Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted - Chapter 472

Chapter 472: Ava: Falling Behind
Eleanor studies my face with unnatural intensity, stepping a little too close. “You look a little exhausted.”

“Oh… okay.” Brilliant comeback, Ava. I’m really nailing this Luna-witch-leader thing today.

“Is there anything I can do? I want to help—anything, really.” Her words tumble out in breathless eagerness, as she clutches her journal to her chest. She’s never without the thing.

I blink, caught off guard by how quickly she’s inserted herself into the situation. There’s nothing malicious in the offer—just the opposite—but something about the way she stares at me makes me feel cornered. Like I’ve become the central exhibit in her paranormal research project.

“Take a breath first,” I tell her, keeping my voice kind but firm. “Get used to this place. I’ll have Magister Orion loop you in once things calm down.”

Eleanor nods, accepting this with a bright smile that transforms her entire face. “Of course. That makes perfect sense.” She falls into step beside me as we head toward the Fae quarters. “I just want you to know I’m here to help with anything at all. My goal is to grow stronger so I can be truly useful to the Crone.”

I smile awkwardly, my cheeks stiff with the effort. The title still makes my skin crawl. I’m more comfortable with the silent, brooding presence of wolf bodyguards than I am with… whatever this is. Devotion? Fanaticism? A researcher’s obsession? Even Lucas’s over-protective hovering feels more natural than someone treating me like I’m some mystical figurehead.

“So, the vampire’s leaving?” Eleanor asks, glancing at me again. “Just like that?”

My mind spirals as we walk. Too many threads, not enough hands. The dream-eater. Lisa’s compulsion. The ghost. The New Order. Missing wolves. Shadow creatures. And now a vampire who drops cryptic warnings then vanishes.

“Apparently,” I mutter, mostly to myself. “He shows up out of nowhere, tells us cryptic shit, gives us zero actual solutions for Lisa, warns us about being hunted, and then—poof—he’s off again.”

Grimoire’s voice drifts in my head, sounding a little fuzzy. Vampires have always operated on their own timeline. They see the world in centuries, not moments. Much like me.

And they seem to thrive on being cryptic and only partially useful, Selene grumbles, padding beside me.

“I wonder who that resembles,” I murmur under my breath, earning a mental eye-roll from my wolf.

“What?” Eleanor asks curiously.

“Nothing. I was talking with my wolf.”

“Oh…” She tilts her head at Selene with a faint frown.

What I need is a way to contact Acarus. Something better than vampire-randomly-showing-up-out-of-nowhere style contact. A magical beeper. An undead cell phone plan. Anything.

The young witch watches me with eager brown eyes, practically vibrating with readiness to help. It’s too much right now—all this intensity when my nerves are already frayed from Acarus’s bomb-dropping.

“Eleanor,” I say, stopping at the Fae’s doorway. “Would you mind checking on Pip and keeping her company for a while? She’s new here too, and I think she’d appreciate someone to talk to who isn’t constantly running off to handle the next crisis.”

“Oh! Of course!” Eleanor’s eyes light up at having an actual task. “I love Pellonia. No problem at all. Anything for you!”

I smile awkwardly. “Thanks, Eleanor.”

What a strange girl, Selene murmurs.

Indeed.

As Eleanor heads off with determined strides, I take my first deep breath in what feels like hours. Alone at last. Sort of.

I make it exactly six steps before nearly colliding with Heize, who steps directly into my path with a strained smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. His delicate features are pinched with what looks like days of accumulated stress.

“Luna Ava,” he says, voice soft and slightly hesitant. “Do you have a moment?”

“Not really, but go ahead.” I don’t have the energy to sugarcoat anymore.

“Can you please do something about the ghost?” The words burst from him like he’s been holding them in for days, but it hasn’t even been two.

I blink. “Why?”

“He’s driving everyone insane. The singing. The jingles. The weird rhymes about teeth.” Heize runs a hand through his vibrant red hair. “The Fae already have… complicated feelings about death. And this—this is like having someone constantly scribbling on the walls of your mind.”

He’s going to drive everyone to madness, Selene says dryly. Not just the Fae.

“I’ll try,” I promise, though I have no idea how to exorcise or communicate with whatever this spirit is. But Acarus seems to know things. So many things I need to pull out of the man’s mind. “Where did Magister Orion and Acarus go?”

Heize jerks a thumb upstairs. “They’re with the dream-eater. No one’s allowed near until they finish… whatever they’re doing.”

Of course they’ve restricted the area. I sigh, frustration bubbling up again. Everything’s happening just slightly out of my reach, just beyond my control or input.

One minute I’m the Luna witch. The next I’m everyone’s errand girl with no clearance.

It’s amazing how quickly you get used to everyone deferring to your authority. Now I have someone I can’t pin down and I’m locked out of whatever ritual is unfolding.

You should have kept Acarus and Magister Orion from leaving before you were done asking questions, Selene points out, unhelpfully.

“And exactly how does anyone force Acarus to do anything?” I mutter. Then, to Grimoire: “Have you figured out what’s so strange about him yet?”

No, comes the reluctant admission. I’m not sure yet.

Behind me, the ghost hums a tuneless melody that somehow manages to crawl under my skin. I don’t turn around.

“If you’re trying to haunt me into action,” I tell it without looking, “you’re going to need a better song.”

Behind me, the ghost titters—high and soft, like wind chimes caught in a breathless night.

Then he croons, his voice lilting and strange:

“The Fae once danced in fields of bloom, now roots twist tight beneath their tomb. Thorns for teeth and flowers red— they smile best when dreams are dead.”