Cass’s voice is soft but firm. Taking a deep breath, JJ mentally recites the spell to open his makeshift pocket dimension, letting his escrima fall into it. “All right,” he says, and he steps back, swinging the door open wide. “All right. Cool.”
“Cass!”Desi streaks across the room, jumping into Cass’s waiting arms. “Cass, are you okay? Is everything okay?”
Cass hugs her tightly. “I’m fine, sweetie,” he whispers into her hair. “Areyouokay?”
She buries her face in his shoulder. “I was really scared.”
Guilt slams through JJ, hot and unyielding. Damn it,damn it?—
He didn’t mean to scare her. He didn’twantto scare her.
He just wanted to protect her. “I’m sorry,” he croaks. “Desi?—”
Cass shoots him a warning look, and JJ snaps his mouth shut, dread curdling through him. They may be co-parents, but Cass is indisputably Desi’s primary guardian. He’s the only one with a house where she can live and the freedom to take care of her.
If Cass wanted to, he would be perfectly justified in taking Desi away for good.
Now, Cass presses a light kiss to Desi’s forehead. “JJ didn’t mean to scare you, honey,” he murmurs. “But Mr. Micah didn’t know about you or JJ before today, and JJ didn’t know Mr. Micah, so he was scared that he might try to hurt you. He was just trying to keep you safe, okay? He’s seen a lot of bad people do bad things to each other, so he wanted to make sure you were safe.”
A wave of relief—mixed with something else that JJ doesn’t quite know how to define—washes through him. “I was really scared, too, Desi,” he says softly, stepping forward to take one of her little hands in his own. “But I think I might have made a mistake and overreactedbecauseI was scared, and I think that scared you even more. I’m really sorry about that.”
Desi sniffles, wrapping her hand around two of his fingers. “But the bad guy is gone now?”
JJ glances at Cass.
Cass looks like he’s choosing his words with care. “Mr. Micah isn’t a bad guy. He’s a friend—not a best friend like Auntie Ez and Uncle Obie, but still a friend. And he’s not going to tell anyone about you, Desi—or you, JJ,” he adds, eyes flickering up to meet JJ’s. “Well, technically, he’s going to tell his husband, but Gregorio can keep a secret. They’ve helped me in the past. They’ll help me again now. We’re safe.You’resafe.”
Slowly, the tension starts to drain out of JJ’s shoulders. “Okay. Okay, good.”
“Yeah.” Clearing his throat, Cass hands Desi back to JJ, and JJ bundles her up in his arms, relieved when she immediately snuggles into his scarf. “Do you, uh, still want to stay and watch a movie? Our sandwiches might be cold, but…”
JJ attempts a smile. “Depends. You still want me here?”
Cass’s eyebrows furrow. “Of course,” he says, and then, like he said more than he meant to, he brisky turns around, leading the way back to the living room. “Come on, lackey. If I went to all the trouble of making lunch, the least you could do is eat it.”
Warmth curls through JJ’s chest. Smiling to himself, he grabs Kira for Desi and Lucy for himself, walking down the hall to where Cass is waiting for them.
Just like he always is.
18
So what do we think?” Cass asks, raising his eyebrows at his two best friends across the living room.
Ez and Obie grimace back. Cass winces. No matter how confident he acted for Desi’s and JJ’s sakes yesterday, he isn’t one hundred percent sure that “Mr. Micah” is really trustworthy—or that he and Gregorio will actually cover for Cass.
“It’s a tricky situation,” Obie admits quietly. His eyes are fixed on the wall just behind Cass, like he’s remembering something from long ago. “Micah Devereux is a fairly young demon—barely older than two centuries—and I always consider that a risk factor for general stupidity.”
Ez’s eyes narrow. “Cass and I aren’t much older than him, Obie.”
“And I consider you two to be at risk for general stupidity,” Obie says bluntly, and he steamrolls on before she or Cass can protest. “But he specifically said he was going to tell Gregorio, right? That they don’t keep secrets from each other?”
Cass nods grimly. “Yep. So that’s two more people who officially know about Desi—and that I’m in cahoots with a hunter to raise her. Micah swore he wouldn’t tell anyone besides Gregorio, but…” He trails off. “What are you thinking?”
“I think,” Obie says, “that Gregorio is almost three thousand years old—he was there when Julius Caesar burned the ships at Alexandria. I’ve known him for most of those three thousand years, and he’s always been steady. Stable. Risk averse, even. I can’t see him letting Micah do anythingtoodangerous.”
“It’s still suspicious, though,” Ez says. “What’d he say to you, Cass? That he’ll need you to ‘trust him’ when the situation arises? I don’t like the sound of that at all. Hell, I almost wish he’d just tried to blackmail you. At least you’d know where you stand.”
Cass slumps back in his seat, sighing. “Yeah. Up until yesterday, I considered Micah and Gregorio to be friends—we weren’tveryclose, obviously, but we could generally count on each other. Now, though?” He grimaces. “They were perfectly content to get me those new identity packages without documenting them, even though that could get them fired from the Chain. So Iwantto think they’re on our side, but…”
