Bound by Legend: A Bound Novel

by A. D. Trosper

  “Don’t worry about it.” Morgan turned away from him and headed to the patio door.

  Lucian caught her arm before she made it across the threshold. “It’s my job to worry about it.”

  Heat spread through her again at his touch. The desire to lean into him flushed through her body even as the weight of his words crushed her. It was his job to worry, no other reason. And that was what she wanted, right? It was better that way. Wasn’t it?

  Morgan gave him a half-smile that covered up all of her confusing emotions and pulled her arm from his grasp. “You don’t have to worry about this. You worry about real-life demons and I’ll take care of personal demons on my own.”

  “You shouldn’t have to take care of them on your own. We’re partners for the remainder of this life. Let me help you,” he said as he followed her out the door.

  She pulled out a cigarette and lit it before turning to face him, making sure a comfortable distance remained between them. “Look, like you said, you’re only stuck with a screwed up channel for the remainder of this life. Which in the grand scheme of things is only a blip on the time radar. So just leave it alone okay.”

  “Don’t put words in my mouth,” anger edged his voice. “I didn’t say you were screwed up and I didn’t mean I was stuck with you.”

  Morgan’s hands trembled as she took a deep drag off the cigarette, trying to hide the thread of irrational fear his anger sent crawling through her.

  Lucian watched her closely. Though her face didn’t show it, he didn’t miss the tremor in her hands or the subtle way her body seemed to shrink in on itself. Jake telling him how badly beaten he’d once seen her ran through Lucian’s mind. Was she afraid of him? Because he was angry over what she’d said? The question doused his anger in ice.

  “You didn’t have to say it. I heard about you from Arabrim you know.” Morgan glanced at him and then away. “The ancient and powerful Lucian, always a free agent, moving from one thing to the next as needed. I’m aware that Arabrim, brought into being in the late 1500’s was considered young for a dark angel, so I can only imagine the years and lifetimes you’ve seen. What I can understand completely, is what it feels like to suddenly be tied down, to feel like you’ve lost the freedom you so desperately crave and need.”

  “I just want you to know,” she continued without looking at him. “I don’t hold against you. Because I can’t guarantee that, if I survive this and somehow get rid of this Kalona and the hounds don’t come for me, I won’t disappear on you.”

  “Morgan, look at me.” Lucian stepped closer, though he didn’t try to completely close the distance and waited for her to finally face him. “I don’t feel trapped by being assigned a channel after so long a time. It is taking some getting used to, however, I don’t regret it. And if you disappear, I will always follow. So anytime you feel the need to run, really run, go for it. I won’t force my company on you, but I will always be there to have your back should you need it.”

  Morgan tore her gaze away from his and watched Lucy as the dog continued to pace the yard. Another drag pulled more of the nerve steadying nicotine into her lungs. How could he know the exact words she needed to hear? He was either very good at being a dark angel, which given his number of lives he definitely was, or he really felt that way.

  Her heart desperately wanted to believe the latter because deep down there was no denying she needed someone like him in her life. Someone she could lean on when she needed comfort and protection, and someone she could run away from when she needed space.

  Lucian sighed and raked a hand through his golden hair. She had closed herself off from him. He had thought, for the briefest of moments there at the table, she was going to open up. And then she’d shut down and shut him out. If it took the rest of this lifetime, he would show her that she could trust him with even the darkest times of her life. Trust him not to hurt her even when he was angry.

  Arabrim was young in comparison. Lucian had a vast number of lifetimes to draw on and he’d already made Arabrim’s mistake once. Lucian wouldn’t make it again. Never again would he die before his assigned channel and leave her to the demons that would ultimately kill her.

  La Pucelle would always be his greatest regret. Even after all of these years, he still felt the ache of her loss. He had loved her like no other though she hadn’t been his soulmate. Not loved in a traditional way, but from afar. No man had been allowed to love La Pucelle in any other way. It hadn’t mattered, he had died for her as a dark angel, and as a man in love. A channel as ancient as Lucian himself, she had chosen eternal rest after that life. Lucian would never see her again.

