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.

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“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.

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

of the warmth that fled my body as she

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

Her Identity

volatile.

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

Of course.

separate from me? No shifter has a

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 the same

being cryptic again. All shifters are bonded with ancient magic, and they don’t have any

something that can’t be helped, Selene sighs, and I can almost picture her shaking her head.

are we, exactly? Are you a Lycan

Ava: Her

pure, Selene says, her voice filled with a quiet pride.

as if that somehow makes my brain work better. “How is that

who is matched?”

now, it’s more important that you take a cold shower before your heat

a shiver down my spine, and I can feel the first tendrils of heat starting to uncurl

like yesterday. But I can’t let this conversation

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

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, focus on getting through your

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more later.

I can feel my skin starting to prickle with sweat. I need to get this under control before I become a feral, slutty mess.

humiliation is enough.

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

as I can.

but they’re close enough that I’m lifting my chin to sniff, trying to get their scent in

my nose.

of them. One’s a little

Ava!

nothing to help but makes me feel better for

minutes, huddled under that

617

Ava: Her

help keep my mind

extent.

are 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?