Bound by Legend: A Bound Novel

by A. D. Trosper

  Without looking at him, she started talking. “I told you I bounced around to a bunch of different foster homes. The last one was with the Parkers.”

  Lucian didn’t press while she smoked in silence until the cigarette was spent and another lit. How bad had things been for her?

  As if answering his unspoken thought, she snorted. Her eyes still on the building across the street she said, “The Parkers thought they could fix me. ‘Cause I was broken you know. Out of control, though no one seemed to care why. The Parkers least of all. I went to them at the beginning of summer and they were determined to make me into a model citizen and student by the time school started again.

  “Mr. Parker thought if he disciplined me heavy enough, I would be too afraid to get into trouble. It didn’t work. The more he beat the shit out of me, the more I rebelled. I once spent two days locked in a closet in their basement with a black eye and swollen lip. Actually, I spent a lot of time locked in there. I’m not overly fond of small dark spaces anymore…”

  She paused to take another deep drag and blew the smoke out as her knee bounced in agitation. “To say the least, I wasn’t fixed by the time school started. I tried going to the teachers; they didn’t believe me. The Parkers had money, lots of it. They were upstanding citizens and I was just a foster child who had ditched school, got into fights, drank, done drugs…

  “When it started getting really bad, I ran away. That’s when I found Jake. I was barely fifteen, my birthday had been the week before, and I looked like I had been attacked. I hadn’t been by anyone other than Mr. Parker. Jake took me under his wing and started teaching me about the streets and how to defend myself. Two months later the cops picked me up.”

  A haunted look crept into her face and her hand trembled as she took another drag. “I didn’t know how bad it could be until the cops dragged me back home. I had gotten suspended from school due to my long absence. That first night, I hurt too bad to move. Then I spent the next seven days locked in the closet. I think I lost twenty pounds that week.

  “After they let me out, I couldn’t do anything right and everything was worthy of being punched or slapped over.” Morgan took another drag and dropped her eyes as she picked at the hem of the t-shirt, trying to collect her thoughts. Trying to keep the fear of the time from creeping back in. “It’s not like I didn’t take hits at other foster homes, or get shoved into walls and my hair pulled. The Parkers took it to a whole other level.”

  While she took another drag and stared across at the other building again, Lucian did his best to mask the fury that filled him. Why couldn’t a demon do something useful, like rip off the heads of the Parkers and stick them on pikes in the Underworld?

  Morgan ground her cigarette butt out and lit another, letting out the cloud of smoke out on a sigh. “The night I escaped for good, the night they found my cigarettes, Mr. Parker kicked in my bedroom door. I did my best to defend myself like Jake had shown, but I hadn’t learned enough then. I really thought Mr. Parker was going to beat me to death that night. I’ve never been so scared in my life.

  “I came to on my bedroom floor, covered in my own blood. I could hardly see through the swelling in my face or breathe around the pounding my ribs had taken. I don’t even really remember grabbing the locket and leaving. I don’t remember much of my walk back to where I knew Jake was. I know it took the entire day…or maybe it was a day and a half. I’m not real sure, that part’s pretty fuzzy. I remember finding Jake and trying to say something to him. The next thing I remember after that is waking up on the second floor of the tower with Jake holding my hand.”

  Lucian waited until he could speak around the anger that raged inside him. “He taught you to defend yourself better I guess?”

  Morgan smiled for the first time since she’d started speaking. “He did better than that. Jake taught me to kick ass and take names. I mean, sure, I’ve still taken plenty of hits since then, but nothing like what Mr. Parker did. Nothing I couldn’t handle. If Mr. Parker came at me today, he would find he was up against a very different Morgan.”

  She thought of the way she’d fought back in the dream. If it had been real life, Mr. Parker would have felt that broken nose.

  Lucian almost wished Mr. Parker would come at her again, then he would find a pissed off dark angel in his path. “How much of this does Jake know?”

  “Only that my foster father was abusive. He saw the result after all. He doesn’t know about the closet or how bad it had been. I’ve never told anyone about that. I learned when I tried to tell the school that people like me aren’t believed.”