  Morgan was a young channel with only two other lives under her belt. A channel that had gotten under his skin in a way not even La Pucelle had. Lucian would make sure she grew old in this life. His emotions wouldn’t cloud his judgment this time.

  After a long silence between them, Morgan said, “You never did say if you found out anything about Riverdale Road.”

  Drawn from his reverie by her comment, he thought back over what he’d learned. “Riverdale Road is cloaked in urban legends. Some are just stories, others aren’t.”

  “What do the urban legends say?”

  “They say that a woman in white walks the road, that if you drive it at night you can see blood smears on the signs.” Lucian raked a hand through his hair. “It’s said that if you pull over and roll your windows down you will hear a heartbeat and the sound will grow until you can’t stand it. People claim there is a gateway to hell located somewhere around there.”

  “A gateway to hell?” The demons, hellhounds, Kalona all started to make sense.

  “That is what the urban legend says. Apparently people have even tried to find it. Fools, even if they could find a gateway to the Underworld, they would never live tell about it. Even so, given the activity around here, I’m inclined to believe them. Now we just have to figure out how that doorway got opened.” Lucian glanced over his shoulder at the house. “Before we do that, I need to make the arrangements so we can get out of here.”

  He left her standing there, finishing her cigarette in silence while he went back to his laptop and phone. Reservations still needed to be made to ensure they could stay in the area and on the move at the same time. Nothing too fancy and someplace that would accept the dog. Not an easy task.

  Morgan ground out the cigarette and called the dog. After one last soft growl at the yard in general, Lucy came and followed her inside. There was plenty to do and standing around mulling over useless emotions wasn’t going to get any of it done.

  She cleared their lunch trash off the table and wiped it down while Lucian continued to make calls. After a while, feeling rather useless, she went upstairs and grabbed the tattered paperback out of her backpack and carried it back to the living room.

  As Lucian’s deep voice rumbled in the background, she curled up on the couch and got lost in a story of spies and undercover operations for the next few hours until Lucian ordered dinner.

  Morgan put the book down and stretched. “Did you make all of the arrangements?”

  “Most of them. I’ll finish up tomorrow.”

  After dinner arrived, they settled in the living room with a couple of movies Morgan had never seen: The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy. As opening music to the first movie played, Morgan gazed at Lucian out the corner of her eye and tried to remember the last person that had wanted to sit and watch movies with her. The time was at the Grissoms’ when they used to settle down in the large family room with all of their foster kids and watch movies. Arabrim had held no interest in movies or series and, in fact, hadn’t even had a TV in his house. Had never asked if she wanted one.

  Despite her deep reservations, as they laughed at the same places and mutually picked apart others, the walls around her heart softened more. In fact, if she examined the warm feeling in her heart it might have looked a lot like something akin to love. She didn’t even know how to begin examining it or what to
do with it if it really was.

  The next morning Isobel and Damien came through the front door.

  “Looks like you’ll be on the move again,” Isobel said as she lifted the suitcase in her hand.

  “Looks like it. Not much else I can do with this stupid demon radar in my head and hellhounds possibly taking an interest.”

  “Come on, I’ll help you pack.” Isobel headed for the stairs.

  Morgan followed behind with Lucy on her heels. The dog seemed determined to remain glued to Morgan. All things considered, that suited Morgan just fine. Lucy had weathered the winter streets of Denver with her. She was a friend, a confidant, and a comfort.

  Isobel set to work immediately, pulling out clothes and laying them on the bed. Morgan watched, a little bemused by it. If it had been left up to her, she would have stuffed a couple of pairs of jeans into her backpack and as many shirts as she could wad up and shove in and that would be it. After bouncing around foster homes and then living on the street, it was how she’d learned to pack. Her friend seemed to have a whole other system. One that included folding and arranging.

