Epilogue

Dylan

Six months later

Dylan invited you to the group Operation: Proposal

Ian:

FUCK MY LIFE YOU'RE PROPOSING TO MATT??????

Dylan:

Not until I come up with the perfect plan

Liam:

I'm guessing that's why I'm here. Hi, Dylan. Congratulations.

Dylan:

Thanks! And yeah… I'll pay your usual fee, of course, but I figured I'd need help from Mr. Romance and Matt's bestie to get this right.

Ian:

Bet your ass! Any ideas so far?

Dylan:

There'll probably be a Taylor Swift playlist on in the background. That's all I got.

Liam:

Matt loves you. No matter how you propose, it'll be right. But yeah, I think proposing to a Taylor soundtrack is a good start. Matt's a secret romantic.

Ian:

He issssss. You should get those Italian chocolates, too—the ones that have the little messages inside them. He loves those.

Dylan:

Good idea! He gets some whenever we're in Walmart. And the name means kiss, right?

Liam:

Are you talking about Baci? Yeah, it means kisses. Listen… I'm sure Matt tried to get tickets to Taylor's concert next month. Did he manage it?

Dylan:

No. Even though he and I were both in the queue for six hours, we missed out.

Ian:

Too bad. You could have proposed during "Love Story" at the concert like a billion other guys do. He would have gone nuts for that.

Dylan:

The thought crossed my mind. I could still propose to that song, I guess? I just need to set up a fancy date or something.

Liam:

Hold that thought. I have an idea. It could be spendy, though. Like… really spendy.

Dylan:

Oh?

Liam:

There are VIP tickets that don't go on sale to the general populace. They're the kind you can only get if you're a celebrity or have connections.

Ian:

Oh my fucking god, Liam, tell us you have those connections. Marc and I will chip in if we have to. Don't tell him, though.

Dylan:

Can you really get tickets for us?

Liam:

Let's find out.

Matt

"I still can't believe this," I repeat for what must be the thirtieth time, looking around the packed stadium. The concert's going to start soon, and part of me kind of believes that's when I'll wake up from the coma everyone keeps promising me I'm not in. "When you said tonight was an early birthday present, I figured dinner at my favorite restaurant, the dulce de leche cake with the picture of us kissing on it, and the box of my favorite chocolates was it." Not that he'd grin and tell me it was time for the second part of the night. Or that the second part of the night would be a freaking sold-out Taylor Swift concert that I've been trying not to mope about missing.

Or the fact that he somehow scored us a VIP experience I didn't even know existed . Seriously—no waiting in line for us. We parked in a special parking lot that we needed ID to access, and then a PR person who introduced herself as Jodi escorted us to our seats and brought us drinks. There's a fucking Oscar-winning actor in the row behind us. I lean in close to Dylan. "Did you have to sell kidneys for this, and where did you get them from?"

He laughs. "Let's just say that I'm the king of present giving in this relationship."

"A-fucking-men," I agree as the lights go down and the screaming starts around us. I put in the industrial-level earplugs Dylan gave me earlier, but even with them, my enhanced hearing means this is going to be a loud experience.

I don't care.

The last few months have been a series of trials as I've gotten used to my new abilities. Marc talked to his friends, and the consensus was that when he healed me, he basically taught my body how to work better on a cellular level, and it translated that to improving things overall. We've been monitoring it closely, and while I'm continuing to change, the rate is slowing down, so Marc and his friends think there's only so far my body can go unless he intervenes again—which I fucking hope he won't have to. There's been no sign of anything like telepathy or telekinesis, and I'm honestly not sure if I'm pleased about that or disappointed. It'd be awesome if I could talk to Dylan in his head like Ian does with Marc.

In the midst of all that, we finished wiping away any signs that the Wentworth and Hazelwood families, plus their businesses, ever existed. A whole lot of people who were expecting their cleaners, gardeners, etc. to turn up for work were bewildered, but they ultimately just moved on to other companies. The money the family had amassed over the centuries, we used to set up a house for Gus and Rachel, and to fund the search for the missing demons. All the ones that were listed in the ledger have been sent home, but there are still over a thousand unaccounted for that Gus and Rachel are committed to tracking down. Raum helps them, and Marc supervises it all with help from me and Ian. Though he says we're not helpful.

Norval's also gotten deeply invested in the hunt. At first we weren't going to tell him, but his habit of just popping up at random times can make it tough to keep secrets. He was outraged, swore to keep it a secret from everyone, and immediately appointed himself a surrogate uncle to Gus and Rachel. They're not really sure what to make of him yet.

Other than that, though, my life has gone back to normal. Dylan moved down to the compound so we could be together, and between loving him, working, and hanging out with Ian, my world is a pretty cool place.

And now I get to see a goddess perform live.

The music starts, and unlike a lot of people, I don't bother getting my phone out to record. There are going to be enough videos uploaded to social media if I want to relive this—for now, I just want to live it.

I sing.

I dance.

I scream along with everyone else.

Every time I look at Dylan, he's grinning, watching me with his eyes full of love. He did this for me. I still don't know how he pulled it off, but fuck, he's the best boyfriend a guy could ever have. I'm going to take him home after this and show him that—nothing could make this night better.

"You Belong With Me" comes to a close, and I reach for my water bottle. That song's a bop, I don't care what anyone says. The opening strains of "Love Story" send the crowd into a frenzy as I cap the bottle again, and I start scanning the crowd, trying to pick anyone who might be proposing tonight. There's always a bunch of people, and I think it's super cute. I know some people hate the idea of a public proposal—or an unexpected one—but you can tell when it's one of those versus a dream come true.

There's a couple in the ground section that seem to be a likely prospect, and I keep my eye on them as the song progresses, only halfheartedly remembering to sing along. The tempo changes for "Juliet's" plea, and then—Yes! He's going down on one knee!

"Dyl, look! That guy's?—"

The stadium disappears.

The noise is washed away by static in my ears.

Dylan's on one knee. He's smiling at me. There's a ring box in his hand.

His lips move. "Will you marry me?"

It's the sound of my own scream that brings the world back into focus. I drop to my knees and grab him for the hottest, wettest kiss I can give without getting arrested. Around us, people are going nuts, shrieking—and I think someone's crying?

"Oh my fucking god , Dylan!"

He's laughing. "Is that a yes?"

"Give me that fucking ring right now!"

He opens the box, revealing two rings—one for each of us. They're simple matte black with polished beveled edges, and even in the shitty lighting, I can tell they're engraved with something.

Dylan puts one on my finger, and I put the other one on his, then kiss him again. "You are the emperor of present giving," I say, and we both laugh.

Then he looks up into the row behind us. "Thanks, Jodi."

I look, too, just in time to see Jodi wink as she hands Dylan back his phone. "My pleasure. See you guys for the meet-and-greet after."

I scramble to my feet, help Dylan up, and ask, "Did she say meet-and-greet?"

"Yep. These tickets come with backstage access to Taylor."

Words escape me. I mean, I want to take my fiancé home, watch what I'm pretty sure is a video of our proposal, then fuck him until we both pass out, but…

As always, he knows what I'm thinking. "Babe, you'll get one chance to meet Taylor Swift. And then we have the rest of our lives together."

Nothing will ever be better than tonight—except that.

Thanks for reading Demon Hunter ! If you're wondering how Ian hooked up with Marc, you can read their story in Higher Demon.

Or, to hear how their brothers fell in love and meet younger Matt, check out my Ghostly Guardians series.