Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 139 Ava: A Shocking Finale (III) -- END SEASON TWO

"You're making this so much harder than it should be. I was hoping to savor this moment, but now I have to rush my meal, instead." He sounds disappointed, not angry, and the difference makes me shudder.

It's worse than him being infuriated. It shows that my struggles are no more than an inconvenience to him.

When his fangs break skin, the pain is unbearable.

It's worse than fire in my veins. It's an ache so deep that my entire body throbs and burns, I open my mouth to scream, but no sound comes out; I can't breathe.

Skimming over the pain is an ecstasy that taunts me with bliss, tantalizing with its lack of pain. I yearn for it, wanting to sink in, wanting to escape this torture—

Eyes, Ava! Selene shouts. Go for the eyes!

With a desperate cry, I jab my fingers toward his face, aiming for those cold, mocking eyes. He jerks his head back and I can feel my neck rip and tear, blood pouring.

But not before I feel my nails sink into something soft and yielding. He howls, his grip loosens, and I wrench myself free, staggering away.

The vampire clutches at his face, blood seeping between his fingers. One eye is a ruined mess, but the other glares at me with unadulterated hatred.

"You'll pay for that, bitch," he spits, his voice a guttural rasp.

I hold my hands against my neck, against the blood pouring out, gasping for air to fill my lungs. It's like they can't inflate fully, can't fill with oxygen.

This time rage fuels his movements as he lunges for me, messy and uncoordinated. My brain's already off, moving on instinct, through repetitive motions in training.

A quick sidestep. A knee to the groin, a practiced weak point. He's wide open and doubles over with a grunt as I follow up with an elbow to the back of his neck, sacrificing blood loss for success.

He hits the ground hard. Good to know pressure points also work on vampires.

He won't be down long—maybe seconds.

I dart to Lisa, grabbing her under the arms and dragging her back, scrabbling for purchase with my hands slick from blood.

My neck screams in pain and my vision blurs from darkness to light, spotted with prismatic shapes.

The vampire rises to his feet, his face a mask of rage. Blood drips from his ruined eye, painting a gruesome picture. He stalks toward us, his movements jerky, unhinged.

He's a far cry from the elegant monster from before. He's lost reason. Lost control.

I have a chance.

"I'm going to rip you apart," he snarls, spittle flying from his lips. "Piece by fucking piece."

I brace myself, shielding Lisa with my body. I know I can't outrun him, not while carrying her. My only choice is to stand and fight, to buy time until help arrives. If it arrives.

Something sparks to life inside of me, a crackling current that dances along my nerves. I feel it building, swelling, thrumming beneath my skin.

It's electric.

It's terrifying.

It's hope.

loud snarl and I trust the power within me, meeting him

flow of time itself changes. A punch that before would have been impossible to track is now something

comes to me

How to block.

How to move.

against his arm, how

step

offensive strikes, but I've practiced defense

tries to grab me, he's shoved forward, forced

can't

the wooziness in my head, the way my knees shake, how my

I be unconscious

little longer, Selene says, an encouraging presence in

I notice the sounds outside of

in the

The sound of sirens.

wolves here, fighting. Perhaps they're on the other side of

occasional crash.

it's so relatively peaceful back here, with only Teddy and Bren's corpses, Lisa's unconscious form, and the vampire in

fury fading, his face wary. "Come with us, kitten. I've been searching for

My story?

hate these stupid packs? Their rules? Their old

his face once again settled into that pale, death-transcendent beauty. "Come with me,

will bind you. Selene's words are urgent, and I have so many fucking questions, but I'm swaying on my feet,

how bad the damage to my

is smooth and unblemished beneath my fingers, beneath the blood

wonder I'm

pain is there, throbbing, but the damage

faint outline of my

friend, too. I'll give you the freedom he can't. I'll give you the knowledge she

girl inside of me, the one desperate for the love of my

rest of me holds her back, despite the faint tingle of the ecstasy I'd felt taunting me from beyond the pain when he

sense of it all.

a groan. I can't hold on to the power, feeling it pour out

My vision's still spotty.

vampire kneels before me, cupping my cheek with a soft croon.

Ava!

questions. Everything's a blurry mess. I can't see him

pain on my wrist, the feeling of something

and power infusing

One heartbeat.