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 blood.

screams in pain and my vision blurs from darkness to light,

Blood drips from his ruined eye, painting a gruesome picture. He stalks

from the elegant monster from before. He’s lost

a

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

myself, shielding Lisa with my body. I know I can’t outrun him, not while carrying her. My only choice is to stand and fight, to buy time until

If it

life inside of me, a crackling current that dances along my nerves. I feel it building,

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Finale (1) END

thrumming beneath

It’s electric.

It’s terrifying.

It’s hope.

vampire charges with a loud snarl and I trust the power within me, meeting him head

flow of time itself changes. A punch that before would have been impossible to track is now something I can not only see,

my training comes to me

How to block.

How to move.

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

please.

as I

strikes, but I’ve practiced defense to

so every time he tries to

regain his balance

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Shocking Finale (1) END SEASON TWO

can’t go on forever.

can feel the wooziness in

way my

how my crop top is

be

an encouraging presence in my mind. They’re

then that I notice

little area.

howls in the

sound of

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

crash. A

here, with only Teddy and Bren’s corpses, Lisa’s unconscious form, and the vampire in

fury fading, his face wary. “Come with us, kitten. I’ve been searching for so long. Don’t you want to know the truth

My story?

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stupid ke?

old ways?”

settled into that pale, death–transcendent beauty. Come with me, kitten. I’ll keep you

will bind you. Selene’s words are urgent, and I have so many fucking questions, but I’m swaying on my feet, even

body.

I’m shocked I can even speak. I don’t know how bad the damage to my neck is, but it

be small.

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

wonder I’m

is there, throbbing, but the damage

of my coar remaine

Finale (III)-END

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

desperate for the

back, despite the faint tingle of the ecstasy I’d felt taunting me from

to make sense of it all. “I’m

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 disappear in a

blink.

still spotty.

my cheek with a soft croon. A lullaby, I

Ava!

not sure if he asked me any