an instant. She pulled the sword from its sheath.
“Careful,” Leland warned unnecessarily.
It was an evil-looking thing. The leaf-shaped blade was pure black, made of a metal she could not place. Light coming through the windows caught its edge with a gleam. Frightfully sharp. Her hand wavered. She would plunge this into Archer’s breast. I cannot!
Victoria. Think of her.
“He needed only to use the element of surprise,” she said.
“My dear Lady Archer, you cannot think that you shall take Victoria by surprise.” His white brows touched his hairline. “It is folly. I will not allow it, I say.”
Miranda sheathed the sword and attached it to her belt with the hook on the back of the scabbard. “As I said, Lord Leland, I have not asked for your permission. I shall do this thing.”
He moved to stop her, and her temper broke. “If anyone is to end Archer’s life, it is to be me. If I cannot have him back, I can save his soul, damn you!”
He eased away. “I understand your pain—”
“You do not! Nor do you understand my strength. You see only a helpless female. Why is it, do you think, that Archer hid this from me?”
“To spare you the pain of knowing beforehand,” he said with equanimity.
“No. He hid this from me because he knew I am well capable of facing Victoria, and if I had found out about her, I would have tried to kill her myself.”
“Then he is well-justified in his precaution. The very idea horrifies me.” Leland drew himself up. “If I must protect you from yourself, I will.”
“I do not need your protection. If anything, you need protection from me.” And with that she let the fire free.
Flame from candles and lamps in the room burst from their glass houses with an angry hiss. Leland let out a strangled sound, like that of a man choking upon his soup. “Impossible.”
Her laugh was bitter as she reached for her cloak. “You of all people should understand that all things are possible.” She slipped her arms into her cloak and headed for the door. “We leave now.”
Chapter Thirty-three
Night came quickly and with it an icy wind that cut at the skin. Leland faltered, his thin frame buffeted by the wind. Miranda pulled her horse near and handed him the small lantern she carried. The light was little more than a pinprick of yellow on a dark mantle.
“Let me…” She took his hands, feeling the cold through his fine leather riding gloves. He twitched in surprise but she held tight. Warmth. Heat coursed from her middle and into her palms. Leland gasped as the heat traveled into him. She leaned forward, taking his neck in her hand. Softly, she blew over his face. Heat. The air steamed, hot and strong, and he closed his eyes with a sigh.
When Leland revived, she let him go and set a strong pace once more.
“What is it that you do?” Leland asked after a moment.
They had not spoken since he’d explained Archer’s plans for her. Should Archer fail to kill Victoria, or himself, he would crave souls with all his being. Loving Miranda as he did, he would crave hers above all others. Leland would take her away and hide her where Archer could not find her. The high-handed way in which Archer had deceived her had Miranda seething for a good hour, but it was hardly Leland’s fault.
“I can create fire,” she said as her horse picked its way up a sharp incline. She could not help the beast. She could barely see. They were out of London now, traveling into an ancient forest of oaks and beech trees. “Control it on a whim. So long as there is something to burn.”
“What you did just now, that was not fire.”
His observation hit Miranda. He was correct. What she had done to him was new. And yet she had done it without thought. She’d simply known she could warm him.
“The principle is the same,” she said with hesitation. Was it? “I thought of heat, warmth, and thus it came.”
“Fascinating.”
The silence of the forest pressed in, cut only by the lonely jangle of their horses’ bridles as they ascended the small rise. Boundless darkness stretched out on all sides. Had she been alone, the emptiness would have unnerved her. But she was not alone.
“The others all thought him a monster.” Cold air burned her throat. “Why didn’t you shun him when he returned? You and Cheltenham?”
Leland kept his eyes on the road ahead.