Chapter 11
11
C ass turns in a slow circle, getting his bearings. The Sanctum’s training grounds, located just inside its notorious twelve-foot-high boundary wall, feature punching bags, targets, and sparring mats as far as the eye can see, giving the hunters everything they need to work out the delicate art of being soulless killing machines. It’s unseasonably warm for late January, so there are at least two dozen of them milling around like good little ants, sweat glistening on defined muscles and cursed weapons blasting through targets. If this were another place and time, Cass would be itching to take a look around, match weapons to faces and names, analyze everyone’s techniques??—
But he has a job to do. Scowling, he cautiously edges around the perimeter, staying far away from stray hunters and keeping his eyes peeled for JJ. Since escrima sticks are his weapon of choice, Cass would expect him to be drilling at the punching bags, but he’s nowhere to be found. Maybe he’s not here at all? He could very easily be in his bedroom, or the dining hall, or??—
Unbidden, JJ’s voice floats over on the breeze. “One more round?”
“One more round,” another voice agrees.
Finally. Cass homes in on the direction of the voice and jogs towards the very last sparring mat, one that was almost hidden around the corner of the building. The first person he spots is an unfamiliar man with dirty blond hair and pale skin, holding an escrima stick and clearly still catching his breath from a sparring match. From Cass’s baseline knowledge of the hunters’ weaponry and the little JJ has mentioned about his friends, he knows that it has to be Chester Locke, interrogator. And the second person he sees is??—
Cass stops dead.
It’s JJ, of course. The second person is Julian Jackson, his scowly hunter co-parent. Much as Cass hates to admit it, he could easily pick JJ’s voice out of a crowded room by this point, and right now, the man in question is dropping his own escrima into his jury-rigged pocket dimension and nodding in time with what Chester is saying.
Cass just wasn’t expecting the man in question to be shirtless. Or streaked with sweat and breathing heavily. Or that the multiple layers of clothes he wears to protect Desi from corrosion burns are hiding a shockingly toned, muscular body.
Damn.
Crying child at home, Cassius! Focus! Shaking his head sharply, Cass creeps forward, debating how to get JJ’s attention. Obviously, he needs to grab the hunter and get back to Desi as quickly as possible, but he also can’t risk revealing himself with a witness right there. Maybe he can whisper something in JJ’s ear? Or even just tap him on the shoulder? He’ll have to pull his sleeve over his hand to make sure he doesn’t burn himself on JJ’s bare skin, but??—
“But it’s actually been a while since I’ve worked on my ground technique,” Chester is saying now, and then, to Cass’s utter disbelief, he flutters his eyelashes at JJ. “Maybe I can get my favorite strike team hunter to refresh my memory?”
JJ rolls his eyes. “You know I will. You don’t have to be dramatic about it.”
“Mm…” Chester’s grin widens. “Maybe I’m just trying to see which tactics your boyfriend can use on you.”
The words jolt through Cass. JJ chokes on nothing. “Chester.”
“What? It’s a valid question! I just want to know…”
Cass quickly tunes out their bickering, staring at them in bewilderment. JJ looks a little embarrassed, but his shoulders are relaxed and his smile is easy, and Chester is crowded into JJ’s space like he spends all his time there, and??—
And are JJ and Chester… dating?
Cass feels queasy at the thought. Chester’s singsong comment almost made it sound like he and JJ in a newer relationship, one where they’re still testing each other’s boundaries??—
One where Chester, apparently, is trying to see if he can bat his eyes and get JJ to do whatever he wants. And one where, judging by the faint blush creeping up JJ’s neck, it’s working. “All right, psycho,” JJ finally grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest. “What technique do you want to review?”
“Escape from the triangle choke?”
Interest flashes over JJ’s face. “My favorite,” he says, and he lets himself fall backward onto the mat, slapping his arms down to absorb the impact. “Here. Get in my guard.”
Chester obediently drops to his knees and crawls forward, situating himself between JJ’s legs. With a grace and fluidity that take Cass aback, JJ pins Chester’s hand down to his own shoulder, sweeps his opposite leg up and around the back of Chester’s neck, cinches his ankles together so Chester’s arm, shoulder, and head are caught between his legs??—
Chester smirks against JJ’s thigh. “Your boyfriend is a lucky man.”
Cass almost chokes. JJ blanches. “Chester!”
In a flash, Chester twists towards his free side and whips his trapped arm around, slamming his elbow into JJ’s leg. JJ grunts with surprise as he loses the choke, and Chester scrambles out from between his legs. “Oh, JJ,” he sighs, grinning. “I’ve been flirting with you to get out of chokeholds since we were, what, fourteen? And you still fall for it every time.”
JJ is blushing. Blushing. Like he’s an awkward teenager on a first date instead of one of the Sanctum’s most skilled hunters. It’s disproportionately irritating. “You won’t be able to flirt your way out of a demon attack, Chester.”
“How would you know? I can be very alluring.” Chester winks at JJ, and Cass grits his teeth. Just leave my stupid hunter alone, asshat.
Not that Cass cares who JJ dates, of course. Not at all. But, as his co-parent, he thinks he’s entitled to some basic information about people in JJ’s life who could potentially pose a risk to Desi.
