“Oh, I’m pretty sure he does.” Her mind flashed to the feel of Lucian’s mouth kissing its way down her throat and the feel of his hand...
Jake didn’t seem to notice that her mind had wandered for a moment. “You know what they say, better to have loved and lost than to never—”
“Don’t give me that bullshit, Jake. I didn’t ask for cliché platitudes.” She took another drag and shot him a disgusted look.
“It isn’t bullshit.” He glared back at her.
“Oh really, and you would know this because?”
Jake’s face softened and sadness crept into his eyes. “Because I had a life before I ended up like this. I had a fiancé once and I loved her with everything I had.”
“You had a fiancé?” Morgan stared at him. Sirens blared as an ambulance and a couple of police cars charged down the street at the mouth of the alley. When they had moved far enough away the noise became part of the background she asked, “What happened?”
“She was killed during a robbery of a convenience store.” He stared at the ground as he took another drag and let it out. “It tore my heart out. Emily,” he smiled as he said the name. “She was so beautiful and sweet. The nicest person I ever knew. She didn’t deserve the broken man she got back when I returned. I almost blew my head off the first time I realized the bruises were from me. She tried to help me, she truly did. When she died, what little I had together fell apart. I attempted suicide. As you can see, it didn’t work.”
He felt into his hair and then separated the stringy strands until she could see the scalp a couple of inches above his ear. The scar of a bullet hole was easily visible. Jake let his hands drop. “There’s a matching one on the other side. I was too drunk to do it right. And somehow the stupid bullet went straight through my head with minimal damage. The doctors thought it was a fucking miracle. Personally, I think it was God’s practical joke. Either way, I guess I still had something do here.”
Jake looked at her then, his gray eyes warm. “I think that thing was you. Let’s face it; if I had succeeded, then you would probably be dead by now.”
Morgan crushed out her cigarette and lit another, using the moment to collect her thoughts. Jake had never opened up like this before and his story was just as tragic as hers if not more so. At least she had known her real parents, had known the love of a family and home. Taken from drug-addicted parents at the age of four due to neglect, Jake had spent the rest of his childhood bouncing from one foster home to another.
“The fact that it tore you apart when she died and you tried to kill yourself doesn’t bode well for love,” she finally said.
He chuckled and ground out his cigarette. “The point is, no matter how much it hurt, no matter that I tried to kill myself, I wouldn’t give up the memories I have from my time with Emily for anything. If an angel came down and offered me the chance to do it over again, I would in a heartbeat.”
Morgan raised an eyebrow. “Even knowing how it would turn out?”
“Absolutely. Being with Emily,” he paused and cleared his throat, the sheen of unshed tears in his eyes, “it was an experience worth having, memories worth keeping.”
Morgan took a drag as Jake lit another cigarette. They sat in silence until their cigarettes were spent. Morgan played with her lighter, flicking the flame on and then letting it go out over and over. “So you think I should give this Lucian thing a chance, huh?”
“I do. Just my thoughts. Do whatever you got to do, Morgs and know that I’ll always be here if you need me.”
He stood as Morgan got to her feet. She hesitated, then reached out and gave him a hug. Jake was one of the only people she was comfortable having in her personal space. And now it appeared, so was Lucian. Jake hugged her back.
“I guess I should head back, Lucian is probably wondering where I am and thinking I’m nuts.”
“Why is that?” Jake dropped his arms and stepped back.
“We, um…kissed,” that was an understatement, “and I kind of freaked out and ran out the door.”
Jake laughed. “Well, if he’s going hang around you, he’d better get used to a little craziness.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. The locket suddenly burned cold. A deep, sharp pain shot through the middle of her chest. Morgan placed her hand over her heart and tried to draw a breath around the sudden ache. “Unnggh.”
“Morgan?”
Jake’s face swam across her wavering vision as the pain increased. Black crept around the edges and then she stared up at the red eyes of a demon as its claws dug into her chest.
