Bound by Time: A Bound Novel

by A. D. Trosper

  Lucian’s tawny eyes came into view. “And she wakes.” He held out his hand to her. “Come on. Sit up so you can take something for your head.”

  Isobel reached for his hand wondering where Damien was. Sitting up pulled another groan from her. Maybe her head really was coming apart. It didn’t help that her joints and muscles were stiff and sore like she had pushed herself through a workout. After she was reasonably steady Lucian held a cup of water in one hand and two ibuprofens in the other.

  Her lip stung when she brushed it with her hand. She dropped the pills into her mouth and washed them down with the water. Lucian nodded as if pleased she had taken them. “You sit here and sip on that. I’ll get you some toast; you’re going to need to eat something with those.”

  “Where…” Her voice cracked in her sore throat. “Where is everyone?”

  “Isaac is out on the back deck with Amelia and Rose enjoying the fresh air.”

  “Damien?”

  Lucian walked toward the kitchen. “Gone.”

  Isobel’s heart stopped. “Gone? What do you mean gone? He didn’t die.”

  Lucian turned back to her, a startled look on his face. “No, he didn’t die. I didn’t mean gone like that, Isobel.”

  Relief washed through her. “Where then?”

  “He went to find the vial.”

  “But…I was going to go with him.” Isobel blinked, wondering why Damien had left without her.

  Lucian shrugged as if it were no big deal. “He’ll be able to get to both cities and search much faster on his own.”

  Isobel stared at him trying to understand why the motorcycle would be so much quicker than her car. “Why will it be faster?”

  Lucian grinned. “Isobel, our wings are more than decoration.”

  “You mean…” His words sent her aching brain into overdrive as she realized what he was saying. “He flew?” Isobel was terrified of heights and the thought of flying. It was one reason she hadn’t wanted to go with her parents to Dubai.

  “It really is much faster.” Lucian shrugged again.

  Memories from the fight filled her mind. “Did I manage to banish that demon?”

  “You did more than banish him. You killed him outright. Although you should know that much power is extremely dangerous.” A small smile crossed his face. “I’m going to get you something to eat now.”

  He was back shortly with two pieces of buttered toast. Isobel ate them slowly, wishing the pills would hurry up and kick in. She closed her eyes for a moment. When she reopened them Eusebia sat next to her.

  Isobel stared into the ancient eyes as Eusebia smiled and nodded slightly. Isobel sensed approval from the spirit. Eusebia reached out and touched her arm, leaving a chill on her skin, and then she was gone.

  Would she see Eusebia again? Somehow, Isobel doubted it. The spirit had accomplished what she came here for. Isobel stared at the spot where Eusebia had been as words from her memories came into her mind. She whispered them to the empty room. “Usque ad proximum tempus.” Until next time.

  A quiet whisper floated on the air. “Proximum semper est tempus.” There is always a next time.

  A faint smile touched Isobel’s lips. She finished her toast and water and stood, needing to get to the bathroom and then find a soda. The room tilted at an interesting angle, and she braced herself against the wall.

  She made it to the bathroom off the foyer and flipped on the light. Maria stood shrieking in the middle of it again. The sound ground against the dull ache in her head. Isobel glared. “Really?” She embraced the sweet energy that was hers to wield and watched Maria dissolve into a smaller demon. Obviously the one who had terrorized her that morning in the bathroom only this time without the power of Xapar behind it.

  Isobel raised a circle around the demon and then sidestepped it to the toilet, drawing the shower curtain around her for some privacy. She really had to go. She glanced at the demon around the edge of the curtain. “You can just stand there and wait.”

  Lucian burst through the door as she was fastening her pants. He stared from her to the circled demon, then immediately relaxed against the doorway with a raised eyebrow.

  Isobel shrugged. “I had to pee so bad I couldn’t have concentrated on banishing it. So I made it wait.” She rubbed her forehead. “However, my head is killing me so if you could get rid of him my brain would be forever thankful.”

  Lucian laughed, the rich sound of it filling the room. Isobel smiled, drawing a sharp sting from her lip. “So happy to amuse you.”

