His Fire Maiden

Chapter 33

Night came quickly and with it an icy wind that cut at the skin. Leland faltered, his thin frame buffeted by the wind. Vivienne 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 Reginald's plans for her. Should Reginald fail to kill Victoria, or himself, he would crave souls with all his being. Loving Vivienne as he did, he would crave hers above all others. Leland would take her away and hide her where Reginald could not find her. The high-handed way in which Reginald had deceived her had Vivienne 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 Vivienne. 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. His pale face wavered like a phantom in the light of the lantern hanging on his pommel. "Because we knew he was simply a man, with weakness and frailties. Who yearned for the same things all of us do—to love and be loved." He glanced at the reins in his hands, then away. "That he should find it after all these years, only to have to give it away with both hands." He shook his head slowly. "It is a little thing to stand by him."

They spoke no more and headed farther into the cold gloom.

By the time Leland called softly to halt, Vivienne's hands were stiff claws on the reins.

"We leave the horses here." He turned down the light and dismounted with a stifled groan. "I cannot stress enough the danger we are in." His eyes were glowing orbs in the starlight that eked through the ancient tree canopy. "Her senses are excellent. Hearing uncanny—"

"Then I suggest," she cut in softly, "that we refrain from speaking any further."

Grimacing, Leland offered a short nod and then took her elbow in hand. Half a mile they crept along, their feet sifting through brittle leaves to find the hard ground Beneath so as not to make a sound. Sweat trickled down her back; her thighs burned under the slow movement.

They headed west, the forest before them no more than shapes of black and gray. Ahead, a black bulk appeared to be a steep hillside. A tiny flicker of orange light announced the opening to a cave.