JJ’s chest hurts. “I think Chester would feel the same way,” he says carefully, gauging Roma’s reaction. “But Bryant?”
Roma shakes her head. “Bryant’s a purebred. She has status and power that make my head spin just by virtue of her bloodline. I don’t think she’d handle outside life well.”
“Yeah.” JJ hesitates. “But what if we were all here with her?”
Roma’s voice sharpens. “What are you getting at?”
“Listen—” JJ holds up his hands in surrender. “I’m not saying we should bust in there and kidnap them, okay? But sometimes, I just—I just imagine what it would be like if they were here with us. If wecouldall walk around Redwater and get tacos in the Courtyard again. If we could just… be together. You know?”
Roma’s jaw works. “I mean, I see what you’re saying,” she says. “But I don’t think it’s a good idea. Even for Chester. Because if you’re wrong about him, if we made contact and he wanted to stay…” She trails off. “He’d either have to hand us over to the Council or risk everything by keeping us a secret. We couldn’t put him in that position.”
JJ’s heart twists. He knows that Chester’s fierce loyalty to the Sanctum has always been tinged by nostalgia for his old life, and he thinks Chester would be more than willing to walk away if his friends were waiting for him on the other side, but?—
But he can also imagine that a lot has changed since JJ and Roma defected. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re probably right.”
Roma clears her throat. “Anyway, are you ever going to invite me to your place to officially meet your kid? And maybe chat with Cass under less harrowing circumstances than orchestrating your jailbreak?”
JJ snorts with surprise, relaxing back against the couch. “Definitely. Cass is a little gun-shy about letting another hunter into his house—it took him ages to even letmein there—but he knows that I trust you. Just give him some time.”
Roma sighs, throwing both legs over the side of her armchair this time. “Feels like I have nothingbuttime nowadays.”
“But it’s kind of nice, right?” JJ asks, grinning. “Having the whole world stretch out ahead of you?”
After a moment, Roma gives him a small smile. “Just another thing for me to get used to, I guess,” she agrees, and they move back to safer topics after that.
Obie blinks slowly across the kitchen table. “Ice-skating lessons?”
“Yeah!” Desi says cheerfully, jabbing another forkful of her macaroni and cheese—JJ’s inaugural effort with the dish, in fact. Cass is disproportionately proud of how far his hunter’s cooking skills have come. “It’s going to be really fun! I’m gonna make tons of new friends and learn lots of neat tricks! Right, JJ?”
“Right,” JJ confirms, spooning a heaping serving of salad onto his plate and a smaller portion onto Desi’s. Even though demons don’t need a balanced diet—or any diet at all—JJ insists on making sure she eats healthy, which Cass finds hilarious and endearing in equal measures. “My little sister and I both learned to ice skate when we were kids, and we really enjoyed it. I even had my eighth birthday party at the rink.”
Ez nods consideringly. “And this is a… normal human pastime? For children?”
She sounds unsure about it. Cass feels a pang of regret—not just for her, but for himself and Obie, too. Obie doesn’t talk about when he was summoned, but Ez was initially dragged to this dimension as a little girl, just like Desi—and her summoner forced her to grow into an adult once that became inconvenient for him. None of them had much in the way of childhoods.
And JJ clearly remembers that, too. His eyes soften. “Definitely. Sports have a lot of benefits for human children—teaching them teamwork, keeping them healthy, letting them make friends. Plus, ice skating is low contact, so there won’t be as much risk to Desi or the other kids.”
“We’re planning to homeschool her, too,” Cass jumps in. “For the first few years, at least. Trying to avoid any mishaps in a classroom full of fragile humans.”
Unexpectedly, Obie’s eyes light up. “That sounds really cool, actually. Can I help?”
Desi gasps, clapping her hands. “Yes! Uncle Obie, can you be one of my teachers?”
JJ looks intrigued. “That would be amazing,” he says, looking at Cass for confirmation. Heart swelling, Cass nods. “Especially since you’ve been around for most of history, right? A lot of concepts get taught incorrectly in elementary schools—like, I still learned that Columbus discovered the Americas when I was a kid.”
Obie looks affronted. “The genocidal maniac?”
“Yep.”
“That’s appalling,” Obie says. “But I’ve spent a fair few millennia in the Americas, so I can share plenty of firsthand experiences. My world history is a bit shakier—I was always on the wrong continent for most of the biggest events—but I’m sure I could correct any misconceptions. Do you have a curriculum yet?”
“We’re still researching our options,” JJ says, “but…”
He and Obie quickly fall into an animated discussion across the table, chatting about Obie’s past adventures and how they could incorporate them into a classroom setting, and Cass’s chest feels warm. He can tell that they’re not completely comfortable with each other yet—there’s a hint of reserved caution to Obie’s voice, and JJ’s shoulders are a little tense—but they’re clearly doing their best to get along.
And Cass is under no illusions. They’re probably playing nice partly for Desi’s benefit, but mostly for Cass’s. Obie, because he’s Cass’s best friend and he loves him, and JJ?—
Well. Cass is trying not to think too hard about how JJ might feel about Cass at this juncture. Not while JJ is still entirely reliant, entirelydependent,on Cass for food and shelter.
