Whether or not he believed it was another question entirely, but Meyer didn’t mind if he wasn’t sure yet.With Carlyle gone, he’d have plenty of time to woo his mage and show him how much he cared.
Epilogue
––––––––
BEING AT THE CASTLEwhile knowing that Carlyle wasn’t a danger anymore was weird.Tyne kept jumping at every noise, half expecting Carlyle to be attacking them or to pop up from behind a piece of furniture.They still had all the protective spells up, and they weren’t planning on getting rid of them anytime soon.They’d already worked their magic on those spells, so they might as well use them.
But Carlyle was gone.He was never coming back like he had last time.He wasn’t just trapped.He was dead, and his ashes had been scattered in the place where he’d died.
Not even he could come back from that.
Tyne glanced around the darkened living room.Keylon was sitting on another couch, bouncing his leg as if he was nervous.He didn’t have anything to be nervous about, but even with Carlyle’s threat gone, all of them were still on edge.It wasn’t a surprise, even though it was annoying.Jarvis kept tapping his fingers on his knee, while Penley looked like he was ready to bolt from the couch at any noise.Dallin kept glancing from the TV screen to the door.
Tyne told himself to stop obsessing over a dead man and try to focus on the movie Penley had insisted they watch as a family.It was easier said than done, though, and that clearly went for all of them.Even sitting down to relax felt weird.After spending so much time on high alert, Tyne suspected it would take them a while to get back to normal life—if they ever could.
He didn’t remember what a normal life was like.It had been too long since he’d lived one.Before Carlyle, Peyton had wanted to break their bond.There had been nothing normal about that.Then had come the fight with Carlyle, the dragons had vanished, and the mages had been alone for decades.There had been nothing normal about that, either.Mages weren’t supposed to be without their dragons.
But they had their dragons back.Unfortunately, the dragons didn’t have their memories, which meant they’d need to build a new normal.It would’ve been impossible with Carl threatening them, but they were free of him.
The mages were free to move out of the castle.They could start a new life with their shields wherever they wanted.They could go back to their birth clans if they wished to.
Tyne wasn’t going anywhere.As far as he was concerned, he didn’t have a clan anymore.He’d lost it when he’d lost Peyton, and he was fine never going back.He didn’t care what his mother wanted or what she felt he should do.She didn’t have a say in the way he lived his life.
He looked up again.What would the other mages do?Would they move out?Tyne thought that Jarvis and Marlow would, at the very least.They had Jason to think about, and it would be easier for him to go to school if they didn’t live in a castle in the middle of nowhere.
Tyne was going to miss them.
He’d miss all of them when they left.Over the years, they’d become more than friends.They were family, even though Tyne had often pushed them away and kept them at arm’s length.He knew he wouldn’t lose them entirely even if they left, but they would drift apart.They didn’t have the search for their dragons and the fight Carlyle to unite them anymore.
“That expression doesn’t match the movie we’re watching,” Meyer murmured as he leaned closer to Tyne.
On instinct, Tyne wrapped an arm around his shoulders.Meyer’s eyes widened slightly, but he pressed closer, cuddling against Tyne.
Tyne and Peyton hadn’t done this.They’d been in love, but once they grew up and their love moved from puppy love to something more adult, they’d avoided PDA.Peyton had felt like people wouldn’t take them seriously if they didn’t, and maybe he’d been right.People in their clan had been used to seeing them together when they were young, running down the hallways and making out in dark corners.
The mages here wouldn’t care if they did all of that.Hell, they’dencouragethem to make out in dark corners.They all wanted Tyne and Meyer to be happy, and they knew they’d be the happiest if they were together.
“Seriously,” Meyer whispered.“What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Just thinking about the future.”
“Does it include me?”
Tyne pressed a kiss against Meyer’s forehead and tried to ignore the fact that he could feel some of the people in the room watching him.“How could it not?”
“That’s not what you would have said a few weeks ago.”
“But it’s not a few weeks ago.It’s now.”And there was no way Tyne was letting go of Meyer.
Sometimes, it was still odd to turn and see Meyer there.For a few seconds every time, Tyne thought about Peyton, but it never lasted long.Meyer had shown him time and time again that he was nothing like the man he’d been before, and Tyne had chosen to believe him.He didn’t know if Meyer would eventually break his heart or if it was safe with him, but he’d find out eventually.In the meantime, he would enjoy whatever he and Meyer did next.
He really hoped that Meyer wouldn’t break his heart, though.He wasn’t sure he’d survive it.If anything happened and they broke up, Tyne would become a hermit.He might climb into the mountains, or he might just lock his bedroom door and never come out.
But he didn’t want to think about Meyer breaking his heart.Trusting Meyer was the hardest thing Tyne had ever done, but he needed to take a chance.They had the possibility of being happy together.He wouldn’t let anyone ruin that, not even himself.It didn’t matter if it was hard or complicated.He wasn’t afraid of hard work.
Meyer’s gentle smile created butterflies in Tyne’s stomach.“I’m really glad it’s not a few weeks ago and that we’re finally done with this mess.”
“Me, too.”
