Bound by Legend: A Bound Novel

by A. D. Trosper

  He shut the lid to the car’s trunk. “Damien and Isobel’s.”

  “Isn’t that kind of dangerous given the pack has recovered and is hunting again. A little close to your house for comfort.”

  “They will have already searched my house and the surrounding neighborhood. They haven’t found us yet or the howl would have been different. They’re still looking for our trail.” Lucian unlocked his car and opened the driver’s side door. “Damien and Isobel’s is one of the safest places we can be. Not only have the hounds moved on from that neighborhood, the channel I located and her dark angel are there, too.”

  Greater numbers sounded good to Morgan right about then. Not to mention the possibility of a chance to find out why the Kalona was so obsessed with her. She tossed the backpack on the front seat. “Meet you there.”

  “I’ll be right behind you.”

  Morgan climbed in behind the wheel and started the truck, enjoying the rumble of the engine. After buckling her seatbelt, she put it in gear and maneuvered the truck through the cramped garage. A glance in the rearview mirror as she eased into traffic showed Lucian’s car following close. He stayed directly behind her the entire drive to his neighborhood.

  It eased some of the tension in her shoulders to see him back there. She needed Lucian and as much as it ran counter to her nature to admit, she needed him for more than just help against demons. Lucian was a part of her now. And as difficult as Jake’s death was, she swallowed and tried to think of it in only a surface kind of way, it had been nice not to have to grieve alone.

  Overhead, lightning flashed in a dramatic display. Loud cracks of thunder followed. Rain began to hit the windshield in large drops. Just as Morgan clicked on the wipers, the sky opened up in a deluge. Squinting, as if it would really help, she leaned forward and slowed down. The wipers swished on high and still she could barely see to drive.

  It seemed to take forever before she was finally able to turn the Suburban into the driveway of her friends’ house. Lucian pulled up next to her and was out of his car before she even had the chance to cut the engine.

  Lightning flashed and nearly blinded her. Fumbling for the door handle as the thunder rattled her chest, she called Lucy into the front seat. Lucian took Morgan’s arm as soon as the door opened. She called for the dog as Lucian half-helped, half-pulled her from the truck and the dog bailed out through the driver’s door behind her. Rain pounded down, soaking them through in a matter of seconds. Several bolts of light arced across the sky, splintering in jagged lines.

  Morgan cast a worried look at the sky as they dashed through the downpour toward the porch. She hated these kinds of storms. Just as they reached the cover of the porch, the hairs on her arms suddenly stood up a second before an explosion left her ears ringing and a tree across the street scorched and broken.

  Isobel swung the front door open and ushered them inside just as another bolt of lightning split the sky.

  MORGAN GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED the towel Damien handed her and wiped the rain from her face. A quick scrub through her hair to remove as much of the wet as she could, Morgan then rubbed it over Lucy. Isobel may have said she didn’t mind having the dog there; however saying it and actually having the wet Rottweiler in the house were two different things.

  Isobel’s cat, Sorsha sauntered into the living room and froze, her fluffy hair standing up. Laying her ears back, Sorsha hissed and ran from the room like a tuxedo colored rocket. Lucy pricked her ears but stayed put. Morgan gave the dog a pet for not chasing the cat.

  As Damien took the now wet towels from them a strange woman, and what could only be her dark angel, walked in from the kitchen. Damien introduced the channel as Sarah and her dark-skinned angel as Jameth. Other than Sarah’s bronze skin and two thick black braids, she didn’t look very shaman-like in faded blue jeans and dark blue t-shirt. Of course, Morgan wasn’t sure what a shaman should look like either. Though youthful in looks there was an air about Sarah that spoke of experience.

  Sarah gave Lucy a wide-eyed and slightly reverent look. “You have a power animal, this is good.”

  “A power animal?” Morgan glanced at the dog who gazed steadily at Sarah.

  The shaman nodded. “Yes, a type of guardian angel.”

  Everyone looked at the dog in surprise. Unconcerned by their reaction, Lucy laid down in the entry way, her eyes on the door. Everything in her demeanor spoke of waiting?

