Bound by Legend: A Bound Novel (40 page)

Wrapping her hands around her middle, Morgan sank to her knees as tears coursed down her cheeks. It wasn’t enough. She wasn’t enough, had never been. Her lack had allowed Arabrim to die, Jake to die. It had made her unlovable to the many foster parents that were supposed to care for her, made her invisible on the streets to people who could have helped.

“Morgan?” Isobel’s voice sounded shocked and worried. “What have you done? Why?”

Morgan couldn’t answer; the fire eating away inside kept her jaw clamped shut. The sweetness of it bordered on pain and she knew she needed to back the power down. Morgan struggled to control it. The grief and despair that had taken over, after the rage burned away, left her teetering on the edge.

Tuning Isobel out along with everything else, Morgan concentrated on pulling the sizzling strands of power back. And then wondered, why? If she burned up right then and there, the Kalona would have no reason to go after her sister or anyone else she cared about. He would remain tied to the doorway. Without her heart, he couldn’t increase his power.

It wasn’t the same as killing him. Maybe that was best she could ask for in this life. According to Sarah, it would still be her responsibility in the next life. Maybe she would have better luck next time.

Shaking her head to dispel the thoughts, she grabbed more of the power and shoved it down. Now wasn’t the time to debate this. Not when she was so broken and not when it would be too easy to step off the edge.

More power came under her control, even as she shivered. The cold wasn’t a good sign, but it wouldn’t do to dwell on it. Better to focus on bringing more of the power in. Closing her eyes again, Morgan focused as intensely on this battle as she ever had any of the physical fights she’d been in.

More power came under control and then slipped away as grief invaded her concentration. In that moment, Morgan trembled with the effort to just hold on. To keep her emotions from allowing everything she’d already pulled in from releasing again.

Large hands cupped her face and she shook harder. Now was not the time for her brain to play tricks on her, it was also not the time to be going insane. If madness was going to take her away, it needed to wait until her power was under control.

“Morgan, look at me.”

Morgan groaned at the sound of the familiar voice.
Stop it! Just stop it you stupid, crazy imagination. You can make me live in a dream world later. I’m sure Isobel and Damien will even find a nice, cozy, padded room for you to inhabit once this is over. For now, just wait your turn.

“Morgan, you’re burning up. I need you to look at me.”

She didn’t want to give into to the temptation, but the idea of seeing Lucian again, even if he wasn’t real, was more than Morgan could resist. Her lids fluttered open and Lucian’s tawny eyes filled her vision. His hands, cool against her superheated face, felt so real.

“Please don’t do this right now,” she begged the apparition through gritted teeth. “I can’t…can’t control it with this…”

Lucian’s thumbs brushed against her cheeks as he held her steady. “I’m here; you don’t have to do this. We have other ways out.”

Morgan blinked, trying to keep his eyes in focus as her control slipped and more shivers made her tremble. Through sheer force of will, she grabbed the escaped power back. Who cared if it was just a hallucination, his eyes still steadied her.

“You can do this, Morgan. You got this,” Lucian said with utter confidence in his voice.

His gaze never wavered as she stared into the depths of it and, bit by bit, got control of the power, pulled it back in, and drew it down until she finally had it at a level she could safely release.

Without the need to concentrate on the battle with her power, everything that had happened, along with the fact that she hadn’t slept in two days, came crashing down and her body finally threw in the towel. Morgan fell forward, fully expecting to face plant on the ground. Instead of passing through the apparition her mind had conjured to help her, she collapsed into Lucian as his arms pulled her tight against the bare skin of his chest.

Morgan closed her eyes and drifted, soaking in the warmth of him, the scent of his skin. Was he really alive? Really there? Terrified it was all in her head and she really had hit the ground, Morgan didn’t want to open her eyes, until her hand skimmed over his chest and felt the smooth skin and hard muscle turn rough and giving. She frowned and jerked her lids open.

Her hand rested on a wound that was just beginning to heal directly over his heart. “Lucian?”

His arms shook a little as if the effort of holding her was too much. “I’m here.”

The strain and weakness that threaded through his voice made her look at his face again. Lucian’s skin was still too pale and pain etched lines around his mouth and eyes. Morgan’s head swam as she tried to process the information. It was more than her over-tired, over-taxed mind could handle. In self-defense, her brain shut down, taking her with it into a black nothing where she could rest.

MORGAN CLAWED HER
way out of sleep, chased from her restful place by the nightmare and her demon radar screaming in her head. Bolting up, she looked around wildly, trying to get her bearings in the unfamiliar room. A bunch of blankets and a pillow made a pallet on the floor where a desk had been shoved against the wall. It looked like an office. Was she still inside the church?

Tossing the cover aside, Morgan made to get up and fell back as deep, aching pain radiated from every joint and muscle in her body and a gnawing hunger ate at her stomach. She groaned and closed her eyes as she tried to figure out why everything hurt so much.

A rustling made Morgan open her eyes again. Isobel knelt on the floor next to her with a glass of water in her hand. “Finally, she decides to wake.”

“What?” Morgan asked, her voice coming out rough and groggy.

“After your display on the front lawn of the church, you passed out and have been asleep for almost an entire day. Lucian was beginning to worry you wouldn’t wake.” Isobel handed her the glass of water. “Don’t worry, I assured him you would.”

Morgan pushed herself into a sitting position, an effort that drew another groan. “Why do I hurt so bad? And why am I so damned hungry?”

“Power overdose. The pain should clear up in a few hours, a day at most. I’ll get you something to eat in a moment.”

“Ugh.” Morgan took the glass and gulped the water down. The last thing she wanted was a reminder of her failed attempt at killing a bunch of demons.

When the water was gone, Morgan handed the glass back to Isobel and very slowly got to her feet, using the wall as a support. “Where’s Lucy?”

“With Lucian, where she’s been since he was shot. Which you would have known had you let anyone near you or listened to a word they said,” Isobel said in a reproving tone. “You don’t help anyone, yourself included, when you shut everyone out.”

“I wasn’t myself. I’m sorry.” Morgan hoped her friend would forgive her. “I really thought Lucian was dead and I couldn’t handle another death.”

A horrible thought crept into Morgan’s mind. “I didn’t dream him helping me did I? He really is alive, right?”

Isobel smiled. “Of course he’s alive. The only way Lucian can die is if he’s beheaded, or if he burns himself up with power.”

“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.”