Page 69 of Take You Home (Redwater Demons #3)

“No,” Obie snarls out loud. The entire room jerks to attention at the outburst. “Shut up, Locke. Stop saying goodbye. I’m not letting you die.”

Chester’s faint, affectionate voice twines through Obie’s mind. Asshole.

“Obie?” Naomi says cautiously. “You good, man?”

Abruptly, Ez’s eyes widen. “Wait. You’re communicating with him through that telepathic link right now? The one the binding spell created?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry,” Bryant says. “Binding spell? Telepathic link?”

“Trust me, we’re only marginally less confused than you are,” Sawyer says.

Ez chews on her bottom lip, glancing at Roma. “Can we… use that? The fact that they’re spellbound together? Would that stabilize a potential soul exchange?”

Roma looks just as unsure. “I?—I don’t know.

Considering how haywire the binding spell itself went, I wouldn’t want to risk it?—not without knowing the exact parameters.

If the telepathic link were created through normal means, we could hypothetically use it, but since it’s a side effect of the binding, I don’t know if… ”

The room devolves into half a dozen conversations, everyone desperately trying to brainstorm a way to save Chester, and panic rises in Obie’s throat.

Chester’s face is so pale, paler than Obie has ever seen it, and his skin is clammy and his breathing is shallow and his eyes are barely fluttering open and??—

And how can it end like this? They got him out. They’re safe. They should be able to save him.

Obie shouldn’t have to sit here and watch someone he loves die again, leaving him just as powerless to stop it as he was fifteen thousand years ago.

After all these months, after all the hatred and mistrust turned into fondness and devotion, after everything they’ve lost and everything they’ve gained??—

What was the point of it? What was the point of any of it? Everything Chester has been through, everything he and Obie worked towards, everything he meant to Obie??—

And what’s the point of being a fucking god if he can’t even protect the people he cares about?

Suddenly, the gears in Obie’s head grind to a halt. “Oh.”

Cass cuts himself off. “What? You have something?”

“Yeah,” Obie says slowly, turning over the option in his mind. Can it really be that simple? Can it actually be that easy to fix Chester? “Yeah, I have something.”

Bryant gestures impatiently. “Care to share with the class?”

And Obie??—

Obie looks at Cass and Ez.

He looks at the two demons who have had his back for over two hundred years, who have walked through life with him during the exciting times and the boring ones, who gave him their friendship without asking for anything in return and never once wavered from it.

The two people he should’ve told the truth to a long time ago. “With half the class, at least,” Obie says. “Cass and Ez, you can stay. JJ and Roma, too. I need the rest of you to wait outside. ”

Gregorio stops dead. “Excuse me?”

“Obie,” Micah says, looking a little hurt.

“Not happening,” Maggie says flatly.

“This isn’t a trust thing, okay?” Obie says, trying not to let too much impatience creep into his voice.

“But we need to work fast, and I’ll have to explain a lot less to them than I’d have to explain to the rest of you.

Give me five minutes to stabilize Chester, and then I’ll tell you all how I did it, okay? I promise.”

Micah opens his mouth to argue. Sawyer cuts in before he can. “That’s all right, then,” she says, and she shoulders open the door. “Let’s go.”

After a few tense seconds, Micah and Gregorio start towards her. Maggie turns away even more reluctantly, watching Obie with wary eyes, and Bryant??—

Bryant doesn’t move at all.

“Nehemiah?” Naomi asks, reaching out to touch her arm.

Bryant doesn’t even spare her a glance. “Piss off. I’m not leaving.”

“Bryant,” Sawyer snaps, a tinge of purebred authority in her voice. “Come on.”

“Piss. Off,” Bryant repeats, slowly and clearly.

“Chester Locke is the only person in this building I even halfway trust right now, and considering that he just got me tortured as a dissident, that’s really saying something.

I’m not leaving him behind.” She leans forward, meeting Obie’s gaze head-on.

“So are we going to waste more time arguing about this? Or are we going to get on with your brilliant plan?”

Micah’s mouth is hanging slightly open, like he didn’t expect a good little hunter to blatantly disrespect her superiors?—even if the superiors in question have long since defected.

Gregorio’s eyes are narrowed, like he’s not sure if he’s more annoyed with Bryant or Obie himself right now, and Maggie?? —

Maggie is watching the entire scene with raised eyebrows, like she still doesn’t know what to make of the hunter who has half of her soul.

Chester’s weak laugh threads through Obie’s head. Yeah, that’s Bryant for you.

Obie doesn’t have to ask if Chester trusts her. Obie already knows he does. Out loud, he says, “You can stay. This won’t mean very much to you, anyway.” He glances over at Maggie and the Conspiracy Fam, meeting Maggie’s eyes. “Please. Just for a few minutes.”

At long last, Maggie nods once, turns on her heel, and strides out the door without a word.

Still the same soldier she’s been for over three thousand years.

Sawyer and Naomi follow her, shooting Micah and Gregorio pointed looks, and eventually, Micah takes Gregorio’s hand and tugs him outside, closing the door gently behind them.

Taking a deep breath, Obie turns to face the five remaining people standing around the bed.

Cass and JJ, the two soldiers who found a cause worth fighting for where they least expected it; Ez and Roma, the spellcasters who loved their town so fiercely that they were willing to work with their worst enemy to save it??—

His family. Plus Bryant, but Bryant is Chester’s family, so Obie supposes it still counts. “Right,” he says, meeting Cass’s and Ez’s eyes. “You two always ask me how old I am.”

