Epilogue
EPILOGUE
Two Weeks Later
J J’s grin is huge as he beams down at the firm card stock in his hands. “We should frame it.”
Cass rolls his eyes. “It’s a legal document, JJ. We need to put it in a lockbox for safekeeping, not display it for every potential robber.”
“Then we should make a copy and frame it.” JJ’s eyes are shining with excitement, and Cass can’t resist smiling back. “I mean, I’d say that getting our daughter’s birth certificate is a reason to celebrate, right?”
Honestly, Cass can’t disagree. Maggie really came through for them with Desi’s registration documents?—not only did she send them the standard birth certificate, passport, and Social Security card, but she also filed all the legal adoption paperwork for them.
The paperwork that lets Cassius Chin and Julian Jackson be listed as her parents, a section that’s left blank for most demons. Now, Cass and JJ are officially dads. Desi Jackson-Chin is officially their daughter.
It’s been true since the beginning, of course, but Cass has to admit that having the piece of paper feels damn good.
JJ traces a finger over the raised lines of text, pausing when he hits his and Cass’s names. “It’s okay that my real name is listed, right? Even though I’m sort of, you know. On the run from multiple agencies?”
“We’re on the run from multiple agencies. This is a team effort, lackey,” Cass says, and JJ grins at him. “And Maggie wouldn’t have done it if she didn’t think it was safe. Like she said, I wasn’t beating the ‘shacked up with a hunter’ allegations anytime soon.” He tilts his head to one side, pressing a soft kiss against JJ’s cheek. “And half of Redwater knows we’re dating at this point, anyway. Might as well make it official.”
JJ’s eyes dance. “Like, official official?”
Cass makes a show of checking his watch. “The pancake house in Las Vegas is open. I could rift us there right now.”
JJ laughs, placing the birth certificate on their new end table?—or, more accurately, Obie’s end table. Cass never imagined that all three of his Redwater houses would get compromised within three months, but Roma Gutierrez?—and, by extension, the Sanctum?—knows about his two safe houses, and his legal address is public record.
Better to be somewhere unexpected. Fortunately, Cass is lucky enough to have a friend who owns roughly a third of Redwater. Obie insisted on putting Cass up in his safest safe house free of charge, although Cass is planning to slip him a few thousand dollars as thanks in a couple of weeks.
For now, though, he’s just relieved that he, JJ, and Desi have somewhere secure?—and heavily warded?—to lay their heads. It’s about as large as his legal house, if a bit more nondescript, but that’s okay. Desi has decorated it extensively with her rapidly growing plushie collection, Cass retrieved their punching bag and all the undamaged furniture from his other house, JJ is having way too much fun shopping for wall art and fluffy rugs??—
They’re making it their own. In a way, Cass actually likes that they’re starting fresh. Now, it’s not Cass’s house that JJ and Desi moved into?—it’s their house, one that they’re building together.
He can’t imagine anything better.
“And, um.” JJ’s eyes shift to Cass. “Speaking of the pancake house?”
Cass’s eyebrows shoot up. “We’ll need at least one witness who’s eighteen or older, but I think we should invite both Ez and Obie. And Desi will be our flower girl, of course?—or our maple syrup girl, or whatever they do there. Want me to call them?”
JJ presses his lips together like he’s trying not to smile. “I didn’t mean right now, Cass.”
“Well, I’m not saying no, so…”
“Actually, I was wondering?—?” JJ cuts himself off. Traces the raised lettering of Desi’s last name. “When we get married?— someday, not today?—do we want to hyphenate our last names like this? ‘Jackson-Chin’? Or?—or we could do ‘Chin-Jackson,’ or we could keep our last names, or…”
“First of all,” Cass says, “‘Chin-Jackson’ doesn’t sound nearly as good as ‘Jackson-Chin.’”
“Well, I wasn’t about to come right out and say it, but??—?”
“And secondly…” Cass intertwines his fingers with JJ’s, squeezing lightly. “‘Jackson-Chin’ works for me, but I also think ‘Cassius Jackson’ has a nice ring to it. I might just take your last name. Carry on your family’s legacy, you know?”
JJ’s smile softens. “That would be really nice,” he whispers, and he squeezes Cass’s hand back. “I think my parents would’ve liked you. They wouldn’t have liked the age gap, but they would’ve liked you.”
