Bound by Legend: A Bound Novel

by A. D. Trosper

  “Doesn’t make mine any better. Besides, you don’t seem to have any trouble with it now.”

  “Not as much since I got my full memories back and got control of my power this time. Having Damien has helped as well.

  Morgan swallowed. “I already have those things, so I guess that won’t help me.”

  Isobel’s hand found hers again. “No, I suppose it won’t. It may be something you always have to deal with in this life. Luckily, these things don’t follow us from one life to the next. We may get most our memories of other lives back, but emotionally we get to start each life with a clean slate.”

  “Which is probably a good thing,” Isobel continued with a chuckled. “Given some of the things that are in my memories, if I couldn’t have that clean slate each time, I would be a total mental basket case.”

  Lucian eased himself down to sit on Morgan’s other side and placed his arm around her as Isobel stood up and made her way to Damien. Morgan accepted the quiet support of Lucian, glad the worst seemed to be over. Of course, the Kalona still had to be dealt with and though they had slipped past all of the demons and hounds surrounding the church, it wouldn’t take long for them track Morgan and her friends. The events to come should terrify her, and yet they didn’t.

  AN HOUR AFTER making it through the crawl space, Morgan stood outside the crumbled tunnel exit, almost completely hidden by brush and rocks, and gazed at the last rays of the setting sun, drinking in the colors while Lucy bounded through the knee-deep grass. “Where do we go from here?”

  “South and west, to the river,” Damien said.

  Lucian tried to brush some of the dirt from the tunnel off his arms. “After we get a car of some sort.”

  Morgan called Lucy to her as she let her gaze sweep the area around them. High overhead, the blinking lights of an airliner cut across the sky. In the distance to the southwest, lights sat low on the horizon. Other, smaller lights dotted the darkening night indicating farm houses. “Where are we?”

  Damien nodded in the direction of the lights. “That’s Brighton. We should be able to get a vehicle of some sort there.”

  Jameth unfurled his wings. “I will locate something and bring it back.”

  Morgan dropped the backpack and flopped down to sit in the grass next to it. There wasn’t much any of them could do until Jameth called to let them know which road to head to. She opened the backpack and fished out a cigarette. After lighting it, she pulled out the locket, letting it dangle from her fingers by the chain.

  They were going to have to open it. Which was stupid. How hard could it be to find a damn cougar claw in Colorado? Of course trying to search without attracting the attention of the hounds didn’t help. If the dark angels or Sarah had moved about too much, the hounds would have eventually tracked them back to the hotel. Most likely, Lucian taking her to the park had done just that. Even so, Morgan couldn’t bring herself to regret that night.

  At least they had everything else they needed. If Jameth could just hurry back with a car, maybe they could get this over with. It would be nice to finally have it done. Even if it didn’t all go as planned, Morgan was ready to let the chips fall where they will.

  The last shreds of light faded from the western horizon and only the sparkling of stars lit the sky. Morgan leaned against the backpack with Lucy’s head in her lap and dozed, never letting deeper sleep sneak up on her.

  After what felt like forever, but according to her phone was only a couple of hours, Lucian’s phone rang. He answered it quickly and after a short, muted conversation, he hung up and walked through the night to her.

  “Jameth is on his way with a van. He says there’s a road about a mile from here.”

  Morgan slowly got to her feet and lifted the backpack. Pulling the straps over one shoulder, she yawned. “Oh goody, a mile hike in the dark.”

  “It shouldn’t be too terrible.”

  “Shouldn’t be. After all, this,” Morgan swept her arm over the empty plain, “is a lot more appealing than the neighborhoods I used to walk and a hell of a lot better than that stupid tunnel.”

  “As long as your demon and hound fan club doesn’t show up, we should be good.”

  Isobel stumbled and cursed under her breath. “As long as none of us break an ankle we’ll be fine.”

