Tangled

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.

on edge," Vanessa murmurs, looking straight forward as the elevator numbers change from

my mom, or her wolf. Avoidance has

are really,

dread. Selene presses close to my side, her warmth a small comfort in the sterile hallway.

the same as the last, and yet it feels as though we're going in the

her?" I ask,

at me, a strange smile playing on her lips. "They had to make some adjustments for her

take up

suffocating.

of machines filling the silence.

the IV bags hanging

to the frail figure beneath the sheets. The sight of her steals my breath. It's

and yet she looks so much smaller,

not long

wolfsbane is taking its toll," Vanessa murmurs, her voice tinged with something I can't quite

resignation.

sensing our presence, my mother's eyes flutter open. They're dull, lacking the fire I've always associated with her. But when they land on me, they sharpen, a glare that pins me in place. "You must have

voice thin and brittle.

hits me like a physical

nothing.

with the effort, before finally giving up. The vitriol in her eyes never fades, though. "To gloat? To see me wither away?" "I'm not here for you."My honesty

10:27

317

Mom's

vile, coming out

much that even

you're here,

and an impossibly tiny vial filled with

as I'm trying not to flinch at the words she throws my way, that

against my hand keeps me grounded. Don't let

the nurse, whose eyes dart around the room like a cornered animal. She scurries out, leaving an unsettling silence in her

clear liquid into the syringe, Selene's voice whispers through my mind, She'll be quiet

I'll take what I

focus on my mother's face, trying to block out the vitriol spilling from her lips. Her features, once soft and

Mom's Legacy

It's hard to reconcile

light up a room, and her laughter was infectious. She'd pull me into her lap, tickling me until I was breathles The memory rises unbidden, a bitersweet pang in my chest. I latch