  Isobel took the towels from Damien and motioned toward the living room. “Have a seat and I will get everyone some coffee.”

  Nervous, Morgan trailed behind the others as they walked into the next room. Earlier she had wanted to know why the Kalona was after her. Now that the information was at hand, she wasn’t so sure. It probably wasn’t good. Then again, was there anything that could be good about having a demon after you? Morgan settled on the couch with Lucian next to her, unconsciously leaning into his warmth.

  Sarah’s eyes rested on Morgan, her intense gaze searching. Morgan shifted, uncomfortable under the shaman’s scrutiny. Thunder rattled the house and the sound of rain lashing against the windows filled the heavy silence that settled in the room.

  After what felt like forever, Sarah finally leaned back in her chair. “As I suspected.”

  “What is?” Morgan asked.

  Jameth spoke up, his deep voice surprisingly soft, “Sarah’s gift is to see the past lives of other channels, and the lives connected to it.”

  “Often times a useless gift,” Sarah said. “Except in circumstances like this. Lucian said you don’t remember your first life.”

  Morgan shook her head. “Not really. Just fuzzy images. I mainly remember dying.”

  “And what do you remember of that?”

  A faint ache settled in Morgan’s chest, an uncomfortable reminder of the vision spawned in the alley weeks ago. “Not much. I remember my mother chanting something. Screaming. Death everywhere. And the claws that dug into my chest.”

  Sarah nodded as if she had expected as much. “Your young age when you died and the fact you never had a chance to connect with your powers is why you didn’t keep the name Inola, from your first life. You were only four when you died, so it makes sense you don’t remember much. What your mother did, what she was chanting, is the reason for all of this now.”

  “I don’t understand. How can something my mother did, from a past life no less, affect this life?”

  “Your body may change throughout your lives, who you are born to will change, but your soul, its origin, will always remain the same. Things done in connection with your soul in a past life can cause events to occur in future lives,” Sarah said.

  Isobel came into the room then with coffee. Sarah waited until everyone had a cup and had taken a drink before she began again. “Your mother was a powerful shaman of the Cherokee tribe named Nany-hi, who suffered greatly at the hands of the whites. When she was barely old enough to experience monthly cycles, she walked the Trail of Tears that horrible winter. Lost many of her family due to the deplorable conditions. She was hauled out of camp one night, beaten and raped by a group of white men. Her father was killed trying to defend her. Of those in her family, she was the only one to survive the trek.

  “Ten years after they were forced to move to Oklahoma, several Cherokee, along with a few black people, decided to follow the wagon trains west in search of gold. They traveled up the east side of the Rockies before turning west. The trail they took north followed the South Fork River and became known as the Cherokee trail. The very first train to set out has been stricken from human memory and history due to what happened. They left a full year before the first recorded wagon train.”

  Stricken from memory and record, that could only mean it involved channels, angels, and demons. A cold knot settled in Morgan’s stomach but she forced herself to pay attention to Sarah’s words.

  The shaman took a long drink of her coffee and settled further into her chair. “This story, even the truth behind the legend of the Kalona, is
known only to a handful of people in the Cherokee nation. Most believe what the legends say; no one else knows Kalona for what he really is. Nany-hi was one of those who knew the truth and she was in that very first train. It was when they were camped northeast of what one day would become Denver that she did what she did.”

  Sarah glanced out the window at a bright flash of lightning. Thunder crashed over the house.

  Still unsure if she really wanted to know, Morgan found herself asking, “What did she do?”

  “First she beheaded her dark angel while he slept to keep him from stopping her.”

  Morgan shivered, unable to comprehend killing a dark angel for any reason.

  Sarah continued, “Then she used the water of the South Fork to create a doorway to the Underworld and released the Kalona. The demon didn’t do as she thought he would. Instead of just killing the whites, he killed everyone. Including you, her daughter. Your mother, Nany-hi, died closing the door.”

  “So,” Morgan paused and took a drink of her coffee to ease her suddenly dry throat. “What does that have to do with me in this life?”

