Chapter 35 The Marriage Proposal

Chapter 35 The Marriage Proposal
Dante's POV

I proposed to Maya at midnight in our kitchen while she was stress-eating cereal straight from the box.
Not my finest romantic moment.
"Marry me," I blurted out, dropping to one knee on the tile floor. No ring. No speech. Just desperate fear making words tumble out wrong. "Right now. Tomorrow. Before the heist. Before everything falls apart."
Maya stopped mid-chew, Cheerios stuck to her lips. "What?"
"We're already soul-bonded, I know, but that's magical. I want legal. I want vows. I want—" I was rambling now, my heart hammering. "If something happens during the vault heist, if we don't make it back, I need Lily to know we were a real family. Officially. On paper."
"Dante." Maya set down the cereal box carefully. "Are you seriously proposing to me because you think we're going to die in three days?"
When she said it like that, it sounded even worse than it was.
"I'm proposing because I love you," I said, but my voice cracked on the words. "Because in seventy-two hours we're breaking into the most dangerous place in existence, and if I don't ask you now, I might never get another chance."
"So this is a panic proposal." Maya's voice was flat. "Not a 'I want to spend my life with you' proposal. A 'we might die soon so let's make it official' proposal."
"That's not—" I stopped. Through our soul bond, I felt her hurt, sharp and deep. "Maya, I'm doing this wrong. Let me start over."
"No." She pulled me to my feet. "Dante, I love you. You know I do. But I'm not saying yes to this."
The rejection hit like a physical blow. "Why not?"
"Because you're not asking me to marry you. You're asking me to help you feel less terrified about the heist." Her eyes were wet with tears she wouldn't let fall. "And I deserve better than that. We both do."
"I want to marry you," I insisted. "Not because we're in danger. Because you're—you're everything. The reason I gave up immortality. The reason losing my memories was worth it. The reason—"
"Then ask me again when we're not about to commit supernatural robbery," Maya interrupted. "Ask me when we're happy. When we're safe. When the question is about joy instead of fear." She touched my face gently. "I want to say yes to a future we're building together. Not yes to a death wish we're trying to formalize."
She was right. I knew she was right. But it still hurt like hell.
"What if there is no 'when we're safe'?" I asked quietly. "What if this is it—three days before we either succeed or lose everything? What if I never get another chance to ask?"
"Then you never get another chance." Maya's voice was firm despite her tears. "Because I won't marry you out of desperation. When I say yes—and I will say yes someday—it'll be because we're choosing each other for all the right reasons."
I sank into a kitchen chair, feeling stupid and exposed. "I'm sorry. This was—I shouldn't have—"
"Hey." She knelt in front of me, taking my hands. "You're scared. I'm scared too. We're planning to rob beings who could erase us from existence with a thought. Being terrified is reasonable."
Through our bond, I felt her fear matching mine. But also her love, steady and sure.
"I just need you to know," I whispered, "that if something goes wrong during the heist—if I have to choose between getting the artifact and keeping you safe—I'm choosing you. Every time."
"I know." She kissed my forehead. "And if I have to choose between my magic and your life, I'm choosing your life. That's what love is. Not marriage certificates. Not official vows. Just choosing each other when it counts."
We sat there in the kitchen, holding each other, both knowing we might be dead in three days.
My phone buzzed. Text from Felix: "Change of plans. The vault security is tighter than expected. You'll need a fourth team member. I know someone, but you won't like who it is."
Another text with a photo attached.
I opened it and my blood turned to ice.
The photo showed a man I'd never forget, even with my fading Cupid memories. Sharp features, cruel smile, eyes that had witnessed the fall of empires.
Sebastian Voss.
The collector we'd imprisoned. The monster who'd tried to steal Lily. The being whose dimensional prison was supposed to be unbreakable.
"No," I breathed. "Absolutely not."
But Felix sent another message: "Voss escaped three days ago. Council doesn't know yet. He has information about the vault Guardian that no one else does. He's willing to help—for a price."
Maya looked over my shoulder at the photo. Her face went white. "Tell me Felix is joking."