LUCIAN SAT ON the couch with his head in his hands. The smell of cooling Chinese food filled the house. Lucy lay at his feet. She gazed at him with steady brown eyes. A low whine issued from her throat and Lucian dropped a hand to scratch behind her ears. “I don’t know where she went, girl. And honestly, I’m afraid to call her.”
The dog pricked her ears.
“Yes, you heard that right. Big bad Lucian is afraid of a woman. Afraid she may run and never return and scared as hell that she will return.” He rubbed his other hand over his face. “How could I screw this up so badly?”
Lucy wagged her stubby tail slowly and whined again.
“I know. I’m an idiot.” He continued to pet her.
Suddenly Lucy sat up with a growl that turned into deep barks. Her barks filled the living room as his phone began to ring. “Lucy, quiet!”
Lucy subsided but still continued to growl.
He grabbed the phone. Morgan’s number. With a sigh of relief, he tapped the screen prepared to apologize, to promise it would never happen again, even if he wasn’t sure he would be able to keep it, to convince her to come back. What he wasn’t prepared for was Jake’s voice on the other end.
“Hey, this is Jake from the soup kitchen. Something’s wrong with Morgan.”
“Where are you?” While Jake relayed the information, Lucian stood and walked quickly through the house to the sliding glass door.
Jake’s voice filtered through the phone as Lucian stepped onto the patio and unfurled his wings. “I don’t know what happened. One minute we were talking and the next she went down like a sack of bricks and clutching her chest. Her pulse is fast and erratic and her color isn’t good, I wasn’t sure who to call first you or 911.”
“I’m already on my way.” Lucian streaked toward the alley where Jake said they were. Power pulsed in him, rippling along his body and ensuring his flight remained invisible to humans.
A strangled cough echoed through the connection followed by the sound of desperate gasps. Jake’s voice, still remarkably calm filled Lucian’s ear, “Easy Morgs, just lay still.”
Lucian landed in the alley a moment later, ending the call and shoving the phone in his back pocket. His stomach twisted. She lay on her back, wide hazel eyes panicked as she grasped Jake’s arm with one hand.
Ignoring Jake’s incredulous look, Lucian folded his wings and strode the few steps to them and knelt next to her. “Morgan? Can you hear me?”
Her face, washed of color, turned toward him and her voice was a cracked whisper, “Get it off me!”
“Get what off you?” Lucian’s gaze raked over her trying to find something out of place. His heart thudded painfully. Desperate, he reached for his power to heal. It didn’t come.
Jake leaned over her so that he could look her in the eyes and said slow and clear, “Morgs, you aren’t making sense. What do you want us to get off you?”
She sucked in a breath and then another, pain tightened her eyes and she clutched weakly at her chest again as a groan escaped her lips. Another sharp breath and she gasped out, “Locket…get it off!”
Lucian snatched the locket and yanked it, breaking the chain. Morgan’s back arched as an agonized cry was wrenched from her and then she went limp, eyes closed.
“Morgs.” Jake felt at the base of her jaw then unzipped his duffle and tore through it, turning back to Morgan a second later. He thumbed back her lids an
d shined a small flashlight into her eyes. With a sigh he sat back. “Her pupils are reacting normal.”
Lucian looked from Morgan’s still form to the locket in his palm, confused. It could be worried about later. Stuffing the locket into the front pocket of his jeans, he took her wrist between his fingers. “Her pulse is steady.”
“What the hell? A locket does that to her?” Jake frowned at Lucian.
“I don’t have any answers for you right now.” Lucian looked down at Morgan, his gaze taking in every feature of her face. He cared more for her than he had ever cared for anyone in all of his lives. Whether he wanted it or not, there was no denying that, deep in his soul, it felt like a piece of him that had always been missing had been found in her.
Now that she appeared to be out of danger, uncertainty settled over Lucian. What was he going to do with her? She had obviously run to Jake for a reason. Should he leave her with him now? Would it cause further problems if he took her back to his house?
