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Chapter Twenty-Nine

Jasper’s heart was thudding anxiously in his chest as they rode toward the World Tree, where he’d told Lady Leah to meet him. There was a large chance that she wouldn’t bite.

The three gentlemen dismounted, leaving their horses tethered by the gate into the pasture, walking toward the World Tree.

But Jasper didn’t know Lady Leah like he thought he had. She appeared much the same as she usually did, dressed demurely in a pale-peach muslin dress. She wore a simple bonnet, in cream.

Her eyes took in that he was not alone. Her face didn’t reveal what she was thinking. Her mouth was a grim line.

Jasper dismounted, walking over to her, confidently.

“You come accompanied,” she said, clearly not trusting him for a moment.

“No one should be traveling without protection,” Jasper replied, noting that she had come alone— not even her lady’s maid was in sight. This, in itself, was odd. “Especially not me, as I am clearly being targeted.”

She nodded, looking at him with those brown eyes. He could feel the anger and resentment emanating from her.

“You wanted to talk to me?” she asked.

“I wanted to talk with you,” he said.

“Your letter said that you believed yourself to be wrong,” she said, her tone accusatory. She’d spotted the ruse, and yet, she’d still come. “That you want to marry me.”

“I lied,” he replied. “I believe you’ve conspired to have me murdered.”

She smiled, her eyes were cold. There. This was the real Lady Leah. Calculating, mean, angry. “So I have,” she replied. Two masked men in dark clothing come out of the nearby stand of trees, the very same who had attacked him only the day before.

“I thought there were three,” Jasper said, wondering where the third was.

“There are,” Reuben said. As Jasper turned to his brother, Reuben shot Stephen in the shoulder. Stephen crumpled into a heap on the ground. Reuben turned his pistol toward Jasper, keeping it on him as he walked around to stand beside Lady Leah.

“Kill him, My Lord,” Lady Leah urged.

“I have to reload,” Reuben replied, reloading. Jasper pulled his own pistol, aiming for Reuben. He turned when Lady Leah growled, grabbing the pistol from one of the masked men.

“I always have to do everything myself,” she said, cocking it, then aiming it at Jasper.

Jasper didn’t quite know what to do—to shoot a lady? Unthinkable.

* * *

Selina and Thomas and the men of the law who were accompanying them arrived at the World Tree.

“No!” she yelled, as she rode Aphrodite out of the woods, like an avenging warrior queen of old. Leah, clearly surprised, aimed the pistol at Selina, instead. Looking down the barrel of a pistol for the first time in her life, Selina’s mind paused. She was like a scared deer.

Jasper lunged at Leah, knocking the pistol out of the way, just as Leah pulled the trigger.

Selina froze, feeling the air around the bullet hit her cheek as the bullet rushed by her, close—almost too close for comfort. Aphrodite spooked, dancing about.

She exhaled a sigh of relief. Jasper turned to her, his eyes wild with fear. She smiled at him.

“I’m all right,” she assured him. Her fingers clutched at Aphrodite’s reins and mane. “Shh, girl,” she soothed, patting the horse’s sleek neck. The mare tossed her head, exhaling loudly as she calmed.

The men of the law were already surrounding Reuben, who was sulking, and Leah, who was in tears. In all the hustle, the two other men had vanished.

Thomas was eyeing her from his borrowed horse’s back. She nodded to him, assuring him that she was unhurt. He smiled, his eyes were wide, though.

Selina slipped off of Aphrodite, running over to Jasper. They hugged, then he turned toward Lord Sandbourne, who was struggling to sit up. His shoulder was bloody.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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