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."

is a puppet." Magister Orion's voice drops to a growl. "The New Order seized control months ago. They've

clear harmony between us. He looks at Magister Orion's party,

vampire courts? Destroyed. The registered communities live under martial law. Even the unregistered territories have fallen." He

no

words, tight and hard, are also hoarse. "The New Order was thorough.

we suspected,

time, though we still don't understand who they are.

people in every major pack. Every vampire coven. They monitor everything. They're determined to maintain their power. Any resistance is...

little like jelly. Greg reaches out in silence to

the kind of happy vibration it was doing earlier, but a morose kind of rocking

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

My voice cracks. The memory of that night still haunts me: Magister Orion telling us to escape. The door exploding. Guards invading,

fall. "That particular misunderstanding was cleared up rather quickly. It was little more than

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

more interested in me, it seems like overkill to pretend he murdered someone just to

wings whirring as she speaks up for the first time. It's good to see her, too. "It was quite

broke out of a Fae

across the snow. "Little witch, they never got me that far. Don't you worry. There is no bounty hanging over my

the faces here

Tinker smiles. "Layla's running a resistance