Tangled

120 Ava: Vampire’s Call

120 Ava: Vampire’s Call

“If you ever need me, child, simply light a candle and call my name. I’ll find you.”

My eyes snap open in the middle of a deep sleep, and my heart races, a thunderous pounding in my chest that shakes my entire body.

The dream was too real, too close to memory. Selene’s ears perk up as she lifts her head from the foot of the bed. What’s wrong, Ava?

I shake my head, eyes darting to the door. Kellan’s somewhere in the apartment, ever present, always listening. I think I know how to contact Sister Miriam. The maybe–vampire lady.

Selene’s blue eyes widen. How? She sits up, her full

attention on me.

When she visited me before the ceremony, she said if I needed her, I should light a candle and call her name.

That she’d find me.

1

Tell me everything, Selene says, her voice gentle in my mind. Every detail.

15:46

1/9

120 Ava: Vampire’s Call

I recount the memory, the cloying scent of incense, the invasive way she touched me, her cryptic words. The dread and intrigue she instilled in my mother.

Your mother fears her, Selene muses. As she should. Vampires are not to be trifled with.

But she might have answers. About what I am. What’s happening to me. She seemed to know.

Selene is quiet for a long moment. Vampires are ancient, powerful creatures with their own agendas. She may help you, but there will be a price. There always is, with their kind.

I swallow hard, a shiver running through me. I’ll be careful. I promise.

Try to sleep, Selene says, curling back up. We’ll talk

more tomorrow.

I nod, sinking back against the pillows. But sleep is elusive, my mind spinning with possibilities and fears.

Sister Miriam’s red eyes follow me into my dreams, her silken voice a whispered promise. “I’ll find you.”

I toss and turn, the sheets twisting around my legs. Power pulses under my skin, a restless itch I can’t

15:46

2/9

120 Ava: Vampire’s Call

scratch.

What if she’s the key? What if she can unlock the

mystery inside me, teach me to wield the elements like weapons?

a cold weight in

a price. With vampires,

play across the ceiling, indifferent to my struggles. Outside, the moon is bright, almost full. Its call sings in

* * *

pass in a blur.

goes between

know the details, but

my parents–and Alpha Renard–is heating

I’m told, they’re no closer to finding them.

they’ve been

everyone

me and

have changed. I’m strong

ery day, but

and he’s

15:46

3/9

Vampire’s Call

incorporating real self–defense.

of no–fucking–where, popping into my field of vision like one of those winding pop–up toys. I manage to keep my face blank even as my heartbeat spikes

from the

“Fall?”

me in the face. It’s raining outside, and he’s decided to show us a little

scarred lip curls. “Yes, Ava. Falling.”

thought we were going to

do you think you’re going to learn that without first learning how

I know he has a point.

want to admit he does, so I cross my arms

scowl at him.

know how to fall.”

do you

15:46

4/9

Ava: Vampire’s Call

from weathered and unimpressed to having my entire body

the mat.

air rushes out of my lungs in the space

millisecond.

of a

takes time to re–learn how

shock.

up,” he barks.

effort,

hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. Bend your knees, tuck your

me down. He’d just laugh. So I grit my teeth and nod, determined to figure

me again, and I try to remember what he said. Bend the knees, tuck

hits the mat, and

“Again,” Jericho orders.

15:46

5/9

Vampire’s Call

over, he knocks me down, and over and over, I struggle to my feet. Each time, he barks out a correction. It’s always something. How I hit the ground. How I get

giant bruise, and the mat becomes a nightmare I’m never going to forget. For being something foam and giving, it feels like stone when I land on it. Pretty sure my butt has

her through some kind of calisthenics routine. Pushups, sit–ups, lunges, weird walking crab–like movements. It looks

my heart as I watch them. What I wouldn’t give to trade places right now and free myself of

me again, and I

focus.

best to anticipate the fall, determined to

15:46

Ava: Vampire’s

of my lungs once again as I groan in very, very real

concentrating,” Jericho growls. “Get your head

arms tremble with the effort, and I can feel the sweat dripping down my face. My shirt is stuck to my

I grumble through clenched