  Sarah chuckled and followed without complaint, moving across the dark ground like one born to it. Morgan wished she could be so graceful on the uneven ground. It wasn’t quite the same as traversing the city streets. It seemed as if mother nature had ran around as soon as it got dark creating small dips and rises in the earth to trap unwary feet. Flying would have been nicer. It might also make them more visible to the kind of eyes that could see them. Plus with three channels and a dog, and only Damien and Lucian present, it really wasn’t an option anyway.

  Even with the terrain, they managed to reach the road in a short time. Morgan saw Jameth sitting in the driver’s seat of a conversion van on the shoulder and sighed with relief. So far so good. Damien opened the side door and they piled in.

  The night slipped by outside the window as they made their way to 76, then south to 136, then a short jump east and they were on Brighton Road with the South Fork flowing somewhere in the dark out the passenger side windows until Jameth pulled off on a narrow lane, that was nothing more than tire tracks cut through the dirt and grass, and turned off the lights and engine.

  Morgan sat forward and looked out the windshield at the black landscape beyond. “Are we here?”

  “Almost,” Lucian said as he opened the side doors. “We need to be on the other side, but there’s a golf course between Riverdale Road and the South Fork over there. So we stop here and fly over the river. Not much point in hiding now.”

  Ignoring the sudden, nervous flutters in her stomach, Morgan stepped out of the van with Lucy on her heels. This was it. Pulling a cigarette from the pack, she lit one and took slow deep drags as she worked to steady her nerves. It wasn’t that she was afraid, she was tired enough of it all that she just wanted it to be over. It was more a nagging worry that she wouldn’t be strong enough.

  When she ground out the butt, Lucian took her in his arms and then they were airborne. It was only a short jump and all too soon he set her down. Though it was night, and looked completely different than it had two lives ago, Morgan sensed an immediate familiarity with this side of the river. She’d never seen it in this life and still, she knew this soil, felt a kinship with the flow of the water.

  Turning, Morgan sought what she knew was near the bend in the river. What anybody with the right kind of sight could see, what many had foolishly searched for because of an urban legend, most of whom were lucky enough to have never found it.

  A massive doorway stood right on the water’s edge, cloaked in darkness and veiled in fiery shadows. A door of shimmering light lay crumpled and smashed, barely hanging on. Malevolence oozed from the space beyond the door, it creeped across the ground and filled the air like a physical presence.

  Standing chained to one side of the door, dressed in white and silently weeping, was the translucent form of Nany-hi, the woman who had been Morgan’s mother in another lifetime. With her hands clasped tight in front of her, Nany-hi’s tear-soaked eyes refused to meet Morgan’s gaze.

  Morgan hitched in a breath, feeling alone in the dark with this woman even as she sensed Lucian landing again with Lucy, felt the rush of wind as the others touched down. This woman had set everything in motion. Had killed her own dark angel in her quest for revenge. Had condemned Morgan to living without her parents in this life. Had, for all intents and purposes, caused Jake’s death.

  Tearing her eyes away from Nany-hi, Morgan dropped the backpack on the ground, yanked open the zipper and pulled out the locket.

  Sarah appeared at her side with the assorted ingredients they needed in her hand. “We must work quickly. Pull on your power and raise your circle around the doorway.”

  Nodding, Morgan opened herself to the power and thre
w a large circle around the doorway. Good thing anyone who decided to spy on the river with night vision goggles in the middle of the night would see nothing other than a bunch of people wandering around, or rather just three women. With their wings out, the dark angels would be difficult to impossible for any normal human to see.

  Sarah carefully placed the sprigs of cedar to the north. Spruce was laid to the west, pine to the east. When she placed the holly to the south, two lines appeared, crossing each other at right angles at the edge of the circle, right where Morgan would stand. Between the cedar to the north and the edge of the water, Sarah carefully set seven owl feathers to represent above. Without needing any direction, Lucy moved to stand opposite the feathers, representing below.

  As soon as Lucy was in place, a fine web of interconnecting light wove through it all, linking it all together, making it all one. Morgan couldn’t appreciate the beautiful display spread out before her. Lifting the necklace by the chain, she stared at the locket as it slowly spun.

  “Morgan?”

  She turned to find Lucian there with a worried expression. Morgan cocked a grin at him. “Don’t worry Lucian, I got this.”

