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.

humans were lost to the recklessness of their magical talent. Until magicians began to teach each other, too many lives

vigorously, trying to regain some of the warmth

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

Her

volatile.

question that’s been bothering me

Of course.

you separate from me? No shifter has a wolf with a physical

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

All shifters are bonded with ancient magic, and they

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

And what are

Her

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

that somehow makes my brain work better. “How

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

my spine, and I can feel the first tendrils of

like yesterday. But I can’t

can you just choose to be with me? And what do you mean,

I say that everything will be revealed in

Ava: Her Identity Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ ꜰindNʘvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early

more later.

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

humiliation is

off my hospital gown and tossing it on the ground as I go. Niceties

as I can.

but they’re close enough that I’m lifting my chin to

my nose.

two of them. One’s a little

Ava!

my nose, which of course does nothing to help but makes me feel better for at least trying, and turn on the water at

shivering in minutes, huddled under that freezing

617

Her

but it seems to help keep my mind clear to

extent.

Selene through my mind again. Why is heat even a thing? This is ridiculous. I’m losing