Especially an interrogator. Chester Locke has probably tortured some of Cass’s acquaintances, maybe even killed some of them. It’s not unreasonable for Cass to want to know if Chester has even the slightest chance of discovering Desi’s existence.
Or for Cass to be very averse to the idea of Chester slipping into JJ’s bedroom late at night.
JJ still looks a little flustered, but he stands his ground. “I don’t know what they’re teaching you down in the prison, but I can assure you that strike teams aren’t trained in seduction.”
“Good thing I stick to interrogation, then,” Chester says, clapping JJ on the shoulder. Cass kind of wants to break his fingers. “Come on. Let’s head back inside. I need to take a shower before I go back on shift.”
JJ wrinkles his nose down at his own sweat-covered skin. “Same,” he says, and he grabs a sleeveless workout shirt off the ground, wrestling it over his head. “After you.”
It’s about time. Cass glares after them just long enough to make sure they’re headed into the building before peeling open an invisible rift to JJ’s bedroom and stepping through. He’ll keep himself invisible, wait for his stupid hunter to show up??—
And hope JJ doesn’t invite his boyfriend inside.
“So have I given you some new ideas for date night with your dashing civilian?” Chester asks, waggling his eyebrows as they pass through the Sanctum’s imposing double doors. “Is this going to have to be a cold shower?”
JJ groans, dropping his head into his hands. “I hate you so much.”
“Aw, don’t be like that!” Chester says, nudging his elbow into JJ’s side. “You’re so easy to rile up, man. I bet he loves that, right?”
Heat is flaming into JJ’s face again. “There’s no hay, Chester. Metaphorical or otherwise. And?—?” He shoots a quick glance around the hallway. No one in sight, but as Roma likes to say, hunters are always listening. “And we should probably leave this conversation outside. Where it belongs.”
Chester’s smile wavers. “Yeah, okay,” he says, and they fall silent as they slip past the crowded dining hall, headed for the back stairwell that leads to their rooms. “You feeling a little better, at least?”
JJ forces a smile. “Definitely. If nothing else, you’re a great distraction.”
It’s a bald-faced lie, but Chester doesn’t need to know that. If JJ really did have a civilian boyfriend, then maybe Chester’s teasing would’ve done the trick and distracted him from his meeting with Councilwoman Nasir, but??—
But his current basis for that “boyfriend” is Cassius Chin. And thinking about Cass just leads JJ straight back to worrying about Desi?—and desperately hoping the Council doesn’t realize he’s lying to their faces.
Chester looks pleased by JJ’s description as they jog up the stairs. “A great distraction, huh? Would you ever let me tag along to create a diversion for Strike Team Kappa?”
“Absolutely not,” JJ says bluntly, and Chester snorts out a laugh. “If you want to roll with us, Locke, you need to take close combat and weapons training seriously.”
“I take them seriously!” Chester protests, and his lips twitch. “Mostly, at least.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” JJ says, slowing to a stop on the second-floor landing. “But thanks for the training session, man. Really, I appreciate it.”
“Always,” Chester says, and he hesitates. “So are you ever going to let me meet this guy? Or even tell me his name?”
He looks so excited about it, too. Like he’s honestly happy for JJ and his fictional partner. JJ’s heart hurts. “Probably not the safest option right now,” he says softly. “Especially with?—with his daughter. But I’ll let you know if that changes, okay?”
“You’d better,” Chester says, and he claps JJ’s arm before heading up the stairs to the third floor. “Later, Jayj!”
“Later!” The top three floors of the Sanctum are devoted to the hunters’ living quarters?—mixed breeds on the second and third levels, purebreds on the fourth?—and JJ and Chester, as the Sanctum’s newest additions, ended up split between floors. He still isn’t quite sure how that happened, because he knows there are a few spare bedrooms near his on the second floor, but he’s sure the Council had their reasons.
Letting out a slow breath, he strides towards his room at the very end of the hall, pulling his key out of his pocket. He battles the lock into submission, shoulders his way inside, shuts the door firmly behind him??—
“Your boyfriend is cute.”
Adrenaline spikes through JJ. He snatches his escrima stick out of its gap in spacetime and whirls towards the voice, heart pounding as he tries to locate the intruder, locate the threat? ? —
“Settle down, lackey,” the same voice says, and without warning, there’s a ripple of magic over JJ’s bed. A split second later, Cassius Chin himself appears lounging across JJ’s mattress, his hands tucked behind his head. “It’s just me.”
“Chin?” JJ sputters incredulously. “What are you?— why are you?—??” He jabs his escrima accusingly in Cass’s direction. “You can’t just let yourself into my room whenever you want!”
Cass looks infuriatingly unperturbed. “Apparently, I can,” he says, and in one fluid motion, he swings his legs around and pushes himself to his feet. “We have a problem.”
The words catch JJ off guard. Cautiously, he drops his escrima stick back into its holding space. “A problem? What kind of??—??”
All at once, his blood runs cold. There’s only one reason why Cass would ever choose to associate with JJ, only one reason why he would voluntarily seek JJ out??—
Only one reason why he would wait for JJ in the very heart of the Sanctum. “Desi,” JJ manages, panic racing through him. “What happened? Is she okay? Is she??—??”
