Then, slowly, hesitantly, she leaned her head on his shoulder.
Arthur froze for a second. He looked like he was afraid to breathe, afraid to break the spell. Then, he relaxed. A soft, secret smile played on his lips.
I looked away, feeling like I was intruding on something private.
"They're going to break the furniture," Ivy whispered loudly to Jax.
"Shh," Jax grinned, revealing his fangs. "I love a slow burn. It's the tension. Will they? Won't they? Of course they will, but theagonyis the point."
"You're a romantic," Ivy teased, poking him.
"I'm a vampire," Jax shrugged. "We have centuries to kill. We learn to appreciate the buildup."
The movie started.
For the next two hours, the bunker was filled with commentary.
"That checkpoint is unsecured," Stone grumbled as Sandra Bullock walked through an airport terminal. "Where are the TSA agents? That bag was clearly over the weight limit."
"It's a movie, Stone!" Ivy yelled.
"And that boat," Stone pointed at the screen. "That ladder is not OSHA compliant. That is a lawsuit waiting to happen."
"Oh my god," Rook laughed. "Stone, look at the emotional arc! Look at the chemistry! Stop looking at the safety rails!"
"Safety is sexy," Stone muttered, crossing his arms.
We laughed. We threw popcorn. We argued about plot holes.
For a few hours, we weren't soldiers. We weren't rebels hiding from a magic-eating tyrant. We were just college students, hiding from the world in a fort made of books and blankets, eating stale chips and pretending everything was normal.
As the credits rolled and the room grew quiet, the breathing around me slowed to the rhythmic rise and fall of sleep.
I looked around at my found family.
The Wolf, sleeping with one arm thrown over his eyes, his chest rising and falling like a tide.
The Quiet one, sitting still as a statue, watching the door even in repose.
The Elemental, curled up at the foot of the bed like a cat.
The Chaos Witch, drooling slightly on the shoulder of her Enforcer.
The Princess and the Archivist, asleep on the pool toy, their hands almost touching.
And me. The Circuit Breaker.
We were a mess. We were a disaster waiting to happen.
But looking at them, bathed in the soft glow of the fairy lights, I knew one thing with absolute certainty.
Marrow could take our wifi. He could take our cafeteria. He could lock us out of our dorms and hunt us through the snow.
But he couldn't take this. He couldn't eat this.
This—this tangled, messy, beautiful connection—was immune to him.
"Goodnight, Pack," I whispered into the dark.
