Tangled

39 Ava: Her Identity

39 Ava: Her Identity

You have the potential, Selene says, her voice a cautious whisper in my mind. The arcane flows through your veins. But…

My breath escapes me in a giddy rush. Magic. Real magic. Human magic. It’s something out of a fairy tale, not something that should exist in my life. Then again, supernaturals exist–and we’re pretty nonstandard,

ourselves.

It’s not that simple, Selene continues, her tone growing more serious. Magic is not a toy, little one. It’s a force of nature, raw and untamed. To wield it requires knowledge, discipline, and control.

I swallow hard, feeling the warning in her words. “But how do I learn? I don’t even know where to start.”

You would need a teacher, Selene explains, her voice tinged with hesitation. Someone well–versed in the arcane arts, who could guide you, show you how to harness and control your power. But magic is a lost art. Magicians were lost to the curse and became shifters.

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39 Ava: Her Identity

Talk about a letdown.

O

“So, I won’t be able to do magic.” Is that how you say it? Do magic? Cast magic? Spell magic? Cast spells? It all feels weird in my mouth.

It is unlikely, Selene says, but she still has that cautious

sound to her voice.

“If I tried, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Death.

A simple word, bluntly given, with all the truth in the world behind it. I shudder at the matter–of–fact tone.

teach each other, too many lives

some of the warmth that fled my body as

to learn, of course. But–if Selene says it’s too dangerous, I believe her. It isn’t worth my life to

Her Identity

volatile.

focus on a question that’s been bothering me from

Of course.

why are you separate from me? No shifter has a wolf

ancient magic, she explains in that non–explaining way, where nothing is really answered. We are both separate

with ancient magic, and they don’t have any ‘separate‘, only

can almost picture her shaking her head. It’s the nature of what we

what are we, exactly? Are you a

Ava: Her

filled with a quiet pride. I came to be with you of my own

makes my brain work better.

who is matched?”

for another time, Selene says, her tone turning brisk. For now, it’s more important that you take a cold shower before

a shiver down my spine, and I can feel the first tendrils of

to be in a frantic state like yesterday. But I can’t let

you mean, we’re separate and one at

voice softening. There is much you don’t understand yet. But trust me when I say that everything will be revealed in time.

Thᴇ ꜰindNʘvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access

more later.

argue, to demand answers, but the heat is building faster now, and I can feel my skin starting to prickle with sweat. I need to get

is enough.

and tossing it on the ground as I go. Niceties are foregone; I just want to get control of my body as

as I can.

of a powerful wolf. I don’t know how far they are, but

my nose.

two of them. One’s a little weaker,

Ava!

me feel better

in minutes, huddled under that freezing

617

Her

seems to help keep my mind

extent.

even a thing? This is ridiculous. I’m losing my mind because I want some dick? Who came