  Resigned to doing it Isobel’s way, Morgan began taking her shirts off hangers and folding them. So what if her folding was a little haphazard, at least it was done. Isobel stared at the kind-of-folded shirts and without saying a word, packed them into a suitcase. And that was why Morgan could be friends with someone so different from her.

  The only thing Morgan refused to give up completely was the backpack. Experience had taught her to expect the worst and be prepared. An extra pair of jeans, underwear, socks, a shirt, her carton of cigarettes, extra lighter, her wallet empty except for her license, and the damned locket all went into the backpack Lucian had given her. Isobel glanced at it a couple of times, but said nothing.

  They worked in silence for several minutes. Finally, Isobel asked, “How are things going with Lucian?”

  “Fine.”

  “Just, fine?”

  “What do you want me to say? He’s a good dark angel.”

  Isobel looked like she wanted to say something else. Thankfully, whatever it was, she kept quiet and switched subjects. “Lucian said he’s got you set up for several different hotels in Denver. If keeping Lucy with you becomes a problem, Damien and I will be happy to keep her for a while.”

  Morgan snorted as she pulled the contents of her underwear drawer out in one large double handful and tossed it into the suitcase. “I’m sure Sorsha would love that. Besides, Lucy is never a problem. I’ll sleep on a bench somewhere before sending her away again.”

  “The offer stands if ever you need it. And Sorsha would get over it.” Isobel laughed as she carefully rearranged all of the underwear and socks into a semblance of order. “It might do the princess good to have to deal with a dog.”

  The image of Isobel’s cat in the same room with Lucy made Morgan smile as she tossed the last of her things in.

  It really hadn’t taken long. It wasn’t like she had a lot of stuff. She pulled the two coats from the closet and deposited them on the bed next to the backpack. Who knew how long it would be before they came back here. If they ever did. Along with the one suitcase, it made such a small pile. The extent of her nineteen years. Nothing else in the room really belonged to her. A sense of Deja vu overwhelmed her. Shaking it off, Morgan turned away from the bed.

  “While Lucian finishes up whatever it is he has to do, I’m going to see Jake.”

  Concern flashed across Isobel’s face. “Do you think that’s wise given the hounds’ interest?”

  “If the hounds want me dead, then I’ll be dead. The last time Jake saw me, I was in pretty bad shape. He deserves to know I’m all right.”

  “Do you want me to go with you?”

  Morgan shook her head. “You know what the neighborhood is like. I know how to survive in it, you don’t.”

  THEY CARRIED HER suitcase and coats down to the living room and set it all on the couch. All except the backpack, Morgan kept that slung over one shoulder. Lucian’s keys lay where he always dropped them on the end table near the door. She picked them up and turned to him. “I need to see Jake.”

  Lucian studied her before nodding. “Call if you need me. Oh, before you go, you might leave my car here and take your own.”

  “What?” She turned to look where he pointed. A set of keys hung from a hook next to the door.

  “I took care of it a couple of days ago. The dealership dropped it off while you were packing. I figured you might like to have a set of wheels that belonged to you.”

  Morgan didn’t know what to say. He had bought her a car? Of her own? Her eyes stung and she blinked them to push back the threatening wetness. Not even Arabrim had done that. He’d always insisted that what was his was hers, but it hadn’t been. Not really.

  As if he read her thoughts Lucian said, “The title is in your name. It’s all yours. Insurance is paid up for the next two years, tags are on it.”

  She set his keys back on the table and slowly reached for those on the hook. A glance at Isobel’s radiant expression and Damien’s amused look and it was obvious the two had been in on it. Finally, her gaze rested on Lucian. He flashed a cocky half-grin. “This way, when you decide to take off again, I still have my own car.”

  Never in her life had she been given a gift of this magnitude. “Thank you, Lucian. I can’t even express… It’s…”

  “It’s all right. Don’t worry about it.” He cleared his throat. “Take it for a drive, see Jake, and keep your phone on you.”

  Sudden guilt at leaving him to deal with everything crept over her. She motioned toward his laptop. “Are you sure you don’t want any help with all of that.”

