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.

•

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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

thinking about my mom, or her wolf.

No. But habits are really, really hard

dread. Selene presses close to my

as the last, and yet it

her?" I ask, confusion

back at me, a strange smile playing on her lips. "They

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

suffocating.

is dim, the steady beep of machines filling the silence.

She checks the IV bags hanging beside

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

so much smaller, her cheeks

not long for

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

resignation.

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

voice thin and brittle.

physical blow,

nothing.

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

10:27

317

Ava: Mom's Legacy

is vile, coming out

despise their daughter so much that even the sound of her

yet you're here,

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

not to flinch at

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

silence in her wake, broken only by the beeping machines Questions burn on my tongue,

clear liquid into the syringe, Selene's voice

I'll

the vitriol spilling from her lips.

Ava: Mom's

It's hard to reconcile

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 I was breathles The memory rises