“Sure. Go nuts.”
“Yay!” Desi bounds down the hallway at once, exclaiming in delight as she explores every nook and cranny, and Cass collapses into the nearest kitchen chair, letting out a slow breath.
He’s glad that Desi is starting to warm up to him. She’s still suspicious of him sometimes—apparently, taking her away from her preciousJJwasn’t the best first impression—but she finally let him do her hair this morning, which he’s cautiously taking as a good sign.
Honestly, it stings a little. He’s been trying his hardest to do right by this little girl ever since he accidentally acquired her, cooking different meals for her to try and reading countless picture books to her and buying her an entire wardrobe at the mall, but she clearly still judges him for the mortal sin of not being Julian Jackson.
And no one who knows Cass would ever describe him as paternal, but he’strying,damn it. Most demons don’t get the chance to be young children and grow up the “human” way, their summoners usually forcing them to magically age themselves up within a few months, and he’s planning to let her be a little kid for as long as possible.
He just wants her to have everything he never got.
Eventually, he bribes Desi into sitting down andcalmingdown with a piece of chocolate cake, which is a depressingly common scenario lately. Now, she’s happily munching on frosting at the kitchen table, and Cass is muchlesshappily glaring at the door.
And his not-happiness plummets to new lows when a soft knock sounds on the antique wood.
“JJ!” Desi squeals, jumping to her feet and racing for the door.
Cass grabs her as she flies past, hauling her into his arms. “Not so fast, kiddo. Let me make sure it’s not a bad guy first.”
“JJ’s not a bad guy!” Desi protests, wriggling in his grip. “Lemmedown!”
“Nope.” Wrestling her over one shoulder, Cass struggles his way to the door, wrenches it open, and glares at the man on his front porch. “Hey,” he says curtly.
“Hey,” Julian Jackson says unenthusiastically back.
“JJ!”Desi yells, and she promptly knees Cass in the head in her eagerness to jump ship and pounce on the hunter. JJ catches her before she faceplants on the doormat, pulling her up into a hug. “Hi!”
“Hi!” JJ suddenly sounds a lot more animated, and Cass narrows his eyes, rubbing the spot on his jaw where Desi kicked him. To his surprise, the scowly hunter actually looks?—
He actually looks happy. His shoulders are relaxed and his eyes are bright and his smile is huge, like he’s just as excited to see Desi as Desi is to see him.
Suddenly, Desi’s enthusiastic chattering about “her JJ” makes a lot more sense.
“How areyou?”JJ asks now, holding Desi out at arm’s length. She giggles, flailing her legs, and Cass fights down an irrational pang of loss at how much she clearly adores him. “Pretty jacket.”
“Thanks!” she says brightly. “Cass got it for me!”
The twinge of jealousy spirals up into satisfaction when JJ reluctantly meets Cass’s eyes. “Thanks,” he mumbles.
Cass doesn’t miss a beat. “Sorry,JJ,but I don’t think the jacket will fit you. It’s made for a small child, you see.”
Scowling, JJ turns his gaze back to Desi. He’s dressed rather warmly for the early January weather, Cass thinks. Jeans, combat boots, jacket, hat, gloves,scarf?—
And then JJ pulls Desi back onto his hip, hugging her casually to his side, and realization jolts through Cass.
Of course. The corrosion spell. Cass has learned the hard way that corrosion burns from touching a Sanctum hunter’s skin are enormously painful and can take weeks to heal—not to mention that even the best demonic healing spells don’t work on them, much to Ez’s irritation.
That means JJ specifically took pains to make sure Desi could hug him and climb all over him without getting hurt. And, as Cass watches her relentlessly try to haul herself onto JJ’s shoulders while he just as relentlessly tries to wrestle her back down, it’s clearly something he put a lot of thought into.
It’s actually really sweet. Cass hates it. Annoyed, he cuts through Desi’s excited rambling, directing his words at JJ. “So what’s your plan?”
JJ gives him a blank look. “What?” he asks, apparently admitting defeat as Desi successfully climbs onto his shoulders.
Cass raises his eyebrows meaningfully. “Well, I hope you weren’t just planning to invite yourself into my house all day. Youdidthink up a plan for you and Desi, right?”
“I…” JJ looks like a deer caught in headlights. Did he seriously not think this far ahead? So much for Sanctum hunters being masters of planning. “Well, I guess we can?—”
“Tacos!” Desi cheers, throwing her arms in the air. JJ hastily grabs her ankles to keep her from toppling off of her hard-won perch. “Tacos, tacos,tacos!Can we, JJ? Can weplease?”
