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.

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 not open that door,

of the warmth that fled my

say, shoving 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

Her

volatile.

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

Of course.

shifter has a wolf with

thoughtful sound that echoes through my mind. You were born bonded with the ancient magic, she explains in that non–explaining way, where nothing

You’re being cryptic again. All shifters are bonded with ancient magic, and they don’t have any ‘separate‘, only ‘one‘. Why

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

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

Ava: Her

voice filled with a quiet pride. I came to be with you of my

work better. “How is that possible? Doesn’t

who is matched?”

turning brisk. For now, it’s more important that you take a cold shower

the alpha sends 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 go just yet. I’m finally

choose to be with me? And what do you mean, we’re separate and one at the same time? I don’t understand

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

on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the

more later.

can feel my skin starting

is enough.

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

as I can.

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

my nose.

of them. One’s a little weaker, but he’ll do

Ava!

me feel better for at least trying, and turn on the water

in minutes, huddled under that freezing

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Ava: Her Identity

it seems to help keep my mind clear

extent.

is heat even a thing? This is ridiculous. I’m losing my mind because I want some dick?