She doubles over to put her face next to his, delighted. “We can domorestuff after that?”
“Of course. As long as—” Mood souring, JJ glances at Cass. “As long as, um, you’re free?”
Cass’s glower hasn’t faded one bit since they left his safe house. “I’m apparently not doing anything today,” he says curtly, “so sure.”
JJ bites back the bizarre urge to apologize. If Desi has been her usual enthusiastic self with Cass for the past week, then he might actuallyneeda break by now. After all, even though JJ was encouraging Desi to sleep at night back at the Sanctum, he doesn’t know if she continued the habit with another demon who doesn’t actually need to.
But Cass basically volunteered for this. At the very least, he’s getting to spend more time with Desi. “Cool,” JJ says evenly. “Thanks.”
Cass’s expression doesn’t change. “Uh-huh.”
Desi shifts around on JJ’s shoulders. “Cass,” she says, making grabby hands at him, “are you okay?”
Instantly, Cass’s scowl vanishes. “Yeah, I’m okay,” he says, reaching up to squeeze one of her hands. “I just have to concentrate a lot for the glamours. It’s hard to maintain three at once.”
“Okay!” She hugs his arm. “Thanks for coming with us!”
“No problem,” he says, but when his eyes flicker to JJ, JJ gets the unerring feeling that Cass definitelydoeshave a problem.
Specifically, a problem with JJ.
The thought is both irritating and foreboding. Irritating, because Cass was the one who reached out to JJ in the first place, the one who left that semi-threatening note on his pillow and pitched the idea of twice-weekly visits?—
And foreboding, because being on Cassius Chin’s hit list never really bodes well for anyone.
Yes, JJ has been reading about him. After that ill-fated ice cream custody talk, he went straight to the Sanctum’s research library to dig up everything he could find about the demon. Summoned just before the American Revolution, weaseled his way into every conflict on United States soil before expanding his exploits abroad sometime after the Civil War, has been present at basically every single war and genocide since then?—
Always on the side of the oppressed, JJ grudgingly admits. Still, Cass embraces carnage on every continent, and from the reports JJ pored over, it looks like he enjoys every minute of it.
But Desi, apparently, has a different opinion of the demon. “And JJ, I didn’t show you yet! I got so many clothes at the mall! Cass bought me lots of pretty dresses andthreepairs of shoes!”
“Why do you need three pairs of shoes?”
“Dunno! Cass said they looked nice, though. He got me all the stuff that looked nice.” JJ glances down at her feet and concedes to himself that the sneakers she’s wearingarenice. Fairly expensive, too. “And then we got big pretzels, JJ!Hugepretzels!”
“Soft pretzels?”
“Yeah! Soft pretzels withcheesy sauce!”
JJ smiles. “I like soft pretzels with cheesy sauce, too.”
Desi bounces excitedly on his shoulders. “Then we should go get some!”
“Maybe next time?”
“Yeah!”
Cass twitches next to JJ, and JJ stifles a wince. Honestly, he’s not sure if he and Desicango to the mall next week—not without Cass around to maintain their glamours, at least. The cons of living in a small town like Redwater, he figures. At only two square miles, it’s possible to walk from end to end in less than an hour, and that means cars are scarce, footpaths and bike paths are prevalent, and everybody recognizes everybody. Even if most civilians don’t know JJ’s name, they definitely know his face.
In fact, the only reason why they even have a Sanctum—and a branch of the Chain—in such a small jurisdiction is because of the Deep. In JJ’s esteemed opinion, building a town on top of one of the world’s largest magic reservoirs was an awful idea—it attracts both demonsandsummoners like moths to a flame—but unfortunately, he wasn’t alive to give his opinion back when Redwater was founded.
Despite those downsides, though, the upside is just ahead of them. A smile tugs on JJ’s lips as they emerge from the narrow streets into the bright sunlight of the expansive Courtyard, Redwater’s central square. Featuring a variety of niche stores around its perimeter, dozens of picnic tables dotting the cobblestone pavement, and a tiered fountain with gently rushing water at its center, the Courtyard is the perfect place to relax, hang out, and window-shop—and, of course, to enjoy international cuisine from the handful of food trucks spread out at regular intervals.
JJ homes in on Tacos Near Me, walks to the end of the line, and gently places Desi on the ground next to him, pointing at the menu painted on the side of the truck. “Desi, can you read that?”
“Yeah!” she says, and she frowns. “Not everything, though. I know the word ‘tacos.’ What’s pick-o de gall-o?”
“Pico de gallo,” JJ corrects, and he’s surprised to hear Cass mumble the words under his breath at the same time. “It’s a really tasty salsa. I’m going to get some for my chips.”
