Chapter 23
23
F irst question,” Ez says, scowling at the hunter across Cass’s kitchen table. “How in Nostringvadha’s name did you find us?”
Roma scowls back. “Tracking spell. Wasn’t hard.”
Cass’s eyebrows shoot up. “You got past Ez’s anti-tracking spell work?”
“Like hell she did,” Ez snaps, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I didn’t,” Roma agrees, and she turns back to Cass. “Anti-tracking spell work reroutes any tracking spells around it, almost like the signal bounces. So I just…” She shrugs one shoulder. “Reviewed the spell’s pathway until I located the bounce.”
Ez looks flabbergasted. “You did what?”
“That’s… unusual,” Obie says. He looks faintly impressed. “I’ve never heard of that before, but it makes logical sense as a workaround.”
Roma looks very self-satisfied. Ez looks like she wants to punch her in the teeth.
“Second question,” Cass says, turning back to Roma. His left eye is starting to twitch. Too much adrenaline, not enough action. “Why, exactly, should we trust you?”
“You shouldn’t,” Roma says. “I don’t trust you, either. But working together is the best chance we have of saving JJ before he’s executed tomorrow.”
Cass’s stomach bottoms out. “Executed?”
Roma’s expression shifts. “Yes,” she says, and her shoulders hunch. Suddenly, her crossed arms look less defensive and more like she’s trying to hold herself together. “Tomorrow at noon. Heard about it a few hours ago. That was when…” She hesitates. “That was when I started tinkering with the tracking spell.”
Nausea churns through Cass. Tomorrow at noon? It’s nearly midnight now, so that means they barely have twelve hours.
If Roma is telling the truth, obviously. She could absolutely be lying. After all, she’s a Sanctum hunter, a lackey, a mixed breed from the infamous Gutierrez family.
But from what JJ has said, she’s also one of his closest friends. And her older sister, Naomi, also defected six years ago. Maybe treason just runs in the family. “So what’s your plan?” Cass asks. “You said you need ‘help’ with a jailbreak. That implies you already have some ideas.”
“I might not be an interrogator,” she says, “but I know my way around the Sanctum’s prison. I can get you in and bring you straight to JJ’s cell.”
Obie’s eyes narrow. “But can you get him back out?”
“Depends on how long he takes,” Roma says. “I can temporarily deactivate the anti-rifting spells, but the Sanctum has emergency spellcasters on call. You’ll probably have five minutes, tops.”
“That’s not a lot of time,” Ez says tightly.
“It’s more than enough for me,” Cass says, and he meets Roma’s eyes. “Especially if we time it correctly. When’s change of shift in the prison? That’ll be our window of opportunity.”
Surprise flickers across Roma’s face. “Every six hours. Normally, two a.m. or eight a.m. would be our best options, but it’ll actually be emptiest tomorrow around eleven a.m. Some of the interrogators are being taken off shift to prepare for?—for the execution.”
Eleven hours to plan a jailbreak. Cass has had worse deadlines. “So I cast an invisibility spell to get us in,” he says, “and then I fight my way to JJ’s cell while you deactivate the anti-rifting spell work. I plan to rift straight back out with JJ, but how are you going to escape? Are you coming with us? Or?—??” Bitterness coils through him. “Or are you going to pretend this never happened and go back to your cushy hunter life?”
Roma’s jaw works. “No. I’m not going back. They could trace my spells back to me, and?—and above all, JJ’s had my back more times than I can count. I’m saving him, no matter what. And?—?” Abruptly, she looks away. “Like you said, my soul-tracking spell is the reason JJ got caught in the first place. I didn’t know this would happen, obviously, but?—but it’s still my fault.”
Cass can’t detect a hint of a lie in the words. Slowly, he nods. “And your exit strategy?”
“Put on a cloaking spell and walk out the front door while they’re distracted,” she says, and she lifts her chin. “I already stashed my go bag in the woods outside the Sanctum, and I have a few tricks up my sleeve to keep them from tracking me. Not sure how long I’ll survive on the outside, but I’ll figure something out.”
Cass’s heart twinges. “We’ll find a safe house for you. Don’t worry about that.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “Oh. Um. Thank you. I guess.”
Obie’s calculating eyes find Cass. “Question. That quick-and-dirty battle plan seemed to have a distinct lack of me and Ez. I presume that was an oversight?”
“Nope,” Cass says. “You and Ez aren’t coming.”
Ez stiffens. “Absolutely not.”
“Absolutely yes,” Cass snaps back, and he jabs a finger at her. “Especially because I need you to triple the defensive spell work around my safe house while I’m gone. Not this one, because it’s clearly easier to find than I would like?—my second favorite, the one where I always met JJ. I don’t want anyone to be able to rift in except the three of us, and I want an alarm spell to go off if anyone puts so much as a toe on my property. And, while you’re at it, you might want to figure out how to counter Gutierrez’s anti-tracking workaround, too.”
