There’s the sound of a throat clearing. JJ glances over his shoulder to see Obie and Ez hovering near the hallway. “I have a high-security safe house,” Obie says without preamble. “It won’t hold up to a full Sanctum offensive, but it’ll keep Desi safe while we’re gone and keep any rift-trackers away once we get Cass back. Sound good?”
“Sounds good,” JJ agrees firmly, putting Kira back into Desi’s arms and standing up. “Let’s get moving.”
41
Cass wakes up strapped to a cold metal table. It’s not the worst place he’s ever woken up—that dubious honor goes to a sewer surrounded by enemy combatants during World War II—but it’s certainly not the best, either.
His brain feels sticky. Sluggish. Even though the corrosion-imbued arrow is thankfully out of his side, he can still feel the aftereffects of the spell coiling through his veins, keeping him weak and unsteady.
But he’s nowhere near helpless. He takes a deep breath, subtly testing the strength of the straps tying him down. Not only do they hold depressingly well, but the moment he presses against them, searing pain bites through his skin in every place they’re touching him—forehead, chest, wrists, hips, ankles.
And even though he can’t look down to check the damage, he knows the sting of corrosion burns when he feels them. “Genuine question,” he says out loud, glancing towards the one-way mirror to his left. “Do you use corrosion spells on your sheets and pillowcases, too? Because this is honestly excessive.”
For a few long minutes, silence is Cass’s only answer. He doesn’t let it bother him. After sending an entire strike force after him, there’s no way the Sanctum isn’t watching Cass’s every move from the other side of that glass right now.
He just needs to entice one of them to come inside. The quicker he figures out what they want from him, the quicker he can start to plan his escape.
And JJ’s, too. Anger festers behind Cass’s sternum. Roma probably had another strike force stationed at Lakeside, ready to attack JJ before he even knew he’d been double-crossed. Now, he must be in an interrogation room just like Cass’s, waiting for the torture to begin for the second time in two months.
But Cass got them both out of here once before. He can certainly do it again.
It’ll just take a few more steps this time.
At long last, there’s the softclickof a lock disengaging. Cass keeps his eyes fixed on the ceiling and his face expressionless as two hunters enter the room, shutting the door firmly behind them. One of them stays just out of Cass’s eyeshot, quiet and calculating; the other strides briskly towards him, pausing next to his table. “Mr. Chin,” she says crisply.
And Cass may claim that all hunters look the same to him, but he knows a member of the Sanctum’s Council when he sees one. “Tabitha Nasir,” he says neutrally, forcing down his temper.
JJ has told him stories about Nasir. Stories about how she talked down to him and manipulated him and made him feel worthless, no matter how hard he tried to earn her approval.
And while Cass would love to make her as miserable as she always made JJ, he has other priorities right now. “So let me get this straight,” he says without preamble. “You authorized an unprovoked attack on one of the most well-known demons in Redwater, hacked past defensive spells that obviously had alarm protocols attached, left my house trashed enough that even my human neighbors will realize something is wrong…” He raises his eyebrows. “And you’re expecting the Chainnotto take that as a declaration of war?”
“From what I’ve heard,” Nasir says mildly, “you’ve been harboring both a hunter and an unregistered demon. I doubt the Chain looks too kindly on that.” Her lip curls. “And that hunter is one of ours. As we had reason to suspect he was being held against his will, our offensive was justified.”
Cass scoffs. “Please. That excusemighthave worked without your very public kidnapping of him last month, but every civilian from Lakeside to the Courtyard knows that JJ defected—and multiple members of the Chain can vouch for that, too. Try again.”
Nasir looks amused. “I appreciate your candor,” she says, “but we’re not looking to start a war. This is catch and release. All you have to do is tell us what we want to know about Julian, and we’ll drop you off right back where we found you.”
Irritation snaps through Cass. “Why do you call him that?”
Nasir arches an eyebrow. “Pardon?”
“‘Julian.’” Even saying JJ’s full first name—the name that Cass uses whenever he wants JJ to feel particularly loved, the name that he whispered against JJ’s bare skin just this morning—in this wretched place feels like sacrilege. “Why do you call him that? Is ‘JJ’ too affectionate for you? Is ‘Jackson’ not enough of an old hunting name?”
Nasir sighs. “Our original plan was to arrange a suitable marriage for Julian within the Sanctum. Obviously, he would’ve taken his spouse’s surname, making both his current last name and his nickname obsolete by default.”
Taking JJ’s last connection to his family away from him. Cass’s blood boils.
“Clearly,” she continues, “the situation has changed. The Council is torn about whether he’ll be allowed back into the hunting community at all, much less whether his bloodline will continue. The one thing wedoagree on, however, is that we need to understand what went so catastrophically wrong with him before passing our final judgment.” She leans forward, eyes narrowed. “So where is he?”
All at once, relief floods through Cass. “You don’t have him?”
Nasir’s jaw twitches. She doesn’t answer.
And despite the fact that Cass is injured and restrained, despite the fact that the tight straps are still burning through his skin, despite the fact that Nasir is currently the only thing standing between Cass and an interrogator’s knife?—
Despite everything, Cass laughs. “Of course you don’t have him. He figured out Gutierrez’s game, didn’t he? Figured out her game and fought his way out.” He grins savagely up at her. “Good luck finding him, because you won’t. If anything,he’sgoing to findyou.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Nasir’s voice is smooth as silk. “He knows exactly where to look, after all. We’re fully expecting a jailbreak attempt within the next twelve hours, and we’ve prepared for every eventuality.” Her smile is chilling. “You’re not bartering foryourlife right now, Chin. You’re bartering forhis.If you cooperate, if you tell us what you did to him and where we can find him, then we’ll take that into consideration when deciding his final fate.”
