Chapter 29
Dylan
The neon lights of the arcade flickered and buzzed, casting a kaleidoscope of colors across the interior. The air was punctuated with the sounds of old machines whirring to life, laughter, and the occasional triumphant shout. I leaned against a wall near the bumper cars, half-hidden in the shadows, scanning the room as I took it all in. The place was packed – more than I’d seen in a long time – and it warmed something deep in my chest.
Amara was at the center of it all, as usual. She was with River and Hunter, trying to beat the high score on an ancient pinball machine that had clearly seen better days. The machine groaned and sputtered, but it was still kicking, much like everything else in this place.
The Leyore Coven had done a good job revitalizing the old arcade, turning it into a hub of activity instead of letting it fade away like so many other relics of the past. It had been Amara’s idea. She’d struck up a friendship with Sky over the past few months, and Amara’s mention of resurrecting the arcade passed through Sky and reached Jordan’s ears, who made it happen.
“Hey, you planning on joining the fun or just brooding over there?” River called out, her voice carrying across the room atop a cacophony of noise. She shot me a smirk and I rolled my eyes, pushing off the wall to join them.
“I’m not brooding. I’m observing,” I corrected her, tone dry as I slid into the seat next to Amara. “Someone has to keep an eye on you lot.”
Amara nudged me with her shoulder, a small smile playing on her lips as she signed the words, “Come on, you’re having fun. Admit it.”
River’s face cracked into a wide smile. “I caught that! I know what you said.” She leaned back, a smug, satisfied smirk on her face. “I’m getting better at this.”
I rolled my eyes. The vamp had been trying her hand at sign language lately. Actually, all of them had. All for the sake of Amara.
“Anyway, Amara’s right, we should have done this sooner,” River continued. “Hell, even Hunter is enjoying herself.”
I quirked an eyebrow in Hunter’s direction and she shrugged. “Maybe a little. But don’t go spreading that around. I have a reputation to keep.”
Amara chuckled, the sound warm and genuine, and I couldn’t help but smile back. But what she’d said was true. I was having fun. More than I’d expected, anyway. There was something about this place, about being here with Amara and the rest of our makeshift family, that made the darkness in my life seem a little less daunting.
Maxine sauntered over, flicking a stray piece of popcorn in my direction. “So, are you going to tell us what happened with the dragon shifters, or do we have to bribe you with more tokens?”
I caught the popcorn mid-air, tossing it back at her with a smirk. “I might consider it if you beat me at air hockey first.”
The prim little vamp’s eyes lit up and she shot me an evil smirk that was at odds with her dolled-up face. “You’re on.”
As we made our way to the air hockey table I glanced back at Amara, who was watching on with an amused smile. She was promptly startled by Jordan appearing suddenly at her side, who was then berated by Sky, who showed up behind her.
“All right, spill,” Maxine said as she lined up her first shot. “I’m always the last to be filled in, and Hunter only gave me the short version. What happened that night?”
I focused on the puck, smacking it across the table with a sharp flick of my wrist. “After the shifters got the egg back and mauled Don, Amara and I passed out on the porch.”
“That’s it?” Maxine pouted, grabbing a nearby soda. “Sounds boring. No epic battle or anything?”
I chuckled, shaking my head. There had definitely been a battle, not to mention plenty of blood after Oksana bit Don’s head clean off of his shoulders. But much like Hunter, I was inclined to give Maxine the short version.
“Not everything needs to be a battle, Max. Sometimes it’s just about talking things through.”
After everything that happened in that abandoned house, the shifters had left and we weren’t sure where they’d gone, only for Oksana to show up on Jordan’s doorstep a few days later. She wanted to give her thanks.
We met with them after that. As it turned out, the dragon shifters weren’t as bad as we thought. They had lost two shifters to me, one in the countryside and one in that house. But Amara had returned their egg to them, and they understood the part they had played in Don’s schemes. After plenty of talking things through, we managed to secure the ancient beings as firm allies. No need for any forced marriages, blood oaths, or anything of the sort. Just...an understanding.
Maxine scoffed, thwacking a puck in my direction. “And here I thought you were all about the drama.”
“Drama, sure. Needless violence? Not so much.” I grinned, sending the puck sailing past her defenses to score the first point. “Besides, peace is a lot more interesting than it sounds. You’d be surprised how much tension you can cut through with a little diplomacy.”
The night wore on, filled with laughter and the sounds of old, clattering machines having their time in the sun. I found myself relaxing more than I had in years, surrounded by people I trusted. A part of me would always prefer the shadows, the solitude – but Amara would always know how to reach me, drawing me out just enough to remind me that I didn’t have to face the darkness alone.
