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

from

my vision blurs from darkness to light, spotted with

his

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

have a

rip you apart,” he snarls, spittle flying from his lips. “Piece by fucking

I can’t outrun him, not while carrying her. My only choice is to stand and fight,

If it arrives.

a crackling current that dances along my

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A Shocking Finale

thrumming beneath my skin.

It’s electric.

It’s terrifying.

It’s hope.

I trust the power

punch that before would have been impossible to track is now something I

comes to me

How to block.

How to move.

against his arm, how

please.

step as I

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

time he tries to

forgod to regain his

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Ava A Shocking Finale (1) END SEASON TWO

can’t go on forever.

the wooziness in

the way my knees

my crop top is soaked in blood…

be

a little longer, Selene says, an encouraging presence

only then that I notice the sounds outside of

little area.

howls in

of

snarling and growling of wolves here, fighting. Perhaps they’re on the other

crash. A lot of

back here, with only Teddy and Bren’s corpses, Lisa’s unconscious form,

I’ve been searching for so long.

My story?

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you hate these stupid ke? Their rules?

old ways?”

reaches out a clawed hand, all the deranged anger 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

will bind you. Selene’s words are urgent, and I have so

body.

don’t know how bad the

be small.

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

wonder I’m not

there, throbbing, but the damage has

outline of my

Ava: A Shocking Finale

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

of me, the one desperate for the

the rest of me holds her back, despite the faint tingle of the ecstasy I’d felt taunting me from beyond the pain when

again, trying to make sense of it all. “I’m not leaving here.”

and I fall to my knees with a groan. I can’t hold on to the power, feeling it pour out of me. For a second, I can almost imagine golden strands connecting me to the earth, but they

blink.

vision’s still

me, cupping my cheek with a soft croon. A lullaby,

Ava!

sure if