  “What do you mean, ‘people like you?’” Lucian asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

  Morgan looked at him, her hazel eyes sad. “A throwaway. It’s what I am. What I’ve been since my parents died. Only the Grissoms treated me like a person. To everyone else, I was in the way, a source of state money, a throwaway. On the street, I was invisible. Only other homeless people, the nuns at the soup kitchen, and those who thought they could hurt me, saw me.”

  Her gaze shifted and she stared at the floor of the balcony. “It’s a strange thing to work so hard to live each day and be nothing at the same time.”

  “You are not a throwaway or any of those other things.” Lucian brushed his knuckles gently across her cheek. “You are smart, tough, determined, and beautiful.”

  Morgan snorted. She wasn’t any of the things he said, she was only what she’d had to be, nothing more.

  When his arms enfolded her, instead of resisting, she leaned into his solid warmth, taking comfort in his presence. It felt good to lean on someone, to not be alone and at the same time, terrifying. When she’d been alone, there’d been nothing to lose except herself.

  After a while, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to the bed. After straightening the covers and retrieving the pillows, he laid down with her. In the comfort of his arms she fought her heavy eyelids, afraid to sleep again that night. The nightmare had felt so real…

  WHEN MORGAN WOKE again with a gasp, she was in a cloud. A big, fluffy, way too comfortable cloud. Ugh, how could be people sleep in these things? Okay so it was obvious how they could sleep in them, but how could they want to? They sucked people in too deep where anything could sneak up on them while they were held helpless by dreams.

  Dreams… Something had woken her. Her mind sifted through the cobwebs of sleep still clinging to it. The other nightmare, that’s what woke her. The one where she was locked in a small place of suffocating darkness. Probably because she’d told Lucian about the closet the night before.

  The battle with the hellhounds, forgotten in the chaos of her nightmare and her conversation with Lucian, came back to her. Morgan stretched, testing her body for injuries. Everything felt fine. She sat up and held out her arms. Both of them looked in perfect condition. Lucian must have healed her. Lucy had raised her head from where she lay on the bed and watched with her ears pricked.

  It took Morgan a minute to orientate herself. They were at the hotel they’d been planning on heading to before the hounds attacked. How Lucian had gotten them to let Lucy in, Morgan had no idea. And why had he chosen such a fancy place? She pulled the covers back. The t-shirt, wrinkled from being slept in, was twisted around her. Someone had cleaned all of the blood off her skin. She hadn’t noticed that last night, but then her mind had been elsewhere. Her heart ached with sweet warmth. After so many years, it was nice to have someone take care of her the way Lucian did.

  It was like stepping onto the surface of a different planet when her feet hit the thick, plush carpet. An extravagant rug filled the empty floor space at the end of the bed. Morgan was almost afraid to touch anything. What if she broke something?

  Polished wood and marble surfaces and beautiful art in expensive frames greeted her eye everywhere she looked. Morgan padded across the floor to a set of double doors and opened them. A bathroom, big enough to hold a party with an extensive guest list, spread out
before her. A huge garden tub she could probably swim in took up an entire corner surrounded by unlit candles. A walk-in shower that could easily fit six with multiple shower heads occupied another. Two large sinks with fancy fixtures rested in a marble vanity top that stretched the entire length of one of the walls.

  When Morgan stepped onto the smooth, and likely expensive tile, she found it warm beneath her feet. Moving farther into the massive room, she spied another door. Upon investigation, it revealed a separate, smaller room for the toilet, and another sink.

  Back in the main bathroom she started noticing other details about it. Like her brush on the counter and her shampoo in the shower.

  In the bedroom, she discovered her suitcase and backpack leaned against the wall next to the dresser. After tossing the suitcase on the bed and unzipping it, she pulled out clean clothes and dressed. She found her cigarettes on the bedside table… her heart caught and she looked around the room, searching for the pair of jeans she had been wearing.

