Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 423: Ava: New Order

These two know each other?

"Indeed it has, Orion." The Grand Sage is dwarfed next to the Magister. He speaks with warmth, though. "Though I wish our reunion came under better circumstances. This isn't the first time I've caught you breaking into one of my ships, is it?"

"Ah. It was yours, then. We were concerned… Well, never mind that." The giant man looks sheepish as he ducks his head. "My apologies, Grand Sage. Though now that I am seeing you both, I must ask—is your friend safe now? The human girl?"

"Lisa?" My heart swells at his concern. Even after all this time, he remembers. "Yes, she's safe."

The Grand Sage nods in confirmation. "We've kept her well protected since her return."

"Good, good." Magister Orion's shoulders relax slightly. "We have feared the worst in these past months. Establishing contact with friends has become impossible with the New Order in place."

"The New Order?" My throat tightens as memories of the press conference flash through my mind. The President's vacant stare. His monotone voice. The way everything felt wrong.

That must be it.

Of course they have some terrible name like the New Order.

"Ah." Magister Orion's face darkens. "You've seen them, then?"

"The President's speech, right?" I shift my weight, and the sole of my boots squeak over packed snow. "It was strange. All the supernaturals there."

president is a puppet." Magister Orion's voice drops to a growl. "The New Order seized control months ago. They've systematically dismantled every supernatural authority

the clear harmony between us. He looks at Magister Orion's party, inspecting them all one by one, even as he

Destroyed. The registered communities live under martial law. Even the unregistered territories have fallen." He spreads his massive

did no

gleam with a dangerous light, beard bristling as he shakes. His words, tight and hard, are also hoarse. "The New Order was thorough. They infiltrated every level

we suspected, Selene

over time, though we still don't understand who they are. Or why they're

pack. Every vampire coven. They monitor everything. They're determined to maintain their power. Any resistance

like jelly. Greg reaches out in silence to grab my elbow

is trembling. Not the kind of happy vibration it was doing earlier, but a morose kind of rocking and rolling with a tinge of

reach seems endless, and my mind refuses to process the implications. It has so many other questions right now.

are you here? Last time I saw you—" My voice cracks. The memory of that night still haunts me: Magister Orion telling us to escape. The door exploding. Guards invading, yelling for his arrest. "They said you murdered Florice. How did you

fall. "That particular misunderstanding was cleared up rather quickly. It was little more than a ruse to begin with. It was

as simple as a misunderstanding. They sent in their equivalent of a freaking SWAT team.

it seems like overkill to pretend he murdered

up from behind him, her mechanical wings whirring as she speaks up for the first time.

out of a

me that far. Don't you worry. There is

the others?" Immediately, I think of Layla. She's missing. Most of the

a resistance cell in the