  He nodded. “Concentrate on the Kalona. We’ll keep everything else away.”

  “Everything else…” Morgan’s voice trailed away as she realized her demon radar had been going crazy for a reason. It wasn’t because she stood before a gateway to the Underworld. On the far side of the river, led by the hounds, a seething mass of demons charged toward them. With jerky movements and inhuman speed, the lowest level demons moved ahead of the hounds and leapt across the river.

  Her hands shaking, Morgan pulled the necklace over her head. The locket came to rest just above her breasts. Intense cold swept through her chest. Gasping, Morgan staggered to where the four directions connected and fell to her knees under the crushing weight against her heart.

  No more than fifteen feet in front of her, the shimmering door shuddered and fell aside and the fiery shadows around the doorway thickened as the Kalona stepped through and a smooth voice slid through the night like the softest silk. “You have finally come to me. Not the way I would have chosen, but here nonetheless.”

  FROM WHERE SHE knelt on the ground, Morgan looked up at the Kalona. As tall as the dark angels and beautiful beyond description, he stood smiling down at her, the cold depth of his black eyes shadowed with sadness.

  Morgan fought against the heavy, icy pain clamped around her chest and struggled to place this demon. He was not as she had read at all. No, staring into the face that artists would want to carve into the statue of a god, it was clear that the Kalona was far more terrible than anyone had ever dreamed except perhaps those that had actually seen him.

  The Kalona walked toward her, his gait smooth until he was brought up short a mere foot from her. A slight frown marred his gorgeous face as he glanced down at his ankle. Following his gaze, Morgan saw the thin, glowing strand that tied him like a leash to the gate. When she looked back at his face, the frown was gone and his black eyes gazed into hers.

  With the fluid grace of a dancer, he knelt on one knee in front of Morgan and placed a hand on her chest. As the pain ebbed, her mind finally registered the vicious battle going on around her. Even with the cries and screeches filling her ears, she couldn’t pull her attention away from the Adonis in front of her as her brain tried to combine the beautiful man before her with the demon of legend.

  When the last shred of pain had left her chest, the Kalona pulled his hand back and smiled. “That is better now, is it not?”

  Morgan rubbed the spot over her heart. “What did you do?”

  “I took away the ice that was surely killing you.”

  Confused, she tried to read his expression and found it impossible. “Why?”

  “Why not? Do I truly appear as the monster I have been painted, Inola?” He cocked his head to the side as he waited for her answer. “Deep in your heart you are already unsure of yourself, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to reach past your circle. Tell me, am I what you were expecting to encounter out here?”

  It was an answer she was having trouble coming up with. Overwhelmed by his physical perfection, the hypnotic voice, the strange kindness, everything jumbled in confusion. Then Jake’s face surfaced in her mind and she closed her eyes to shut out the sight of the demon. That was how she needed to think of him, a demon. Not a man. “You killed Jake, why show kindness now?”

  “My little black fox, I certainly did not kill Jake. A most unfortunate misunderstanding that was.” The Kalona rested his hand on her shoulder. “When my servant encountered you in that alley, and your Jake interrupted your conversation, my servant could have ended Jake then. He did not because I did not wish to hurt you. Later, my…associates were merely to locate you, to convince you to speak with me before you made any hasty decisions. You were refusing to even give me a chance. I had no idea they would go so far.”

  “They took his heart.” Morgan forced the words past her lips though it brought a different sort of ache to her chest to say them. “For someone so regretful of the misunderstanding, you certainly had no trouble consuming Jake’s heart.”

  “No, Inola.” The Kalona’s warm hands cupped her face, his thumbs gently brushing the dampness on her cheeks from tears she hadn’t realized were falling. “I would never do such a thing. How could I take the heart of someone you care about and expect you to come to me?”

  “I know you did.” Morgan opened her eyes, intending to glare at him, but finding the compassion in his face far more than she expected.

  “Again, I am not the monster I have been painted.”

  “Then why are your demons ravaging Denver? Why are you trying so hard to break free of this gateway?”

