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.

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

to regain some of the warmth that

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

Her

volatile.

been bothering me from the beginning.

Of course.

shifter has a wolf with a physical

sound that echoes through my mind. You were born bonded with the ancient magic, she explains in that non–explaining

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

can’t be helped, Selene sighs, and I can almost picture her shaking her head. It’s the nature of

are we, exactly? Are you a Lycan

Ava: Her Identity

says, her voice filled with a quiet pride. I came to be

that somehow makes my brain work better. “How is that possible? Doesn’t the

who is matched?”

a story for another time, Selene says, her tone turning brisk. For now, it’s more important that you take a cold shower before your heat starts back up. Clayton is near.

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

a frantic state like yesterday. But I

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

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

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more later.

but the heat is building faster now, and I can feel my skin starting to

humiliation is enough.

tossing it on the ground as I go. Niceties are foregone; I just want to get

as I can.

I don’t know how far they are, but they’re close enough that I’m

my nose.

a little weaker,

Ava!

my nose, which of course does nothing to help but makes me feel

shivering in minutes, huddled under that

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Ava: Her

but it seems to help keep my

extent.

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