Ez’s eyes flash. “Cass? ? —?”
“We’ve been following each other into danger for two hundred years,” Obie cuts in. “Like you said earlier. If this means that much to you, if JJ means that much to you, then we’re coming.”
Suddenly, Cass’s throat feels tight. “No,” he says, “because I need you to look after Desi while I’m gone. And?—and if I don’t come back, I trust you to do what’s best for her.”
Obie’s jaw tightens. He doesn’t answer.
“Speaking of which,” Ez says, and her glare swings back to Roma. “How do we even know this one is telling the truth?”
“Oh, lovely,” Roma deadpans. “I was worried you’d forgotten about me.”
Ez doesn’t back down. “You show up unannounced with exactly what we need, but only on your terms?—your specific date, your specific time. How do we know you’re not leading Cass straight into a trap?”
Roma squints back. “Why would I even bother? The Sanctum is already on high alert since JJ defected. I don’t need to spring a trap to make it more dangerous. And?—?” She scowls. “And if that ‘specific date and time’ bothers you so much, then we can go right now. There’ll be more interrogators to fight through, but it’s no skin off my back.”
“It might actually be better to go now,” Obie says quietly. “If they’re interrogating JJ as we speak, there’s a chance that he’ll break and compromise Cass and Desi. Better to get him out sooner rather than later.”
Cass shakes his head tiredly. “He won’t break.”
Obie’s eyebrows furrow. Roma doesn’t look convinced, either. “The interrogators treat dissidents the same way they treat demons,” she says. “It’s not pretty.”
“Doesn’t matter. He still won’t break,” Cass says, and his eyes find Desi’s sleeping form on the couch before he can stop them.
He knows JJ. He knows how much JJ loves and adores and cherishes Desi. If it were just Cass’s life on the line, then maybe JJ would talk, but with Desi’s safety at risk?
Not a chance.
Roma follows his gaze. “That’s the little demon?” she asks, and Cass stiffens. “The four-year-old who likes dragons?”
“None of your business,” Ez bites out.
Roma’s jaw twitches. “You know what? Sure. The less I know about whatever thing Chin has going on with JJ, the better.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Ez hisses, taking a threatening step forward.
Without missing a beat, Obie grabs her arm and hauls her back. “She means that she doesn’t want to know if her friend was sleeping with a demon,” he says wearily. “Come on, Ez. Can’t we play nice for another five minutes?”
Ez scowls at him. Obie gives her a long-suffering look back.
Cass ignores both of them. “We still need to map out a more detailed strategy,” he says, “and that’ll be easier if we’re closer to our target. Gutierrez, are you good to post up in the forest outside the Sanctum for a few hours?”
“Ready when you are,” she says. “Let’s go.”
“In a minute,” Cass says, and awkwardly, he gestures towards the living room. “I just, um. Need to say goodbye to the little one.”
Roma’s eyes dart back to Desi. “Oh,” she says, and she edges towards the door. “Do you, uh, want me to wait outside?”
“No,” Ez says immediately. “I want you where I can see you, lackey.”
Roma glares at her, Ez glares back, and Obie glares up at the ceiling like he’s praying for patience. Fighting back a grimace, Cass slips over to the couch and gently runs his hand over Desi’s hair. “Desi? Sweetheart?”
Desi’s eyelids twitch. Slowly, she wriggles out of her ball to peek over the covers at him. “Cass?”
“Hey,” Cass says hoarsely, and he swallows past the dryness in his throat. “I’m going to get JJ and bring him home now, okay? I’ll be gone until around lunchtime, but Auntie Ez and Uncle Obie will stay with you.”
Even half-asleep, her eyes brighten a little. “Okay.”
Cass raises his arms. “Hug?”
Yawning, Desi fumbles past the blankets and throws her arms around his neck. “Love you,” she mumbles into his shoulder.
Cass’s eyes sting. “I love you, too,” he whispers into her hair, and he holds on tightly until she drifts back to sleep. “I love you, too.”
Taking care not to wake her again, he eases her back onto the couch, tucks her wyverns into her arms, and pulls the covers back up to her chin. Desi curls up into her little ball, her breathing soft and easy, and Cass??—
Cass desperately hopes he isn’t lying about being home with JJ by lunchtime. He takes a deep breath, waits until his hands stop trembling, and pushes himself back to his feet. “Let’s do this,” he says briskly, striding into the kitchen and snapping open an invisible rift to the forest outside the Sanctum. “Gutierrez?”
Roma gives the rift a skeptical look, but she squares her shoulders and steps through. And, with a last apologetic look at Ez’s and Obie’s stricken faces, Cass follows her straight into his next war zone.