Tangled

Unshift 260

Unshift 260

260 Ava: Call It

"I know" Nibbling the side of my finger, my brows pull together. Why would he tell me to keep it safe, knowing it might be too dangerous?

What were the words he used again? They seemed significant.

"Ava, I need you to tell me you're not going to the Blackwood territory."

Jerking my head up, I blink at Vanessa's worried stare. "I'm not going. I'm just trying to think."

My brain's dead set on remembering what Magister Orion said.

What was it?

Call my book?

Yeah, that's it.

"The book is useless to anyone even if they find it," Marcus says, his words soft. Is he trying to comfort me? "Don't worry, Ava. It'll be a paperweight. Or, if we're lucky, they'll be allergic. Like Selene." He is trying to comfort me.

How sweet.

"That's if we assume they don't know how to open it. The knowledge has been lost to us, but there are Fae involved now, remember?"

Marcus sighs. "Life was casier without this magic shit," he mutters, almost too soft for me to

hear.

But I do.

My lips quirk. I agree with him wholeheartedly.

"Magister Orion said to call the book to me," I say, looking to Vanessa instead. Sometimes it helps to talk out my thought process. "He wouldn't have said it like that if I were to go pick it up, right?"

Her eyes squint as she thinks it through. "That sounds right. But what does it mean? Can you move it from place to place with your magic?"

My nose itches, and I rub at it in frustration. "I think that's exactly what he means, but I have no idea how to implement it." A long sigh, filled with regrets and lack of time. Time is always in short supply. "I wish Magister Orion had taught me something like that before everything happened."

Vanessa's lips quirk into a small smile. "If wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets.

I stare at her for a moment, the unexpected phrase catching me off guard. Then, despite the

gravity of our on a laugh bubbles up from my chest. "I haven't heard that phrase since I

was in human school."

reenite from the teneian tore heen miling

200 Ava Call it

thing can bring back memories of a simpler time, before I knew about the complexities of pack politics,

used to say that all the time," Vanessa says, her

remain glued to the road ahead. "As much as I appreciate the trip down memory lane, we should focus. It must be important,

thing that would keep me from kabooming everyone within radius if I didn't get training. "I can light a candlestick if you need me too. Blackouts? I'm your girl. Summoning a magical

Vanessa chimes in with a

capable of doing this, so I just need to figure out how. Right?" Vanessa turns almost completely around on the passenger side of the bench

makes sense. Magic seems to be all about

nod, latching onto the idea. "If I lose concentration, I lose control. So it's the

the back of Marcus' head can't hide his skepticism. Probably because it leaks out in his voice. "So what, you just think really hard about the book and it

feeling a bit foolish. "Maybe?

the seat to whisper, "He just doesn't have

what you can do."

can hear you, Healer

make her

the rest of his words. "Never mind. I'll just

a deep breath, I close my eyes and try to empty my

to jostle me out of my concentration. A stale, acrid smell of cigarette smoke lingers in the air, tickling my nose and tempting me to sneeze.

book. I picture it in my mind, with the silky feel its leather cover and the ornate silver clasps,

260 Ava Call It

disappeared like

That's what I need

myself. The truck hits

Focus, Ava. Focus.

in my memory, swirling and shifting. I try to grasp them, to hold onto their meaning,

I need to be

voice breaks through my concentration. "Are you okay? You

nod, not opening my eyes. "I'm trying

she says softly.

my thoughts. I picture the book again, trying to will it into

open

book in my

this ancient rust bucket on wheels, and the deserted rural road

traveling.

concentrating harder. Magister Orion said to call it to me, so it must be possible; I just have to

massive undertaking for

nose. It's distracting, pulling me out of my focus. I try to push it away,

we have a long way still before we make it to wherever Lucas is

of power, of potential. The way it seemed to hum