  Where were they? Morgan ran back to the bathroom and yanked open the hamper lid. Empty. She glanced around for a trashcan. A lot of blood had gotten on them after all. Where was the damn trashcan? She started opening every cabinet she could find. One wouldn’t open no matter how much she pried on it.

  Damn it! In frustration, Morgan kicked it. A tiny click sounded and the top part of the cabinet opened, tipping to reveal a bin. Inside were the clothes she’d been wearing, stiff with blood. Pulling the jeans partway out, she felt down into the right front pocket relieved when her fingers found the tiny Rainbow Dash.

  Letting the jeans fall back into the bin, Morgan closed the cabinet that hid the trashcan and looked at the toy. Her blood caked the pony. Carrying, it over to the sink she turned on the cold water and washed it until all traces of blood were gone. Once it was dry, she tucked into the right front pocket of the jeans she now wore. Maybe it was a silly thing to worry about, but Lucian had given it to her.

  When Morgan passed through the bedroom again, she headed for the other set of double doors. This time, Lucy followed her. These opened into what looked like a gigantic, opulent apartment. She was so out of her element. Lucian, wearing only a pair of blue jeans, sat on a stool at the bar at the end of a full-sized kitchen. Weren’t the kitchens in hotels supposed to be small things? Of course given the size of the rest of it, why was she even surprised?

  “Morning,” Lucian said as he looked up from his laptop.

  “Morning.” Morgan glanced around at the dining area, and what looked like a living room full of furniture she would be afraid to sit on. “Where are we?”

  “A suite at The Vasser Hotel. There’s some sort of convention in town, everything else for this weekend was booked.” He studied her. “Is there something wrong with it?”

  She shrugged. “It’s weird. Too fancy, too big.”

  Chuckling, Lucian slid off the stool and crossed the space between them. Morgan sank into his warm embrace. Returning the hug, she breathed in the masculine scent that was uniquely Lucian. Memories of the attack by the pack rushed through her mind and she pulled away, her gaze raking over him, searching for the injuries she knew should be there. Morgan vividly remembered the teeth of a hound ripping through his upper arm. Unblemished flesh was all she found. Dark angels healed fast, but not that fast. There should still be some evidence of it, especially from an injury caused by a hound.

  “I didn’t know you guys could heal each other.” Morgan trailed her fingers over the smooth skin where the deep gashes should have been.

  “We can’t.” Lucian motioned toward the Rottweiler that sat gazing at them with steady brown eyes. “Lucy healed me.”

  “What?” Morgan turned to look at the dog. Lucy’s mouth opened and her tongue lolled out, a happy dog grin on her face. “How… I don’t understand.”

  Lucian walked over and gave the dog an affectionate scratch behind the ears. “It would appear that Lucy is more than just a dog. She’s some kind of guardian angel, though I’m unsure of which kind.”

  “You’re a dark angel, how could you not know?” Morgan took the few steps to his side and ran her hand over Lucy’s head.

  “We don’t always know. There are a lot of different kinds of guardian angels. I’ve been searching through my memories trying to figure out what she is.”

  “So I didn’t just find her?”

  “I seriously doubt it. I wager my next life that she found you.” Lucian smiled at the dog.

  Morgan wasn’t as surprised as she should be by the revelation. More than once she had healed faster than even a channel should have, especially when the injuries were bad. It hadn’t started until after she found the dog. Morgan grabbed both sides of Lucy’s face and gave the dog a kiss on top of her nose.

  “You would be awesome even if you weren’t a type of angel,” Morgan whispered to the dog and received a lick in the face. Standing straight, she asked, “I’m surprised a hotel this fancy allows pets.”

  “The Vasser caters to some very wealthy people.” Lucian walked back to where his laptop rested on the bar. “They like to be able to have their lapdogs with them.”

  “Lucy isn’t exactly a lapdog.” Morgan pointed out.

  “A hefty deposit against any damage she might cause convinced them she’s a very large Min Pin.”

  Chuckling, Morgan walked through the sliding glass door that led to the balcony and was almost made dizzy by the view of the city from the top of the towering hotel. She lit a cigarette and took a drag as she inched toward the railing. Flying with a dark angel was one thing. Standing by herself at the rail with the wind tugging at her from that height was a little unnerving.

