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.

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

trying to regain some of the warmth that fled my

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

Ava: Her Identity

volatile.

bothering me from the beginning. “Selene, you’re

Of course.

why are you separate from me? No shifter has a wolf with a physical body.”

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

You’re being cryptic again. All shifters are bonded with ancient

sighs, and I can almost picture her shaking her head. It’s the nature of what we are.

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

Her

Selene says, her voice filled with a quiet pride.

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

who is matched?”

more important that you take

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

don’t want to be in a frantic state like yesterday. But I can’t

what do you mean, we’re separate and one at the same time? I don’t understand any

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

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can feel my skin starting to

is

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

my nose.

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

Ava!

Right. I slap my nose, which of course does nothing to help but makes me feel better for

in minutes, huddled under that freezing

617

Ava: Her Identity

seems to help keep

extent.

teeth are chattering, so I talk to Selene through my mind again. Why is heat even a thing? This is