Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 192 Ava: Mom's Legacy (V)

The hospital is eerily quiet, our steps echoing through the halls. Visiting hours are long over, and night shift reigns.

Vanessa is unfazed by the creepy quality of the place at a late hour, but I jump when the elevator dings, signalling its arrival in front of us.

"You okay?" she asks, concern knitting her brows.

Selene—who's finally out from beneath my bed, though she refuses to talk about why she avoided me for the rest of the day—leans against my leg in silent comfort. "It's just so quiet. I'm not used to hospitals without people bustling around."

There's a giant machine coming down the hall in our direction, cleaning the floor with whatever algorithm powers its movement.

I always wondered how hospitals kept their floors so clean. I guess everything's automated these days.

Vanessa nudges me onto the elevator, pressing the button for my mom's floor before we've all even made it in.

Four bodyguards flank us. Massive overkill, considering that there isn't much we're expecting to happen on this visit.

Still, Lucas—and Jericho—are taking no chances on my safety.

Marcus, at least, is getting a break, and a new guy seems to be the one to shadow me for the night. He's a little short, but his eyes are black and intense, and I wouldn't want to be found in an alley with him in the dark.

He smells like death, Selene says. To me, such words are atrocious, like I should avoid the person. To her? She speaks as though she admires him.

And that's a good thing?

Selene's ears flick toward me, and I can feel her side-eye even without her eyes moving. He is a capable guard. This is a good thing.

Right. I guess that's true.

"You seem on edge," Vanessa murmurs, looking straight forward as the elevator numbers change from floor to floor.

"Just a little." I've been avoiding thinking about my mom, or her wolf. Avoidance has always been my specialty.

habits are really,

step heavy with dread. Selene presses

a few turns, I

the last, and yet it

they move her?" I ask, confusion lacing my

back at me, a strange smile playing on her lips. "They had to make some adjustments for her

we enter the room. Two of our guards take up positions outside, while the other two follow

to the bed where

the sheets. The sight of her steals my breath. It's only been a few days, and

long

Vanessa murmurs, her voice tinged with something I can't quite place.

I've always associated with her.

the

hits me like a physical blow, but I stand

would you be here?" She struggles to sit up, her arms trembling with the effort, before finally giving up. The vitriol in her eyes never fades, though. "To gloat? To see

cuts through

vile, coming out

someone despise their daughter so much that even the sound of

you're

Vanessa finishes checking her medicine as a nurse steps in, holding a syringe and an impossibly tiny vial

wouldn't be agitated if you would remove that

flinch at the words she

me grounded. Don't let her bait you, she

dart around the room like a cornered animal. She scurries out, leaving an unsettling silence in her wake, broken only by the beeping machines

on my tongue, but I swallow them

clear liquid into the syringe, Selene's voice whispers through my mind, She'll

but I'll take what I can

warm, are now sharp and twisted with loathing.

then, her smile could light up a room, and her laughter was infectious. She'd pull me into her lap, tickling me until I was breathless with giggles, and whisper promises of a

be the happiest little girl in the world, Ava," she'd say, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "You've been blessed since before