Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 249 Ava: Unrest

Magister Orion's booming voice wakes me from the unsettling dream, though it's too much work to open my eyes. I'm exhausted. My body feels like it weighs a thousand pounds.

My ears tune in before I'm fully awake.

"—in an uproar. Every portal is guarded, and the death tolls keep rising. The militia's working on the riots, but they might not be enough. It makes no sense at all. There's no rhyme or reason to it."

"How safe are we here?"

"It's impossible to tell. The High Fae have already taken one family into custody for insurrection, but it's possible there are more. It's as though everyone's lost their minds."

That doesn't sound good.

My eyes snap open and I struggle to sit up, pleasantly surprised my body's aches are gone, even if I still feel heavy.

"What's going on?"

Magister Orion's face swims into view, his contorted features smoothing over. The sight jolts me fully awake, my heart rate picking up.

"How are you feeling?" he asks, his voice gruff.

I wave off his concern. My health isn't as important as this conversation. "I'm fine. What's going on?"

Magister Orion exchanges a loaded glance with Vanessa. My stomach tightens.

"The city is in an uproar," Magister Orion says, his words heavy. "In the First, Second, and Third Wards, there are riots and uprisings. There's no rhyme or reason. Vampire against vampire, Fae against Fae; it's unclear who is ally or foe."

The timing is suspect. We can't contact anyone outside this place, and now there's civil unrest?

reels, leaving me dizzy. "Does this happen

have always been struggles of power, but they never involve the city. Assassinations, maybe. Financial destruction. Things of that nature. Too many powerful families have allied to keep peace in

surprising me.

Orion echoes with a sigh. "Too many people are missing.

are all these powerful families, then?" Vanessa asks.

spreads his hands.

continues, "There's no sign of Alpha Renard, or any other shifters in the city, including the rogues

I murmur, wondering how all this ties into our inability to

way

What aren't we seeing?

woken up in a

Magister Orion adds. "Do you remember the

who resembled my mother. Her

to protocols," Magister Orion says, a hint of grudging respect in his tone. "But she's

information might she have

That alone is cause for concern. Florice never involves herself in

asks suspiciously. "Do you think this could be a ploy to get

hair catching the light. "Florice may dislike me because I refuse to play by the rules, but she

over. "So she trusts you because you don't have a

"I've never aligned myself with any faction. My

can we be sure she's not using that

paranoid. I guess it comes with the territory; he's

inflexible, and often infuriating, but she's also honest to a fault. If she's coming to me, it's because she believes the situation warrants

what would be dire enough for someone like Florice to seek help

* * *

awake doesn't mean I'm healed; I fall asleep not long after,