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Chapter 39 - Amaya

Author: Bryant
last update Last Updated: 2025-06-13 18:20:22

The sirens rose slowly, layered into the stillness like the opening bars of a song I didn’t want to hear. At first, it was just a distant wail, barely louder than the rush of traffic or the murmur of the staged protest Reese and Lilac had orchestrated near the street corner. But then another siren joined it. Then another.

Something had shifted.

I could feel it in the way the air caught in my throat. People near me stopped mid-sentence and turned toward the sound, like animals bracing for an oncoming storm. The press had started gathering at the barricade’s far end—cameramen hoisting rigs onto their shoulders, reporters adjusting jackets and stepping in front of microphones. Our decoys held their signs steady, shouted the right chants, and handed out flyers like we weren’t on the verge of something far more dangerous than a rezoning bill.

But I wasn’t watching them. I was watching Makayla.

She stood just by a lamppost, one eye on the crowd, the other locked on her tablet. Her expressio
Bryant

The plan worked, they are all safe. And if Alan and especially Makayla did everything right Vittorio’s gonna face well deserved justice.

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  • A Bark in the Park   Chapter 40 - Alan

    I woke before the sun, the weight of last night still buzzing under my skin. Amaya was tucked beside me, soft and warm, her arm draped across my chest like she’d always belonged there. Maybe she did. Rufio, who had crawled into bed with us at some point, was curled up at our feet, his slow puppy breaths rhythmic and steady. I didn’t want to disturb them, but my mind was too loud to stay still.I slipped out of bed carefully, moving as quietly as possible while dressed, and left the room. The hallway was quiet as I made my way towards the common spaces of the Frost family safehouse. I assumed everyone else would still be asleep.The main common room was quiet. Lilac was passed out on the couch under a fleece throw, Pockets curled up against her like a fuzzy little heater. Posters and art supplies from the protest planning were still scattered across the coffee table—markers uncapped, glitter spilled, and a half-empty bag of gummy worms forgotten beside a Sharpie.Clay and Makayla wer

  • A Bark in the Park   Chapter 39 - Amaya

    The sirens rose slowly, layered into the stillness like the opening bars of a song I didn’t want to hear. At first, it was just a distant wail, barely louder than the rush of traffic or the murmur of the staged protest Reese and Lilac had orchestrated near the street corner. But then another siren joined it. Then another.Something had shifted.I could feel it in the way the air caught in my throat. People near me stopped mid-sentence and turned toward the sound, like animals bracing for an oncoming storm. The press had started gathering at the barricade’s far end—cameramen hoisting rigs onto their shoulders, reporters adjusting jackets and stepping in front of microphones. Our decoys held their signs steady, shouted the right chants, and handed out flyers like we weren’t on the verge of something far more dangerous than a rezoning bill.But I wasn’t watching them. I was watching Makayla.She stood just by a lamppost, one eye on the crowd, the other locked on her tablet. Her expressio

  • A Bark in the Park   Chapter 38 - Alan

    The city was quieter than usual—that eerie stillness that comes just before something breaks—windless, sharp-edged, like the world was holding its breath. I walked the perimeter of the safehouse slowly, letting my boots scuff against the edge of the cracked pavement. Occasionally, I’d glance up to check the shadows on the rooftop. Nothing moved except a flicker of neon from a sign down the block. The wind had died entirely, and the heat clung low like the city couldn’t decide if it wanted to sweat or suffocate. Across the street, I could see the distraction unit finishing their last checks. Xenia adjusted the strap on her duffel bag while Lilac handed out burner phones with that calm, focused look she wore like armor. And in the middle of it all—Amaya. She stood with one hand on Rufio’s leash, her other holding a printed protest flyer. Her hair was pulled back into a low twist, her face steady as she recited her side of the plan to Riko for the third time. No tremble in her voice. N

  • A Bark in the Park   Chapter 37 - Amaya

    “I’m going too.” The moment I said the words, the temperature in the room dropped. They froze—like I’d slapped the table instead of just stepping up to it. Every eye turned toward me, and I felt the weight of each one settle on my skin like a dozen lead coins. Not pity. Not quite surprise, either. Just that quiet, practiced kind of concern that made me want to scream. Alan looked up slowly from the blueprint he and Clay had been poring over. His brow creased before he opened his mouth, and I knew what was coming. The soft letdown. The protection disguised as logic. The urge to keep me safe in a box I hadn’t built but had been locked in all the same. “No,” I said before he could speak. “Don’t.” His mouth closed. Rufio shifted beside me, pressing his shoulder to my shin like he knew the fuse had been lit and we were going forward no matter what. “I’m not fragile,” I continued. “I’ve been held hostage and knocked out. Threatened by your father. And I’m still here.” “Exactly,” Alan s

  • A Bark in the Park   Chapter 36 - Alan

    The moment Amaya moved in my arms, my body stirred on instinct. It wasn’t fear. Not exactly. Just the reflexive need to know where Amaya was. To be sure, she was safe. After what we’d been through—what I’d almost lost—I wasn’t letting her drift more than a few steps away without noticing. So when she slipped from the bed, careful and silent, I kept my breathing even but cracked one eye open just enough to track her shadow moving across the room. She padded softly to the door. Then stopped. That’s when I heard it too. Xenia’s voice. Low. Worried. “…this isn’t what we thought it was.” Ofelia’s followed, calm but firm. “She’s stronger than we gave her credit for. But that doesn’t mean she’s ready for what’s coming.” I didn’t move. Not yet. But my jaw clenched. They weren’t wrong. But hearing it out loud—hearing the doubt in their voices about her—hit harder than I expected. The conversation faded down the hall, and I saw Amaya hesitate. Saw her spine stiffen like she’d just been ha

  • A Bark in the Park   Chapter 35 - Amaya

    Everyone was safe. Everyone was breathing. But no one in the Frost safehouse was okay. The tech-glass sheen of the sleek war room didn’t fool me. For all the high-tech security and bulletproof glass, we were just a bunch of shaken people trying to stitch ourselves back together with fraying thread. I sat curled into the far end of the sectional, Rufio pressed firmly against my side like he could feel how badly I needed the contact. Alan was next to me, close but quiet, like he didn’t know if touching me would help—or undo me completely. Maybe both. Across from us, Makayla crouched cross-legged by a panel of screens, typing and scrolling like her life depended on it. Lilac was whispering something to Reese. Clay, ever the chaotic Greek cousin that he was, leaned back in a chair with his boots up on a crate of spare body armor. And then there was Ofelia. My sister hadn’t said a word since we arrived. She’d helped Lilac clean up a scratch on my arm and checked in on Rufio. Ofelia wat

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