  “Nany-hi closed the gateway. Unfortunately, she died before she could seal it. As her daughter, your spirit is still of her blood, still Cherokee.” Sarah set her empty cup on the end table. “The Kalona must have been prying at the door ever since and now he has opened it enough to slip through, though he is tied to it, and unable to go more than a few miles beyond in any direction. In order to be set free completely either you have to join with him or he has to possess your heart. Either of those things will release him, though in different ways.”

  “Different how?” Lucian asked. Morgan could feel the tension in his body.

  Sarah looked into Morgan’s eyes with a weighing look. “If she goes to him willingly, turns her back on the Higher Powers and joins with him, he will rise to highest level of demon power, be freed from the binding that keeps him from walking the earth and be freed from the binds that hold him to the Cherokee. If he just takes her heart, he will be unbound from the gateway and able to roam at will, be he will still be tied to the Cherokee and gain no status in the demon ranks.”

  “Why Morgan specifically?” Lucian’s voice remained even as his arm tightened around her. “Why not another of the Cherokee?”

  “Nany-hi was the guardian of the symbol. A position that passes naturally through the bloodline and can only be transferred to another bloodline through a special ceremony.” Sarah gave her a sympathetic look. “It was transferred to your bloodline three generations before Europeans set foot on the eastern shore. Upon her mother’s death, it transferred to Morgan. Because Morgan is a channel whose soul will come again and again throughout time, it will be her place to guard it in each life unless she chooses to pass it to another bloodline.”

  “I’m up for that. How do I pass it on?” She would happily hand it to whoever would take it.

  “It can’t be transferred until the Kalona is sealed away. Your bloodline opened the gateway; it must be yours that seals it up.”

  Great. No wonder he was so desperate to get her, so ready to kill everything she cared about in order to force her hand. Sarah’s earlier words kept chasing those the demons had spoken around in her head. “What do you mean, join with him?”

  “I mean, as a mate.”

  Lucian’s jaw tightened and his eyes took on a dangerous glint.

  Morgan’s skin crawled and she shivered. “Since there is no way in hell that’s ever going to happen and I would really like to keep my heart inside my chest, how do I stop him?”

  Sarah brushed one of her braids over her shoulder and leaned forward. “Since he is tied to the Cherokee, you will have to create the seven sacred directions around him before you can banish him and seal the gateway closed.”

  “Okay, fine. What are the seven sacred directions and how do I create them?”

  “They are North, East, South, West, Above, Below, and Here. Each is represented by a symbol which you will need to create them,” Sarah said. “You can create them using the sacred plants cedar, pine, spruce, laurel and holly. The last two don’t grow well here, but I’m sure we can find one or the other.”

  It sounded easy enough. “So that’s five directions, what do we have to do for the other two?”

  “No.” Sarah shook her head. “It’s four. We will use either holly or laurel, not both. The last three directions are more specific. You will need the power of the owl to represent Above. I have owl feathers with me. Below is a power animal which thankfully you have. You will also need the symbol for Here, which is you, and you will need the cougar to anchor your soul.”

  “A cougar?” Morgan looked at her in disbelief. “How the heck am I supposed to get a cougar? Go into the mountains with a can of cat food and start calling kitty-kitty?”

  Isobel and the dark angles chuckled though Morgan didn’t find anything about this funny at all.

  Sarah’s lips twitched into a brief smiled before she answered, “No. You just need something that represents the cougar which you already have. However, I’m not sure we should use it.”

  “I do?” The woman was crazy. Morgan knew exactly what she had of what, it wasn’t like she owned a ton of possessions and had a piece of cougar lying forgotten in a drawer somewhere.

  “Yes.” Sarah’s expression grew grim. “The tip of a cougar claw is inside the locket which was worn by your first mother and lost when she died. It is not coincidence the locket found its way to you.”

  “Then we have everything. Good, let’s get this done.” Morgan made to stand up, then sank back when Sarah held up her hand.

  “There is more to this than just the Kalona. You will have to complete the seven sacred directions to banish him and seal the doorway. In order to do that you will have to open the locket to use the claw.”

  “Okay.” Morgan shrugged. “So we’ll pry it open.”