“Well, what self-respecting parents would approve of a two-hundred-year age gap? It’s ridiculous, JJ.”
“Lucy would’ve thought you were cool, too,” JJ continues, his eyes turning wistful. “And she would’ve loved having a niece.”
Cass’s heart twists. JJ quietly told Cass the other day that Lucy would’ve turned eighteen this month, and Cass is already planning to light a few candles to commemorate the occasion. “Desi would’ve loved having another aunt, too. And I imagine Lucy would’ve been thrilled to have a baby dragon named after her.”
“Oh, absolutely,” JJ says, and suddenly, his eyes light up. “Wait. Everybody calls me ‘JJ,’ and Lucy was starting to go by ‘LJ’ with her friends, so?—so does that mean you’ll be ‘CJ’?”
Cass opens his mouth, closes it, and says, “All right. Forget everything I just said. We’re hyphenating.”
JJ throws back his head and laughs. “Wow. That quick, huh?”
“I can and will murder anyone who tries to call me ‘CJ,’” Cass says emphatically. “I’m over two hundred years old, JJ. I may be half-human now, but I will not submit to your ludicrous nicknaming culture.”
JJ’s smile wavers, and Cass fights back a wince. He knows that JJ still blames himself for Cass’s current situation, much as Cass tries to convince him otherwise. They’re both surviving, obviously, but??—
But it’s just hard sometimes.
Having human limitations is equal parts illuminating and frustrating. JJ has to remind Cass to drink water at least twice a day, because he’ll forget and then wonder why he feels so lightheaded, and actually needing to eat instead of simply enjoying the experience is highly unpleasant.
Not to mention the bathroom situation. Cass really isn’t a fan of how often his bladder simply decides that it’s time to be attended to. Zero out of ten, would not recommend.
Some parts are better than others, though. Even though he hates that he’s required to sleep now, he’s sort of enjoying the acid trip of trying to remember his dreams. And late-night cuddles with JJ just hit different when Cass is drowsy and content.
Even though JJ usually isn’t drowsy anymore. “Speaking of humans and demons and our assorted idiosyncrasies,” Cass says, eyeing JJ carefully. “How are you feeling?”
JJ looks away. “Fine.”
“JJ?—?”
“I’m literally fine.” JJ’s voice sounds strained. “That’s part of the problem. I feel like being half-demon should be scary or at least strange, but…” He shakes his head. “It’s just like having Sanctum enchantments again. Like?—like they were never all that different from a demon’s powers in the first place. And I do still need to eat and sleep, just less often. It’s new, but I’m okay.” His lips curve downward. “I know you got the short end of the stick, though.”
Cass waves a hand dismissively. “You’re a wonderful coach in how to be human. I’m adjusting.”
“Cass, you’re going to die someday.”
The last dregs of Cass’s banter die in his throat. “I know,” he admits. “Comes with being half-human. But we don’t know when ‘someday’ will be, right? For all we know, it could be another hundred years. Same with you?—now that you’re half-demon, I’ll be shocked if you don’t survive for another eighty years. Hopefully, we’ll both make it that long.” He brushes his thumb over JJ’s cheek. “I’m okay with a shorter life as long as you’re in it.”
JJ ducks his head, trying to hide a smile. “You’re such a sap.”
“You love it.”
In truth, though, Cass is worried?—not just about his potentially shortened lifespan, but about everything with the soul exchange. Obie has apparently never seen it in his thousands of years on Earth, and Ez is currently on a research binge to find any record of it, but?—
But they just don’t know yet. Cass and JJ could die in a millennium or next week.
For now, though, Cass is trying to take each day as it comes. “But enough of that,” he says, kissing JJ’s cheek again. He’s become a huge fan of cheek kisses recently, and especially of the way JJ blushes every time he does it. “Ez and Obie will be bringing Desi home from the library soon. We should probably??—?”
He’s interrupted by the purple-gold of a rift blossoming to life in the middle of the living room. Desi quickly bounds through it, leaping into Cass’s arms. “Cass! Hi!”
“Desi!” He sweeps her up into a hug. “How was story time?”
“Great! It was great! And JJ!” Desi makes grabby hands at JJ; obediently, Cass drops her into JJ’s waiting arms. “JJ, they have more dragon books! Auntie Ez found them for me!”
JJ’s eyes widen. “More dragon books? But I thought we read all of them already!”
