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.

I trust the power within me, meeting

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

my training comes to me without

How to block.

How to move.

How to press my hand against his arm, how to

to step

had little training in offensive strikes, but I've practiced defense to exhaustion

grab me, he's

can't

my knees shake, how my crop top

I be

longer, Selene says, an encouraging presence in

that I notice the sounds

howls in

The sound of sirens.

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

crash. A

only Teddy and Bren's corpses, Lisa's unconscious form, and the

with us, kitten. I've been searching for so

My story?

stupid packs? Their rules? Their old

that pale, death-transcendent beauty. "Come with me, kitten. I'll keep you safe, teach

are urgent, and I have so many fucking questions, but I'm swaying on

know how

to my neck again, the skin is smooth and unblemished beneath my fingers,

I'm

is there, throbbing, but the

the faint outline of my scar

your friend, too. I'll give you the freedom he can't. I'll give you the knowledge she won't. Come, Ava Grey, Ward of

me, the one desperate for

her back, despite the faint tingle of the ecstasy I'd felt taunting me

trying to make sense of it

with a groan. I can't hold on to the power, feeling it pour out of me. For a second, I can almost imagine golden strands connecting me to the

My vision's still spotty.

me, cupping my cheek with a

Ava!

can't see him anymore, the only sound a roaring in my ears. My blood, maybe, rushing

on my wrist, the

and power infusing into

One heartbeat.