Before JJ can blink, Cass crosses the room to stand in front of him, bracing a hand on JJ’s shoulder. “Hey, breathe?— she’s physically fine, she just?— ah!”
Cass jerks away with a gasp of pain, clutching his hand to his chest. Much too late, JJ realizes that Cass’s palm was resting on JJ’s upper arm.
His sleeveless, bare upper arm. Horror floods through him. “No,” he stammers, stumbling backward. “Are?—are you okay? Are you??—??”
“I’m fine,” Cass snaps, curling his fingers over and hiding his hand next to his hip. “I’ve had worse. I??—?”
“Cass,” JJ hisses.
Cass twitches, looking taken aback. JJ doesn’t know why. Maybe because it’s the first time Cass has seen JJ this rattled? Maybe because JJ so rarely calls him “Cass” when Desi isn’t within earshot?
Or maybe because JJ sounds worried. Maybe because he is worried, which is something he definitely shouldn’t be at the sight of an injured demon.
But he’ll unpack that later. For now, he just jerks his chin at Cass’s hand, trying not to let his dread show on his face. “How bad?”
For a long moment, Cass glares at him.
And then, reluctantly, he pulls his hand out from behind his back, tilting it towards JJ. His palm and fingers are a dark, angry red, the skin already starting to peel and blister.
Corrosion burns. JJ feels like he’s going to throw up. “Shit.”
“It’s fine,” Cass repeats, but his eyebrows furrow at JJ’s reaction. “Jackson??—?”
“I’m sorry,” JJ blurts out. Nausea licks up his throat, hot and acidic, and he swallows it down hard. “I can’t?—I can’t turn it off. I would if I could, but??—?”
“I know you would,” Cass cuts in quietly. He lets his arm fall back by his side and turns his hand away, hiding the burns from view. “You?—you’ve always been really careful with Desi. This was mostly my fault for forgetting.”
Belatedly, the words pull JJ back to why Cass is in his bedroom. “Desi,” he repeats shakily. “You said she’s fine, but??—?”
“She’s physically fine,” Cass says, and he winces. “But she had a nightmare about her summoner. A bad one. She’s scared, and she won’t stop crying, and she?—she needs you.”
JJ’s heart cracks a little. “Why does she need me? You’re the one who can actually take care of her.”
Cass hesitates. Looks away. “Because she loves you. And because you have, in the most literal sense, fought away her nightmares in the past. She feels safest with you.”
There’s a note of sadness to Cass’s voice. Like he desperately wishes he were that person for Desi, the one who truly makes her feel safe, but knows that he isn’t.
So he did the next best thing and came to find JJ, instead. Did the next best thing and walked straight into the Sanctum itself to find a man that he barely even likes, just because he knew that Desi needed JJ.
Just because Desi asked him to.
JJ’s chest hurts. “Well, she loves you, too,” he says softly. “And she??—?”
In a flash, the hint of vulnerability on Cass’s face vanishes. “I’m aware,” he says brusquely, and he gestures sharply at JJ. “Can we get a move on, please? We have a crying child at home, and you need to change into clothes that won’t give her third-degree burns.”
JJ’s sympathy instantly evaporates. “Then turn around,” he bites out, stalking over to his closet for jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. “I’m not undressing with you staring at me.”
“You say that like I’m actually interested in watching you strip,” Cass fires back, but he turns to face the wall regardless. “I got my fill of half-naked hunters with phallic objects out on the training grounds, thanks.”
JJ’s stomach lurches. “You were watching me train?”
He can hear the scowl in Cass’s voice. “Not by choice. I couldn’t figure out how to get you away from Locke without causing a scene.”
JJ shoves down the ridiculous?—and mortifying?—urge to ask Cass if he liked what he saw. Hastily, he swaps out his sweaty workout gear for civilian clothes, does a quick mental check to make sure all his skin is covered, and strides over to Cass’s side. “Ready.”
“Wait.” Cass’s jaw works. “Leave your cell phone here.”
JJ’s hackles rise. “What? Why?”
“Because I’m taking you to my house, Jackson,” Cass snaps. “Not my safe house. My house. I don’t want to wake up to a Sanctum raid, thank you very much.”
JJ valiantly tries to beat down his temper. “I wouldn’t do that to Desi.”
“No, you wouldn’t,” Cass agrees. His smile is flat. “Just to me, right?”
“I?—?” To JJ’s surprise, the idea of siccing a strike team on Cassius Chin makes him feel faintly queasy. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
Cass’s expression shifts. “What do you??—??”
“Crying child, Chin,” JJ repeats, exasperated. He digs his cell phone out of his pocket, tosses it onto his bed, and gestures pointedly at the space between them. “There. No more cell phone. Rift?”
Cass’s eyebrows are still pulled together. “Rift,” he agrees eventually, and he snaps his fingers. A shimmer of purple-gold instantly lights up between them, and Cass unexpectedly reaches out, grabbing JJ’s elbow to guide him through.
It’s probably a bad sign that JJ doesn’t even think about fighting back.