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.

to the recklessness of their magical talent. Until magicians began to teach each other, too many lives were lost in the pursuit of the power within them. Do not open that

vigorously, trying to regain some of the warmth that fled my

would have been amazing to learn, of course. But–if Selene says it’s too

Her

volatile.

been bothering me from the beginning. “Selene, you’re my wolf,

Of course.

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

mind. You were born bonded with the ancient magic, she explains in that non–explaining way, where nothing is really

makes no sense. You’re being cryptic again. All shifters are bonded with ancient magic, and they don’t have any ‘separate‘, only ‘one‘. Why am I different?”

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

an English professor now? And what are we, exactly? Are you

Ava: Her

Selene says, her voice filled with a quiet pride. I came to be with you of my own choice.

somehow makes my brain work better. “How is that possible?

who is matched?”

tone turning brisk. For now, it’s more important that you take a cold shower before your heat starts back up. Clayton

sends a shiver down my spine, and I can feel the

yesterday. But I

how can you just choose to be with me? And what do you mean, we’re separate and one at the same time? I don’t understand any of

one, Selene says, her voice softening. There is much you don’t understand yet. But trust me when I say that everything will be revealed in time. For now,

Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the

more later.

I can feel my skin starting to prickle with sweat. I need to get this under

is

as I go. Niceties are foregone; I just want

as I can.

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

my nose.

two of them. One’s a little

Ava!

which of course does nothing to help but makes me feel better for at least trying, and turn on the water at its coldest setting.

shivering in minutes, huddled under that freezing

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Ava: Her Identity

it seems to help keep my mind clear

extent.

chattering, so I talk to Selene through my mind again. Why is heat even a thing? This is ridiculous. I’m losing my mind because I want some dick? Who came up with this