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.

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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

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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

There will be a price. With

across the ceiling, indifferent to my struggles. Outside, the moon is bright, almost full.

* * *

days pass in a blur.

and goes between Blackwood

I don’t know the details, but I do

for my parents–and Alpha Renard–is heating

what I’m told, they’re no closer to finding

they’ve been so silent, so

everyone nervous.

me

have changed.

ery day, but

and he’s

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Ava: Vampire’s Call

self–defense. Mainly, falling.

he declares out 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

from the

“Fall?”

the exposed brick walls of the gym, bouncing back and smacking me in the face. It’s raining outside, and he’s decided to show

scarred lip curls. “Yes,

we were going to learn

think you’re going to learn

a point, I think. No, I know he has a

does, so I cross my arms and

scowl at him.

know how

you now?”

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Vampire’s

from weathered and unimpressed to having

the mat.

air rushes out of my lungs in

millisecond.

of a

takes time to re–learn how

shock.

up,” he barks.

is an effort, my tailbone throbbing with every

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

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

I try to remember what

the mat,

“Again,” Jericho orders.

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Vampire’s

goes. Over and over, he knocks me down, and over and over, I struggle to my feet. Each time, he barks

one 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

the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of Lisa. She’s with Kellan, who’s putting her through some kind of calisthenics routine. Pushups,

I wouldn’t give to trade places right now and free myself of my vicious

me again, and I have to

focus.

I do my best to anticipate the fall, determined to do it

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Vampire’s Call

of course. The mat slaps the air straight out of my lungs once again as I

your head

to my hands and knees, panting. My arms tremble with the effort, and I can feel the sweat dripping down my face. My shirt is stuck to my body, positively soaked, and

grumble through clenched teeth.