Tangled

Unshift 255

Unshift 255

255 Ava: The Golden Stranger

Light illuminates the room, and Marcus steps back, hiding me more fully behind his bulk.

"Who are you?" he asks, and I glance at the knife he's holding behind his back.

When I try to step around him to see who's talking, Vanessa steps forward to block the gap.

can't see anything, and yet I know who's talking. I just can't remember who they are.

"Easy, wolves. I am no enemy of yours, and no danger to the witch you shield."

"Give us your name, Vanessa snaps, uncharacteristic hostility in her tone. "Who are you, and why do you know us?"

"Ah, yes. I suppose you wouldn't know. I am known as Acarus, of the Fourth Beginning. You know my mother"

"Mother?" Marcus asks, shifting his weight as he edges a little closer. "And who might that be?"

"And what the hell is the Fourth Beginning?" Vanessa's annoyance is clear. "You can't throw around words and expect them to mean a thing."

"Oh. Yes, I suppose you wouldn't know that, either." A long pause. "Don't look at me so, wolves. My mother is Miriam, of the Fourth Beginning. Or, as you know it, Dakota Sanctuary. There's a lilt in his voice that tells me he's probably smiling. "Does that help?"

"Miriam?"

The talk of a mother dislodged a long-forgotten memory, and I shove past Marcus.

The golden stranger stands before us, his palms raised in a gesture of peace. His ethereal beauty. is just as striking as I remember-inhuman in its perfection. Golden hair catches the light, and those piercing blue eyes seem to shift to a crimson hue as they move. A mild smile plays on his lips, but it does little to ease the tension in the room.

Marcus and Vanessa tug me back, their protective instincts kicking in, but I shake them off as I

exclaim, "It's you!"

I turn to my friends, eager to explain. "He was in the woods during the Blackwood riot. He didn't harm me then."

Acarus nods in my direction, his gaze appraising. "You've become stronger since we last met, Ava

Grey."

A question that's been nagging at me since our first encounter bubbles to the surface.

+

you the vampire Margot was talking about?" I

perfect features. "I'm afraid I don't

to warn me about it, right before I found you in the woods. It was so long ago, the details blur in my mind. "She was worried about something. Worried I'd tell Lucas about their connection with vampires,

The

brows arch and he tilts his head in thought. "That seems

words don't quite satisfy my curiosity, but before

dinner? I'm sure you must be

distrust of this beautiful stranger who seems to know

conviction in my voice. If Sister Miriam is

"He knows things

our

Marcus shakes his head,

his pot out.

"He was near Blackwood before we began

Sister Miriam. That's too

the ones who intruded on my privacy," Acarus points out from the bottom

he descends the stairs. His hand never strays far from his

familiar, but it isn't until I see the giant table

place I met Sister Miriam. This one isn't quite the

is nothing but trees. Wherever we are, it isn't in a

modest accommodations," he says, as if a huge table that can

steaming in

Vanessa

Wait a second.

you know we would

and even the sound is perfect. Melodious and deep, like a soothing

nerves.

of the table. "I'll do my best to

ignoring the pointed looks from Marcus and

The

either side

Miriam is your mother, I begin, unable to contain my curiosity any longer. "How is that possible? She

with the information

subject or promised to answer things

he says, motioning for us to partake as he

by the food. Though I'm pretty sure it's

their lead.

I was young. In every way

"How did you know about our arrival?

I've been preparing a meal every day for weeks. He nods toward the food on the table. "At least this time I won't

I want to ask about the pigs, but I keep my mouth shut. More important things to worry about