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 blood.

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

his ruined eye, painting a gruesome picture.

cry from the elegant monster from before. He’s lost reason. Lost

a chance.

spittle flying

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

it arrives.

sparks to life inside of me, a crackling current that dances along

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Shocking Finale (1)

thrumming beneath my skin.

It’s electric.

It’s terrifying.

It’s hope.

snarl and I trust

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

to

How to block.

How to move.

arm, how to utilize his momentum to

please.

step as

but I’ve practiced defense to exhaustion

every time he tries to grab me, he’s shoved

forgod to regain his balance

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A Shocking Finale (1) END SEASON

go on

feel the wooziness in

the way my knees

crop top

be unconscious already?

little longer, Selene says, an encouraging presence in my mind. They’re almost

notice the sounds outside of

little area.

in

of sirens.

fighting. Perhaps they’re on the other side of the

crash. A lot

how it’s so relatively peaceful back here, with only Teddy and Bren’s corpses, Lisa’s unconscious form, and the vampire in front of me.

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

My story?

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these stupid ke? Their rules?

old ways?”

that pale, death–transcendent beauty. Come with me, kitten. I’ll keep you safe, teach you your powers. Tell you the truth

in contract. Any agreement will bind you. Selene’s words are urgent, and I have so many fucking questions,

body.

how bad the damage to my neck is, but it can’t

be small.

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

I’m

throbbing, but the

faint outline of my coar

Finale (III)-END SEASON TWO

too. I’ll give you the freedom he can’t. I’ll give you the knowledge she

inside of me, the one desperate for the

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

make sense of it all. “I’m

on to the power, feeling it pour out

blink.

still spotty.

me, cupping my cheek with a

Ava!

if he asked me