Page 28 of Take You Home

Just how easily he wore that mantle of godhood. Just how genuinelyhappyLaila was when Nostringvadha appeared to save her.

Chester knows the legends. He knows that Nostringvadha was banished for stealing the Fount of Blessings‍—a fountainlike structure that contains the essence of the Fourteen’s power‍—from the gods’ inner realm and installing it in the center of Tamaros, where all of his people could freely access its life-giving and curse-breaking abilities.

But Chester was never able to reconcile that image of a benevolent god with the scowling face of Obadiah Smith until Friday, and the effect has been striking, to say the least.

Especially since he finally saw Obie’s true form‍—hisrealtrue form. Chester always thought that Obie’s demonic façade was the monstrous dragon–chimera hybrid he’s glimpsed over the past few months, grounded in creatures of myth and magic, but apparently, that was a misdirection all along.

No, the real Obadiah Smith takes the form of a human with a thousand different animals blended into his skin. The real Obadiah Smith is a living, breathing testament to all of humanity, to all ofEarth,to everything this dimension has to offer.

Chester doesn’t want to admit just how much he instantly understood about Obie after that. Doesn’t want to admit just how effortlessly all the old legends about Nostringvadha fell into place.

Doesn’t want to admit how much he kind of wants to see that trueform again, to really absorb all the little details outside of the tunnel vision of darkness and panic.

Chester reaches back for another arrow, but his fingers close on empty air. “Shall we reset and try again?” he asks, sighing with exasperation when he sees how cleanly all of Bryant’s arrows pierced her target.

“Let’s,” Bryant says smugly, and they walk down the range side by side, Chester knowing that Obie is keeping pace just behind him.

10

CASSIUS:Obie, you’re my best friend and I love you, but if you don’t take a break and actually hang out with us, then I’m going to have to give your best friend privileges to Roma, instead.

Obie blinks slowly down at the text message, absorbing the semi-threatening words. Right now, he and Chester are holed up in Chester’s bedroom on one of the hunter’s precious few days off, Chester sprawled across his bed with one library book and Obie sitting at the desk with another as they try to figure out how to break the binding spell.

It’s a depressingly familiar position for them. Despite their tentative shift from active adversaries to reluctant allies after the Laila incident, Chester still refuses to let Obie sift through his memories of the pre-casting process‍—and Obie still doesn’t want a hunter anywhere near the spell to request a record from the Deep. Now, after two weeks of near-constant research, they’re still no closer to finding a way to create a counterspell without knowing the original spell’s parameters.

It’s also been over two weeks since Obie last saw his friends, andthe extended separation is really starting to wear on him. Letting out a slow breath, he sends off an answer to Cass.

OBADIAH:Wow. Not even Ez or JJ, huh? Going straight to Roma? That’s serious.

CASSIUS:Ez already has best friend privileges, and JJ has boyfriend privileges. And Desi obviously outranks all of you. But are *you* willing to be outranked by Roma Gutierrez, Obadiah? Consider your answer carefully.

Obie snorts. Chester throws him a confused glance. “You good?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Obie says, waving a hand dismissively. “Just one of my friends being stupid.”

“Trevor or Sasha?”

Obie blinks at him, surprised. “Um, no. Not them.”

Chester’s expression closes off. “Ah,” he says, busying himself with his spell book again.

Obie fights back a grimace. Last night was the second time Obie made Chester invisible for bowling league, and Chester is clearly growing fond of Redwater Bowl’s mozzarella sticks‍—and the twin bowlers on Obie’s team. He’s noticeably less comfortable with Maggie Khan, but Obie could’ve sworn he heard Chester clap when she managed to hit a strike last night.

Maybe Obiecanrisk bringing Chester along to see his friends. Carefully, he types in his response.

OBADIAH:I might be able to make it today. Where are we meeting?

CASSIUS:We were thinking of doing pad thai and cachapas in the Courtyard. Maybe some pavlova, because Desi is on a pavlova kick. JJ even tried making it from scratch the other day.

OBADIAH:Really? How’d that go?

CASSIUS:It was a trainwreck, but an amusing one. So are you in?

Obie hesitates, considering.

On the one hand, this is probably a bad idea. Bringing a Sanctum interrogator into a crowd of fugitive demons and ex-hunters just soundslike a recipe for disaster, and Chester has already proven that he’s willing to do recklessly stupid things when he thinks his friends are in danger. There are too many potential pitfalls, too many potential risks‍?—

Too many ways Chester could try and use the situation to the Sanctum’s advantage.