28. Gustav
Three weeks ago, if someone earnestly told me that they believed a human could transform into a horse, I would’ve laughed until I cried. Two weeks ago, the only thing I cared about was the success of my IPO on Trifecta, the company I built myself.
Two hours ago, I had resigned myself to the loss of my company, and I had shelved my dream of inheriting my grandparents’ empire. Being a Liepa—something I’d always half-despised—had taken over everything, and I knew that humans could turn into horses. In fact, I was falling for a human-horse myself.
I wouldn’t have bet a single farthing on the odds of my maternal grandfather tracking down my father’s Latvian relatives and locating me. But the one thing that even five minutes ago I felt was an utter impossibility was my grandfather wanting anything to do with me in light of my utter abandonment of what I’d spent the past decade building.
“I knew it would happen at some point, son.” My grandfather sighs heavily and drops a wrinkled, gnarled hand on my shoulder. “It’s in your blood, as much as I hoped it wasn’t, and I can’t blame you for my daughter’s mistake.”
Katerina has frozen like a baby deer facing an LED cannon.
“I’ve known about this old woman for longer than you’ve been alive, but I didn’t figure you’d ever come all the way out here. In spite of my best efforts, I can’t fathom why you’re sticking around. But I waited, and you didn’t come back on your own.”
I lift my chin. “I’m not sure why you’re here,” I say. “But?—”
“I’m here because there’s no way I was ever going to hand my company over to that moron cousin of yours. I only used him to motivate you, Daniel. My birthday’s in three days, and I want you to come home so I can announce that I’ve chosen you.”
It’s everything I ever wanted.
It’s what I thought I lost when Grigoriy dragged me out of that lobby and Grandfather called to berate me for ruining the Black Rock meeting.
It’s the gold ring I’ve been doggedly pursuing my entire adult life.
Only, now that it’s here, being dangled right in front of me, I realize that it’s not gold after all. It’s barely brass, the kind that turns your whole finger green. The kind I should throw in the trash without a backward glance.
Even so, I can’t help considering it, at least for a moment. With the kind of resources he’s offering me, I could travel indefinitely. I could keep moving as long and as far as I wanted. I wouldn’t be the czar of a powerful country or anything, but I might actually have more power and more reach than Leonid does.
I’d be free to move or travel anywhere I liked.
If Katerina would come with me, I could walk away from all this. Without fearing that I’m training, who knows? Maybe Leonid would let it all go. Perhaps, if he saw me living my best life, running a huge company, he’d see that I posed no threat to him. One of the few regions Grandfather has steered far away from is the Slavic countries. Nothing related to my father in any way was of interest to him. Unless Leonid saw my taking Katerina as some kind of threat, taking Grandfather up on his offer might solve all our problems. And I could actually protect Kat as I’ve longed to do.
“You’d be a Belmont in all the ways you always wanted,” Grandfather says.
And that’s the heart of it.
For more than ten years now, he’s been dangling that over my head. My father’s flawed. He’s weak. He’s greedy. He succumbs to his weaknesses over and over, and no matter how badly we needed him, his children were never a priority in his life.
But he always loved us.
His love was never contingent on our behavior, or our performance, or something as pedantic as having the right name. For eleven and a half years, Grandfather has known that his grandchild was waiting and desperately hoping for his approval. He knew it was all I really wanted, all I longed for.
And he withheld it to make me keep dancing.
Only now that I’ve slipped the leash is he finally offering me what I’ve longed for. Now that it serves him, he’ll hand me the carrot I’ve been chasing.
But I see it now. I see what he’s doing and who he is, and I won’t be satisfied with it, not anymore.
I want more.
And I can’t abandon Kristiana—never again.
No matter what Leonid decides to do with me, whether he might leave me alone or not, I doubt he’ll simply walk away from my sister and her defiant husband. I doubt he’ll leave Grigoriy alone, or my old family friend Mirdza.
I can’t see the light in my own countenance, but I can imagine what it would look like if I were to smile at my grandfather, thank him for his offer, and return to New York City to kiss his ring at that party.
“No.” I shake my head. “I agree with you that Prescott Belmont is a complete disaster, but I’m afraid I’ll have to wish you good luck with him.”
“You—what?”
“I waited a long time, desperate for you to say that I was competent and that you wanted me around,” I say. “But now that you’re here, still not quite saying all of that, but offering me what I wanted, I find that. . .” I spread my hands. “It’s not what I want anymore.”
Grandfather splutters.
“It’s not that your company isn’t amazing. It is. You’re an excellent businessman with an eye for things that will take off and make loads of money. You’re also a decent judge of character in a lot of ways, but you care about all the wrong things.”
“I suppose,” Katerina says, “that being an excellent CEO may not make someone the very best grandfather.”
“Who’s this?” Grandfather points.
“My girlfriend,” I say. “Katerina Yurovsky.”
“She’s Russian?” Grandfather closes his eyes. “I should’ve known. And let me guess—she’s the reason you just disappeared like that? She’s gotten herself in some kind of trouble?” He glances down at her stomach, tilting his head sideways.
“She’s not pregnant,” I say.