  “If only it were that simple,” Sarah said with a sigh. “There may be repercussions if the locket is opened.”

  “What repercussions?” Damien asked, a wary look in his blue eyes.

  Sarah stood, walked over to the window and glanced out at the storm which seemed be letting up. “There is an obscure legend, one an old shaman told me. He said it was a lost one. I’m not sure if it’s true or not.”

  She walked back to the chair and leaned against it with her arms folded across the back. “The legend claimed that the demon Pandora was chased to the eastern shores of the U.S. before Europeans ever set foot in the west. A channel followed Pandora here and met a Cherokee shaman who also had a problem, he needed to seal the Kalona to the Cherokee tribe to restrict the Kalona.

  “They joined together, their different gifts working together to create Pandora’s prison and seal the Kalona. The legend says it was your locket that was used to seal Pandora’s prison shut and to break the seal on the locket is to break the seal on the prison. The problem with the locket is twofold, it holds Pandora and it is also linked with the Kalona and carries his taint. When it comes into contact with one who is blessed by the Higher Powers, the taint will attempt to stop the heart of the wearer.”

  Isobel rubbed her forehead. “You’re saying if we use the locket then there is a chance Morgan could die and we will, in essence, open Pandora’s Box?”

  “We might, or we might not either. As I said it was a legend, told to me by a very old man who had some dementia, one that no one else I’ve spoken to has ever heard of.” She shrugged. “I have no way of knowing for certain.” Sarah turned her gaze to Morgan. “As to whether or not the locket will harm you, I have no idea.”

  “I do,” Morgan mumbled under her breath.

  Damien frowned. “We can try to contact a taxidermist and see if we can buy a cougar claw, even if we have to buy the whole stuffed cougar to get it.”

  “If we have time,” Lucian said, his face pensive.

  Morgan stared out the window. The rain still fell, but not as heavy and the thunder had reduced to a low r
umble. Hopefully, either they would find a cougar claw somewhere else or the legend was just a story. She looked at Lucian. “Do you think the legend is real?”

  “I don’t know. I know Pandora was loose from the late thirteenth century through the first half of the fourteenth.” He shrugged. “I was between lives when she was imprisoned. As far as I know, the channel that did it chose eternal life after that.”

  Morgan turned to Damien, “What about you? Or you Jameth?”

  Damien shook his head. “My lives and deaths are usually pretty close to Lucian’s. I also missed her imprisonment.”

  Jameth spoke up, “I was alive when she was imprisoned. I didn’t see it happen or hear how it happened. All I know is the channel, her name was Hope, lost her dark angel in the process and burned herself up with her power while sealing Pandora’s prison.”

  “Well, that’s just great.” Morgan let out a sigh and leaned back.

  “What about Hope’s dark angel? Surely he would know. Is he alive right now?” Isobel asked, her gaze taking in all three men.

  “No.” Jameth leaned his shoulder against the wall. “Hope and her dark angel were solades in aeternum. When Hope chose eternal rest, he went with her.”

  Morgan threw her hands in the air. So they may or may not free one demon while trying to lock another away. Pandora didn’t sound like a demon one would want to set loose on the world. And the locket might kill her if she tried to use it. Hopefully, they could find a different cougar claw. Hopefully, there was time.

  Faint, eerie howls underscored the slowly calming storm outside. Somehow, Morgan didn’t think they would have enough time.

  MORGAN CARRIED HER suitcase back to her SUV as the sun slowly crawled into the sky the next morning and turned the tattered clouds of the spent storm into brilliant pinks. The day promised to be clear and warm yet Morgan couldn’t help feeling chilled. Everything seemed to be closing in on them.

  She shut the back door of the truck, tossed her backpack on the front seat, and turned to watch Lucy pad around the grass on the front lawn. Lucian’s trunk shut behind Morgan. He would be ready to get on the road. Still, she stood watching the dog. This moment, standing under the sunrise with the mountains filling the sky to the west and a soft breeze in sighing in the trees, this moment was peace and she desperately wanted some peace. A chance to relax and breathe without constant danger, of one kind or another, breathing down the back of her neck.