Tangled

176

176

176 Ava: Attending the Rites

Odd? How so?

Selene's soft whine catches Kellan's attention. "We'll be there soon. Will she be okay?"

It doesn't seem that he realizes the dog is not actually a dog. "She's

fine."

I thought I had all my memory, but when I try to think back, everything is fuzzy. Even my own name doesn't come to mind.

My head aches at the thought of trying to unravel that. What kind of memories? From becoming a dog?

Not exactly. My past life. My identity. Many things... Things I thought I remembered. Vanessa's words sound familiar, but I cannot access the memories. It feels important. That just sounds... Yeah. She's right. It's odd.

How long have they been missing?

Silence.

Then, I don't know. Forever.

Leaning down, I rub at Selene's head. It'll be okay. I'm sure we'll figure it out. But we both know my promise is hollow. I have no way of keeping it.

Selene whines again, resting her head on her paws as she stays beneath my chair. Ava, am I a detriment to you?

Of course not. My denial is swift and from the heart. But... I think

176 Ava Altending the Rites

we might make bad decisions together.

Her mood plummets; I can feel it in the back of my head. Like Lucas and his wolf, as children.

Scratching behind her ears in gentle consolation, my heart is

buoyed when she leans against my touch. You have given me much strength by being here. We'll figure it out together. Together, she confirms, but that insecure edge to her words is still

there.

***

knees so weak, my walk resembles the wobbling

lands as twilight hits. The entire place is

No lights on.

No people.

of life

make it to a large field deep in the forest, filled with people. Some are

drive; everyone

clenches, twisting painfully in my gut as I see so many of

Kellan hadn't

Attending

insisted she

whispers, slinking out of

struts about with confidence, tail high and head erect... But I

the same way.

Like I don't belong.

Filled with shame.

pyres, and my heart sinks. Lucas hadn't mentioned that three more people had

silence, save for the occasional mourning

the

crowd. His hand rests on the small of my back, guiding me with gentle pressure as he points or tugs me in different directions as he leads m We finally settle on a place near Jericho,

somber, a heaviness pressing down on

until it's hard to

surrounded by the weight of so much loss, I'm hit with the price of my willfulness, of my blind demand

17

How many of thresereaths are

of

Every single one

for she dead for the familles left behind. For the pack that

I blink them back. I have to right to cry, not when my actions have caused so much pain. Not when I've been so focused on

him. His face is a mask of stoucisa, but I can see the cracks in his armor. The

of the mourners

down at me, his brow

everything For being so selfish. For not thinking about how

at me, anguish clear in his eyes. His face. In how his lips curve down

your fault. Ava. You didn't

our land:

heart. I recognize the

I hadn't been at that party, those vampires wouldn't have