Bound by Legend: A Bound Novel

by A. D. Trosper

  “The shotgun…it blew a hole in his chest, in his heart.”

  “Yes, but Lucian is an ancient. He can heal from this.”

  Morgan stepped forward gingerly, testing her ankle and was surprised to find it didn’t hurt. At least, not hound bitten hurt. It ached no more or less than the rest of her. She looked down, examining the ankle. Other than torn jeans and smears of dried blood, it looked fine.

  “Damien healed it after he carried you back inside.” Isobel frowned. “If he’d spent less time hovering over me when there was no need and paying attention to you, it would have been healed sooner.”

  “Why did Damien carry me back in?” Morgan started toward the door as every muscle protested.

  Isobel walked with her. “Lucian was too weak to do it. It’s a good thing it took you as long as it did to get pissed off. If you had done it even a few hours earlier, he wouldn’t have been able to come help you.”

  Morgan stopped and shot a glare at Isobel. “Why didn’t anyone tell me he was alive? You let me sit there, thinking he was dead.”

  “No one realized you thought he was dead. I was pretty out of it for the first day. Damien told me they thought you were just upset he was injured.” Isobel chuckled. “The fact you were rather violent to anyone who came near you didn’t help.”

  Unsure of what to say to that, Morgan walked through the doorway and started down the hall in what she hoped was the right direction. Thanks to the fact they were surrounded by demons outside the walls, her stupid radar wouldn’t shut up and was starting to drive her crazy. “Why is Lucy with him?”

  Isobel shook her head, amazement in her expression when she said, “Lucy is the reason he has healed as fast as he has. Dark angels heal fast anyway, especially the ancient ones, but she has really sped the process up. Without her, Lucian wouldn’t have been well enough to help you.”

  “Where are they?” Morgan asked, finally deciding it might be best to ask for directions.

  “In there.” Isobel pointed to a door a little way down the hall.

  Morgan glanced behind her before fixing her gaze on the door Isobel had indicated. “Are we still in the church?”

  “Beneath it, actually. In the priest’s apartment.”

  “I think I remember Lucian saying something about another way out. Was that real or did I imagine it?” Morgan paused with her hand on the doorknob.

  “This church is built on what used to be a mission. Before that, it was a fort. There are a couple of underground tunnels leading out.” Isobel laid a hand on Morgan’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about that right now. Go see Lucian so you can be reassured he’s all right.”

  Morgan nodded and opened the door. The room beyond had an actual bed in it. Lucian sat beneath the covers in the middle of it, propped up on pillows. Lucy lay on top of the covers next to him with her chin resting on his knee.

  Seeing him there, alive, washed away every trace of despair that lingered. She hadn’t lost him. In some ways, it scared the hell out of her that she needed him so much. In that moment, she also realized Jake had been right. Any pain she might suffer if she were to lose Lucian was worth every moment of having him in her life.

  As she approached the bed, Lucian opened his eyes and crooked a smile at her. “Good to see you aren’t still trying to burn yourself up.”

  Morgan shrugged and sat on the edge of the bed. “The whole extra crispy thing didn’t really work for me.”

  Lucian chuckled and reached out to her. Morgan went into his arms without hesitation. With her face cradled in his hands, Lucian pinned his gaze on her. “I would sincerely appreciate it if you would refrain from doing that again. It’s bad enough Isobel seems to get a kick out of scaring the dark angels around her, I don’t think I could take it if you decided to join her in that.”

  “I’ll see if I can fit not burning up into my schedule.”

  “See that you do.” Lucian crushed her to him in a tight embrace as his mouth claimed hers in a kiss that was almost desperate. Morgan returned it with the same urgency, almost as if they both had to make sure the other was truly alive and well.

  When they finally broke apart, Lucian leaned back against the pillows. Hesitant, Morgan reached out and placed her hand on the still tender, healing skin over his heart. “You will heal completely?”

  “Should be back to normal by tomorrow,” Lucian said, laying his hand over hers.

  “I guess I have Lucy to thank for helping you heal so fast.”

