Tangled

139 Ava: A Shocking Finale (III) —

END SEASON TWO

“You’re making this so much harder than it should be. I was hoping to savor this moment, but now I have to rush my meal, instead.” He sounds disappointed, not angry, and the difference makes me shudder.

It’s worse than him being infuriated. It shows that my struggles are no more than an inconvenience to him.

When his fangs break skin, the pain is unbearable.

It’s worse than fire in my veins. It’s an ache so deep that my entire body throbs and burns, I open my mouth to scream, but no sound comes out; I can’t

breathe.

Skimming over the pain is an ecstasy that taunts me with bliss, tantalizing with its lack of pain. I yearn for it, wanting to sink in, wanting to escape this torture-

Eyes, Ava! Selene shouts. Go for the eyes!

With a desperate cry, I jab my fingers toward his face, aiming for those cold, mocking eyes. He jerks his head back and I can feel my neck rip and tear, blood

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139 Ava A Shocking Finale (il)-END SEASON TWO

pouring.

But not before I fe

my nails sink into something soft

and yielding. He howis, his grip loosens, and I wrench myself free, staggering away.

The vampire clutches at his face, blood seeping between his fingers. One eye is a ruined mess, but the other glares at me with unadulterated hatred.

“You’ll pay for that, bitch,” he spits, his voice a guttural

rasp.

I hold my hands against my neck, against the blood pouring out, gasping for air to fill my lungs. It’s like they can’t inflate fully, can’t fill with oxygen.

This time rage fuels his movements as he lunges for me, messy and uncoordinated. My brain’s already off, moving on instinct, through repetitive motions in

training.

A quick sidestep. A knee to the groin, a practiced weak point. He’s wide open and doubles over with a grunt as I follow up with an elbow to the back of his neck,

sacrificing blood loss for success.

He hits the ground hard. Good to know pressure

points also work on vampires

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139 Ava: A Shocking Finale ()-END SEASON TWO

He won’t be down long–may

seconds.

I dart to Lisa, grabbing her under the arms and dragging her back, scrabbling for purchase.with my

slick from

vision blurs from

rises to his feet, his face a mask of rage. Blood drips from his ruined eye, painting a gruesome picture.

monster from before. He’s lost reason. Lost control.

a chance.

snarls, spittle

brace myself, shielding Lisa with my body. I know I can’t outrun him, not while

it

me, a crackling current that dances along my nerves. I feel

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211

Finale (1)

beneath my

It’s electric.

It’s terrifying.

It’s hope.

and I trust the

impossible to track is now something I

my training comes to

How to block.

How to move.

press my hand against his arm, how to utilize his momentum to throw his body

please.

as

little training in offensive strikes, but I’ve practiced defense to exhaustion every

every time he tries to grab me, he’s

forgod to regain

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A Shocking Finale (1)

this can’t go on

feel the

way my knees

my crop top is soaked in

be unconscious already?

encouraging presence in my mind. They’re almost there.

I notice the

little area.

howls in the

of sirens.

here, fighting. Perhaps they’re

A lot of

peaceful back here, with only Teddy and Bren’s corpses,

been searching for so long. Don’t you want to know the truth

My story?

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hate these stupid ke? Their rules? Their

old ways?”

gone, his face once again settled into that pale, death–transcendent beauty. Come with me, kitten. I’ll keep you safe, teach you your powers. Tell you the truth about that wolf inside your soul.”

agree with him. You’re half in contract. Any agreement will bind you. Selene’s words are urgent, and I have so many fucking questions, but I’m

body.

I can even speak. I don’t know how bad the damage to my neck

be small.

to my neck again, the skin is smooth and unblemished beneath my fingers, beneath the

wonder I’m not

is there, throbbing, but

faint outline of my coar remaine

Finale (III)-END SEASON

give you the freedom he can’t. I’ll give you the knowledge she won’t. Come, Ava Grey, Ward of the Witches. You

little girl inside of me, the one desperate for the love of my family,

the rest of me holds her back, despite the faint tingle of the ecstasy I’d felt

sense of it all.

feeling it pour out of me. For a second, I can almost imagine golden strands connecting me to the

blink.

vision’s still spotty.

cheek with

Ava!

not sure if he asked