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.
second passes. An eternity compressed into
edges of my vision darken, reality slipping away
and sounds returning. I gasp, drawing in a
I blink, trying to orient myself. We're still in the truck. Marcus is at the wheel,
mirror.
out as a croak. Swallowing hard, I try
trying to pull it
Ava Yanking At
a thrumming in my
as a sheet and your groaned like
shiver down my
in the
reaching out to it, trying to call it to me like Magister Orion said. And then..." I
Vanessa asks, before shaking her head. "Stupid question.
many questions, and
Marcus's
careful with this. Magic books that try to yank your soul out of
"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, I
tugs again, and I swear it's a
"Either way, we can't risk you getting hurt. Maybe we should wait until
soothe the strange thrumming in my veins. It's like my body is vibrating from the inside out, a constant reminder of the
contacting the book again. Too many weird things keep happening to me. I'd
sense of self-preservation
if I desperately want to try
thought of Lucas sends a
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
like mere minutes had passed. The realization is chilling. How
24
Ava Yanking At
into
he admits. "But it was brief. Flectr before
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