Lucian looked back at Jake. “You were remarkably calm during that.”
“Not my first rodeo with injured and possibly dying friends. I learned during it is not the time to fall apart, there’s always time for that later.” Jake studied him for a moment, his eyes flicking to the black wings loosely folded back. “I knew there was something different about you guys. Didn’t expect that, though.”
“You guys?” Lucian frowned.
“You, Damien, and that Arabrim.” Jake glanced at Morgan. “She certainly knows how to keep a secret, which by good fortune, so do I.”
Lucian nodded, knowing well that Jake wouldn’t give up the information, even if someone would believe him. “And for that, I thank you.”
“So…” Jake cleared his throat. “Does Morgan sprout wings, too?”
“No,” Lucian chuckled then sighed as he looked down at Morgan. “What am I going to do with her now?”
“She was getting ready to come back to you, if that helps any.”
A sigh of relief escaped him and he scooped her limp body into his arms. “I can’t thank you enough, Jake. For being here for her and for calling me.”
“Morgan and I have been friends for a while. I was there for her when she first hit the streets. There when they hauled her back in a cop car and there when she finally escaped that bastard of a foster-father.”
“She told you what happened?” Lucian frowned. It bothered him that she hadn’t been able to fully discuss her past with him. That she didn’t seem to trust him enough yet.
Jake shook his head. “She didn’t have to. It was me she sought out after she ran away that last time. She would never talk about it, but there was no denying the fact she couldn’t see out of one black eye, that she could barely talk around the swelling in her face. No way to miss the damn bruises all over her body. It was me who took care of her that week when she couldn’t take care of herself.” Anger at the memories showed in Jake’s eyes and expression. “She healed quick. Faster than I’ve ever seen anyone heal. It’s when I knew that she was somehow different. I don’t know how, and she doesn’t want me to know and that’s okay.”
Jake sighed and glanced at Morgan with affection. “You’ll be good for her. If you’re not, I don’t give a shit what you are, I’ll hunt your ass down. She’s been through enough without it being added to.”
Lucian’s grip tightened around Morgan and it took a moment to quiet the rage that flashed through him at the thought of someone beating her. He met Jake’s eyes. “Duly noted, though I assure you, it won’t ever be something you have to make good on.”
“Just so long as I don’t.” Jake reached for his duffle and hoisted it over one shoulder.
Just leaving Jake there after everything he’d done for Morgan seemed so wrong. “Would you like to join her at my place?”
Startled, Jake stared for a moment and then chuckled. “Don’t worry about me, man. I’ll be just fine out here. You just get Morgan back and keep her safe from whatever the hell is going on.”
Lucian watched Jake leave the alley before spreading his wings and taking to the air with Morgan clasped securely in his arms.
MORGAN WOKE SLOWLY, so comfortable she didn’t want to move, it felt like she lay among warm clouds. A ghost of an ache washed through her chest and was gone. She brought her hand up to her face and rolled over as she opened her eyes.
The four posts of the bed rose around her. That explained the cloud sensation. She was right, this thing was so comfortable it could drag the worst of insomniacs kicking and screaming into a deep sleep.
After a long, slow stretch, Morgan tried to remember how she’d ended up in the bed. She’d never even sat on it before, choosing to sleep sitting on the floor next to the dresser every night since her arrival. Now, as she lay in the warm, soft comfort, she tried to piece together the events that led to her sleeping in the huge bed.
She remembered hugging Jake and getting ready to head back to Lucian. Remembered the pain in her chest. Things got pretty fuzzy after that. The locket! Morgan bolted up in the bed, her gaze sweeping the room. It lay on top of the chest of drawers, its dull and scarred surface at odds with the polished wood beneath it. What the hell was wrong with it?
After shooting the locket a glare, she glanced around the room trying to pull her thoughts together. A small object on the nightstand drew her attention. A tiny figurine of Rainbow Dash no more than a half-inch tall stood rearing up on its hind legs.
