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.

14:55

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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.

of their magical talent. Until magicians began to teach each other, too many lives

some of the

have been amazing to learn, of course. But–if Selene says it’s too dangerous, I believe her. It isn’t worth my life to try and grasp something

Her

volatile.

question that’s been bothering me from the

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 answered. We are both separate and one at

being cryptic again. All shifters are bonded with ancient magic, and they don’t have any ‘separate‘, only ‘one‘. Why am I

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

English professor now? And what are we, exactly?

Her Identity

am pure, Selene says, her voice filled with a quiet pride. I came to

as if that somehow makes my brain work

who is matched?”

tone turning brisk. For now, it’s more important that you take a

mention of the alpha sends a shiver down my spine, and I can

I don’t want to be in a frantic state like yesterday. But I

how can you just choose to be with me? And what do you mean, we’re separate and

is much you don’t understand yet. But trust me when I say that everything will be revealed in time. For now, focus on getting through your heat.

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more later.

my skin starting

humiliation is enough.

the ground as I go.

as I can.

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

my nose.

two of them. One’s a little weaker, but he’ll

Ava!

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

shivering in minutes, huddled under that

617

Her Identity

to help keep my mind clear to an

extent.

I talk to Selene through my mind again. Why is heat even a thing? This