Page 38 of Take You Home

Chester blinks at him. “You actually care if my superiors suspect me?”

Obie’s scowl deepens. “Just answer the question, puppy.”

The pet name‍—or petinsult,more accurately‍—reminds Chester of his other reason to be annoyed with Obadiah Smith right now. “Yes, we can go tomorrow, but more importantly‍—‍” He jabs an accusing finger at Obie.“Fake dating?Really?”

“Oh, that?” Obie waves a hand dismissively. “I was just messing with you, Locke. It was a joke.”

Chester wrinkles his nose. “And you’rejokingwith me now? Who even are you?”

Obie rolls his eyes. “Think of it more like hazing. Are you seriously worried about that after everything else we learned today?”

“I’m capable of worrying about multiple things at once. Actually, I’m pretty good at it.”

“That’s called ‘anxiety,’ Locke.” Obie sighs. “All right. We’ll get acopy of the incantation tomorrow, and after that, we’ll see if we need Ez and Roma to actually create the counterspell for us. Deal?”

Slowly, Chester nods. “Deal,” he says, and as Obie walks back over to his customary desk chair, Chester suddenly realizes that he’s not as relieved as he should be about their days of being spellbound together potentially coming to an end.

13

So the veil between Redwater and the Deep is thinnest in theCourtyard?”Chester asks, confusion winding through his voice as Obie leads the way into town. “Then why did Roma and Ez always go to the far end of Lakeside to cast their counterspells?”

Even though Roma and JJ tend to be touchy subjects between them, Chester sounds more curious than bitter. Obie automatically casts him a sideways glance, trying to gauge his body language, but unfortunately, even he can’t see through his own invisibility spells. “Because they wanted privacy,especiallyfrom the food truck crowd. Tariqua from Sambusa Stop in particular would’ve been all over them. You know how much magic fascinates her.”

Chester sounds faintly surprised. “I… don’t, actually.”

Obie squints in his general direction. “Do you lackeys ever talk to people? JJ and Roma seemed dumbfounded by all the food truck lore, too.”

“Well, wetryto talk to people,” Chester says, an edge creeping into his voice. “They just… don’t always answer.”

Obie bites back a grimace. Right. He’s so used to all the food truck operators doting on JJ and Roma that he forgets that affection doesn’t extend to the rest of the cult on the hill.

Civilians in general don’t tend to trust hunters, and even though most of them are at least polite, Obie can see how Chester might not be up on the latest gossip.

They lapse into silence as the dirt trail leading down from the hill transitions into concrete sidewalk. Obie wanted to rift them straight into the Courtyard to save time, but Chester insisted on signing out with the guards officially, leaving a paper trail in case someone came looking for him.

Covering his bases, just like he always does. Considering that he’s still a pariah down in the prison, it’s probably a good call.

Although that hopefully won’t be Obie’s concern for much longer. Once he requests a copy of the binding spell from the Deep, then he can either build a counterspell himself or ask Ez and Roma to create it for him. And afterthat,Obie and Chester will be done. Finished. Through.

Closing the door on the past two weeks of his life forever.

And Obie is happy about that‍—really, he is‍—but nowadays, he’s starting to get a sharp twinge in his chest whenever he thinks about leaving. He obviously still wants to get as far away from the Sanctum as possible, but‍?—

But he’s slowly coming to the realization that he kind of wants to getChesteras far away from the Sanctum as possible, too.

The revelation is annoying and concerning in equal measures. Annoying, because Obie shouldn’tcareabout getting the stupid interrogator away from the Sanctum, especially not after Chester tried to cast a binding spell on Obie, and‍?—

And concerning, because Obie is indeed starting to care.

Not much, of course. Just a little bit.

And that little bit might have grown exponentially after yesterday’s excursion with “Boyfriend Kyle” and their subsequent discovery of the telepathic connection. Not only because Chester was so good with Obie’s friends, not only because Obie’s friends so clearly liked Chester in return, but‍?—

But because Obie is seriously starting to wonder whether Chester would believe him if Obie telepathically confirmed that the Sanctum was responsible for the Jackson–Locke murders.

It’s a tantalizing idea. After all, if Chester knew for certain that the Sanctum put out the hit on his three little brothers, Obie is sure that he would defect in a heartbeat. Chester could defect, and Obie could set him up in a safe apartment, and JJ and Roma would be sohappyto have their friend back.

For now, though, Obie thinks it might be too risky. They only discovered the telepathic link yesterday, and they haven’t fully tested it yet. If Obie tried to tell him the truth, Chester might assume that Obie found a way to manipulate the connection and immediately go back on his guard.