  He glanced at the open computer. “Go away, Morgan. I got this.”

  Isobel pushed her toward the door. “Go see it!”

  Morgan stepped outside, suddenly afraid that Lucian had spent a bunch of money on a car for her. What she found was a Suburban. It wasn’t new, but it wasn’t old either. The black paint job gleamed in the warm sunshine.

  Lucian appeared next to her as she gazed at the truck that was now hers. “I hope you like it. I originally looked at cars, then thought you might want something with plenty of room for Lucy. And if you ever do run, there is room to sleep in it. This way I won’t have to worry about you crashing on a park bench somewhere for the night.”

  When she didn’t say anything, he said, “If you don’t like it, we can take it back right now and you can get something different.”

  “Shut up for a minute.” Morgan clenched the keys in her hand until the sharp edges pressed into her skin. No one was taking her truck from her. “Let me just wrap my head around the fact that it’s mine.”

  “You like it then?”

  “It’s perfect,” she whispered suddenly beyond thankful that Arabrim had helped her get her license even if he’d never given her a vehicle of her own.

  “Here,” he handed her a thick fold of twenties and a card, “for gas or whatever you need. Or whatever you feel Jake needs. The card will debit one of the bank accounts set up for dark angels. Money isn’t an issue, so don’t worry about how much you spend.”

  Morgan looked at Lucian for the first time since stepping out the door. “How do you do it?”

  He frowned. “Do what?”

  “Know the right thing to say. Know what I need most.”

  “Oh.” Lucian cleared his throat and looked at the truck as he stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his well-fitting jeans. “It’s my job to take into account your needs.”

  Isobel shot Lucian a glare that should have killed him right then and there. How could he say that? Isobel knew very well how much he cared for Morgan. Why didn’t he just say it? She stepped forward, her mouth opening with the intention of giving him a piece of her mind. Damien’s hand on her shoulder stayed her. Isobel glanced up at Damien’s intense blue eyes and subsided when he gave a tiny shake of his head.

  Isobel folded her arms across he
r chest and settled for giving Lucian evil looks. His job to take into account his channel’s needs, her foot. He was many things, but he wasn’t a mind reader. The fact that Lucian cared enough for Morgan to already know her so well spoke volumes even if the he was too much of an idiot to speak it himself.

  Morgan looked away, resting her gaze on the truck as Lucian’s words rang in her mind. That’s right. Lucian was a good dark angel. Arabrim had never done things like this, had never made her feel it was okay to run if she needed to, never given her something to run away in. He hadn’t considered her needs this way. He wasn’t a tyrant, he wasn’t like this either. She ached for Lucian’s action to be something more than duty and walled herself off from the idea at the same time.

  She walked to the truck and opened the back passenger side door. “Come on, Lucy. Let’s go see Jake.”

  The Rottweiler bounded across the driveway and leaped onto the bench seat, her tongue lolling happily out of her mouth. Morgan tossed the backpack onto the floorboard then rounded the truck and climbed into the driver’s seat. A turn of the key and the engine rumbled to life. It wasn’t loud, but she could definitely hear the power under the hood. The fabric interior was clean and smelled of the linen scent she was so fond of. Must be an air-freshener in there somewhere.

  The stereo beckoned her from the dashboard and she couldn’t help reaching over to turn it on. Crystal clear music flowed from the speakers. That couldn’t be stock. Had it already been in the truck or did Lucian have it installed?

  She waved at the three standing on the front lawn and backed out of the driveway. The truck rolled smoothly down the road. She navigated her way out of the neighborhood and headed into Denver. The houses gave way to open road. Tall hills rose up on her right and scattered groups of trees dotted the sides of the road, their limbs flush with the bright green of new spring leaves.

  Traffic wasn’t too bad and before long, the outskirts of Denver took over the landscape. Traffic grew heavier and she grumbled under her breath while Lucy watched out the windows as they drew closer to familiar grounds.