Unshift 261
Unshift 261
261 Ava: Yanking At Her
It's almost like a presence saying hello.
Thinking of that little string, I tug back. Twice.
An answering jerk. One. Two. Three
The words I just spoke drift into my head: It's like the book is alive.
it crazy to talk into this void in my head, in the general direction I hope the book is in?
Sure. But at least no one can see or hear me doing it.
Hello? I call out, trying to
there?
Use the same mental channel I use to speak with Selene. Are you
Another tug on that string.
I really, really need you to come to where I am. It's safer here. Or something. How do you explain. to a book that the world has gone to shit and you want to keep it from being used to create further catastrophe?
Please.
Being polite never hurts.
This time, that string-y feeling yanks, and it feels like my heart is constricted, interfering in its ability to beat.
I can't breathe. Pain explodes in my chest, radiating outward like a supernova. My lungs burn, desperate for air that won't come. The world around me blurs, sounds fading into a high-pitched buzz that fills my
cars.
passes. An eternity compressed into a
edges of my vision darken, reality slipping away
recedes. The world snaps back into focus, colors sharpening and sounds returning.
orient myself. We're
mirror.
croak. Swallowing hard, I try again.
just happened? It felt like my heart was being squeezed in a vise, like something was trying to pull it right out of my chest. And that string, that connection to
Yanking
thrumming in
as a sheet and your groaned like
had, hadn't I? The memory of those endless seconds without air sends a shiver down my spine. "I think I made contact with the book.
in the
Orion said. And then..." I trail off, unsure how to describe the sensation. "It was like it grabbed hold of me. I feel like I was
shaking her head. "Stupid question. How would
and so
Marcus's
with this. Magic books that try to yank your soul out of your
point, but something in me rebels against the idea. "No, it wasn't malicious. Just desperate." I pause, surprised by
again, and I
way, we can't risk you getting hurt. Maybe we
my body is
I try contacting the book again. Too
a sense of self-preservation in me
desperately want to
sends a pang through
Vanessa and Marcus. Hope flutters in my chest, fragile and desperate. Vanessa shakes her head, a worried frown creasing her brow. "No, nothing yet. Vester should be able to reach me by now. It's strange." "How long has it been since you could sense him?" Surprised, I peer out the window, but there's nothing
like mere minutes had passed. The
24
Ava Yanking
into
glued to the road. "I felt a pack presence once," he admits. "But it was brief.
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