  Lucian turned a fond look on the dog. “We have Lucy to thank for both of our lives, both during the fight when that hound showed up and later when she sped up my healing so that I was well enough to help you.”

  Stroking the fur on the dog’s head, Morgan said, “I owe her so much and for a lot more than just the past few days. Even if you hadn’t been able to make it outside, I’m sure Damien or Jameth would have…”

  Her voice trailed away as he shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way. It’s the bond we share, the same one Isobel and Damien share, that allows me to help you focus enough to get the power under control when you pull too much.”

  Stunned and thrilled at the same time, Morgan stared at him in silence for a moment. “Wait, you mean we are soulmates? Like Isobel and Damien? I will have you from now on in every life?”

  “In every life. Hope you don’t get sick of me.”

  “Not possible.” Warmth flushed through Morgan on a wave of happiness. Lucian was hers, not just as a dark angel but as a soulmate. From this life forward, through all of the lives she would live, he would be there. “Now hurry up and finish healing, Thor.”

  “Thor?” Lucian raised an eyebrow.

  “Yeah.” Morgan felt a rush of blood heat up her face. “Since that first time we met in the tower, I thought you looked like Thor. All you need is the hammer.”

  That drew a deep, rich laugh from him. “I’ll have to see if I can find one.”

  Morgan scooted around and snuggled up against him, wanting nothing more than to be close to him. By the next day he would be healed and they would have to make some hard choices regarding the cougar claw and her locket. For now, Morgan intended to live in the present.

  MORGAN HITCHED THE backpack up on her shoulder, peered into the long, dark tunnel and shuddered. It wasn’t the possibility of critters who may have more legs that she did that bothered her. No, those she had lived with and could ignore. It was the narrow tunnel itself, barely tall and wide enough to accommodate the men, that set her skin crawling. Small dark places weren’t her friend. With the entire perimeter around the church surrounded by demons and hounds, they couldn’t exactly fly out. They would be seen and tracked. The tunnel was the only way.

  Struggling to force memories of a closet out of her mind, Morgan took a steadying breath and followed Damien and Isobel into the tunnel opening beneath the church, thankful for the warm presence of Lucian at her back and for the reassuring feel of Lucy brushing against her leg.

  When they passed beyond the light of the entrance, Morgan trailed her fingertips along the walls at either side, letting the hard packed earthen walls anchor her to reality as the absolute black pressed in around her and the air began to feel heavy in her lungs. Straining to see in the darkness, she blinked a few times and found no difference whether her lids were closed or open.

  Ahead of her, Isobel cleared her throat and said, “I know you guys can see down here and what not, I just wanted to let you know that for those of us without angel enhanced eyes, this is really creepy.”

  Jameth’s chuckle floated back from somewhere behind Lucian as Damien said, “We can’t see as much as you might think. But enough to know where we’re going.”

  “That’s better than the absolutely nothing I can see,” Isobel grumbled.

  Morgan agreed though she couldn’t open her mouth to say anything. For the moment, all she could do was maintain her even breathing and a semblance of calm. If she opened her mouth, it was entirely likely that hysterical screaming
and blind running and crashing through the tunnel would commence. Since Morgan doubted that would help anybody, she chose to remain silent. Every now and then she dropped her arm to run her fingers over Lucy’s fur.

  A warm hand glided over her arm and Morgan soaked up Lucian’s touch. He wouldn’t let her become trapped forever in this tomb of a tunnel. It was a long tunnel and they would be walking for several hours, but it wouldn’t last for days, or weeks. She wasn’t alone and locked in. It was okay, everything was fine.

  Her mental litany repeated over and over as they walked through the tunnel, occasionally navigating obstacles only the angels could see while the movements of the six of them, and Lucy’s panting, were the only sounds to disturb the thick silence.

  Because of that silence, the rush of water over rocks was easy to pick up long before they reached the underground stream that coursed across the floor of the tunnel from one side to the other and, according to Damien, had collapsed the walls to some degree.

