Bound by Legend: A Bound Novel (23 page)

When she settled next to Jake on the table, her feet resting on the seat, she set it down and pulled out a carton of cigarettes and two bottles of decent whiskey. “I thought you might want to drink something a little smoother than the rotgut you’ve been drinking.”

Jake took the bottle and admired it. “Lucky Fox. Wow, what a treat. I haven’t had any like this in a really long time.” He shot her a stern look. “How the hell did someone your age buy this?”

She shrugged. “The old guy at the liquor store three blocks over. He’s a total lecher.”

Jake raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t…”

“What?” Morgan tried to decipher the look on his face and then it clicked into place. “No! Damn, Jake, do you really think I would go that far to get you whiskey? I care a lot for you and all, but not
that
much.”

“Well, at least I know you still have standards.” He removed the cap and took a long drink. “Ahhh, that’s nice. So what did you do to get it?”

“Pulled the neckline of my shirt down, leaned over the counter, and pouted real pretty. His teeth about fell out and he rang me up without even asking for my I.D. I think he forgot.”

“Old fart don’t see the likes of you in there much.” Jake chuckled and took a long drink.

Morgan took it when he handed it to her. She’d probably had enough, still wouldn’t hurt to wash the taste of the cheaper stuff out of her mouth. Morgan tipped the bottle back and took a couple of deep draws. The Lucky Fox went down smooth with a pleasant burn and after flavor. Her brain fuzzed around the edges as she gave it back to him. Maybe she’d had more than she planned. “Guess I’m spendin’ the night out here, huh?”

“Guess so. No way I’m going to let you drive with alcohol sloshing around in you.” He draped an arm around her shoulders and took another pull off the bottle.

Morgan leaned into his warmth and accepted the bottle back. “It’s stupid that life seemed simpler when I was living out here. Should be the other way ‘round, ya know?”

“Understand completely. Life’s a SNAFU.”

“There’s some more stuff for you in the bag. Hope you don’t mind. Not trying to act all uppity by bringing it.”

“Thanks, Morgs. And trust me, I would never think of you as uppity.”

“Good.” She took another drink. Already pretty buzzed and fuzzy, might as well go for broke. Maybe a demon would show up and take the choice she knew needed to be made away. Stupid way to think, but her brain seemed to want to wander off in all kinds of directions.

Memories of Lucian, letting her off the hook when she couldn’t bring herself to dredge up her past, of him offering her a way to run if she needed to, of their searing kiss that almost took them over the edge roamed through her head. Each of them breaking little pieces of her wall. She was suddenly glad the he wasn’t around. In her current state, she would be much more open to the possibilities between them.

No, this night was better spent with Jake. Comfortable, familiar, Jake who had kept her alive when she knew nothing. Jake, who’d had enough to drink his nightmares wouldn’t translate into real world dangers for her tonight. Another half bottle between them and her mind quit worrying about things like love, lust, and decisions.

THOSE DAMN CONSTRUCTION
workers were starting up in her head again, but it was dulled like they hadn’t fully got to it yet. One of these days, she’d learn to drink just enough to get pleasantly buzzed without sucking down so much she woke with a massive hangover. It seemed she either took one or two drinks to relax or downed a whole damn bottle.

Morgan cracked open her eyes. The deep bluish-gray of early morning shadowed everything around her. Jake snored heavy somewhere to her right. The branches of trees, tiny leaves formed all along their lengths, crisscrossed above her as darker shapes against the sky. Instinct sent off warning bells in her head making her realize just how vulnerable she was lying there, her head hazy with the remnants of the whiskey still floating in it. There was no way she was prepared to defend herself if need be.

Her heart leaped with a brief shot of adrenaline and she scrambled to sit up and take stock of her surroundings. Something soft slid off her shoulders. A shifting of the shadows out the corner of her eye had her turning in that direction, her sluggish mind trying to kick into gear.

Lucian gave her a small smile from where he sat leaning against the trunk of a tree, legs stretched out in front of him, ankles crossed. “Go back to sleep Morgan. You’re safe. So is Jake.”

Morgan twisted to look at Jake and found his slumbering form covered in a thick blanket with Lucy curled up against him. She looked down and fingered the same type of blanket that had slid down when she sat up. Finally, her bleary gaze found Lucian’s. “You did this?”

He nodded and Morgan said, “How long have you been here?”

“I arrived about the time you two were getting so drunk a group of gang members could have walked up with guns drawn and all you would have done is laugh hysterically at them. I lurked around the edges of the park, staying out of your way while keeping you both safe.”

Lucian reached out and gently ran his fingers down the side of her face. “What happened?”

It took a minute for her to realize he was talking about the bruise that likely decorated her face. “Nothing I couldn’t handle. I’m fine.”

“You don’t have to fight those battles, you know. I’m here if you need me, but I won’t push you to be someone you’re not. You don’t have to run from me, Morgan.”

