Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 339 Ava: Defend the Pack

Aurum's golden figure streaks through the wolves defending us, in an unerring line straight for the closest vampire.

Seconds later, there's a blood-curdling roar.

Stop standing around staring, Grimoire says, unaffected by the fear crawling through my skin. They need your help.

Tearing my eyes from Aurum/Lucas, I dash forward, my magic-crafted blade cool against my sweaty palm.

"What's next?" I ask, squeezing through a mass of fur and hot bodies. The noise is too loud to hear my own voice, but Grimoire picks up my words straight from my head.

Get closer. You'll hurt an innocent if you try to do anything here. You don't have the control yet.

Ducking under a wildly swinging arm, I come face to face with a stranger. Pale skin. Lips glistening red, cracking at the corners, where you can see pale flesh peeking out beneath the blood.

Fangs. Long fangs, far longer than I ever thought a vampire could have, and red eyes that lock onto mine with unerring accuracy.

Don't go straight for the head, Grimoire warns as I do just that.

My blade whistles through the air. It's a clumsy strike, born of fear and adrenaline rather than skill, and I'm too far in to abort.

A vice-like grip closes around my forearm. The vampire's strength is inhuman, and I'm yanked forward, losing my balance.

unrefined. With a twist of my body I'd never be able to replicate again, I manage to wrench my arm free of the vampire's grasp. Moving with the momentum, I throw myself into an awkward roll. My shoulder hits the ground hard, but I manage to scrabble back to my

get to me, but he's too slow, dragged in various directions. Everyone's grabbing, snapping, clawing at him, even as he fights back. He

don't hesitate. With both hands, I drive my blade

Grimoire's command rings clear in the

of power inside me, channeling heat through my arms and into the blade. The effect is instantaneous. The vampire's body stiffens, then begins to glow from within.

staggering as he frees himself. The wolves in front of him

inky clouds materialize around the vampire's form. They writhe and pulse, shot through with flashes of crimson lightning. It's as if the very fabric of reality is tearing apart around him. To my horror, I watch as the vampire's body begins to grow, stretching and

even think to run, the creature turns

through my panic. I obey without thinking, feeling claws whistle past my ear. Get your hand on him. Any part

for me and I slam my hand against its face, feeling its fangs cut at my palm. A spurt of flame erupts

reels back with

hand, infuse it with ice. Strike

no thinking left in my magic. It just does what I

Grimoire's presence inside my head. Maybe he's taken control of my body. It doesn't really feel like me, and yet it's my body that's

attack and slash across its torso. The blade leaves a trail of frost in its wake, slowing the monster's movements as the ice slowly grows, capping

Now for his head.

the blade singing through the air before Grimoire's words fully register. The strange vampire thing's head separates from its shoulders with a sickening squelch, its body still struggling against the

the creature topples, its form twisting and warping until it settles into a more recognizable shape—just another vampire,

making me want to gag. But as I glance around,

chaotic battlefield has frozen in an

bodies litter the floor. And yet no vampires remain