As the evening wound down, I caught Amara’s eye from across the room and she smiled. She had been showing off her skills to Sky, brandishing a mallet as she whacked at the ridiculous dragon-bonking game. Her smile was warm, genuine, brighter than I’d ever seen it before.
We shared a look, a silent understanding that needed no words. And for the first time in a long time, I felt something that resembled hope. The old arcade was alive again, and so were we.
And in my book, that was more than enough.
The following morning was just like every morning had been since that fateful night out in Hudson Valley. I woke up to sunlight streaming in through the crack in the curtains and Amara, naked and warm in my bed. I rolled over and touched my nose to hers, willing her awake with sheer force of will. I wanted to kiss her good morning.
When Amara was awake, her expression often held an intelligent, observant intensity, her wide eyes always alert, always watching. But asleep, all of that melted away. Her face was relaxed, soft. In those moments, she looked truly peaceful, as if the weight of the world had finally slipped from her shoulders. Lately, the expression stuck, even after she woke up.
She was lying on her side, curled up and nuzzled against me, nearly disappearing beneath the blankets. I watched as her chest rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm. One of her legs jutted out of the covers and a bare foot dangled off the edge of the bed, while the other was aligned with mine.
I blew on her eyelids and pecked a kiss on her cheek, impatient to look into her eyes like I didn’t do it every day.
A slow, lazy smile spread across her lips as she came to. “You know, it was cute the first few times, now you’re just being a pain.”
“Tough.” I kissed her nose, tugging her closer and signing with one hand. “You wanted to see the real me.”
I kissed along her jawline, and then wrapped my arm around her, burying my face in her neck. She chuckled, her voice still thick with sleep, and stretched out on the mattress, yawning as she did. We were still tangled up under the blankets, our bodies pressed close together. I took the opportunity to curl into her, wrapping my legs around hers and resting my head against her chest.
I felt the familiar stir of desire as my body brushed against hers and I walked my fingers down her bare stomach. A smirk tugged at her lips when she understood. “Can’t get enough, can you?”
She was speaking freely these days, as if Don had been a stone lodged in her throat. Now that he was gone, the words came easy.
With a mock huff, I sat up and straddled her, grabbing a pillow and playfully whacking her with it. “Say’s the one who was hungry for it all night long.”
She giggled, ducking out from under me, and I rolled the both of us over, my hands quickly finding their way to her hips and her hair, pulling her down into a kiss that wiped away any trace of her feigned coyness. She tilted into me, bare breasts brushing against my own as she kissed me back.
My lips trailed down her neck, pausing when I reached the bitemark I’d left behind. The mark of a sealed mating bond, a promise of uncompromising love. My thumb brushed over the scar, fierce affection tightening my chest.
Amara shivered at the touch, throwing her head back as I guided her hips with my hands, a knee between her legs as she grew wet and wanting with the slightest of caresses. The morning chill faded as our bodies moved together, the world outside the bedroom long forgotten.
When it was over, and we were gasping, and the bedsheets had been pushed to the floor, I collapsed against her, our breaths mingling as we struggled to recover. The intensity of what we shared still hummed in the air around us, but there was a softness now, a vulnerability that made my heart swell with something I could only describe as love.
Amara’s arms wrapped around me, her hands trailing up and down my back in soothing strokes. I closed my eyes, soaking in the warmth of her embrace, the steady thrum of her heartbeat against my ear.
“We should probably get up,” I murmured, though the last thing I wanted to do was leave this cocoon of warmth and comfort.
Realizing she hadn’t heard a word I said, I tilted my chin up and caught her eye. “You sure this is what you want? I’m not dragging you into something you’re not ready for, right?”
It was a question I had asked her often lately. Ever since the night at the revived arcade, when she told me she wanted to stay, marriage or no marriage. Even so, I had to be sure. That small, cynical part of me kept whispering that it was too good to be true. I wanted to give her an out, a chance to back away if she needed to.
But Amara only smiled and shook her head. She lifted her hands from my back to sign the words close to her face, “I’m sure. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me. You won’t be getting rid of me anytime soon.”
She tangled her fingers in my hair, and pulled me in for another kiss, this one slow and tender, sealing the promise between us.
We lay there for a while, wrapped up in each other, before I pulled back slightly, brushing a strand of hair away from her face.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, signing roughly with one hand. “About everything… your dad, the house…”
Amara’s expression shifted, the light in her eyes dimming slightly as she thought about the question. She was silent for a moment before she spoke, her voice quiet and contemplative.
