Unshift 211
Unshift 211
211 Ava: Bringing Trouble to the Pack
There's a simple text on my phone, from an unknown number.
[UNKNOWN: Come to Dakota Sanctuary. We have a place for you. Now that you've unlocked your power, you're a danger to everyone around you.]
"Is everything okay?"
Marcus' eagle eyes must have noticed the blood draining from my face.
I don't want to lie to him, but I don't know how much he should
know about the situation.
Then again, the man's my bodyguard.
How can he effectively guard me if he doesn't know what's going
on?
Tell Lucas, Selene says, sounding grim.
I will. "This text. Probably the same as the unknown call from before." Handing Marcus my phone, I watch as his face zones out to inform Kellan or Jericho of the situation. Or both of them. Probably both. My gaze flicks to the book, but the words that had appeared moments ago are gone, leaving only those illegible runes once again. The cryptic message lingers in my mind, unsettling in its implications.
I don't like this, Ava, Selene says, her voice laced with concern. It feels like we're being herded into something.
17:38
211 Ava: Bringing Trouble to the Pack
The thought of being manipulated, of being led down a path I didn't choose, brings nothing but unease
What are our choices right now? I ask, hating the tremor in my mental voice. If my power really is a danger to everyone around
me...
I trail off, not wanting to finish that thought. The idea that I can hurt the people I care about, that my mere presence could put them at risk, is a heavy weight on my chest.
I've already hurt so many people.
But leaving isn't an option.
So what the fuck am I supposed to do?
It feels like I'm being forced into making a bad decision. There has. to be another way, right? Like Vanessa said-I was always thinking in black and white. So, now I need to find gray. Or orange. Or whatever other color it could possibly be.
Somehow.
Lucas' face flashes through my mind, and I can already imagine his reaction to this new development. Can he really keep me safe from my own power? Can I keep him safe?
The Unregistered city is an unknown, Selene says. We need to talk
we can
have is Sister Miriam, and Lucas doesn't
her.
don't necessarily trust her, either-but I don't think she intends. me
17.38
2/7
Bringing Trouble
Selene admits, though I can hear
Her concern mirrors mine.
one to rely on, we were ready to take so many risks. Selene wasn't
people we care about warning us, time
After the vampire attacks?
She's learned caution.
So have I.
"Kellan and Jericho are
my chest. Kellan and Jericho
your work for you, Ava. You have to do
nothing that comes
my plans in the past have
freedom in Cedarwood,
Did I?
Mrs. Elkins' arrival, it's been a niggling
Did I find freedom?
it the first stage of someone's grand
317
Bringing Trouble to the
but I
A place where the laws of the world don't. apply. Where vampires and other creatures roam unchecked.
And Lisa's already there.
there for
go. I could
the training, and I'm... what,
circles, making me dizzy with the force of my indecision
+17
was never one to panic. Phoenix, either. And my father? I don't think I've seen
Then there's me.
figure out how to
Vanessa.
didn't even realize how much damage I had done
family realizes how much
them, Ava. They're nothing but either. Don't try
you,
flaws.
4/7
<
Ava: Bringing Trouble to the
words bring a little relief, easing the pressure in my chest.
at my family as
been trained
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