"He says Voss is our only option for getting past the Guardian alive."
"He tried to kidnap our daughter!"
"I know." My hands were shaking. "But if what Felix says is true—if Voss knows how to defeat the Guardian—we might need him."
Maya stood abruptly, pacing the kitchen like a caged animal. "This is insane. We can't trust Voss. He collects magical beings. We're magical beings. He'll betray us the second we step into that vault."
"Probably," I agreed. "But what choice do we have? We need the artifact Victoria promised. Without it, the Council seals our magic in two weeks. Our only chance is this heist, and our only chance at surviving the heist might be—"
"Don't say it," Maya cut me off. "Don't say we need the monster who terrorized our family."
My phone rang. I answered without checking the caller ID.
"Hello, Dante." Voss's smooth voice made my skin crawl. "I hear you're planning something deliciously illegal. Let's make a deal."
"We're not making deals with you."
"Not even to save your family?" Voss laughed. "The Guardian in the Council vault is called the Fear-Eater. It manifests your deepest terror and feeds on it until you die of fright. Very few beings survive the encounter. But I've faced it before. I know its weakness."
"What do you want in return?" I demanded.
"Simple. When we're in the vault, I take one small item for myself. Nothing dangerous. Just a personal memento I was forced to surrender centuries ago." His voice turned cold. "Refuse my help and the Fear-Eater will destroy all of you. Accept, and you might actually survive."
Maya grabbed my phone. "If you betray us—"
"Then you'll destroy me, yes, I understand," Voss interrupted. "But consider this, Maya: I've been imprisoned because of your family. Helping you succeed is my only path to freedom. Our interests align, whether you like it or not."
The call ended.
Maya and I stared at each other, both thinking the same impossible thought: we might actually have to work with the man who'd tried to steal our daughter.
"This is a trap," Maya said. "It has to be."
Before I could answer, Iris materialized through our wall. "We have a bigger problem. I just intercepted Council communications." Her face was pale. "They know about the heist. Someone tipped them off."
"Who?" I demanded.
"I don't know. But they're moving the timeline. The Severance Ritual isn't happening in two weeks anymore." Iris pulled up a holographic countdown. "It's happening in four days. The day after the vault heist. They're betting you'll fail the theft and be too broken to resist the ritual."
The counter read: 96 HOURS UNTIL SEVERANCE.
"So we have four days total," Maya said slowly. "Three days to prepare and execute the most dangerous heist in history. Then one day before they erase our magic forever."
"Unless you succeed," Iris said. "Get the artifact, gain enough power to fight the ritual, and maybe—maybe—you survive this."
My phone buzzed again. Group text from Felix to everyone involved in the heist.
"Emergency meeting. One hour. Rossi Ink. We need to finalize the plan because I just learned something that changes everything."
Another message: "The artifact Victoria promised you? The one that's supposed to save your family? I know what it is now."
A final message with an attached image: an ancient crown covered in symbols that hurt to look at.
"It's called the Crown of Unmaking. It has the power to rewrite reality itself. With it, you could undo the Council's judgment, eliminate all threats, reshape existence however you want."
I stared at the image, my stomach sinking.
"That's a corruption artifact," Iris whispered. "Wearing it drives the user insane within hours. Every being who's ever used the Crown destroyed themselves and everyone they loved."
Maya grabbed my hand tight. "Victoria set us up. She's not giving us a tool to fight the Council. She's giving us a weapon that will prove we're dangerous."
"And the Council will have all the justification they need to not just seal our magic," Iris finished grimly, "but to execute all three of you for using a forbidden artifact."
Through our window, I saw Felix arrive at my tattoo shop. Behind him, stepping out of shadows like a nightmare, came Voss.
We had ninety-six hours to pull off an impossible heist, survive a fear-eating Guardian, avoid betrayal by a monster, and decide whether to use an artifact that would either save us or corrupt us into the very threat everyone feared.
And somewhere in all of that, I still wanted to marry Maya for all the right reasons.
If we lived long enough.