If nothing else, it makes JJ’s mild obsession with Cass feel much more justified.
The one thing Cassdoeslet JJ do, though, is take care of Desi. It’s a job that JJ tackles with gusto, as always. “But Hana!” JJ exclaims, holding Herman the Wyvern in front of him. “If we don’t have any cake, then how will we celebrate Tybalt’s birthday party?”
Desi looks equally aghast at this proclamation. “We’ll have to find something else yummy for the baby dragons!” she says firmly, nodding Hana’s head up and down in agreement. “How about strawberries?”
“Oh, I think we can go more unhealthy than that,” JJ says seriously. Behind him, he hears Cass snort with amusement from his spot on the couch. “How about cupcakes?”
Desi’s eyes light up. “How aboutstrawberrycupcakes? Ands’mores!”
“Strawberry cupcakesands’mores?” JJ repeats. “That’s a lot of sugar for the baby dragons, Hana. We’ll need some fun activities to tire them out. We don’t want them to be awake past their bedtime, after all.”
Desi ponders this latest conundrum, hugging Hana to her chest as she thinks, and JJ fights back a smile. It’s only been about twenty minutes since Desi announced that today is Tybalt’s birthday, but JJ thinks they’ve done a stellar job of planning a surprise party for the dragon plushie so far.
The only person who’s not involved in the current festivities is Cass. JJ shoots a guilty look at where Cass is wrinkling his nose down at his laptop. After they tucked Desi in last night, Cass explained that he’s been working on covertly setting up new identities for JJ and Desi—and admitted that it’s a lot harder now that everything has a digital footprint.
JJ asked what he could do to help. Cass asked him to distract Desi for a few hours.
And JJ is trying not to think too hard about the fact that Cass is choosing to sit out here with them while he works instead of escaping to his bedroom, where it would be infinitely quieter. If there’s one thing JJ can never doubt, it’s that Cass adores Desi more than life in itself.
He hopes that Cass is pretty fond of JJ by this point, too.
“Dancing!” Desi says triumphantly, making JJ start with surprise. “JJ, we should have a dance party!”
JJ grins. “A dance party with all the dragons?”
“Yes!It’ll be so much fun!”
“Well, if we’re going to have a dance party,” Cass says, grabbing his cell phone from the cushion next to him and sliding it across the floor towards JJ, “then we’re going to need some music. I should have theWyvern Academysoundtrack downloaded in my music app.”
Warmth curls through JJ’s chest as he picks it up. “It won’t bother you?”
“Not at all. I might even join you. Modern technology issucha drag compared to dragon dance parties.” Cass nods at the phone. “Passcode is 1776, by the way.”
JJ pauses halfway through typing it in, glancing up at him. “Like the year?”
“Mm-hm.”
“Is that…?” JJ hesitates. “Is that the year you were summoned?”
He desperately hopes it isn’t impolite to ask. He knows that most demons have a complicated relationship with the circumstances of their summoning, that their first few years on Earth can be devastating at best and traumatic at worst, and the last thing he wants to do is force Cass to relive bad memories.
Not when Cass has been so careful not to pressure JJ into talking about his own.
To JJ’s relief, though, Cass just shakes his head. “No, I was actually summoned in 1775. But 1776 was the year we won the war, so.” He shrugs. “Seemed fitting.”
A tendril of interest lights up in the back of JJ’s mind. He abstractly knew that Cass was summoned during the American Revolution and was a key player in turning the tide of the war, but somehow, he never actually thought about that in context. “So you’ve been in the United States since it was founded?”
Cass’s eyebrows pull together. “Well, I’ve spent years at a time on campaigns in different parts of the world, but generally speaking, yeah. Why?”
“Who was your favorite president?Since you’ve lived through all of them?”
Cass doesn’t miss a beat. “General Washington. We haven’t had a good president since General Washington.”
JJ squints at him. “Really? You didn’t likeanyof the others? Not even?—?”
“General Washington,”Cass insists. “Don’t even get me started, JJ. I can andwillrant for days about the pros and cons of each individual president. I have an hour dedicated to Harrison alone. Don’t test me.”
Curiosity bubbles up in JJ’s chest. Decisively, he pulls Desi into his arms, hands her Hana the Wyvern, and turns to face Cass fully. “Well, wedohave a few hours. Who came after Washington? Jefferson?”
