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.

past, many talented humans were lost 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

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

odd sense of loss. Magic would have been amazing to learn, of course. But–if Selene says it’s too dangerous, I believe her. It isn’t worth my life

Her

volatile.

focus on a question that’s been bothering me from the beginning. “Selene, you’re my

Of course.

are you separate from me? No shifter has a wolf

she explains in that non–explaining way, where nothing is really answered. We

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

is something that can’t be helped, Selene sighs, and I can almost picture her shaking her head. It’s the nature of what we are.

what are we, exactly? Are you a

Her

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

work better. “How is that

who is matched?”

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

I can feel the first tendrils of heat starting to

state like yesterday. But I can’t let this conversation

be with me? And what do you mean, we’re separate and one at the same

There 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.

website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and

more later.

to 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 this under control before I

is enough.

and tossing it on the ground as

as I can.

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

my nose.

them. One’s a little weaker, but

Ava!

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

shivering in minutes, huddled under that

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Ava: Her Identity

but it seems to help keep my mind

extent.

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 stupid