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.
An eternity
my vision darken, reality slipping
it began, the pain recedes. The world snaps back into focus, colors sharpening and sounds returning. I gasp, drawing in a ragged breath that feels like
grips my shoulder, shaking me gently but insistently. I blink, trying to orient myself. We're still in the truck. Marcus is at the wheel, his knuckles white as he grips it
mirror.
as a croak. Swallowing hard, I
being squeezed in a vise, like something was trying to pull it right out of my chest. And that string, that connection to the
Ava Yanking At
a thrumming in my veins that's
over with a frown. "Your face went white as a sheet and your groaned like you were dying. I'm pretty sure you
seconds without air sends a shiver down my spine. "I
meet mine in the
me like Magister Orion said. And then..." I
that normal?" Vanessa asks, before shaking her head. "Stupid question. How
and so
Marcus's
be careful with this. Magic books that try to
"No, it wasn't malicious. Just desperate." I pause, surprised
again, and I
we can't risk you getting
the strange thrumming in my veins. It's like my
the book again. Too many weird things keep happening to me. I'd rather not
I have a sense of
desperately want to try
sends a pang through my
her head, a worried frown creasing her brow. "No, nothing yet. Vester should be able to reach me by
mere minutes had passed. The realization is chilling. How much
24
Yanking
away into that
glued to the road. "I felt a pack presence once," he admits. "But it was brief. Flectr before I could really grasp it." "It's just a matter
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