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.

edge," Vanessa murmurs, looking straight forward as the elevator

avoiding thinking about my mom, or her wolf. Avoidance has always

habits are

mother's room feels longer than it should, each step heavy with dread. Selene presses close to my side, her warmth a

same as the last, and yet

her?" I ask, confusion

me, a strange smile playing on her lips. "They had to

my apprehension as we enter the room. Two of our guards take up positions

suffocating.

room is dim, the steady beep of machines filling the silence. Vanessa makes her way to the bed where

checks the IV bags hanging beside the bed, her

bed, my eyes drawn to the frail figure beneath the sheets. The sight of her

yet she looks so much smaller,

long

toll," Vanessa murmurs, her voice

resignation.

But when they land on me, they sharpen, a glare that pins me

voice thin and brittle.

physical blow, but

nothing.

with the effort, before finally giving up. The vitriol in her eyes never fades, though.

10:27

317

Ava: Mom's

sound is vile,

their daughter so much that even the sound of her

you're here, aren't

Grey." Vanessa finishes checking her medicine as a nurse steps in, holding a syringe and an impossibly tiny vial filled with clear liquid. "We're about to give you something for

at the words she

against my hand keeps me grounded. Don't let her bait you,

room like a cornered animal. She scurries out, leaving an unsettling silence in her wake, broken only

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

hollow comfort, but, I'll take what I

out the vitriol spilling from her lips. Her features, once soft and warm,

Ava: Mom's

It's hard to reconcile

mother I remember from my earliest years. Back then, her smile could 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