An emotion she couldn’t define welled up in her at his soft words. It was comforting and secure. Did she actually feel safe? Without saying anything, she scooted closer to Lucian and curled up on the ground next to him with her head in his lap. His leg was warm against her uninjured cheek through the denim of his jeans. She barely registered him tucking the blanket around her shoulders as the remaining whiskey pulled her back into a dreamless sleep.

Lucian stared down at Morgan nestled against him and smoothed her hair away from her face. Glancing at Jake, he studied the other man for a moment before returning his gaze to Morgan. Would she ever trust him the way she did Jake? Maybe one day she would feel comfortable coming to him when she needed to untangle her feelings. Trust him with her past.

Though Lucian hadn’t meant to overhear most of her conversation with Jake, his hearing was so superior to a normal human’s, he couldn’t help it. He tried to ignore the warmth that spread through his chest at the thought she might actually care about him, and the thought he might feel the same about her. So used to being on his own, he wasn’t quite sure what to do with the new emotions. Lucian sighed and leaned his head back against the tree, trusting to time and the Higher Powers to work it all out.

When Morgan woke again, her head was pillowed on her arm. Sirens wailed somewhere nearby. Her head throbbed in time with the rise and fall of the strident noise. Couldn’t people stop hurting each other and having medical emergencies long enough for a person to have a hangover? Was that so much to ask? Yeah, it sounded selfish and she didn’t care.

With a groan, she pushed herself up until she sat leaning up against the tree where Lucian had rested. At least, she was pretty sure he’d been there. Had she dreamed that?

Looking down, she noticed the blanket for the first time since waking. Her fingers trailed over the soft material. He had been there. Her heart warmed at the memory of snuggling next to him, her cheek resting on his leg. The sense of being safe still filled her. It had been too long since she last felt safe. Morgan didn’t quite know how to deal with the feeling now.

She’d lived in a lot of different houses and without a house for a long time. Her time with Arabrim had been brief, only six months, and where she might have felt safe with him, there had never really been a sense of home. It wasn’t something she truly felt at Lucian’s house either. But with Lucian, in that early morning hour, she’d felt it. Was it possible that home was a person and not really a place at all?

Morgan snorted and leaned her head back to rest against the bark. Sure, home was a person and unicorns were going to come prancing down the street any moment crapping rainbows and spreading peace on earth. The whiskey must still be working a little of its liquid magic. Home wasn’t a person. It wasn’t a place. It didn’t exist and hadn’t since her parents died.

“What’s funny?”

Jake’s voice had her opening her eyes and turning her head to look at him. “What?”

“You kind of snorted, kind of laughed. What was funny?”

“Oh.” Morgan sighed and squinted against the bright, cheery sunshine. “Unicorns pooping rainbows.”

Jake chuckled and rubbed his forehead. “How you feeling?”

“Like I drank too much last night.”

“Sorry I fell asleep.” He yawned then took a small sip from a water bottle, then poured some into his cupped hand for Lucy. “Wasn’t a smart thing to do. Thanks for the blanket.”

“I didn’t give you the blanket. Lucian was here, making sure nothing bothered us.”

Jake raised his eyebrows. “That was nice of him. He’s a lot like Arabrim isn’t he?”

“He’s nothing like Arabrim.” Morgan looked away. Lost in thought, she stared across the park. Lucian was a different type of dark angel from what Arabrim had been. Arabrim would have followed her when she left, would have stepped in before she took the first sip of whiskey and would have seen her back in her bed at his house after a long lecture about putting herself at risk and about not behaving like a channel should.

Lucian seemed to accept her for who she was. Hopefully, he really did and there wasn’t some sort of agenda behind his actions. Given what he was, there was no reason to suspect him of being anything other than forthright. Even so, she’d learned a long time ago to never take anyone at face value.

Jake started to roll his blanket up, pulling her attention back to him. He was the only person in the world she fully trusted to never purposely hurt her and he knew her well enough to leave her alone when she needed to think. She loved that about Jake.

With a something between a sigh and groan, Morgan stood and started rolling up her own blanket as Lucy came to stand beside her. Lucian too, seemed to know when to leave her alone though she knew it must drive him crazy. His consideration overwhelmed her and turned her mind to other things. They were supposed to have stayed in a hotel last night. Had she left him to drag her luggage along, or had he just stayed at his house?

“Here, tell Lucian thanks for me,” Jake said, trying to hand her the blanket.

Morgan shook her head. “Keep it. In fact,” she tossed her blanket at him, “keep this one, too. I doubt I’ll spend too many more nights out here for a while. There’s some crazy shit going down.”

“Does it have anything to do with that asshole in the alley a while back?” Jake took her blanket and shook it out before starting to reroll it tighter than what she had.

“Yeah. Hey,” Morgan pulled her phone out, “program your number in so I can call you.”

Jake threw his duffle over his shoulder. “Don’t need to. After the necklace thing, Lucian found me and put my number into both of your phones and both of your numbers in mine.”

“He did?” She looked down at her phone.

“Yeah. He said he knew we were good friends. Told me it would mean a lot.” Jake shrugged. “I couldn’t say no, Morgs. I didn’t want to. We kind of lost touch when Arabrim was around. I don’t want that to happen again.”