  “My dear, do you know of someone who does not wish to be free? Free of the binds that hold them, free of the pain that drags them down, free of the fear that cages them?” His voice wove itself around her, urging her to believe him. “The demons ravaging Denver are not mine, they are the demons who will always be loose, no matter if this gateway closes or not. If I were free of my binds, however, I could control them. See that innocent people were never hurt.”

  Morgan’s power wavered and the circle fell.

  “And,” he continued as his hands moved to caress her neck, “if I was free, I could do so much for you. Jake may have been buried; however, he is not beyond my power. I still have his heart. I can give him back to you safe, sound, and whole. I could give protection like you’ve never known. I could wipe away the pain of your past, free you from the nightmares. You would never fear anything again. If only you would give me the chance to show you.”

  “I…” Tears welled in Morgan’s eyes and spilled over, making his beautiful and earnest face waver. Jake…her very soul ached to see him again, to talk to him again.

  “Please, Inola. Come to me, give me a chance.” He lowered his face until it was a mere breath away. “Press your lips to mine and give yourself to me. Let me protect you. Let me protect the innocent, let me give you what I feel in your heart.”

  Confused and uncertain, Morgan stared into the black depths of his eyes. Searching for what she should do. The dark, fathomless pools of his eyes, combined with the persuasive, caressing, hypnotic character of his voice to create a confusing fog in her mind. Morgan pulled her gaze away and it fell on the woman in the white dress chained to the door. Horror painted Nany-hi’s expression as she strained at the chains and shook her head emphatically.

  Slowly, the fog lifted enough for the cogs in Morgan’s brain to start turning again. This was how the Kalona had tricked Nany-hi. What she saw now was an illusion and he was every bit the monster the legend claimed him to be and more. The monster that had Jake’s heart ripped from his chest.

  The thoughts raced through her mind in a split second, taking the confusion and fog with it. Morgan returned her gaze to the Kalona’s as she leaned toward him. A triumphant smile lit up his face. Then in a quick movement, Morga
n reared back and smashed her forehead into his nose.

  The Kalona fell back in surprise, a howl of rage ripping from his lips. The cold pain slammed into Morgan’s chest again as before her the illusion of the Kalona fell away. The beautiful man melted and stretched into a too thin, too tall version and a scattering of ratty, dark feathers broke through his now leathery skin. His Adonis worthy face pulled and elongated until his nose and mouth took on a beak-like look. His fingers, so gentle before, transformed into the long black talons from her memory.

  Gasping around the pain crushing her chest, Morgan grabbed the locket in her hands, pulled on her power until it crackled through her veins, and fed it to the seal holding the locket shut. An explosion of sparks knocked both Morgan and the demon backward and away from each other. Morgan hit the ground on her back as the locket burst open and the cougar claw fell into her hand.

  Grounded by ancient, Cherokee magic, the agony trying to stop her heart fled. Morgan scrambled to her feet as power rushed forward in a tidal wave and, somewhere beyond the night, another demon let loose a cry of triumph. Morgan threw a new circle under the Kalona. The wall of golden light glowed strong as it rose around him.

  Shrieking in fury with the sound of distorted raven calls, the Kalona ripped and tore at the wall with his talons. Now that she’d faced him and rejected him, he could no longer reach her beyond the circle. Morgan’s wall shuddered and each rake of the claw slammed through her power and into her body. Morgan pulled more power, if she was strong enough for this; it was only going to be barely.

  Through gritted teeth, Morgan began reciting the words that would banish the Kalona. “I banish thee, Kalona. I banish thee back to the pit from which you came. I banish thee from this plane. I banish thee from the world of the living. I banish thee.”

  White light arced from the seven sacred directions and slammed into the opening to the Underworld. The shadowy fire of the gate reached out and latched onto the Kalona. His screams rent the air, tearing at her eardrums as he was dragged back toward the doorway and into the dark abyss beyond. He fought, clawing up the ground as he was pulled through the doorway until, at the last moment, he gave up and instead his claws flashed out and grabbed the ghostly form of Nany-hi.