Tangled

Chapter 192

192

192

192 Ava: Mom's Legacy (V)

The hospital is eerily quiet, our steps echoing through the halls. Visiting hours are long over, and night shift reigns.

Vanessa is unfazed by the creepy quality of the place at a late hour, but I jump when the elevator dings, signalling its arrival in front of

1. us.

"You okay?" she asks, concern knitting her brows.

Selene-who's finally out from beneath my bed, though she refuses to talk about why she avoided me for the rest of the day- leans against my leg in silent comfort. "It's just so quiet. I'm not used to hospitals without people bustling around."

There's a giant machine coming down the hall in our direction, cleaning the floor with whatever algorithm powers its movement.

I always wondered how hospitals kept their floors so clean. I guess everything's automated these days.

Vanessa nudges me onto the elevator, pressing the button for my mom's floor before we've all even made it in.

Four bodyguards flank us. Massive overkill, considering that there isn't much we're expecting to happen on this visit.

Still, Lucas-and Jericho-are taking no chances on my safety.

Marcus, at least, is getting a break, and a new guy seems to be the one to shadow me for the night. He's a little short, but his eyes are black and intense, and I wouldn't want to be found in an alley with him in the dark.

10:27

log Ave Mom's Legacy (V)

He smells like death, Selene says. To me, such words are atrocious, like I should avoid the person. To her? She speaks as though she

admires him.

And that's a good thing?

Selene's ears flick toward me, and I can feel her side-eye even without her eyes moving. He is a capable guard. This is a good thing. Right. I guess that's true.

straight forward as the elevator numbers change from

mom, or her wolf. Avoidance

But habits are

close to my side, her warmth a small

the last, and yet it feels

did they move her?" I

me, a strange smile playing on her lips.

the room. Two of our guards take up positions outside, whil the other two follow us

suffocating.

is dim, the steady beep of machines filling the silence. Vanessa makes her way

hanging beside the bed, her movements

the frail figure beneath

looks so much

long

murmurs, her voice tinged with something I can't quite place. Pity,

resignation.

land on me, they sharpen, a glare that pins me in place. "You must have come to

voice thin and brittle.

accusation hits me like a physical

nothing.

would you be here?" She struggles to sit up, her arms trembling with the effort, before finally giving up. The vitriol in her eyes never fades, though. "To

10:27

317

Mom's

is vile, coming

can someone despise their daughter so much that even the sound of her cough is filled with

yet you're here, aren't

impossibly tiny vial filled with clear liquid. "We're about to give you

trying not to flinch at the words she

my hand keeps me grounded. Don't let her bait you, she whispers in

cornered animal. She scurries out, leaving an unsettling silence in her wake, broken only by the beeping machines Questions

syringe, Selene's

hollow comfort, but, I'll take what I

face, trying to block out the vitriol spilling from her

Mom's

loathing. It's hard to reconcile

me into her lap, tickling me until I was

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