  He gazed at her, a large smile still plastered on his face. “Move out of the way. I will be happy to take over.”

  Isobel slipped past him and out of the bathroom as he slid the bracelet off his wrist and his face grew serious. She left him to it and walked to the kitchen. She settled into a chair at the island with a soda and sipped, needing the caffeine.

  When Lucian joined her, Isobel asked, “Why didn’t Damien heal me?”

  Lucian put his hands into his pockets and leaned against the counter. “We are only allowed to heal if the injury is life threatening and there is enough spiritual energy left to save. Besides, as a channel, you will heal faster. Not as fast as an angel but within a week your injuries will be gone.”

  Isobel’s mind turned to that day in the bathroom when she’d nearly killed herself because of Xapar. Without Damien, Xapar would have succeeded. Isobel hadn’t realized how close she had come to death.

  “So how old are you in this life, Lucian?” she asked, wanting to change the subject.

  He gave her a half smile. “Twenty-one.”

  His answer surprised her. Like Damien something about him seemed older. Maybe it was his tawny eyes so full of ancient knowledge. Or the hard edge that seemed characteristic of the dark angels. The edge that told of lifetime after lifetime spent fighting evil.

  Isobel’s phone rang from the family room, and Lucian went to grab it for her. He had the phone to his ear as he walked back to the kitchen. “Yeah, she’s fine. She just left the phone in the other room and I answered before her voicemail could. You can calm down.” Lucian handed it to her. “Damien.”

  She quickly put the phone up to her ear anxious to hear his voice. “Damien?”

  “Hello, meae deliciae. I wanted to let you know I’m fine. Please listen to Lucian. Let him keep you safe. I can’t talk long. I will call again.”

  “Thank you,” Isobel said and then the call went silent. “I wish he would have talked more.”

  Lucian shrugged. “Not many of us enjoy the impersonal contact of a phone.”

  Later that day another dark angel showed up. Isobel wasn’t surprised when she glanced out the front window and didn’t see a car. Lucian introduced the new angel as Elijah. Like Lucian he was twenty-one and built like all the angels. Where Lucian had golden hair and tawny eyes, Elijah’s hair was dark brown and his olive skin seemed to set off the highlights in his hazel eyes.

  Isobel decided all the angels must be beautiful creatures.

  She followed the two dark angels into the family room as Isaac, Rose, and Amelia came in off the deck. Amelia glanced shyly at the new dark angel. Isobel smiled to herself when she saw him staring back at her friend. Lucian paused to order pizza before they all sat down to fill Elijah in on everything that had happened.

  Isobel only ate one piece before Lucian pressed more ibuprofen into her hand to take. She snuggled into a corner of the couch. Her whole body ached, and her head throbbed. The conversation moved quietly on without her as her eyes fell shut.

  The next couple of weeks slipped by in a surprisingly calm manner. Isobel found herself becoming quieter as the days passed. Worry for Damien gnawed at her. He had made only one other short call to let her know he was in Denver and then nothing. Not only didn’t he call, he wasn’t answering any calls either. What if something happened to him? What if the vial was gone? Lucian and the other two angels seemed unconcerned when she first voiced her thoughts yet as each day came and went with
out any word, tension crept into their eyes and worry hovered at the edge of their expressions.

  As her fears grew, Xapar began to whisper to her again, the evil of his voice crawling through her mind. “Isobel. Your precious dark angel won’t return. He is dead, brought down by my demons.”

  She tried to shut out the voice, but it became harder the longer it went on. Damien should have returned by now. Or at least called. When Isobel had asked if demons could kill a dark angel if there were enough of them, Lucian told her no but the tension in his eyes still spoke volumes.

  Rose made another trip upstairs and came back exhausted. She sat down in the kitchen her eyes weary. “The most I can do now is keep him on the property so he can’t hurt anyone else on the island.”

  Isobel gazed at her, hopelessness creeping in. “Maybe you should all get out of here.”