“It feels...different. Like a weight I didn’t realize I was carrying has been lifted. I didn’t expect to feel this way, but...I don’t know. It’s like I can finally breathe again.”
I could only nod in solemn understanding. I had been there when Don’s life ended, I had seen the way Amara stood tall, unflinching in the face of the man who had caused her so much pain. I had seen her yank off the silver ring on her finger after we’d collapsed in the garden outside.
The way she’d thrown it down in the dirt.
“I’m glad,” I said softly, tracing patterns on her skin with my fingertips. “I know it wasn’t easy, but you did what you had to. And now...we move forward, together.”
Amara looked up at me, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
“Together,” she echoed.
After a prolonged moment of comfortable silence, and turning that night over in my head, I caught her eye again.
“I still can’t believe you managed to find that egg at all.” I raised my brow. “And how did you cut the lights? I had no idea I was even capable of moving like that until you plunged us all into darkness.”
It had taken a while to deduce why my ability to blend in, to hide in peripherals, was amplified that night. It was Jordan who eventually spelled it out for me. It was my true power coming into place, unleashed by the sealing of the mating bond.
Amara blushed bright red and she pulled the blanket over her head. “It’s a ridiculous story, actually.”
Anything that had Amara embarrassed was enough to pique my curiosity, and I joined her under the blankets, signing and speaking. “What’s a ridiculous story?”
“I found the electrical box and cut the lights that way.” Amara spoke aloud, sounding out the words, and slung a hand over her eyes. “And I knew where to find it because of a certain childish prank Aliyah and I used to play on each other.”
She lowered her arm, a faraway look in her eyes, a small smile tugging at her lips. “We would flip the switch with the end of a broom and cut the lights at night to scare each other. Eventually, our mother was so fed up that she threw out the broom and bought a vacuum cleaner instead.”
She fell silent, but it was easy to tell where her head was at. Her mother, her sister. She had lost so much in such a short lifespan. I reached over and brushed a hand along her cheek. Amara turned toward me, skin pinkish and glowing where the sun shone through the covers.
I couldn’t give back what she’d lost. But I could offer her a future.
My thoughts turned to the rooftop garden. It was our place, a haven above the world. A solo sanctuary that had since become our shared retreat from the chaos of the world around us.
And today, it felt like the right time to make something more of it.
“Come on.” I sat up suddenly, stealing myself in the decision I had been tiptoeing around all week, pulling Amara gently from the bed. “I want to show you something.”
Amara raised an eyebrow, curious but trusting as she climbed out of bed. She tugged on one of my T-shirts and I hurriedly wriggled into my discarded clothes that had been tossed from the bed the night before. Amara’s back was turned for a moment, but it was enough time to slip something important into my pocket.
She followed me up the stairs to the rooftop. I led her to the center, where a small bench sat amidst the flowers, and took Amara’s hands in mine, holding them tightly and praying my courage wouldn’t fail me as it had so often before.
“Amara,” I began, my voice surprisingly steady despite the nervous flutter in my chest.
I released her hands to sign as I spoke, earnestly gesturing with recently developed expertise.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about us – about everything we’ve been through. And I know things haven’t always been easy. And I’ve been a complete ass through most of it. But you… you make me want to be better.”
Amara’s eyes softened, a hint of emotion flickering across her features. “Dylan...”
“I know this is sudden, but I can’t wait anymore,” I continued, forcing myself to meet her eye. “Look, when we got married, it wasn’t for love. We were basically enemies, and you were annoying – sorry – and I was rude, and it was an all-around shit show at the start.”
“But,” I sucked in a breath, staring down at the ground before meeting her eyes again, “I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Amara. I want to face whatever comes next, together, if you’ll have me. And I want it to be your choice. Not something someone else has chosen for you. So...”
I released one of her hands and reached into my pocket, overexplaining myself along the way.
“You don’t have to decide right now, or ever really. You can even walk out that door and I won’t stop you, I swear.
“But, if it suits you…” I pulled out a dainty, elegant ring – a silver band with a single, brilliant gemstone that caught the light just right. “… will you marry me?”
For a moment, time seemed to stand still. Amara’s eyes widened, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as she stared at the ring, and I wondered if I'd made a grave mistake. Then, slowly, tears welled in her eyes, and she nodded, unable to speak as the emotions overwhelmed her.
“Yes, you idiot,” she finally whispered, her voice breaking with emotion as she tumbled into my arms. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
She kissed me and I kissed her back, sliding the ring onto her finger. Free from her constrictive former life, she could have made a million different choices. But she chose me. Just as I chose her. Over and over again. I would always, unshakably, choose her.