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.

Vanessa murmurs, looking straight forward as the elevator

I've been avoiding thinking about my mom, or her wolf. Avoidance has

habits are really, really hard to

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

and yet it feels as though we're

they move her?" I ask, confusion lacing

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

we enter the room. Two of our guards take up positions outside, whil the other two follow us in their presence both reassuring and 102

suffocating.

of machines filling the silence. Vanessa makes her way to the bed

IV bags hanging beside

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

she looks so much smaller, her cheeks hollow and skin

not long for

murmurs, her voice tinged with something I can't

resignation.

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,

voice thin and brittle.

hits me like a physical

nothing.

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 cuts through the air between us, and

10:27

317

Mom's

that sound is vile, coming out

daughter so much that even the sound of her cough is filled with

you're

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 your agitation." "I wouldn't be agitated if you would remove that filth from my

much as I'm trying not to flinch at the words

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

dart around the room like a cornered animal. She scurries out, leaving an unsettling silence in her wake, broken only by the beeping machines Questions burn on my tongue, but

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

but, I'll take what I

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

Ava: Mom's Legacy

with loathing. It's hard to

woman with the 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