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

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

down the 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 to try

Her Identity

volatile.

question that’s been bothering me from

Of course.

are you separate from me? No shifter has a wolf

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

again. All shifters are bonded with ancient

Selene sighs, and I can almost picture her shaking her head.

you, an English professor now? And what are we, exactly? Are you a Lycan

Ava: Her

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

squint, as if that somehow makes my brain work better. “How is that possible?

who is matched?”

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

my spine, and I can

yesterday. But I can’t let this conversation go just yet.

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

understand yet. But trust me when I say that everything will be revealed in time. For now, focus on getting through your heat. We can talk

on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest

more later.

faster now, and I can feel my skin starting to prickle with sweat. I

humiliation is

for the bathroom, tearing off my hospital gown and tossing it on the ground as I go. Niceties are foregone; I just

as I can.

know how far they are, but they’re close enough that I’m lifting my chin to sniff, trying

my nose.

a little

Ava!

my nose, which of course does nothing to help but makes me feel better for at least

in minutes, huddled under that

617

Her

keep my mind clear to

extent.

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