oh?” He drops to his seat next to me then, putting all his weight on the bale of hay he recently reconstructed. “Then you tell me what exactly you’re offering in exchange for the restoration of your boyfriend’s magical powers.”

“He isn’t my boyfriend, as you well know.” I sigh. “But what I’m offering is the information you need to locate and eliminate the threat. I’m offering Gustav’s real name.”

Leonid’s face doesn’t shift a single hair. “His real name.” He snorts. “And you’d give that to me? I doubt Alexei would thank you for it. In his mind, this man is the only one who might restore his magic. No?”

“We both know you’re going to find him eventually. What I’m really offering you is time. You’ll be able to locate him before they can prepare him. You could reach him before they hide him or teach him or. . .”

“You tell me his name, and I can fly to America and explode him into a million tiny pieces. Is that what you’re suggesting?”

“Or something less grotesque, yes.” I can’t help cringing a little.

“His death would be on your hands.” He frowns. “You’re really fine with that?”

“Like I said.” My tone is tight. “He was going to die from the moment he was born. I’m just accelerating the timetable a bit.”

“But think how upset your boyfriend will be when. . .” He stands. “Oh. You don’t want me to restore his powers right now, do you?” He smiles. “You want me to do it. . .when you tell me to do it. You want to take the credit for saving him.”

I shrug. “I mean, it helps you too. Think about it. Alexei has been using the water powers for years and years, taught by his father who was an expert as well. He’s proficient. And with Aleksandr and Grigoriy, they’d make a formidable opponent. But if you can attack now, eliminate their possible trump card, and then return to Russia, leaving Alexei his powers as a show of good faith. . .”

“Then you could claim credit, and you’d be a hero, and you’d be able to keep him away from me to keep him safe.” He shrugs. “It’s not your worst plan.”

“So?”

“I’ll do it,” he says.

I wanted it to work. I thought it might, even. But I’m still a little shocked when it does. I mean, he’s actually saying that he’ll just give Alexei his powers back, and more than that, he’ll let me claim credit for it. A bubbly sort of joy escapes in the form of a giggle-laugh.

“Wow, that was a strange noise,” Leonid says. “Well, you better pay me.”

“The name of the brother is?—”

“Daniel Belmont,” Leonid says, “and he lives in Manhattan. His company’s about to make an initial public offering.”

I freeze. “You already knew.”

He shrugs.

“So you won’t give Alexei his powers?” My heart sinks. How did he already find out? Being the czar of a large country must come with some perks, I suppose, but I hate thinking that he already has this kind of power. “Is he already dead?”

“I said I’d give Alexei his powers back, and I meant it. You were willing to tell me the name. I’ll hold up my end of the bargain.”

“No way,” I say. “You’re not that kind of guy.”

Leonid leans closer to me, his breath brushing warmly over my ear. “You have no idea what kind of guy I am. To you, I’ve always been the wrong guy. I’ve always been a piece on your chessboard, a pawn you didn’t care about. But it doesn’t matter. I’ll do this anyway, because it amuses me.”

“Amuses you?” Now I’m shivering, and it’s not at all cold outside.

He steps backward, retreating down the same path he took toward my side. “Yes.” He holds out his hands. “The idea that every single time your little boyfriend uses his power, he’ll know it’s because I allow it? That his magic exists only because of my generosity? That’s why I’ll do it.” His smile is genuine.

Genuinely irritating.

“But you can take it back at any time.” My voice is too flat. He can tell I’m displeased.

“That’s always been true. For him. For you.” He tilts his head, and I can feel it, like a light switch going off. My power’s gone.

“So that’s the payment, then? I can have my power, or he can have his?”

Leonid shrugs. “Everything has a cost, and what you brought me, I already had.”

“Fine.” My nostrils flare. “Fine. If that’s what you want, you can have my power.”

“Oh, I already do,” he says. “What I’m trying to gauge is how badly you want this for him.”

“I’ll make the trade,” I say.

Before I can storm off, Leonid speaks, and his voice is so calm, so quiet, and so stark that it once again makes me shiver. He’s like this sometimes, like the striking of a viper, like the flick of acid rain, deadly earnest and unforgiving. “And Katerina, if you happen to come in contact with this Gustav when you run back to Alexei?”

I swallow, forcing myself to ask. “Yes?”

“Do your best to keep him in America,” he says. “Because if they advance toward me, if they make a move of any kind to work against me?”

I stay upright, forcing myself to hold his gaze.

“I really will take it personally. And if I have to come after them, if I feel like they’re a threat, I’ll raze them to the ground. That’s a promise.”

I’m not sure, in that moment, what comes over me. I’m not usually the kind of person to yank on a tiger’s tail. I’m certainly not someone who would taunt a cobra. It’s just not how I behave. But I can’t help myself. “What are you doing, Leonid, with all these executions? You may be powerful, but if you let everyone find out you’re a psychopath, they’ll be forced to do something about it.”

He nods slowly. “I’ll keep that in mind. I shouldn’t let anyone else find out the truth about who I am.”

For a split second, it almost feels like I’ve offended him—or stranger, hurt his feelings. But there’s no way. . .Leonid doesn’t really have feelings. Not like a normal person.

“Don’t worry, though, princess. They’re a necessary evil, no more, no less. They’ll be done soon enough, and then things will be much simpler all around, I assure you.”

“I’ll text you when I want Alexei’s powers restored.”

Leonid just nods, but as I’m exiting the palace, one of the guards hands me a phone. “It’s from His Majesty. He said to text or call him from this phone, or he won’t get your message.”

I’m distinctly uneasy as I head back to the airport, again bound for New York City, but not because of Leonid, precisely. No, I’m uneasy because, other than losing my powers, I got what I wanted with almost no sacrifice. Leonid never does something for nothing. Never, ever.

Which means there’s something I’m missing.

And it’s big.

I just can’t figure out what it is.