And Chester doesn’t think he’d be able to stomach the idea of killing Obie, even in self-defense. Not anymore. “Makes sense,” he says eventually, nodding. “More demons means more risks. Any word from the Council onwhywe’re getting all these neophytes,though? A lot of them are being transferred to us from outside Redwater, even outside the state.”
Obie sighs explosively from a few feet away. Chester ignores him. Obie might be convinced that the Sanctum and the Chain are working together, but Chester thinks that says more about Obie’s distrust of the Chain than anything about the Sanctum. And Bryant, being a purebred, might know the real story.
But she just shakes her head. “Not really my division. I guess we just have really good interrogators here.” She flashes him a smile. “Like you.”
Chester knows that Bryant means the words as a compliment, but they still make his stomach twist. “Not according to the Council,” he admits quietly. “They still haven’t said anything about putting me back on interrogation duty.”
Bryant’s eyebrows furrow. “Still nothing? It’s been over three weeks since the accident. And it was an honest mistake, right?”
No, it was the invisible demon god’s fault. I just fabricated some evidence afterward.“Right,” Chester lies, guilt swimming through him. “But Councilwoman Nasir seemed especially angry that it was a neophyte demon who I… accidentally killed. I don’t know, Bry. Everything is weird right now.”
“Yeah,” Bryant says, scowling. “You can say that again.”
Chester winces. “Still not used to Strike Team Zeta, huh?”
Her scowl deepens. “Not even a little bit. And it’s not even that I particularly dislike Long and Pedrosa, you know? They’re just not—” She cuts herself off, looking away.
Chester’s heart hurts. “They’re not JJ and Roma,” he says softly. “Yeah. I get that.”
“Yeah.” Bryant grimaces. “And we’ve been getting strange assignments, too. Lots of transport jobs. All of those out-of-state demons need to get here somehow, and it looks like Zeta drew the short stick.Hell, we’ve even picked up a handful of jobs from Kingsborough, and considering how much we do for them already, they should really be handling their own transfers.”
Chester squints at her. “But transport isn’t even a strike team job. Don’t we have specific personnel for that?”
“Allegedly. But I think a lot of them have gotten reassigned lately, and there’s such an overflow that they’re making us pick up the slack. And it—” She shakes her head sharply. “It sucks, man. I was trained to do a certain job, and now, they’re barely even letting medothat job. Honestly, I’m surprised that my skills aren’t as rusty as yours.”
Chester flicks her in the arm for the jibe, a suspicion snaking through him. “How long have strike teams been taking over other assignments? Since—since the end of June? Or maybe the end of February?”
Bryant’s face shuts down. “Yep. Since almost six months ago—right around when Jackson defected at the end of February. Back when Kappa still existed as a two-person team, we got sent on so few jobs that we didn’t see many transport gigs, but now, they’re almostallI see.”
Chester crosses his arms over his chest, unsettled. “But that doesn’t make any sense. There weren’t any reassignments back when Sawyer and Naomi disappeared—why would JJ leaving make such a difference?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” Bryant shrugs one shoulder. “But it’s probably just a coincidence. Or maybe it’s reverse causation—the Sanctum could’ve changed their priorities, and that was when the demons decided they needed to pull one of us.”
It’s averybad sign that Chester doesn’t immediately understand what she’s talking about, because right,right?—
Cassius Chin—and the kid—brainwashed JJ. They carefully orchestrated events to make him defect and have been keeping him inline with subliminal abuse tactics ever since. Esmeralda Laguerre did the same thing to Roma.
That’s the official story, at least. Bitterly, Chester wonders when he stopped believing it. “Right,” he says quietly. “It’s hard to say.”
“Yeah.” Bryant’s eyes flicker to the clock on the side of the Sanctum. Just after seven a.m. “All right, bud. Want to grab some breakfast?”
“Let’s,” Chester agrees, relieved to drop the subject as they jog towards the building. Bryant holds open the door for him, he nods his thanks at her, they walk to the dining hall side by side?—
The moment Bryant abandons him to get oatmeal instead of a prepackaged breakfast burrito, Chester feels a hand come down on his shoulder. He glances behind him and fights back a flinch when he realizes the person—god—in question is invisible.
Obie’s voice wafts through his mind.You know that’s not true, right? No one “pulled” anyone.
Chester stops dead. He’s heard that sentiment from Obie before, of course—that JJ and Roma are in love with Cass and Ez, and that Cass and Ez are in love with JJ and Roma, and that Chester’s old friends abandoned him of their own free will and are happier now than they’ve ever been—but?—
But this is the first time Obie has said it through their telepathic bond. And he and Chester both know that they can’t lie through the bond.
What other theories could they test through there? Obie’s claim about their neophyte demons coming from the Chain? His argument about the Sanctum and the Chain working together?
His insistence that the Sanctum put out the hit on Chester’s family?
Chester slams the brakes on those thoughts before he can followthem any further, his heart pounding. He’s not going to test those. Hecan’ttest those.
If he found out they were true, they might break him entirely.
