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.

But habits are really, really hard to

than it should, each step heavy with dread. Selene presses close to my side, her warmth a

a few turns, I realize that nothing seems

corridor is the same as the last, and yet

I ask, confusion lacing

me, a strange smile playing on her lips.

of our guards take up positions outside, while the other two follow us

to the bed where my mother lies, seemingly asleep. She checks the IV bags hanging beside the bed, her movements practiced and

sight of her steals my breath. It's only been a few days, and yet she

long

its toll," Vanessa murmurs, her voice tinged with something

eyes flutter open. They're dull, lacking the fire I've always associated

into the afterlife," she rasps, her voice thin and

physical blow, but I stand firm,

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

not here for you." My honesty cuts through the air between us,

vile, coming

despise their daughter so much that even the

you're here,

a syringe and an impossibly tiny vial filled with

agitated if you would remove that filth

to flinch at the words she

nudge against my hand keeps me grounded. Don't let her bait

dart around the room like a cornered animal. She scurries out, leaving an unsettling silence in her

but I swallow them back. Now's not the

carefully draws the clear liquid into the syringe, Selene's voice whispers through my mind,

hollow comfort, but I'll take what

on my mother's face, trying to block out the vitriol spilling from her lips. Her features, once soft and warm, are now sharp and twisted with loathing. It's hard to reconcile this

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

she'd say, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.