  Five pairs of eyes fixed on her and she shifted, uncomfortable under the weight of their scrutiny. Rose was the first to respond. “I can only keep him here if I am here. As it is, he can still reach out to more demons. If we all leave, then his demons will follow us trying to get to you. His reach is powerful.”

  “I didn’t mean that we should all leave.” She looked each one in the eye. “There has been no word from Damien. Any calls to his phone have gone unanswered and unreturned.” She drew her bottom lip through her teeth and gazed at the table for a moment working to control the tears that threatened.

  Lucian took a step toward her. “Isobel.”

  She held up her hand to stop him. “I don’t think he’s coming back. I don’t think he can. And,” she paused, “I don’t think there will be a vial. Xapar is my destiny; there is no reason for any of you to be hurt.” She lifted her chin. “I will handle him when the time comes. I promise he won’t become a problem for you.”

  A stunned silence settled over the table. Amelia was the first to speak. “We aren’t leaving.”

  Lucian leaned his fists on the island and pinned her with a look that almost made her wish she had said nothing. “We will not leave here, Isobel. Damien is one of the oldest dark angels; he is stronger than you can imagine. If he hasn’t called there is a reason. He will return.”

  Isobel swallowed her response and only nodded. Let him hang onto that. Let them all think she agreed with them. It was for the best. Even with them there, she could handle Xapar when the time came. She only hoped none of them would get hurt in the process.

  Several more days crept by solidifying Isobel’s belief that she would never see Damien again in this life.

  Nearly a week after she suggested everyone leave, Isobel sat on the back deck alone. Except she wasn’t really alone. Lucian sat just inside the closed French doors at the formal dining table. He had been practically glued to her since Damien left, especially since the demon in the bathroom incident.

  Isobel wondered if it was his natural tendencies or if it had something to with Damien.

  Birds sang their last songs of the day and the scent of magnolias filled the humid air. She watched the view of the river that curved around her parents’ property. The water was dark as the sun sank behind the trees on its way toward the western horizon.

  Much to her surprise the mosquitos were leaving her alone. Maybe they were afraid to bite her. Afraid they would end up with Xapar in their tiny, little minds. A bunch of mosquitos killing themselves and each other off—now why couldn’t the demon do something useful like that?

  Though the whispers of the demon had been disrupting her sleep, everything else had been quiet. Too quiet. It unnerved her. What was Xapar planning? The demon in the bathroom was acting on its own. If Xapar had been behind it, Isobel had no doubt she would have believed it was really Maria screaming at her again. So what was he doing?

  Restless energy drove her from the chair. She stood and walked down the narrow bridge to the dock, enjoying the movement even if she did shudder at the sight of a palmetto bug. It amazed her that after seeing demons the bugs would still bother her. Isobel thanked the Higher Powers that the demons didn’t look like giant palmetto bugs; she didn’t think she could handle that.

  There was a clear view of the dock from the windows; Lucian would still be able see her. She leaned on the rail and gazed down at the slow moving channel. A turtle slid into the water with a light plop. Water that rose with the tide from the ocean. Twilight deepened bringing out insect sounds as the birds went to sleep. How strange that everything should seem so normal. Although apparently normal had always included demons and angels, though most humans didn’t know it.

  Dark blue began to crawl up from the eastern horizon. It was time to get back inside. Dark energy radiated through the air. Isobel whipped around. A demon slammed into her knocking her over the railing. She embraced her power at the same time she hit the water and tried to fight free of the demon. It gripped her arms with burning hands, pulling her down to the murky bottom.

  Her lungs burned for air as her strength waned. In her head, Xapar laughed manically, and Isobel understood. He would rather see her die, even if not by his hand in this life, than take the chance of banishment.

  She was no match for the demon’s strength. In the confusion of the water her body slipped into panic mode as it screamed for air, and she couldn’t hold onto her power. She fought blindly until she could no longer move her arms and legs. Water poured into her lungs in a fiery rush and darkness rolled over her.

  Isobel floated in a great, golden silence. Peace such as she had never known filled her.

