Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted novel Chapter 474

Chapter 474: Ava: A Ghost’s Heart

The ghost’s cackling makes me want to claw my own ears out. He’s been circling overhead for fifteen minutes, singing nursery rhymes along with songs he’s made up on his own. Or maybe they’re just songs I’ve never heard before. Either way, they all make my skin crawl.

"Round and round the witch girl goes, where she stops the dead all know..."

I tap my foot against the hardwood floor, checking my watch for the third time in two minutes. Waiting for Acarus and Orion to finish whatever the hell they’re doing upstairs is much like those movie scenes where you stand in line at the DMV—if the DMV were staffed by cryptic supernatural beings who held the answers to life’s mysteries but refused to share them in anything but riddles.

Seriously, Selene’s got a lot of resemblance—

Don’t you dare.

—to herself. Just herself. Nobody else.

"Can you please shut up?" I snap at the translucent figure floating above me.

The ghost giggles, spinning lazily in circles. "The sleeping one wakes, the waking one sleeps. The circle never breaks, just repeats, repeats, repeats..."

I lean against the wall, straining to hear any movement from upstairs. Nothing.

Selene sits dutifully at my side, her blue eyes tracking the ghost’s movements. He seems to be trying to explain something. He’s a very consistent ghost, for someone who’s gone mad.

"Lovely," I mutter, running my hand through my hair. Deciphering crazy ghosts is not what I need to add onto my pile of Luna duties.

The ghost dips closer, his face suddenly inches from mine. "She thinks she can hide, but death sees all sides."

I jerk back, slamming my head against the wall with a strangled shriek.

He darts away with a giggle.

Finally, the floorboards above creak. I straighten up, trying to look less like someone who’s prone to being scared by a ghost.

Magister Orion appears first, his massive frame taking up most of the stairway. Behind him comes Acarus—and over his shoulder, bound in the rope we’ve enchanted, is the dream-eater. It looks strange, like a human-shaped shadow, its edges blurring and shifting as if it’s now made of smoke.

My nose wrinkles at the faint scent of blood wafting from it. Not strong, but not there before. The vampire’s done something to it, and it feels kind of like...

Deconstruction, Grimoire muses. It seems unstable compared to before.

Yeah. Kind of like that. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Acarus doesn’t even glance my way as he reaches the bottom step, his attention fixed on his cargo. Magister Orion gives me a nod, his face unreadable as ever. The ghost above me launches into another verse of his twisted song, louder now.

"I still have questions—and I don’t even have a way to contact you," I blurt out, stepping forward before Acarus can walk away. Not the smooth way I wanted to approach the conversation.

He pauses, finally looking at me. No surprise shows on his perfect face, but there’s a moment of consideration, as if he’s weighing something in his mind. He doesn’t respond immediately, just tilts his head slightly.

Then, without warning or flourish, he holds out one hand. The air above his palm shimmers, and suddenly two strange devices materialize. They’re not modern smartphones—more like chunky flip phones from the early 2000s, but with strange markings etched into their casings.

I blink at them. "...Are those phones?"

He extends one toward me. "This is how you reach me."

I take it hesitantly, turning it over in my hand. It feels heavier than it should. Then again, I’ve never held an electronic relic like this before. It’s older than I am. "Aren’t you worried the New Order might be able to listen in?"

"These do not utilize mortal networks." His tone makes it clear no further explanation is coming.

But if vampires had magical cell phones, why didn’t I get one a long time ago?

Selene presses against my leg, her ears pricked forward. Ask him how to get rid of it permanently.

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