Page 18 of Depraved Royals

I’ll be associated forever with this disaster, and the art community is superstitious. It was hard enough to be judged on my merits without giving people another excuse to turn away from me.

I squeeze my eyes closed again, a fresh wave of pain in my head. Kal lays me down, his jacket underneath me. My body feels stiff, and I shiver.

A firefighter appears at my side.

“Shit,” he says, touching my face. “That was close.” He turns to Kal. “You need an ambulance here, buddy. She looks like she’ll be okay, but you gotta get her looked over.”

Kal’s voice is edged with steel. “You could have said all that without putting your hands on her. Now back the fuck off.”

“Okay, you got it.” The firefighter raises his hands and moves away.

Kal turns back to me. “So, Dani. Do I have to be there every time you get in trouble?”

I don’t have time to respond. A man’s voice is yelling.

“Mikhail Antonov,” he shouts. “Get the fuck away from my daughter.”

Kal stands up quickly. From the look on his face, I guess he’s realized who is approaching us.

I knew from the moment I heard his voice.

Papa.

* * *

My father is right there, my mother and sister in tow. He was probably expecting to find me dead or on my way to the hospital.

Papa squares up to Kal and shoves him in the chest. Brutus, my father’s bodyguard, pulls out his gun and jams it against Kal’s temple.

“Woah,” Kal says, taking a large step back. “Calm down, old man.”

Papa takes in Kal’s singed jacket and soot-covered face. He turns away and bends down to me as I sit up on my knees.

“Dorogaya, what happened? Tell me.”

I cough hard, spitting out a mouthful of black gunge.

I’m starting to come around now, and I know I need to mind my words. Because until I work out what the hell is going on, it won’t do any good for my father to find out that this isn’t the first time Kal Antonov has saved me.

“He came in and carried me out of the fire. I passed out on the upstairs landing.” I frown. “Wait. How did you get here so quickly, anyway?”

It takes Papa too long to answer, and he looks away, catching Mama’s eye.

“Oh, Isee. Someone was spying on me. After you said you’d leave me be today, you sent your people to watch me?”

“Well, was I so wrong?” Papa snaps. “Look at this!” He waves his hand at the burning building. “You could have been a charred corpse!”

My father stands up and faces Kal. “And as foryou—”

“As for mewhat, Fyodor?” Kal says. He doesn’t react at all to Brutus’s gun, but instead, he’s focused on my father. “I ran in there and saved your daughter. Whatever you think of me, that’s a fact.”

“You bastard Antonovs aren’t welcome within a million miles of my family or me,” Papa says, jabbing his finger in Kal’s face.“Youknowthat. So why are you here?”

I’m interested in the answer to this question too.

Kal sighs and places a hand on his chest as though he’s swearing to something.

“I left my family, Fyodor. I want nothing to do with them anymore.”