A smile pulled at the corners of her mouth as she reached over and picked it up. Not made of glass or anything else breakable, it was clearly from the toy department of some store. Morgan tried to picture the nearly seven foot Thor-like Lucian in the pink isle of toys trying to find Rainbow Dash. The image made her heart melt in warmth. When had anyone ever known her well enough to pick out something like this? Or cared enough? And how the hell was she going to keep him at a distance when he did things like this?
She pulled back the covers and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. The air against her bare legs drew attention to the fact she was dressed only in her t-shirt. Her jeans lay folded at the foot of the bed. Had Lucian been the one to take them off? She considered that for a moment, trying to decide how she felt about it. When she couldn’t come to any conclusion, she gave up and slid out of the bed.
Her body felt strangely weak as she padded across the thick, plush carpet in her bare feet. Snatching fresh jeans and underwear from her drawers, she pulled them on and tucked the tiny Rainbow Dash into her front pocket then grabbed her cigarettes and lighter from the top of the nightstand before leaving the room. Lucian wasn’t anywhere to be seen when she arrived in the dining and kitchen area. A quick exploration of the main level found it empty of life save for her.
Barking drew her to the sliding glass door. Lucy dashed along the back fence, her stubby tail wagging furiously, as a squirrel darted along the top of the fence before scampering up a tree. Morgan stepped through the door, sliding it shut behind her. She lit a cigarette to the tune of the squirrel’s scolding tone as it chattered at the dog from the safety of the branches.
Lucy abandoned the squirrel long enough to bound over to Morgan for a few scratches and pets then returned to pacing the fence as if a way to fly into the tree after the squirrel would reveal itself if she just searched long enough.
Morgan crossed the patio and settled into one of the chairs. It was a relief to sit. She took a long drag and leaned back with her eyes closed, enjoying the feel of the sun on her face.
“It’s good to see you feeling better.”
She opened her eyes at the sound of Lucian’s voice. The rich, deep timbre of it reached deep inside and pushed at her carefully constructed walls. His tawny gaze touched her very soul. Could she go there with him, knowing she was being hunted? Knowing that his life was in jeopardy because of her? He would sacrifice himself without hesitation to protect her. Could she survive another death on her hands? His death?
“Did I look that bad?” she asked lightly
in an attempt to ignore the feelings her heart was determined to have for him.
He shrugged and moved to one of the chairs. “Not too bad if the whole ultra-pale, corpsy look is your thing.”
Morgan chuckled, though it came out forced. An undercurrent of tension seemed to move between them, making her hyper-aware of how close he was. Her skin tingled as if it had a mind of its own when it came to remembering his touch. She cleared her throat. “Sorry you had to see that.”
Lucian turned the full force of his gaze on her. “It isn’t something I would care to see again.”
“I’ll try to keep that in mind.”
“What happened?” He frowned.
She rubbed her chest absently and took another drag, blowing the smoke out before answering. “I honestly don’t know. The locket did something to me. I tried to wear it one other time, before my powers came to me.”
“Did it do the same thing then?”
“No,” she shook her head, “It just caused a faint ache in my chest and made me feel weird all day. Kind of dizzy and out of balance.”
“It must have caused a stronger reaction this time because you have your powers now. The question is, why?”
Morgan took another drag and turned away from the intensity of his gaze, watching Lucy instead. “I don’t know why.”
“Where did you get it?”
“It was my mother’s. She found it lying in the dirt one day while she and Rhamil, her dark angel, were scouting Riverdale Road. I don’t remember why I grabbed it when I found it in her room the morning child services came to tell our babysitter that my parents were dead.” Morgan took another drag, using the action to give her a moment to collect her thoughts and emotions. It still wasn’t easy to talk about her parents. “I ran into their room and crawled into their bed. The social workers had to drag me kicking and screaming from it. At one point in the struggle, I fell on the floor and saw it lying under the edge of the bed like it had been dropped or something.”
Bound by Legend: A Bound Novel Page 12