“Be sure it’s yours,” he says. “They have tests for that these days.”
Katerina laughs. “It’s not anyone’s. I’m not pregnant.”
“That’s a relief.” Grandfather turns back to me. “I mean all of it. I’ll put it in writing now.” He waves his hand behind him, clearly gesturing at the Chief Counsel for Belmont Group. “Bring the shares.”
“You’re really not listening,” I say.
“No.” He slams his hand down on the table. “You’re not listening.”
“Sir.” Tiny, ephemeral little Emery sidles past my large and overbearing grandfather and presses one hand against his chest. “I’m going to have to ask you to back up, and then I’m going to insist that you leave.” She huffs. “Please.”
My jaw hits the tiled floor.
“Who are you?” Grandfather’s scowl could practically peel the old wallpaper off the walls. I’m actually nervous for the little girl who just intervened on my behalf.
“I’m the waitress for these two.” She points at Katerina and me. “And as their waitress, I’m responsible for them having a nice meal.” She leans a little closer and drops her voice. “Actually, my compensation relies on them having a good meal. Tips, am I right?” She sighs. “And you’re just ruining everyone’s night with your ‘listen here’ routine.”
“Get out of the way, little girl.” Grandfather frowns.
“When I was living back in New York City, I survived a year of junior high at a private, all girls institution.” She raises her eyebrows meaningfully. “My freshman year in high school, I helped the horse doc break a mustang. That mustang is now my barrel horse.” She drops one hand on her hip. “You don’t scare me, old man. You’re one tongue-lashing away from a heart attack. So, push me.” She steps closer, her eyes flashing. “I dare you.” She hisses. “Did I mention I know the sheriff? Because my great-uncle is always watching the Tonight Show right now, and he would be really annoyed if I had to call him down here because a non-customer was being belligerent in my place of business.”
Grandfather swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
In all my life, I’ve never seen anyone shut Grandfather down—never. But watching a hundred-pound girl do it, well. The Birch Creek people are made a little different. It takes a few moments after Grandfather leaves for me to stop trembling.
The huge slices of apple pie Emery brings over do help. “On the house,” she says. “I had a nasty father, you know. They only respond to bullies.”
I tip Emery quite well, but on the way home, Katerina asks me a question. An obvious question. “Will your grandfather’s appearance bring Leonid here?”
I’m so stupid that it’s only occurring to me now.
Of course it will.
He knew my name was Daniel Belmont, and my grandfather may not be quite as high profile as the newly elected czar of Russia, but he’s noteworthy. And there’s no way he’s not using credit cards.
My arrogant, irritating grandfather just blew our cover.
I think about our options the whole way home, but all this stupid drama ruined our date. That might make me the angriest of all. That, and leaving this tiny town that I’d never even heard of before we came. I’m even sad to leave the cantankerous old woman who shut the door in our face when we first arrived.
But when we reach Steve and Abigail’s house, I know what we need to do. I cut the engine and turn to face my gorgeous girlfriend. “I’m going to use all three powers at once,” I say. “Or you know, I’m going to try.”
“What?” Katerina grabs my hand. “You can’t do that. Just getting one new one is awful enough, but three?”
“Then you guys are going to do what I said. You’re going to drive me around and around, taking turns sleeping and driving, until I wake up. Once that happens, I can learn to use those powers as we travel—stopping in empty fields or wherever we can to practice, staying ahead of Leonid. Once I’m competent, we’ll stop and let him find us.”
“Gustav,” she says. “I don’t like this plan at all.”
“Who knows?” I ask. “Maybe when I take the other powers, I can stop Leonid from using them.”
“Have you been able to stop Grigoriy or Aleks?” She frowns. “I feel like I’d have heard about that.”
I shake my head. “Not so far, but maybe once I have control of all five, I’ll be able to.”
“Gustav,” she says. “Let’s talk to everyone about this. We can come up with a real plan.”
But we’ve done enough talking. The one who has to do this is me, and I’d rather sleep as long as it takes in one fell swoop than slowly trying to integrate everything one after the other. “The hardest part was learning to use the powers together. I may as well work on all five at once.”
Before she can argue further, I look at the cozy little house up ahead. The people who live here have done way more than they should have to help. We owe it to them to get out of here before things worsen.
“I’ve made up my mind,” I say.
“Alright.” Just like that, she stops arguing. She nods. “Tell me what I can do to help.”
“I adore you,” I say. “In case something goes wrong, I want to say that.”
“I love you,” she says. “I know it sounds stupid, because you don’t know me that well yet, but?—”
I kiss her.
It is dumb, for both of us.
I’ve known her for all of two weeks, and I disliked her quite a bit at first. But we’ve been through a lot, and I refuse to believe that bonds formed under stress are less real than those that are formed over bowls of ice cream and games of Uno. I think what I feel for her is honest, true, and valuable. “Thank you,” I say. “For believing in me. For supporting me.”
“Thanks for saving me from that marauding tractor,” she says.
I kiss her again, and then I force myself to release her and climb out of the car. “Three at once.” I inhale slowly. “Usually after just one, I’m really tired. Pushing past it for a short time is already hard.”
