Tangled

Chapter 261

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 compressed into a

The edges of my vision darken, reality slipping away like

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 sandpaper in my throat. "Ava? Ava! Are you

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

mirror.

voice comes out as a croak.

was trying to pull it right out of my chest. And that

Yanking At

a thrumming in my

sure?" Vanessa looks me over with a frown. "Your face went white as a sheet and your groaned like you were dying. I'm pretty sure you stopped

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. It

in the mirror.

me like Magister Orion said. And then..." I trail off, unsure how to describe the sensation. "It was like it grabbed hold of me. I feel

her head.

many questions, and so few

Marcus's

"We need to be careful with this. Magic books that try to yank your soul out of your body don't exactly scream 'trustworthy'

but something in me rebels against the idea. "No, it wasn't malicious. Just desperate." I pause, surprised by my own certainty. How can I be so sure about the intentions of an inanimate object? And yet,

again,

you getting hurt.

my arms, trying to soothe the strange thrumming in my veins. It's like my body is

wait until we're somewhere safe before I try contacting the book again. Too many weird things keep happening to me. I'd rather not risk dying

I have a sense of self-preservation in me

if I desperately want

sends a pang through

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 to see in the darkness. Vanessa's frown deepens. "Well, you've been focusing' in the back

It felt like mere minutes had passed. The realization is chilling. How much

24

Ava Yanking At

into that strange, mental-magical

to the road. "I felt a pack presence once," he admits. "But it was brief. Flectr before I could really grasp

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