“Nope,” Obie says. “No. Absolutely not. Put your hand down, Trevor. I’m not high-fiving you on my sex life.”
Trevor is undeterred. “You see, that addsanotherlayer onto Kyle’s predicament!” he insists. “Because not only is the sexy, obscenely wealthy silver fox of a demon trying to sweep you off your feet and make all your problems go away, but healsojust gave you the best lay of your life, and?—”
“I have murdered humans before,” Obie warns him. “I am not above doing it again.”
Sasha pats Obie’s hand affectionately. “For real, though, that’s great. We’re happy for you.”
Obie sighs, resigned. “Thanks.”
“And that’s also a really good sign,” Sasha adds, a note of seriousness dropping into her voice. “Because Kyle is clearly taking this relationship just as seriously as you are. But getting hit with an offer to move in the next morning was probably just too much, too quickly for him. Give him some time. Be honest with him.”
“Communicate,”Trevor says emphatically. “Communication is key, my friend.”
“I don’t recall asking for a side of therapy with my boneless wings today, but…” Obie gives them a small smile. “Thank you for it anyway.”
Sasha looks pleased. “Anything for you, Obie,” she says, and to Obie’s surprise, she hugs his arm. “You’re always here for us, after all. It’s nice that we can help you for a change.”
“In fact,” Trevor says, patting his pockets for his wallet, “we should get some celebratory mozzarella sticks to commemorate this milestone of emotional honesty.”
Celebratory mozzarella sticks might actually be just what Obie needs. Impulsively, he digs a twenty-dollar bill out of his pocket andhands it to Trevor. “Get an extra serving? I’ll bring some home for Kyle. As a peace offering.”
They both look delighted. “Oh, you’re going to do just fine,” Sasha says, and the two of them stride off towards the Nack Bar.
Smiling to himself, Obie relaxes back in his seat, considering their words. Even though most of it wasn’t directly applicable to his and Chester’s circumstances, they did bring up some valid points.
And maybe Obie really wasn’t seeing the situation from Chester’s point of view. Obie lets out a slow breath, closing his eyes. In the twins’ hypothetical scenario, their version of “Kyle” had created his own life—complete with lackluster job and apartment—but Chester never actually had that opportunity. All of his choices were taken away from him over a decade ago, and every detail of his life was determined for him.
It’s only in the past month, really, that he’s started to make decisions about his future, only in the past month that he’s been able to take ownership over his own life, only in the past month that he finally found apurpose.
The purpose that he and Obie carved out for themselves.
Maybe that was why he didn’t react well to Obie’s wish for a different future. Chester wants his life to mean something; Obie just wants him tolive.And Chester can’t possibly understand why Obie is so adamant about taking care of Chester, about keeping him safe and happy and healthy, because?—
Well. Because Chester hasn’t watched nearly as many humans die as Obie has. When Chester’s life is over, it’ll just be over for him.
For Obie, though, it’ll be an entirely new grief.
The twins are right. He and Chester need to talk. His cell phone is halfway out of his pocket before he realizes with a stab of irritation that he doesn’t actually have Chester’s number. Clearly, they’re going to have to remedy that situation when Obie gets back to the Sanctum.
Probably within the hour. Even though Chester is at work right now, they can still use their telepathic link to start repairing the damage from this morning.
“You texting Kyle?” Sasha asks, plopping down next to him with her carton of mozzarella sticks and offering him one.
Gratefully, Obie takes it. “In a little bit. He’s probably in a meeting right now, so I don’t want to distract him. I’ll text him during his lunch break.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Trevor says, peering at the staticky scoreboard. “Until then, shall we do some bowling instead of therapizing?” His eyes brighten. “Hey, we should see if Maggie is free! We can have morning league instead of night league.”
Sasha twists around to glance at the front desk. “That—that would be great, actually. The more people we have playing, the more time I’ll have for… other pursuits between my frames.”
“Oh, you’readorable,”Trevor singsongs. This time, Sasha reaches straight across Obie to punch him.
His heart feeling a little lighter, Obie taps into Maggie’s contact. “Jobs with the Chain are only ‘jobs’ in the loosest sense of the word, so she might actually be able to join us for an hour or two. I’ll check in with her.”
“Sounds like a plan!” Sasha says cheerfully, and Obie smiles back as he hits the button to call Magdalena Khan.
38
Nostringvadha.Chester tries to breathe past the panic choking up his throat as he finishes cleaning the blood off Room 37’s interrogation table with shaking hands.Nostringvadha, I know you don’t hear prayers anymore, but please. If there’s ever a time for you to hear me, it’s now. I need you.Maggieneeds you. Obie, please?—
