The words catch Cass off guard. Micah’s usually relaxed and jovial face is grim and serious, his eyes are shadowed, his shoulders are tense?—
Desi—and JJ—might be Cass’s priority, but he’s known Micah for almost two hundred years. That counts for something, too. “Micah,” he says quietly, leaning forward. “Are you in trouble?”
Micah’s lips twitch. “Not yet,” he says, and he holds out the envelope. “Here. Your new identity packages for the kid and—and whoever else you want to hide. I conveniently forgot my logbook, so I guess I’ll just have you sign for them the next time you stop by my Outpost. If I remember.”
A bit of the anxiety drains from Cass’s shoulders. “Right,” he says, and he gingerly takes the envelope. “Thanks, Micah.”
Micah’s smile is humorless. “Watch your back, Cass,” he says, and with a flick of his wrist, he opens up a rift behind him. “And be careful, okay?”
“I will be,” Cass says, and as Micah steps through the rift and disappears from sight, Cass has the sinking feeling that this just got a whole lot more complicated.
Desi is huddled in the blanket fort that serves as her stuffed dragons’ home, hugging Kira to her chest. “So you think they might want a castle?”
“I think so,” JJ says, snuggling up next to her and ensuring his escrima stick isn’t in her line of sight. “Dragons like castles, right? Castles and gold?”
Desi shrugs one shoulder, hugging Kira tighter. “I guess.”
JJ fights back a wince. Desi has been quiet and anxious ever since Cass herded Micah Devereux into the backyard and JJ herded Desi into her bedroom, locking the door and situating her in a corner where he could easily protect her.
He has the sinking feeling that he might have overreacted, but damn it, he has to stand by his instincts. Not only was that a demon who didn’t know that Desi existed—or that Cass was consorting with hunters—before today, but JJ is also pretty sure that Devereux was involved in the invention of the guillotine during the French Revolution.
And if Devereux wasn’t a threat before, he definitely is now. JJ’s stomach churns at the thought. Cass himself looked shocked to see the demon, so JJ doubts they’re close friends. Would Devereux cover for Cass with the Chain? Would he tell his superiors about Desi? About JJ?
Would Cass and Desi have to go on the run, never to see JJ again?
The very idea makes JJ feel physically ill. Firmly, he forces it from his mind. “Well,” he says, lifting up Lucy and Tybalt to cuddle with Kira, “I think they probably like the blanket fort in here, but how about in the living room? Do you think they’d want a higher perch to watch movies with you and Cass?”
Desi perks up the slightest bit. “Dunno. Maybe!”
JJ smiles at her. “Maybe we can build a castle for them together? You and me and Cass? I’m sure Cass has tools, and I can buy some materials at the hardware store, and?—”
And JJ’s senses might not be as enhanced as a demon’s, but he still hears thesnickof the back door sliding open. He cuts himself off, heart pounding, as a lone pair of footsteps pads across the living room.
Cass’s voice floats down the hall. “Desi? JJ? You can come out now.”
Desi rockets to her feet. “Cass!” she says, and she races for the door.
Hastily, JJ wrestles her back. “Wait a minute, Desi. Let me make sure it’s safe, okay?”
“But that’s Cass!” Desi protests. “He’ll make sure it’s safe!”
Honestly, JJ doesn’t doubt that one bit. But a thread of anxiety deep in his gut, one born from the Sanctum’s known tactic of “surrendering” to trick their enemy into letting their guard down, makes him gently settle her back in the blanket fort and grab his escrima stick. “Just let me check, okay?”
If anything, Desi looks even more unhappy than before, grabbing both KiraandHana this time.
There’s the rustle of someone trying to turn the doorknob, followed by a semi-exasperated sigh. “Jackson, open up. It’s just me.”
Cautiously, JJ creeps forward, unlocks the door, and pulls it just wide enough to see Cass’s face, holding his escrima protectively in front of him. “Is Devereux gone?” he asks quietly, glancing over Cass’s shoulder.
“Of course. Did you think he’d be out here holding a gun to my head or something?”
JJ raises his eyebrows.
“Wow,” Cass says. “You really need to retire to, like, a beach somewhere. The inside of your head sounds like an awful place.”
“You’resurehe’s gone?” JJ’s throat feels like cotton. “Cass?—”
“JJ.” Cass reaches through the narrow gap between them, wrapping his fingers around JJ’s wrist. “It’s safe now. I promise. You can drop the weapon.”