“Maybe it’ll help to focus on the things you’re embracing,” she says. “So look at that porch light. It beckons to me, you know. I can feel it, the electricity flickering through the wires. Those electrons, banging around. I know what it is now—I’ve spent more time doing internet research on lightning than anything else since waking up. Humans have figured out a lot.”
A fly lands on my neck, and before I can slap at it, I decide to try something else. I focus on it, and I think about my forehead, and I imagine the energy balling up there, and then I try to punch through with that power as hard as I can, and I zap it.
It actually works.
The little bugger falls to the ground, dead. I’m a human bug zapper.
“I felt that.” Katerina’s voice is small and her eyes are round. “Like, a ripple in my connection. If I were asleep, I might have missed it, though.”
“Should we wait for the middle of the night, then?”
She shrugs. “No way to know when he’ll be distracted.”
“I’ll forge ahead, then.” I don’t see any fire anywhere, however.
“Hang on,” Katerina says. “I’ll grab some matches.”
She darts into the house, probably thinking she can get in and out without someone stopping her. I’m not entirely sure. I’m also not sure how matches will help me, per se, since I’m supposed to be able to make the fire. I’m pretty tired, though, maybe from my new power, or perhaps because I spent so long working with both wind and earth today. I collapse on the porch swing while I wait for her to conserve what little energy I have. When she shoots back out, she’s peering over her shoulder like a mouse darting away from a barn cat.
“What?”
She presses a finger to her lips and shakes her head.
Once she’s closer, she whispers, “They’re talking about us in there.”
“Kat, the free world’s fate is in our hands. I’ve just forced my ability to use lightning, and Leonid may now be able to find us. I hardly think?—”
“They’re placing bets on how long we’ll date.” She’s fuming.
“Did anyone bet on all the way?”
She freezes then, looking up at me. “All the way?” She arches one eyebrow. “What does that mean, exactly?”
What could it mean? “That we’d stay together forever—get married?”
She inhales sharply, her mouth still slightly open. “Oh.”
“No?” I shake my head. “Those idiots?—”
But something drops down from the eaves above, zooming lower and lower, drawing near to Kat’s head. I’m not sure what it is—a spider? A bee? Without thinking, without preparation, I wave my hand and fling it away with air, and then I incinerate it with a bright flash of fire.
“What was that?” Katerina’s mouth gapes open. “You did it. You used a second power.”
“That spider was huge.” I yawn. “I think it was a spider. Did you see it?”
“A spider?” She shakes her head. “No, but I’m glad you got it away from me. I’m definitely not a fan, and that makes two bugs that have helped you tonight. I’m beginning to think all you needed all along was some insects.”
“It’s just water left.” I sit on the porch swing, my eyes heavy, my limbs trembling. “But I’m not sure I can do it. I’m tired, and my head’s already pounding.”
“You have to,” she says. “We’ll drive you around until you wake up, but it’d be better if you could get them all at once. Way easier than having a whole extra blackout period.”
“But water?” I shrug, closing my eyes and leaning against the side of the swing. “I don’t even feel anything vaguely resembling that.”
Katerina grabs my shoulder and shoves me. “Look. Gustav! Look!”
It’s hard to force my eyes open—I’m so, so tired, but when I do, I sit straight up on the swing.
That stupid flaming spider set a pile of leaves ablaze, and now there’s a robustly burning pile of detritus right next to Steve and Abigail’s home.
My head’s pounding like someone’s inside my skull with a jackhammer, and my eyes feel weighted with trains, pulling, pulling, pulling them down. But I can’t very well pass out while our new friends’ house is about to burn to the ground. I clench my fists, I grit my teeth, and I focus as hard as I can.
Nothing happens.
The flames spread, hopping to the base of the porch.
Someone in the house notices, and people start to pour out of the front door. They’re screaming. Someone’s saying something about a fire extinguisher, and I know they have some kind of hose. It’ll be fine, right?
It’s fine. They’ll get it put out.
Katerina stands up and backs toward the fire. “You have to save me,” she shouts. “Gustav! Help!”
I can barely see straight—there are definitely two of Katerina, but I can’t just let her walk into the fire. I have to do something. When I focus on the fire and trying to put it out, my hands burn. I’m sure there’s something I could do, something that would. . .
“Water,” Katerina’s shouting. “I need water, Gustav.”
Darkness clouds my vision, but her face is bright and crisp. Water. She needs water. I can sense it, vaguely, all around me. On leaves. In the ground. In the air.
That’s when I realize that, unlike the flame, water can’t be manifested from nothing. It can’t just take over with one greedy spark. It has to be amalgamated from the tiny specks of water that exist all around me. Once I realize that, it’s easy. So much easier.
I reach out, like Aleks taught me with earth, and I feel for the water that’s close. That’s when I feel the Birch Creek, the tiny but fierce creek that runs along the back of the property line, and I pull. I stream that water toward the blaze right behind Katerina, lighting her entire silhouette up so that it’s red as flame, just like her gorgeous hair.
Her face relaxes, and the fire winks out, just as I lose my focus and the whole world goes dark.