The words are so unexpected that it takes JJ a minute to process them. Frowning, he glances up at Cass. “What?”
Cass looks just as surprised that he said the words as JJ was to hear them. “Well, I mainly have us meet here so no one can connect you back to me or Desi,” he says, his shoulders hunching. “But I can, um. I can rift us all back to my house. If you want. Desi can show you the baby dragons, and then—and then we can watch a movie? I’ll make lunch.”
Desi gasps, clapping her hands excitedly. “Movie day! Movie day, movie day,movie day!”
JJ’s stomach flip-flops in a decidedly embarrassing way. Carefully, he pulls Desi into his arms, pushing himself to his feet. “Well, I—I wouldn’t want to impose, but if you’re okay with it?—”
“I’m the one who offered, wasn’t I?” Cass says briskly, and with a snap of his fingers, a hazy purple-gold rift blossoms between them. “Let’s go. I hope you like grilled cheese, because I’m not changing my lunch plans for you.”
“Grilled cheese is fine,” JJ says, eyeing the rift apprehensively. Obviously, he’s been through rifts before, and obviously, he’s even been in Cass’shousebefore, but?—
But those were extenuating circumstances. JJ didn’t even see any of the rooms beyond Desi’s bedroom and a small portion of the hallway. Going there for lunch and a movie will involve a lot more time, a lot more exposure?—
A lot more risk. Specifically, a lot more risk to Cass. “Do you want me to, uh, leave my phone here?”
After a long moment, Cass shrugs. “If you want. But—but it’s fine with me if you want to keep it with you. Like you said, you’d never risk Desi.”
Or you.JJ bites back the words. “Okay,” he says, and he steps up to the rift. “Can I, um. Can I go through alone? Or should you be with me?”
Cass hesitates before stepping up next to JJ, wrapping his fingers around JJ’s elbow. It’s something he’s done a thousand times before in public, when they’re just Julian and Cass instead of the hunter and the demon, but JJ’s heart stutters at how casuallyintimatethe gesture feels in private. “Just walk with me, Jackson.”
Taking a deep breath, JJ obeys.
16
Cass tugs JJ and Desi through the rift to his living room, his heart pounding against his ribcage. JJ has been in his house before, of course—Cass doesn’t think either of them has forgotten curling up together in Desi’s bedroom after her nightmare—but JJ was almost exclusively in Desi’s domain, surrounded by her books and toys and little-girl decorations.
He hasn’t seen any of the rooms that reflect Cass yet. And as Cass snaps the rift shut behind them and JJ takes his first real look around, he finds himself holding his breath to see JJ’s reaction.
Clearly, though, Desi isn’t quite as interested. “Dragons!” she insists, poking and prodding JJ until he sets her gently on her feet. “JJ,dragons!”
“I do want to meet the baby dragons,” he says seriously, ruffling her hair. “How about you make sure they’re awake, and I’ll come join you all in a minute?”
Desi beams. “Okay!” she says, and she dashes down the hallway. “Kira! Hana! Dragon babies! Wake up, wake up, wake up!”
Cass’s heart melts. “She’s the cutest.”
“She is,” JJ agrees, and he turns in a slow circle, taking in the expansive living room and kitchen. “This is, uh. This is a really nice house.”
There’s a quiet thread of nostalgia in his voice. Without thinking, Cass asks, “Like your house when you were a kid?”
Immediately, he kicks himself.Great idea, Cass. Just go ahead and ask the man if it looks like the childhood home where his family was slaughtered in front of him.
Luckily, JJ doesn’t seem to notice. “A little bit,” he says, and he walks over to the fireplace, tracing his fingers over the rough stone. “My dad always wanted a fireplace, but we never got one. And this is definitely a lot neater than our house ever was.”
Cass’s lips twitch. “Well, itisjust me and Desi here. And demon magic is surprisingly good for cleaning, too.”
“Yeah,” JJ says, and his eyes drift to the couch, where Desi has her little nook with her blankets and books and a stuffed wyvern. “It’s homey. I like it.”
With a pang, Cass remembers how sterile and bare JJ’s bedroom at the Sanctum was—how sterile and bare the entire Sanctum was, really. “I like it, too,” he says softly, and he joins JJ by the couch, picking up the dragon plushie. “This is Herman. Hana’s boyfriend.”
JJ’s eyes widen. “Hana has aboyfriend?Why was I not informed of this?”
Cass can’t hide his smile. “They’re inanimate objects, JJ. I didn’t think Hana’s change in relationship status warranted a phone call.”
“Still,” JJ says, grinning back at him, and for a moment?—
For a moment, Cass lets himself forget. Forget about JJ being a hunter, about him being theenemy,about him and Cass only coming together as reluctant co-parents to their accidentally adopted daughter.
