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.

recklessness of their magical talent. Until magicians began to teach each other,

of the warmth that fled my

But–if Selene says it’s too dangerous, I believe her. It isn’t worth

Her

volatile.

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

Of course.

separate from me? No shifter has a

that 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 the same

sense. You’re being cryptic again. All shifters are bonded with ancient magic, and they don’t

can’t be helped, Selene sighs, and I can almost

What are you, an English professor now? And what are we,

Ava: Her

with a quiet pride. I came

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

who is matched?”

more important that you take a cold shower before your heat starts

sends a shiver down my spine, and I can

want to be in a frantic state like yesterday. But I can’t let this conversation go just yet. I’m

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

softening. There is much you don’t understand yet. But trust me when I say that

Her Identity Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ ꜰindNʘvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early

more later.

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

humiliation is

tossing it on the ground as I go. Niceties

as I can.

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

my nose.

of them. One’s a

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

huddled

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Ava: Her Identity

it seems to help keep my mind clear to

extent.

my mind again. Why is heat even a thing? This is ridiculous. I’m losing my mind because I