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.

many talented humans were 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

of the warmth that fled my body as she

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 and grasp something so

Ava: Her Identity

volatile.

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

Of course.

No shifter

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

cryptic again. All shifters are bonded with ancient magic, and

almost picture her shaking her

are we, exactly? Are you

Her

quiet pride. I came to be with

if that somehow makes my brain work

who is matched?”

is a story for 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 up. Clayton is

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

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

me? And what do you mean, we’re separate and one at

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

on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in

more later.

want to argue, to demand answers, but the heat is building faster now, and I can feel my skin starting to prickle with sweat. I need

is enough.

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

as I can.

wolf. I don’t know how far they are, but they’re close enough that I’m lifting my chin to sniff, trying to get their

my nose.

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

Ava!

nose, which of course does nothing to help but makes me feel better for at least trying, and turn on the

shivering in minutes, huddled under

617

Her

but it seems to help keep

extent.

even a thing? This is ridiculous. I’m