“And I like how you always prioritize her,” Cass continues, still avoiding JJ’s gaze. “I like how you make it a point to expose her to new foods and new experiences. And I—I like how you treat her true form like something to be embraced. Not something to be feared.”
The gears in JJ’s head are grinding together. Is this the same Cassius Chin who’s been glaring at JJ for the past two weeks? Did Cass have a stroke or something? Can demons evenhavestrokes? “Thank you,” he repeats uselessly. “I, um. I appreciate that.”
“And for the record,” Cass adds, “Maggie Khan and I didn’t mean to start World War I. It was an accident. But I’ll readily agree that 1914 wasn’t our finest hour. And as for the War of 1812—” He scowls. “That’s an old rumor. Ez, Obie, and I just happened to be in a bar in D.C. when Congress declared war. But you put three demons together when a conflict breaks out, and ofcoursethe humans will accuse them of starting it.”
JJ’s heart twists. “I believe you,” he says softly. “And I—I’m sorry. That was a low blow.”
“I haven’t exactly been fair to you today, either,” Cass says, and at last, he turns to face JJ. “Do we want to see if we can, um. Tone it down a little? At least around Desi? Contrary to what you might think, I don’tactivelyhate you. It’s more of a passive dislike than anything else.”
JJ almost laughs. “Sounds like progress,” he says, and he glances towards Desi. She and her new friend are standing side by side to make their wishes, and JJ can’t resist a smile. “And yeah. Yeah, that sounds good. For Desi, I—I can definitely try.”
“Me, too,” Cass says quietly, and the silence feels a lot less prickly after that.
8
So?” Ez asks, raising her eyebrows expectantly. “How is it?”
Cass takes a long sip of his tea, not dropping her gaze. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Ez scowls.“Cassius?—”
Obie cuts her off with an impatient snap of his fingers. A soundproofing spell settles into place over the safe house’s living room, neatly hiding their conversation from where Desi is playing with Kira and Hana in the spare bedroom, and Cass fights back a groan. “Thehunter,Cass,” Obie says, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. “What’s it like having joint custody?”
“Well,firstof all,” Cass says, raising a finger for emphasis, “I havefullcustody, thank you very much. The hunter only has visitation rights.”
Obie looks duly unimpressed. “Uh-huh. So?”
“It’s…” Cass lets out his breath in a hiss, trying to figure out how to describe his current relationship with Julian Jackson.
Frankly, “bizarre” is the first word that comes to mind. JJ has been showing up on his doorstep twice a week without fail for two full weeks now, ready and waiting to take Desi out for a day on the town.
And to drag Cass along with them, of course. Part of Cass doesn’t really mind—honestly, he likes having Desi within arm’s reach, especially when the alternative would be sending her out alone with a ruthless hunter—but a much larger part of him is still bewildered by the entire process.
He’s actively helping his mortal enemy spend time with their adopted daughter, and said mortal enemy usually buys Cass lunch. He has a sneaking suspicion that the lunches are meant to be a “thank you” for the glamours, but it still manages to blindside him every time JJ asks what Cass wants to eat.
Nostringvadha forbid he actually starts tocareabout this stupid hunter. “It’s weirdly fine,” he says eventually. “He shows up for Desi, I glamour all of us, we go into town, we come home. Desi spends a few hours talking Jackson’s ear off, he buys me lunch as compensation for maintaining the glamours, and we ignore each other the rest of the time. It works.”
Obie looks faintly flummoxed by this reply. Ez looks faintly disappointed. “Well, dang,” she sighs, slouching back in her seat. “I was hoping you’d have some racy stories.”
Cass squints at her.“Racystories? I can assure you that there’s nothing racy about Julian Jackson.”
“I don’t know,” Obie says. “He’s kind of hot.”
Cass sputters indignantly. “Excuseyou?”
“What? Just stating the obvious.”
“Can confirm,” Ez agrees. “Jackson isveryeasy on the eyes. And the way he holds those escrima sticks?Rawr.”She shakes her head mournfully. “Why do all the hot ones have to be sociopathic hunters?”
Cass feels inexplicably defensive of his hapless lackey. “Well, you could certainly doworse,”he says, “but you could also do a lot better than him.”
“Mm,” Obie says, nodding slowly. “Like Sawyer Solomon.”
Ez makes an emphatic noise of agreement. “Sawyer Solomon was indeed smokin’ hot. Too bad she and her girlfriend left Redwater in the rearview mirror.”
For a split second, Cass’s thoughts get derailed. “Really? She and Naomi Gutierrez were dating?”
Obie rolls his eyes. “No. Ez just likes drama.”