Ez looks thrown. “Yeah, but ‘it’s impolite to ask,’” she says, sketching air quotes around the words. “Why does that matter?”

“Because…” Obie’s throat feels like sandpaper. “Because the answer is ‘fifteen thousand years.’ Or, at least, that’s how long I’ve been on Earth. Back in Tamaros, I?—I was there before time existed. And I wasn’t summoned to Earth. I was banished here.”

All at once, Cass’s face goes blank. “What?”

“I’m sorry I never told you,” Obie whispers, and deliberately, he lets a pulse of energy?—of Nostringvadha’s energy, the type they’d recognize from Tamaros?—ripple through the room.

All five of them jerk backward. But while JJ, Roma, and Bryant just look tense and wary, like they’re only reacting to the power surge itself, Cass’s and Ez’s stunned expressions tell Obie that they remember the sensation.

“Nostringvadha,” Ez whispers, her eyes wide.

“You’re Nostringvadha?” Cass sputters, his voice strained. “But that’s??—?”

“Like, the god?” Bryant asks, wrinkling her nose. “The one that Chester is high-key obsessed wi?—??” Visibly, she pauses. “Oh. So I guess certain things are starting to make sense now.”

Steeling himself, Obie turns to Ez’s bloodless face.

“You’re right about my soul. It would devour Chester’s in a heartbeat.

I can’t give him my soul energy, but I?—I think I can give him the part of me that’s a god.

I can give him Nostringvadha. And then I’ll just…

be Obie.” He laughs shakily. “Honestly, that’s all I’ve ever wanted since I came to Earth.

I just wanted to be Obie. Just wanted to?—to be your friend.

Gods don’t get to have friends. Not like you two have always been. ”

“Wait.” JJ holds up his hands to stop Obie, his eyes wide. “Are you saying that you’re going to make Chester into a god?”

Obie shakes his head. “No. It’s just going to be a rush of energy?—of power. But it’ll be nonspecific, so Chester’s soul can absorb it.”

Roma’s eyes narrow. “Can his soul handle that amount of strain? I don’t know much about gods, but that sounds like a lot of energy to absorb.”

Obie’s throat tightens. “Right now, it might be his only shot.”

“It…” Ez’s eyes are flitting back and forth, like she’s reading an invisible textbook in midair.

“It could work. There’s absolutely no precedent for it, obviously, because magic involving a god isn’t standard by any means, but?—but if it’s a distinct part of you that you can co ntrol, a part of you that doesn’t crave energy like a regular soul does? ” Slowly, she nods. “It could work.”

All at once, Chester’s voice winds through Obie’s head. It sounds somehow stronger and weaker at the same time?—stronger, like Chester is putting all of his strength into pushing the words through their telepathic link??—

But weaker, like he barely has the energy left to do even that. Baby?—baby, look at me.

Obie immediately turns his gaze to Chester, smoothing his hair away from his forehead. Chester’s eyes are dazed, but he’s clearly trying to focus on Obie’s face. Talk to me, puppy.

Is it?—?? Chester’s voice wavers. Is it dangerous? Is it going to hurt you?

Obie’s chest aches. Even after everything that’s happened today, even after being tortured and having his soul ripped apart, even while he’s lying here dying in Obie’s arms??—

Even after all that, his first concern is still for Obie. No, sweetheart, Obie murmurs back. It’s a gift. One I can freely give.

Gradually, Chester relaxes. Okay. Okay, I trust you.

Obie’s heart squeezes. “Thank you,” he whispers out loud, leaning down to press his lips against Chester’s forehead. “I don’t think this’ll be painful for you, but it might be a shock to your system, okay? It might just… feel loud.”

Chester shifts his head to one side, burying his face in Obie’s shirt. Bracing himself. Okay. I’m ready.

Obie glances up at Cass, Ez, JJ, Roma, and Bryant. “You… might want to back up,” he hedges. “I’ve never done anything like this before, so I don’t know how, ah, explosive it might be.”

Bryant immediately retreats to the farthest corner of the room. At the same time, JJ takes Cass’s arm and Roma grabs Ez’s. “Come on, love,” JJ whispers, trying to tug Cass away .

Cass doesn’t move. “And you’re going to be okay?” he asks, his voice faltering the slightest bit. “You’re?—you’re going to be okay, Obie?”

Obie. Not “Nostringvadha.” Obie gives him a small smile. “I’m going to be just fine, Cass.”

“Come on, Chin,” Ez says, grabbing Cass’s other arm. Her voice is confident, but her eyes betray just how worried she really is. “Obie’s got this. You know that.”

Eventually, Cass lets them pull him away. Obie waits until they’re all out of range before fitting his hand against Chester’s cheek, taking a deep breath, and closing his eyes.

In principle, it should actually be fairly simple.

Obie has always been able to feel the separation between demon and god within himself, always been able to sense that connection.

It’s one of the reasons he managed to stay hidden for fifteen thousand years: he doesn’t normally use his god powers, not unless he really needs them.

One of those times was with Chester six months ago, back when they broke Cass out of the Sanctum’s prison. Obie used his god powers to dig through Chester’s head, and in the end, that was Obie’s downfall?—the moment that made Chester realize who Obie really was.

But, in hindsight, it wasn’t Obie’s downfall.

It was the beginning of something beautiful.

Gently, as gently as possible, he reaches into the part of himself that’s purely Nostringvadha, gathers up all the energy and power within him, and lets it pour into Chester’s damaged soul.

For a few blissful seconds, Obie can sense Chester’s soul healing itself, see the color flooding back into his face, feel his labored breathing starting to ease??—

And then it goes wrong, of course.

It always does.