Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 407 Ava: Delirious Mutterings

Vanessa's coming.

Selene's sudden warning jolts me out of my I'm-not-that-tired couch nap. You know, the kind where you sit down and think, I'm not that tired, and wake up hours later? Yeah. One of those.

"Is it about Ivy?" My voice is more croak than words, but thankfully she's able to pluck the words straight out of my head.

I would assume so.

My muscles protest as I shift on the couch, stiff from sleeping in an awkward position. Selene's claws click against the wooden floor as she makes her way to the door, her silver fur catching the dim light. Only one lamp is on, which in hindsight might be why I fell asleep. It's too dark in here.

A sharp, quick succession of knocks rap against the door.

"Come in." My voice is still rough. A series of pops accompany my stretch. Relief floods through my spine, and I cough to clear my throat.

Vanessa opens the door, her hair pulled back in a messy bun. She smells like antiseptic, which isn't unusual for someone in the medical profession.

"Sorry to wake you." She steps inside, looking exhausted. "But I thought you'd want to know about Ivy's condition."

I straighten, my fuzzy brain slowly clearing. "Has something changed?"

"She's stable. Her fever's down, but still elevated. She woke up for a few minutes, but thought I was her mother." Rubbing her eyebrow, Vanessa settles into a chair across from me. "Halfway through our conversation, she fell back asleep. She asked for a strawberry birthday cake."

Not sure how to even respond, I can only stare.

The healer shrugs. "She's not oriented to person, time, or place."

"I see."

be whatever this stuff is you're trying to hunt down. Her symptoms are too nonspecific, and our

up, so I rest it against my hand, leaning into the couch cushions. My eyes burn from exhaustion as I blink at Vanessa. Something's off about this late-night visit—she wouldn't trek through the snow just to tell me

aren't you

longer she has to give her blood

despite my fatigue. "What?" That sounds distinctly like she's

up her hands. "She thought I was her mother, remember? She was asking for birthday cake. Whatever she's saying

of nowhere. Fever

fevers talk about

say anything

drifted off right after that." Vanessa's scrubs rustle as she shifts in her chair. "Her temperature is still high. Enough

was important enough

sometimes delirium reveals truths patients wouldn't normally

smell coming off her grows stronger as she leans forward. "I'm not

Why would Ivy be

was

like strawberry cake, and

thirteen. Or sixteen. Does it matter? So sensitive about

head are probably

Selene bares her teeth.

"We have no proof of anything

much into it. She also told me she wanted sprinkles on her cake and that her stuffed unicorn

some random fever gibberish or some sort of clue, but it still feels awful to have any sort of suspicions toward someone we consider an

it's nothing, but we can't ignore