  Placing one hand in Isobel’s ahead and another in Lucian’s behind, Morgan edged closer to the sound of the water.

  “From what I can see, it looks to be only about knee deep,” Damien said. “Still, no reason to test that when there are plenty of rocks to step across.”

  “Especially since knee deep to us is like what? Neck deep to Isobel?” Lucian laughed.

  Isobel grumbled something under her breath then said, “Just because you guys are ridiculously tall doesn’t mean I’m that short.”

  “Shortest one here,” Lucian teased.

  Morgan wanted to laugh. Since she still wasn’t sure if it would come out as a scream or not, she bit it back and began to pick her way across the swift water with the dark angels moving with slow care and giving directions.

  Lucy chose a more direct route as she splashed noisily through the stream. A shower of droplets followed when the dog reached solid ground and shook, spraying everyone. Isobel grumbled something about cats never doing such a thing followed by a surprised squeak.

  “Careful, Isobel,” Damien’s voice, raised to be heard above the water in the enclosed place, called out. “Morgan, there is a rock ahead and to the left. Yeah, just a little more. There. Feel it?”

  Morgan nodded as her shoe came into contact with the hard, rounded surface. Behind, she could hear Lucian and Jameth giving instructions to Sarah. As she moved forward under Damien’s instruction, Morgan began to feel a little more confident.

  That faded when they reached the other side and Isobel let go of her hand. When Morgan felt in front of her in the darkness, she found a wall of dirt and rock in her path. “Is it blocked?”

  “No.” It was Lucian who answered and something in his tone told she wasn’t going to like what was coming.

  “But?” Morgan asked, dreading the answer.

  “There’s a small opening at the top we should be able to fit through,” Damien said. “I’ll climb up then Lucian can boost Isobel, you, and Lucy, up. After Lucian comes up, Jameth can help Sarah. There’s no room to turn around up there, it’s pretty narrow.”

  The sound of Damien climbing up the pile of collapsed tunnel was covered by the roaring in Morgan’s ears. Small, narrow, dark space with no room to even turn around…she couldn’t do this. Demons, hellhounds, people trying to hurt her on the streets, freezing nights spent outside no problem. But this…not this.

  Lucy licked Morgan’s hand, a low whine in her throat. Morgan scratched the dog behind the ears and tried to hide the level of panic swelling inside her.

  Lucian picked her up with ease and lifted her through the darkness. This was the last thing he wanted to subject her to. Unfortunately, there was no choice. Holding her tight to him, he brought his mouth close to her ear and whispered, “It’ll be okay.”

  Hoping he was right, Lucian hoisted her up. “Reach out and feel the edge of the opening with your hands.”

  Morgan did as Lucian said and reached out until her palms brushed the rough rock and dirt of the opening. Without thinking about it, she planted her hands and lifted herself and then she was in what could only be called a crawl space.

  Lips clamped shut against the terrified gibberish that wanted to spill from her mouth, Morgan crawled forward on her hands and knees. It seemed to her as if the walls, unseen in the pitch black, were closing in. Her breath started to come in gasps between her clenched teeth.

  Ahead of her, Isobel asked if Lucian thought being small was a bad thing now. Damien’s chuckle answered her. Lucian remained strangely quiet and a new flash of panic washed through Morgan. What if Lucian wasn’t behind her? What if Damien and Isobel made it out before she did and she ended up alone? What if what was left of the roof collapsed in and trapped her in this tiny space?

  Irrational and yet she couldn’t help it. And then, she wasn’t in the tiny space of a collapsed tunnel. The closet of the windowless room of her foster parents’ basement pressed and she was unable to even see the heavy door held shut by several locks.

  “Morgan?” Isobel’s voice was there in the closet with her. “Lucian, is she okay?”

  “I don’t know, she stopped moving and she’s shaking.” Lucian was in the closet, too.

  “I don’t think I can turn around,” Isobel’s strained voice sounded muffled.

  “Isobel, stop. There isn’t enough room for that.”

  Morgan strained her eyes at the darkness. Apparently Damien was there, too. A whining. Lucy must be there, that was nice.

