The words promptly derail JJ’s retort. “Really?” he asks, leaning over. “Can I see?”
“Of course. It’s yours, after all,” Cass says, and he pulls a manila envelope out of the pocket dimension, passing it to JJ. “These are all your official documents—passport, driver’s license, credit cards, you name it. I’ve had them for a few days now, courtesy of Gregorio Ricci, but I wanted to wait for the full package before giving them to you.”
Intrigued, JJ flips open the passport. The photo is a surprisingly nice one Cass took the week after JJ left the Sanctum, and as far as the name?—
“JamesWashington?”he reads, shooting Cass a look.
“What? He was the only good U.S. president!” Cass says, and he tilts his laptop in JJ’s direction. “I opened a bank account for you, too. That way, you won’t have to ask me every time you want something.”
JJ winces. “Sorry. About that.”
Cass rolls his eyes. “Jackson, I will buy you literally anything you want. The money itself isn’t the problem. But I—I don’t want you to feel like you need permission to get nice things for yourself.” He taps the screen. “Now, you don’t have to. And I had Gregorio pull some strings to give you a good credit score, so you won’t have any issues getting loans. The world is yours.”
JJ’s stomach churns. He forces a smile. “That’s great, Cass. Thank you. And I—I guess the money in my bank account is also from you?”
Cass waves a hand vaguely. “Like I said, money isn’t an object. I won’t even miss it.”
JJ takes a deep breath, trying to force down the ever-present drumbeat of guilt. Guilt that Cass takes such good care of him, guilt that Cass lets JJ live in his house and eat his food and spend his money without asking for anything in return?—
Guilt that JJ didn’t earn any of it.
He knows it’s a toxic attitude. Cass has called him out on it more than once. But after twelve years of fighting tooth and nail to get even the barest scrap of respect at the Sanctum, having someone else provide for him is still distinctly uncomfortable.
But Cass likes having JJ around, he reminds himself firmly. There’s no reason to feel insecure about it. And it’s actually really sweet that Cass gave JJ a few thousand dollars of spending money—after all, that’s basically pocket change to him.
JJ can wrap his head around it. “All right. Thanks,” he says, taking the proffered laptop from Cass. “So I just need to make an online account?”
“Already set up. You should probably change your password, though.”
“Cool,” JJ says, and he scrolls down the page, checks his balance?—
All the blood rushes from his head at once.
No. That’s not right. That’sdefinitelya mistake. That can’t be— “Uh. Cass?”
“Yeah?”
“You, um.” Nervously, JJ points at the screen. “I think you messed up the transfer. That’s—that’s too many zeroes.”
Cass squints at the offending number. “Mm, nope,” he says, infuriatingly casual. “That’s correct. There are six zeroes in four million.”
“Fourmillion—?”JJ could deal with four thousand. If pressed, he could even find a way to be okay withfortythousand. But four goddamnmillion?“Cass, I—I can’t accept this.”
Cass raises his eyebrows. “It’s right there, JJ,” he says, pointing at it. “Technically, it’s already been accepted.”
JJ’s chest is squeezing. “It’s too much. I know you throw fifties around like they’re singles, but for a human, this istoo much.”
Cass sets his jaw. “Actually, I did the math. You’re twenty-two years old, right? Hypothetically, you could live to be one hundred, which is seventy-eight more years. I rounded up to eighty for convenience. Four million dollars is fifty thousand every year for eighty years.” He nods at the screen. “And it doesn’t even keep up with inflation. Honestly, it should probably be more.”
More?He’s going to give JJ a heart attack. “Cass, fifty thousand a year is great for someone with actual living expenses, like—like a house or an apartment. I don’t spendanythinghere. Unless you’re going to let me start paying rent?”
Cass scoffs. “I’m not going to hand you money just to make you give it back to me. That’s stupid.”
“Then it’stoo much,”JJ repeats emphatically. “My living expenses areliterallyzero. Just—just tacos from Tacos Near Me and dragon plushies for Desi. That’s all I would ever want—orneed—money for.”
“But what if—?” Cass hesitates. “What if you weren’t living here, though?”
All at once, the world goes quiet around JJ. “Oh,” he says faintly, dread curdling through him. “You, um. You think I should move out?”