  While she smoked, she studied the balcony with its ornate railing, cushy chairs and blooming planters. Who would have guessed that one day she would be staying in a suite at the Vasser of all places? Though it was kind of interesting, there was no way she could get used to it. A simple room at a motel would still be fine for her. Morgan doubted she would ever need or want something as extravagant as this. Simple and sensible were preferable.

  Her phone vibrated in her pocket. Morgan frowned and pulled it out. Who would be calling her? Isobel’s name showed on the screen. Sliding her finger across the screen to accept the call, she answered, “Hey Isobel.”

  “How do you feel about a girls’ night?”

  Morgan glanced through the wall of glass at Lucian who sat with his back to her. “I’m cool with it. Staying in or going out?”

  “Staying in, indulging in room service and movies.”

  “Why?” Not that it didn’t sound nice, but there had to be a catch.

  “Hasn’t Lucian told you? He’s going to make contact with a channel who is also a Cherokee shaman.”

  “He hasn’t said anything to me.” Morgan tried to ignore the knot forming in her stomach. She’d become so used to Lucian’s presence in her life that the thought of him not being there made her uneasy. Which was stupid since she liked being alone…didn’t she?

  “Maybe he’s waiting until it’s all finalized. Anyway, it looks like it’s a pretty sure thing.”

  “So are we hanging out or are you and Damien just keeping track of me?”

  Isobel’s snort came through clearly. “Damien will be around if we need him but he’s going to stay out of our way, he won’t even be in the room.”

  “When is this supposed to happen?”

  “I’ll be there as soon as Lucian is ready to go. Sometime this afternoon I expect.”

  “Sounds good, I’ll see you then.”

  After they hung up, Morgan flipped the last of her cigarette over the railing and walked back into the suite.

  “You’re leaving?” She was proud that she’d managed to keep her voice neutral sounding.

  Lucian swiveled on the bar stool. “Actually, I just got confirmation. I wasn’t sure if I’d found what I was looking for until just now. I guess Isobel has already called you.”

  Morgan nodded and wandered into the kitc
hen with the vague idea of eating. The heavy lump in her stomach made it so nothing that crossed her mind sounded good as she opened the stainless steel refrigerator and stared blankly at the limited contents. “Why do you have to meet them?”

  “They are dealing with their own demon problems. They don’t want to leave the area unless it’s necessary. I’m going to take your locket with me and talk to them about what’s going on.”

  “How long will you be gone?”

  “If I leave soon, I should be back by tomorrow, early in the morning at the latest. If all goes smoothly, and it should, then I may be back before then,” Lucian said, closing his laptop and standing.

  Only one night. That wasn’t so long. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t spent the night without him since she’d agreed to let him be her dark angel. Just a couple of days ago she’d spent the night in the park after all. So what the hell was wrong with her now?

  She hadn’t admitted how she felt to him then, hadn’t allowed him to become a part of her the way he was now. That’s what was different. A hollow feeling replaced the lump in her stomach and spread to her heart. Morgan shut the fridge door without selecting anything to eat and wandered into the living room.

  The room hadn’t changed. It still looked too fancy to sit in. Morgan stood in the middle of it and stared at the dark television screen until Lucian’s warm hands gently turned her to face him.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Morgan didn’t look at his face, choosing instead to stare at his bare chest. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.”

  His hand tilted her chin up until she stared into his tawny eyes. Eyes that seemed to see deeper into her soul than anyone’s ever had. “Talk to me.”

  “Just make sure you come back, okay?” Morgan searched his eyes for any hint of worry about the trip he was about to make.

  “I promise to come back to you.” Lucian’s tone held total confidence.

  Morgan nodded and put her arms around him, resting her cheek against his chest. The steady, strong beat of his heart as reassuring as his words. When he pulled her closer and held her, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment as thoroughly as possible. Her worry still intruded. “I don’t think I can lose you, Lucian. Not and maintain my sanity. I’ve lost too many people in my life.”