  Then the peaceful, golden promise was ripped away. Something pumped painfully on her chest and tried to force air into her waterlogged lungs. She started coughing. Her throat and lungs burned as water came up, and she was rolled quickly onto her side. Tearing coughs wracked her body bringing up more water each time. Then her stomach heaved and she vomited more water.

  Even when Isobel could finally pull air down her raw, tortured throat her body lay limp, refusing to obey even the simplest command. After a lot of persuasion her eyelids fluttered open. Lucian knelt beside her, the feathers of his wings dripping wet and fear in his tawny eyes.

  Isobel tried to reassure him but only a croak came out. Chills shivered over her cold, clammy skin. Though the evening was warm, she couldn’t stop the trembling that wracked her body.

  Lucian lifted her from the planks of the dock and carried her into the house. Through the heavy fog that settled over her, she registered the chaos inside.

  Elijah knelt in front of Amelia gently holding a towel to help mop up the blood that poured from her nose. His face held a mixture of frustration and worry. “You should have let Rose handle that demon, Amelia.” Elijah’s Spanish accent was thick with concern. “You aren’t strong enough for that yet, mi dulce.”

  Isobel knew that language from high school though her sluggish brain had to work to translate it. Since when did Elijah call Amelia “my sweet?”

  Rose limped to a chair in the dining room, a bruise discoloring the dark skin on her forehead. Isaac sported several bruises and cuts, though they were already healing.

  Xapar had been waiting for this. He had bided his time until they were separated. Then he’d sent the demon to kill her while more attacked the others to prevent help from arriving. This couldn’t happen again.

  Lucian carried her into the family room as Isaac brought in a stack of bath towels. Unable to hold them open any longer her eyes closed. A towel scrubbed over her hair, then over her arms and legs. Isobel tried to sit up to help but her body felt like lead. Never had she been so tired in her entire life. This one anyway. The quilt on the couch was tucked around her. After a long time her body warmed the damp cocoon and a deep, heavy sleep pulled her into its welcoming embrace.

  She dreamed of Januarius and Eusebia, and of Rihanna the night she had died. When she woke, Isobel saw what needed to be done. The words “vis vivendi, virtus moriendi” echoed in her mind. Januarius had said them in her dream. She moved to sit up and found every muscle in her body weak. It wo
uldn’t be done today, maybe not for a couple of days, but it would be done. Peace stole over her, and Isobel found no fear in the path she had chosen.

  A glance at the windows showed mid-afternoon sunlight streaming through the trees. Her legs were shaky but they held as she made her way into the dining room. Everyone looked up as she entered and eased herself into one of the chairs.

  Lucian gazed at her, his eyes tight around the corners. “You look like hell.”

  “Thanks.” Her voice sounded horrible.

  Amelia stood and walked into the kitchen returning promptly with a drink and a sandwich. “You look shaky. You probably need to eat.”

  Isobel nodded and took a long drink of the soda. The fizz burned her throat; she drank it anyway. The food didn’t go down much easier, but she needed it. Isobel listened to the conversation around her while she ate.

  She noticed Elijah paying particular attention to Amelia. He had called her friend, “my sweet.” She watched the two of them curiously as the Spanish dark angel whispered something in Amelia’s ear, and a soft blush spread across her creamy brown cheeks.

  Isobel raised an eyebrow in question at Lucian. He gave a bare shake of his head, and she picked up on the meaning of it immediately. Lucian would tell her later. Isobel glanced back at Elijah and Amelia again wondering what the problem was.

  When the talk around the table turned to the angels taking shifts from now on, Isobel paid close attention. That could be a minor problem. In her head Xapar was silent as if he knew her plan. She sensed a trickle of fear in the evil that emanated from the demon and couldn’t help the small, grim smile that touched her lips before she took the final bite of her sandwich.

  Already the food was going to work in her system. Her hands had ceased to shake and her legs felt steadier. Isobel stood and carried her plate to the kitchen, casting Lucian a meaningful glance.

  He stood immediately. “Let me help you.”

  She smiled at him. “Thank you.”