Bound by Legend: A Bound Novel (43 page)

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, Morgan 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.

Her high, thin scream lifted into the air and then she was gone along with the Kalona.

Morgan swayed as she stared at the dark, gaping doorway.

And then Lucian was there, his strong arms pulling her back against his chest and supporting her, his urgent voice in her ear, “You have to close it, Morgan. Don’t let go until the doorway is closed.”

Trembling with icy fire of the power racing through her veins, Morgan struggled to hold it at recoverable level. “I don’t think…” her teeth chattered with the cold, “…I can.”

Lucian’s arms tightened around her. “Yes, you can, you got this. I’m right here with you. You do what you have to. I won’t let it sweep you away.”

Giving a jerky nod, Morgan grabbed the crumbled door and began the work to recreate it. Power swelled and raged through her as tears for Nany-hi coursed down her face. There had been no way to save her first mother’s spirit. All she could do now was close up the gateway.

With the door repaired, Morgan put everything she had into it until it finally closed and sealed shut. The shadow flames flickered and went out. The outline of the door glowed bright white and the whole thing collapsed and was gone.

The cougar claw disintegrated in her hand and the vice came back to fight the beating of her heart.

“Pull your power in now, a little at a time,” Lucian said, his voice low.

Ignoring the stuttering in her chest, tuning out the continued sounds of lower and mid-level demons being banished and the snarls of Lucy ripping through yet more demons, Morgan focused on Lucian’s voice and only his voice until she could finally release her power. Sagging, Morgan’s body went limp. Lucian didn’t loosen his grip.

Through suddenly heavy lids, she watched as the hounds, or what was left of the pack, turned away from the fight and melted into the shadows. Sarah circled a large swath of mid-level demons. The frozen brand that was the locket pressed down on Morgan’s heart and her breath wheezed. Lucian said something anxiously, but Morgan couldn’t make it out.

A little farther away, Isobel took in the rest of the mid-levels and two upper-level demons. The combined cries from all of the demons as they were sent back to Underworld filled the night. Damien and Jameth were glowing blurs as they removed the remaining lower-level demons.

Lucian’s hand was at her neck, grabbing the chain and ripping the locket away. And then there was silence in the night and in her chest. The world went dark.

MORGAN STOOD IN
the swirl of white light and squinted into the brightness. It was peaceful here, the silence pleasant rather than heavy. The air weightless and warm. And best of all, safe. She had never felt as safe as she did in that moment. The sense of the Higher Powers filled her, not their direct presence, but they were around and Morgan knew where she was.

The light dimmed a fraction, enough that she didn’t have to squint and a smile broke across her face as the person she had so desperately wanted to see, the one she’d almost thrown the world to the wind for, stood in front of her.

“Heya, Morgs.”

She threw herself into his embrace with a something between a laugh and a sob. Jake stroked her hair and chuckled. “You’ve changed. You didn’t used to be so demonstrative.”

“I learned holding back only deprives people of things like this.” Her arms loosened and she stepped back, a ripple of unease sliding across the perfect moment. “Wait, you’re…am I… Oh, no.”

Jake placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, “It’s okay, Morgs. I’m dead, but you aren’t. I’ve just been hanging around here waiting.”

“Waiting for what?”

“You.” He grinned and she noticed for the first time that his hair wasn’t scraggly and his face didn’t hold the sorrow or scars it once had. His gray eyes sparkled with a relaxed openness she’d never seen in them. “They told me you might pass through here and offered to let me wait. I can’t stay long; I’ve been waiting longer than I should.”

“I’m just glad to see you at all.” Morgan ran her fingers through her hair and smoothed her clothes, mainly to check if she was all there rather than because she was worried about how she looked. “If I’m not dead, then why am I here?”

“You kinda died from what I heard,” Jake said as if it was no big deal. “When you get back, have Lucian or Damien take that locket and drop it in a volcano or something.”

“The locket? Why? The Kalona is gone.”

“They said it’s connected to his power and that’s why you’re here. The power that’s linked to the locket was stopping your heart. As long as you were grounded by the Cherokee magic, it couldn’t touch you. Once that cougar claw was destroyed by so much power flowing through it to close the doorway, you weren’t grounded anymore and, well,” he motioned toward her, “here you are.”

“But I’m not dead?”

“Nah, Lucian started CPR while Damien started the request to heal you. Then Lucy came over and practically sat on you while glowing white and your heart started again. You’ll be waking up in a little while and I have to go soon.” Jake ran a hand through his still long hair. “I tell you what, it’s been frustrating as hell to watch all of this and not be able to help. Some weird shit, too. I never really thought, wasn’t sure…guess it’s all good now.”