Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 458 - 458: Lisa: Line of Fire

LISA

Everything in my head has narrowed into one simple thought, repeated over. And over. Until my heart's every beat repeats the message, until my soul feels like it's shredding apart.

Kellan's in danger.

My Kellan.

The man who's never once pushed me past my comfort zone. The man who's stood quietly behind me. Loyal. Patient. Sweet and protective.

He stole my heart so quietly, I didn't notice it was gone.

Each breath burns in my lungs, but I push through it. Thank God for whatever magic the Magister cast on me—my legs shouldn't be able to move this fast.

The oversized Fae keeps pace beside me, his long robes somehow never catching on the underbrush. Pain lances through my thigh with every step, threatening to buckle my knees. I grit my teeth and shove it down.

There's something else inside me now, something which makes every other pain insignificant. A hollowness in my chest, expanding with every heartbeat. This feeling—like someone's carved out something essential from my body. Terror and love and need so powerful I can barely breathe around it.

Kellan's in danger. I need to see him—touch him—make sure he's safe.

Lucas throws up a fist, and our strange procession slows. I bite back a curse. We're too slow. Every second wasted is another Kellan faces alone.

But I don't know what's happening or what Lucas has sensed, so I ignore the impatience in my veins and stick close to Magister Orion, following Lucas's deliberate movements through the snow.

The Alpha's arm cuts through the air in a sharp motion, and suddenly we're moving again—faster, more urgent, angling left of our original path. The wolves around us surge forward, like a wave breaking on shore.

The wind shifts, carrying the unmistakable sounds of battle. Snarls and screams pierce the night air. My heart hammers against my ribs like it wants to break free and reach Kellan first.

Some of the wolves peel away, following commands I didn't hear. I don't care. My focus locks onto Lucas's broad back—he's my compass in this chaos. Where he fights, Kellan will be.

Magister Orion's fingers brush my shoulder as we run, his voice soft beside my ear. The language he speaks sounds like water over stone, musical and otherworldly. A strange tingle washes over my skin, starting from his touch and spreading outward until I'm wrapped in what feels like the thinnest layer of static electricity.

he

been around Ava enough to understand. It's

"Thanks."

clearing, and the scene before us is utter

explodes with white-hot agony, so sudden and intense that someone might as well have taken a blowtorch to the flesh. Something pulls at

to me, my little Fae-blessed

isn't audible—it's inside my head, slithering through my thoughts, and

no one can hear me through the

need to find Kellan. I refuse to give in to the

the others charge into the fray. They're

them, but all the corpses on the ground

vampire, its throat torn out. My heart slows a little with hope, only to race again as

points a hand in its direction, with another melodic phrase, and the vampire's head bursts

body falls back

Take off their heads. Losing an arm or a leg is nothing to these creatures. They can't bleed to death, either. If you're going to cut their throat, you need to take off their

Noted.

my head. It

of battle. I'm not a fighter—at least, not like them. And the Magister won't leave my side, which boosts my confidence. The Magister raises his hands, murmuring his strange, musical words again. The air around

my gnome-tinkered magitech brace settling the panic trying to cloud my head. It's fine. I can fight my own way; I won't be a burden on these people,

are no clear shots. Even

of bodies we have brought outnumber the vampires, but it also makes it impossible to provide

of bodies desperately.

ghost of his bite burns like acid, and I swear

Come to me.

sickening, like a slimy hand grasping my soul. Nothing like the bond Kellan

want to give

Never.

snow. Lucas is no longer Lucas, but Aurum, and he tears through a vampire with terrifying efficiency, his massive jaws wrapping around one's head to