“You read all the picture books,” Ez corrects, and she holds up a small stack of chapter books. “Luckily, elementary schoolers also love dragons. You won’t run out of stories anytime soon.”
“I’m going to miss the pictures,” Desi tells JJ seriously. “But Uncle Obie says these books are longer and have more characters, so you and Cass can do more voices!”
“We all know how JJ loves his voices,” Cass teases, nudging his shoulder against JJ’s. JJ instinctively leans back against him, pressing into Cass’s space like it’s the most natural place for him to be. “I think chapter books will be a wonderful addition to our collection.”
“And Desi can start learning more words, too,” Obie adds. “Cass, you helped her age herself up a few months, right? Her reading skills have really improved. Spelling, too.”
“I can spell ‘Mississippi’ now!” Desi says proudly. “Uncle Obie taught me! Want to hear it?”
“Of course I do,” JJ says.
As Desi immediately starts singing the letters, Cass slips closer to Ez and Obie. “Any news?” he asks quietly.
Ez grimaces. “The Chain is still scandalized that you’re harboring a fugitive hunter, but they’re not even bothering to question us anymore?—they know we’re not about to snitch. The Sanctum seems less active than usual, too.”
“Probably still licking their wounds from the jailbreak,” Obie says, his jaw set in a grim line. “They’ll be back to their usual machinations soon enough. And speaking of machinations…” He lowers his voice even further. “Micah and Gregorio?”
Cass winces. “We haven’t talked much since I told them about Gutierrez. And that conversation was just the weird icing on top of the entire weirdness cake?—they seemed to take it almost personally that she was a double agent all along.”
And they were obviously disappointed, too. Cass still doesn’t know what to make of it. Their clear interest in Roma and JJ, their counterintuitive loyalty to Cass, the way Micah so easily referred to JJ by his nickname and Roma as “Gutierrez the Younger”—
The list goes on and on. But that’s a mystery for another day. “Micah has checked in once or twice,” Cass continues, “but he’s been fairly civil. No more pointed questions or bizarre requests. No asking me to ‘trust’ them again, either.”
Obie smiles bitterly. “Trust is in short supply nowadays. I think they understand that.”
“Seems like it.”
“Ooh, ooh, ooh!” Desi says excitedly, making grabby hands at Cass this time. JJ dutifully places her back in Cass’s arms, and Cass suppresses a smile. “Auntie Ez and Uncle Obie said we can go out for churros, Cass! And Auntie Ez said she can glamour all of us!”
A tendril of dejection seeps through Cass’s chest. Much as he appreciates Ez’s frequent offers to cast spells for him, the fact remains that his magic has been weaker than ever since the soul exchange. His myriad pocket dimensions are thankfully unaffected?—which is good, especially because JJ has expressed mild interest in those handcuffs?—but he has to concentrate just to open a rift, and maintaining even one glamour is a struggle.
JJ is experiencing the same problem with his own spellcasting. Demon souls weren’t made to perform human magic, and human souls weren’t made to perform demon magic. Now that Cass’s and JJ’s souls are mixed, it’s like they have to relearn everything from scratch. Ez and Obie seem convinced that they just have to strengthen their spellcasting “muscles” again, so they’ve been practicing every day while they teach Desi, but, well.
It’s going to be a long road to regain their old skills. Cass is trying not to let it frustrate him, though. “Churros sound amazing,” he says, tweaking Desi’s nose. “From Tacos Near Me or Churrería?”
Desi wriggles happily. “Both!”
“Both?” Cass repeats, and he squints suspiciously at Ez and Obie. “I need to stop sending her on field trips with you two. You spoil her too much.”
Obie scoffs. “Please. We spoil her precisely enough. Right, Desi?”
“Right!”
“And maybe real food for those of us who need it?” JJ adds, gesturing between him and Cass. “I’m game for tacos if everyone else is.”
“Taco lunch!” Desi cheers, throwing her arms up.
“Tacos sound great,” Ez confirms, and this time, she makes grabby hands at Desi. “I want Desi back. You guys get her all day.”
“Touchy,” Cass drawls, and he deposits Desi into her arms before slipping his hand into JJ’s. “Onward to tacos?”
JJ’s smile is soft and fond and makes Cass feel like he’s falling in love all over again. “Onward to tacos,” he agrees, and Cass smiles back as they follow their friends through the rift.