  Sarah joined them. “Lucian, see if you can get her talking.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Damien. I can scrunch up pretty small. I’m not going to get stuck.” Isobel said and then gave an irritated sigh. “Geez, Damien, get your panties out their bunch and quit worrying so much or you’re going to be the first dark angel in history to get gray hair in his twenties.”

  Morgan wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. How could they all be in the closet with her? Her mind wandered a little, seeking relief from the situation as it began to mull over the impossibility of them all being in the closet. It wasn’t like there was room for them. It was a tiny affair, just enough room for her to sit with a bucket less than a foot from her. A bucket that oddly enough didn’t hold the nasty smell it usually did. It smelled of earth and water. Weird.

  “Ungh, oomph…made it,” Isobel said from some unknown place inside the closet.

  And then Morgan felt her friend’s hands clasping her own. “Morgan, talk to me. What’s going on? Are you hurt?”

  Morgan struggled to bring her scattered thoughts into focus in order to answer. Was she hurt? Usually, if she was in this closet, she was.

  Lucian answered, “Morgan’s had some unpleasant past experiences with small, dark places.”

  “Morgan, we’re here. All of us. Damien says we’re almost to the end of this space.” Isobel’s hands squeezed Morgan’s until it hurt. “Morgan, talk to me.”

  With the pain, came clarity. They weren’t all in the closet; they were crawling through an opening at the top of an old collapse in the tunnel. “I can’t…move.”

  Coming back to reality hadn’t helped much. Her eyes screwed shut, as if that could block out what she couldn’t see anyway, Morgan couldn’t get her body to obey. It was too busy listening to the hysterical babbling inside her mind.

  “Why can’t you move?” Isobel asked.

  Taking deep, rasping breaths, Morgan struggled to reign in the panic holding her prisoner. Lucian’s hand spanned the back of her waist helping to anchor her, as did Isobel’s painful grasp. “I can’t breathe in here.”

  Isobel’s hands gave an extra, gentle squeeze. “I understand. Damien, how far from the end are we?”

  “A few yards. Why?”

  “Go on ahead then come back in and pull me out. I’m going to hang on to Morgan and pull her out with me.”

  “Be back in a moment then.”

  The small space was filled with the noise of Damien’s quick passage to the end. Morgan continued to try an
d reason with her unreasonable self. It made her feel weak and useless, but her irrational mind refused to acknowledge it was all right.

  Then Isobel’s hands started to tug Morgan forward a little at a time until she was at the edge of the collapse and Damien pulled her free of the confining area. And even better, it was a little lighter in the tunnel on the other side. It wasn’t something her eyes would have noticed before; however after a few hours of essentially being blind, she picked up on it immediately. It wasn’t so much as it was light now, it was just less dark.

  Morgan staggered a few feet from where Damien had set her down before her knees gave out and she plopped on the dirt floor of the tunnel. Relief at the hint of light and at being out of the small space washed over her and for the first time since climbing into the crawl space, she could truly breathe again.

  Lucy’s cold nose found Morgan’s hand and Morgan buried her fingers in the dog’s fur, letting the action ease the tension in her body.

  Isobel came to sit beside her. “Feeling better?”

  Morgan nodded. Then, realizing Isobel probably couldn’t see it, answered, “Yeah. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t ever apologize for that.”

  Changing direction, Morgan asked, “What did you mean when you said you understood? Most people say that kind of thing, even though they really don’t. But the way you said it…”

  “It’s like I do understand?” Isobel leaned back against the wall as first Lucian and then Sarah exited the crawl space. “Because I do. In this life, after my mother was killed, I started to have panic attacks. So even although it’s different than what you were going through, I still understood how you felt, especially when you said you couldn’t breathe even when no one else was having trouble.”

  “I’m glad you were here,” Morgan said, suddenly beyond grateful to have someone like Isobel as her friend.

  “I’m glad I was, too,” Isobel said then sighed. “At least you have an actual fear. My panic attacks were triggered by stress and I found myself absolutely terrified without anything in particular to scare me.”