Tangled

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210 Ava: Moon Goddess (III) — END Season

3

Ava?

Ava!

Selene's mental shout has me shaking my head, startled. I'm back, and it's like I was never gone.

Ava, are you listening?

"Sorry. What is it?"

Selene stands in front of me, her ears twitching. You were here, but our bond was silent. Like you were far away.

"Ah." Clearing my throat, which is parched now that I've returned, I blink until I adjust to the darkness of my room, compared to the brightness of that magical place I was in just moments ago. "Selene, what does the Moon Goddess look like?"

Why do you ask? Selene's head tilts, her icy eyes studying me with an intensity that would be unnerving if I wasn't so used to it by

now.

I glance at Marcus, who stands sentinel by the door, before focusing my thoughts inward. It's so much harder to think this way, and I wonder if it will ever feel completely natural. I think I met her. The Moon Goddess.

Selene's confusion ripples through our bond. She was never here,

Ava.

210 Ava: Moon Goddess (1) END Season 3

I know. We were somewhere else.

You never left the room. Selene's voice in my mind is tinged with concern, her mental words hesitant.

I think my consciousness did. It was like my spirit traveled to this magical place. I struggle to find the words to describe the ethereal experience. Even my body felt real there.

Selene's worry intensifies, a cold thread winding through my thoughts. Will it happen again?

I don't know. Absently stroking the pages of the book in my lap, I think back, trying to focus on the details. Yet the memories are already fading, vivid pictures blurring in my mind's eye. There was a woman there. She called herself Selena. She spoke to me about my magic, about embracing it.

I don't know what the Moon Goddess looks like. I can't remember, Selene admits. Though, they say she appears differently to everyone who sees her. Some even see her as a wolf. She pauses. think I saw her as a wolf.

Nodding, I look down at the book again, my gaze drawn to the strange runic text that dances across the pages. Each symbol seems to breathe with a life of its own, pulsing in a mesmerizing rhythm. What are you doing? Selene's question breaks through my fascination.

I

to

<

Ava: Moon Goddess

is no text.

do you mean? It's right here. Can't

to her skull. The pages

swirls through me as I stare at the book, at

can you come

wolf shifter approaches with caution, boots heavy, each thud a countdown to the

ma'am?"

to the open book. "Can

together

spine as I look between Marcus and Selene. How is it possible that I can see these cryptic words so clearly while they perceive only emptiness? Ava, what

I can feel the warmth and tingling against my palm. I think it

We'll figure it out. That's

37

Moon Goddess

it

get through

We'll do it together.

never together

of Selene being somehow separate from my magic. Why can't she see what I can? Why can't she

it isn't some sort of terrible omen for

It isn't, Selene insists.

eyes away from the graceful lines dancing across the pages, each stroke imbued with a meaning that hovers just beyond my grasp. It's like

I focus on them. They flow

art that speaks to my soul

are alien, yet somehow familiar. They tug at something deep inside me, at that core of glowing warmth

477

Moon Goddess

can't hear

do you see? Selene's voice is a distant echo, a

fingers trembling as

her longing to share in this experience. But no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to project. the images into her mind. It's like there's a wall between

my heart aching at the distance between us. I don't know how to show

nose against my leg, offering silent comfort even as I sense her unease.

in my fingertips, a warmth that spreads up my arms and into my

secrets.

the runes begin to move

dance, rearranging themselves into new patterns, new shapes. I watch, transfixed, as they

Letters.