“Yeah. We’ve talked about it a lot, actually,” Cass says. “JJ keeps saying that he’d be fine with just signing a few documents at the courthouse to make it official—especially since we’re already living together and raising a child together—but I want to give him something special, you know? I want to propose. I want us to have a wedding. I—I want to give him everything he thought he’d never have.”
“And you’re going to hyphenate your last names?” Ez asks curiously. “Like you did with Desi?”
Cass grins. “Yep. In a few months, you’ll be looking at Mr. Cassius Jackson-Chin.”
Obie’s eyebrows rocket up. “A fewmonths?Pretty short engagement there, Cass.”
“Like I said, we’re basically married in all but name, anyway. This is just getting the fancy piece of paper to put with Desi’s birth certificate.” His smile wavers. “And—and the soul exchange symptoms are starting to get worse. I know we originally thought that JJ and I would probably live for another century or two, but I’m not so sure anymore.”
Thatcatches Obie’s attention. “Symptoms? You mean the headaches and stomachaches that JJ has been getting?”
Cass’s grimace is the only answer Obie needs. Back in March, when JJ agreed to a soul bond to save Cass’s life after the Sanctum ripped Cass’s soul apart—and when Cass subsequently reversed the bond to saveJJ’slife—none of them expected their souls to accidentally mix, leaving them each with half of the other’s soul. At first, they expected that the human–demon combination would cut Cass’s lifespan short while expanding JJ’s, giving them both another hundred years or so to live.
But then, around three months ago, JJ started getting headaches. Stomach issues and general malaise, too. There doesn’t seem to be much damage where his human soul is directly in contact with his half of Cass’s demon soul, but Obie has the sinking feeling that the exchange is doing far more harm than anticipated.
“They’re not just headaches and stomachaches anymore,” Cass says quietly. “He’s always cold, even in the middle of summer, but he still gets night sweats almost every night. And he’s been exhausted and achy during the day, too—he’s actually started curling up on the couch with Desi when she takes her afternoon nap.” He laughs shortly. “It would be adorable if it weren’t so concerning.”
Ez’s eyes narrow, flickering down to Cass’s chest. Down to where the edge of his demonic soul is pressed against half of JJ’s human soul. “And how about you? Any symptoms on your end?”
Cass hesitates for a split second too long.
Obie’s stomach lurches. “Cass?—”
“I’ve started waking up every morning with a headache, too.” Cass doesn’t look at them. “And I’ve been sleeping more than ever, just like JJ, but I still feel tired all the time. Not much of an appetite, either—I mean, I didn’t haveanyappetite as a demon, but after the soul exchange, I needed my three meals a day. Now, though…” He trails off. “I’m almost never hungry anymore, but whenever I skip a meal, I feel even worse. It’s been a balancing act.”
“Maybe…” Obie tastes bile. “Maybe you should both go to a human doctor? Get some bloodwork done?”
Cass’s jaw tightens. “We already did. We went to a doctor familiar with demonic research—the ethical studies, not the Sanctum’s experiments—and had her check JJ over.” He winces. “According to her, JJ shouldn’t be alive by humanordemon standards right now. She couldn’t really interpret his test results one way or another. And that’s—” He shakes his head sharply. “I don’t want to talk about thatright now, okay? And I don’t want you two to worry about it. We’ll figure it out, just like we always do. For now, I just want to focus on marrying the love of my life.”
Obie can tell that Ez wants to press the subject—frankly, so does he—but she reluctantly lets it drop. “I mean, as long as JJ says yes,” she says, only a hint of false cheer in her voice. “He could always say no.”
Cass rolls his eyes. “He’s not going to say no.”
“But could youimagine?”Obie persists, trying to lighten the mood. “Like, co-habiting and co-parenting and high-key almost dying for each other is fine, butmarriage?That’s a step too far.”
“He’snotgoing to say no,” Cass repeats emphatically, his eyes drifting back to his boyfriend. “Honestly, I’m excited. I—I never thought I’d get to have this. Never thought I’d evenwantto have this.”
Ez follows his gaze over to their humans, where Desi is now attempting to braidRoma’shair while JJ and Chester watch in clear amusement. “Yeah,” she agrees softly. “Me, neither.”
Obie’s heart hurts. For the past two hundred years, ever since he met Cass and Ez, the three of them had dedicated their lives to warfare, to toppling dictatorships and demolishing terrorist regimes, to making their mark on the world in the best way they could, but now?—
Now, Cass willingly gave all that up to raise a little girl with his half-demon co-parent. Ez seems equally unimpressed by their old lifestyle, preferring to spend her days with her ex-hunter girlfriend, matching mugs of tea, and a handful of spell books. And Obie?—
Well. Obie hasn’t let himself get this close to a human in almost fifteen thousand years. It’s intoxicating and exhilarating and terrifying, all at once.
And it’s going to end in heartbreak no matter what. Even ifChester inexplicably returns Obie’s feelings, even if they break the binding spell and Chester decides to stay with Obie, even if they spend the rest of Chester’s life together?—
In the end, it’ll still be just the rest ofChester’slife.
One way or another, Obie is going to lose him.
But, for now, he shoves that thought to the back of his mind. For now, he and Chester are united in their mission to bring down the Sanctum, and for now, Cass is getting ready to propose to the love of his life.
Obie can deal with all the little details later.
24
Chester drags his feet up the staircase leading away from the prison, exhaustion lining every inch of him. He used to enjoy his twelve-hour auxiliary shifts—with so many different tasks to complete, they seemed to pass in the blink of an eye—but nowadays, every minute he spends helping the Sanctum instead of burying it feels like an eternity, no matter how busy he is.
