Maggie lets out a slow breath. “Yeah. That’s one of the reasons I’ve never really gotten close to humans. In the end, they’re all just… gone.”
Obie’s chest hurts. He knows that Maggie has more reasons than most not to trust humans—five hundred years enslaved by them will do that—but in the time he’s known her, she’s unfailingly kepteveryoneat a distance, demons included. Frankly, Obie thinks that he, Cass, and Ez might just be her closest friends, and despite their best efforts, it’s rare that they can convince her to spend time with them outside of a professional setting. Cass has been struggling to connect with her since World War I, Ez has futilely been trying torekindle the rapport they developed during the rift-opening epidemic?—
Obie considers himself lucky that he somehow managed to get her into the bowling alley. “Well, Trevor and Sasha are fantastic,” he points out. “And so is George. Sometimes, it’s worth it. Even if it’s not forever, it’s—it’s worth it.”
“I guess.” Maggie clears her throat. “In any case, I’ve actually been meaning to talk with you about a certain Chain demon. One who doesn’t exist in the standard sense of the word.”
A chill creeps down Obie’s spine. “Teresa Roz, you mean?”
“Exactly.” Maggie makes sure the humans are still distracted before leaning forward, lowering her voice. “I’ve been keeping an eye on the demon from Central Office who ‘registered’ her. Most of his emails are written in code, but he’s been communicating with a lot of other Chains in the tristate area—especially those from jurisdictions with Sanctums that are transferring neophyte demons to Redwater in droves.” Her jaw twitches. “And I’m having trouble locating most of the ‘demons’ he’s contacting. I have a gut feeling that they’re actually Sanctum hunters with Chain email addresses, but I’ll need to do some more digging to know for sure.”
Obie stares at her. “How could you have possibly found all that?”
Maggie hesitates.
Oh, no.“Mags?—”
“I’m being careful, okay?” she cuts in. “Which is more than I can say for Central Office’s password security. But I’m not accessing the accounts from any computer that could be traced back to me.”
“This is a bad idea.” Obie tastes bile. “Maggie, youknowthis is a bad idea. If you get caught?—”
Maggie’s lips twitch. “Please. Have you met me?”
“There’s averylarge difference between accidentally starting a world war and conducting corporate espionage of the Chain,” Obiesays. “And, ironically, I’m pretty sure the latter is a lot more dangerous. They won’t hesitate to come after you.”
“That’s why I have dozens of safe houses that aren’t on file with them. And I’m pretty sure my fellow Public Safety officers would at least give me a heads-up if Central Office put out a warrant for my arrest. We’re loyal to each other.”
Loyal enough to cover for treason?Obie bites back the words. If Maggie’s three thousand years of experience tell her that she can make this gamble, then Obie will just have to trust her instincts. “All right,” he says reluctantly. “Justbe safe,okay? And don’t hesitate to call me if things go sideways.”
“I will.”
“Anddon’t let your bowling game suffer,” he adds relentlessly. “We finally broke our losing streak, Khan. It’s time to buckle down so we’re ready for nationals next year.”
“Are you going to marry Kyle this time? Or just George again?”
“Okay,listen?—”
His indignant protests are cut off by Sasha calling for their attention. “Yo, there are some normies threatening to steal our lane! We need to defend our territory!”
Trevor is already hustling over, clearly gearing up to politely tell the group of elderly women to get lost or suffer the consequences. Maggie rolls her eyes and strides after him, ready to put her nonexistent diplomatic skills to good use, and Sasha nearly skips along in their wake, obviouslyverykeen to enjoy the show.
Chester strolls back over to Obie’s side, holding a fresh carton of mozzarella sticks. “George gave me these as a consolation prize,” he informs Obie. “Since he got to marry you first.”
Obie groans, dropping his head into his hands. “Puppy, we only got married because his asexual ass wanted to have a no-strings-attached wedding for funsies. That’sit.”
“Did you two kiss?”
“Why? Are you jealous?”
“I’mcurious,”Chester says emphatically, but even with the glamour, a trace of color creeps into his cheeks.
Obie tries not to savor that too much. “I kissed his hand like some kind of courtly knight from medieval times.”
Chester looks outraged. “What? But that’s so romantic! Why don’t you ever kissmyhand like a medieval knight, Smith?”
“Well, I can.” Without breaking eye contact, Obie takes Chester’s hand, brings it up to his lips, and presses a chaste kiss to his knuckles. “See?”
This time, the flush in Chester’s face is more obvious. And this time, Obiedoestake a moment to savor it. “So George got that first, huh?”
