Better than his previous few attempts, though. At least this one actuallyhitthe target. “I’m already regretting my decision to let you choose this morning’s training.”
“Aw, live a little!” Bryant says, nudging him in the ribs. “Just have fun with it. It’s not like you need to know any of this for your job, so…”
Her smile wavers with the last few words, like she only realized as she said them that they could’ve been more tactful. The same mix of shame and anxiety from three days ago snakes through Chester’s stomach, but he just forces a smile. “It’s fine. Really, it is,” he says, carefully nocking another arrow. “And it—it works out that I won’t beinterrogating for another few weeks. If my hand slipped that easily, it means I’m more on edge than I thought.”
Bryant purses her lips. “On edge about JJ and Roma, you mean?”
Actually, Chester was referring more to the invisible demon who’s been following him around for the past two weeks. Scratch that—the invisible demongodwith the horns and the tentacles and theeyes on his forearmswho’s been following him around. “A little bit,” Chester hedges, avoiding Bryant’s eyes as he aims his arrow and lets it fly.
He’s not surprised when it sails straight past the target. He never learned this in as much detail as Strike Team Kappa, after all. He and JJ trained primarily under Sawyer Solomon, and her specialty was close combat—particularly Filipino martial arts. Expert markswoman Naomi Gutierrez was more involved with Bryant and Roma’s training, and their fighting styles reflect that.
The memories leave a bitter taste in his mouth now. “And I guess I’m thinking about Sawyer and Naomi, too,” he says cautiously, gauging Bryant’s reaction.
Predictably enough, her face shuts down. “Yeah, well,” she says shortly, grabbing an arrow and shooting it with barely a glance. It hits the target dead-on with a dullthwap.“They have even more explaining to do than JJ and Roma. At least we have tacit confirmation that JJ and Roma were manipulated into defecting. Sawyer and Naomi just abandoned us for nothing. That—” Bryant scowls, relentlessly reaching for another arrow. “That hurts.”
Chester’s heart twists. It’s a confession she never would’ve made to him a few short months ago, but now that they’re the only ones left from their friend group, they’ve been starting to open up with each other more.
It’s been eye-opening and frustrating at the same time. In the past, Chester was always on guard against purebred Bryant reporting any of his more critical views of the Sanctum, and from what Chester hasslowly been realizing, he thinks Bryant might have had the same fears.
That she might’ve thought Chester would use her words against her to increase his own status.
It kills him to see how easily the bloodlines hierarchy managed to divide them. They could’ve hadyearsof talking and laughing and training together if they weren’t always convinced that one wrong move would get them outed to the Council. “It does hurt,” he admits quietly. “And you’re right—it does feel worse than what JJ and Roma did.” He shoots her a sideways glance. “Did you ever get the feeling that Sawyer and Naomi weren’t happy here?”
Bryant’s jaw works. She shakes her head. “Nope. Not even once. In hindsight, it must’ve been during those last few weeks when they started training us together—when they started talking to each other more. I guess they realized they had more blasphemy in common than they thought.”
Chester winces. He remembers that last month before Strike Team Kappa’s final exam. He was so excited when Sawyer and Naomi slowly started teaching them together instead of separately, when Naomi really started treating Chester and JJ like hunters instead of interlopers.
None of them knew what was coming.
Suddenly, Bryant’s lips twitch. “Hey, do you remember when you were our demon?”
The long-forgotten memories spark through Chester. A reluctant smile tugs at his lips. “During Kappa’s drills, you mean? When you needed an adversary?”
“Yeah!” Bryant’s grin widens. “They pre-cast baby offensive spells on your arm and had you attack us with them. It was adorable.”
“I wasn’tadorable,”Chester says defensively. “I was fearsome. I made a great demon.”
Abruptly, there’s a snort from just behind Chester—a snort that most definitely didn’t come from Bryant. Chester nearly starts with surprise, attempting to cover it with a cough. He knows that Obie has to stay invisible, but Chester hates never knowing exactly how close the demon is.
And having Nostringvadha at his back makes him feeljusta little bit lightheaded.
“You did make a great demon,” Bryant says, and Chester hastily refocuses his attention on her. Her smile is wry and fond. “And you’re a halfway decent training partner, too.”
“Gee, thanks. I’m honored.”
“You should be.” Bryant nods at his target. “You need to follow through. There’s a split second between you releasing the string and the arrow leaving the bow, and you’re relaxing the tension in your back muscles before the arrow actually leaves the bow. Try to keep your form until the arrow hits the target, just for practice.”
Chester blinks at her, surprised. “Thanks, Nehemiah,” he says, following her advice. This time, the arrow hits the outermost white circle of the target again, but at least it doesn’t sail straight past it.
He and Bryant lapse into silence for a few minutes, leaving him alone with his thoughts. Frankly, he’s not sure if that’s a good thing. He’s pretty sure that Bryant’s main objective in choosing a more difficult skill for this morning’s training was to take his mind off of Friday’s debacle—and, more specifically, of getting reamed out by Councilwoman Nasir afterward.
He can still feel the weight of her disapproval roiling through him, and he swallows hard, trying to force it down. If only she knew just how much of a disappointment he really is. Not only did he allow the demon he was interrogating to slip away before she could be tested, but he’salsobeen carting a demon god around the Sanctum and bringing him dangerously close to all their secrets.
That was a good call with the knife, by the way.
A dull flush heats up the back of Chester’s neck. Determinedly ignoring it, he nocks his next arrow.
He’s going to be hearing Nasir’s sharp voice ringing in his head for weeks, but he’s been a lot more preoccupied with what he learned about Obie three days ago than anything else. It was very nearly overwhelming to see just how powerful Obie is, just howunhumanhe is?—
