Almost imperceptibly, Obie licks his lips. For one heart-pounding moment, he leans forward, into Chester’s space?—
And then, just as quickly, he shifts away again. “Thank you, Chester,” he whispers. “For this.”
The heady rush of anticipation fades like a fire burning down to embers. Chester swallows his disappointment. “Always, Obie,” he says quietly, and he clears his throat, turning back to Ada and Kai. “So tell me more about Ada. Did she have any siblings? What was her family like?”
Obie’s eyes are bright. “Well,” he begins, and he starts telling Chester about the sister who was the best fire-maker in the tribe and the brother who danced his way through chores. About the niece who Obie took flying with him and the cousin who never fully trusted him. About the aunt who gifted him a fur blanket and the nephew who went on hunts with him and?—
Obie weaves together all the oldest stories of his very first family, and Chester commits every word to memory, feeling like the entire world—the past and the future and everything in between—is starting to open up for him.
Like it’s starting to feel just a little brighter.
31
Chester is still pouting as he and Obie stride down the well-worn path towards Redwater. “Remind me again why you couldn’t justriftus to the Courtyard? You know, like normal people?”
Obie resists the urge to bang his head against the nearest tree. “Becauseyoulike to leave a paper trail if you’re going to be away from the Sanctum for more than an hour or so, Locke. Plausible deniability if someone comes looking for you, remember?”
“But I wanted to finishreading,”Chester complains. The petulant whine in his voice is perfectly calculated to straddle the fine line between endearing and irritating, and accordingly, Obie is entertaining dual fantasies of either kissing him or smacking him to shut him up. “Why do we have to be in the Courtyard at exactly five forty-five, anyway? All of our other meetups with your friends have been super casual.”
“Ourfriends,” Obie says emphatically, snapping his fingers once they round the turn that puts them out of sight of the Sanctum. His invisibility and soundproofing spells disappear in a flash, and in thenext moment, Chester’s usual glamour and blocking spells weave into place over him. “And it’s a surprise, moron. It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you.”
Chester scoffs, rolling his eyes. Obie ignores him, leading the way down the trail. It’s officially September 22 at five twenty-seven p.m., and Obie just barely managed to drag Chester away from his Sanctum-toppling research to make sure they arrive in the Courtyard on time. As it is, they’re cutting it close—only eighteen minutes until five forty-five, the gang’s designated meeting time.
Thirty-three minutes until Cass asks JJ to marry him.
Not that Obie is going to tell Chester that, of course. “What was so interesting about that file, anyway? You probably would’ve stayed up all night reading if I hadn’t pulled you away.”
Chester straightens as he walks, instantly dropping the theatric pout. Obie fights back a smile. “They’re the newest documents I asked Bryant to print out for me. Besides all the usual weirdness with strike teams being reassigned to transport jobs, it looks like our people are basically covering Kingsborough’s entire jurisdiction now.”
Obie squints at him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that our external operatives aren’t just taking jobs within Redwater’s borders anymore,” Chester says. “Usually, strike teams strictly handle missions within their own jurisdictions and only go into other towns for mutual aid or emergencies. But it looks like our strike teams are being called to respondfirstto any jobs in Kingsborough—like Kingsborough’s hunters aren’t being activated at all.”
“Implying that Kingsborough’s strike teams havealsobeen reassigned,” Obie says slowly, the pieces clicking into place. “And that they’re too busy with those reassignments to handle their usual operations.”
“Exactly.”
A pleased smile creeps onto Obie’s face. He was starting to thinkthey’d exhausted all of the useful documents Chester could steal without arousing suspicion, but it looks like there might be a few more gems hidden in the garbage. “Nice catch, puppy. I’m sure the Conspiracy Fam will be thrilled to have another lead. I guess I could’ve brought it for them tonight, but…”
Chester looks startled. “The Conspiracy Fam is going to be there?”
Obie’s grin widens. “Yep. Maggie might show up, too—Cass said he’d probably invite her, but she’ll most likely be disguised at a distance so she can’t be accused of consorting with fugitives.”
“But why—?” Chester looks lost. “Why iseveryonehere?”
“You’ll see,” Obie says loftily, smirking when Chester’s petulant expression comes back full force. “Patience, Locke. All will be revealed soon.”
“It better be,” Chester grumbles, and he falls quiet as they head down the sidewalk towards the center of town.
Obie lets the silence linger, his thoughts drifting back to Chester’s discovery about Kingsborough. It doesn’t seem to be related to the Sanctum–Chain link, but it’s definitely strange enough to warrant putting the Conspiracy Fam on the case.
Because why wouldKingsborough’sexternal operatives have been reassigned? He distantly remembers Bryant mentioning that Strike Team Zeta has been picking up more missions along the Redwater–Kingsborough border—and that they’ve been assigned to quite a few short-haul transport jobs from there, too—but it doesn’t make sense in the context of everything else they’ve discovered.
If Redwater is at the center of all this, then why are they expending so many resources on their neighboring jurisdiction?
Obie shakes his head to clear it as he and Chester emerge into the Courtyard, the delicious scent of international cuisine urging them forward. As expected, a glamoured Cass, JJ, Ez, and Roma already claimed a picnic table right next to the tiered fountain in thecenter—although Obie thinks that Desi is doing most of the actual claiming, since she’s currently standing on top of the table in question. Her eyes light up when she sees them. “Uncle Obie! Uncle Kyle!” she cheers, bounding off the table at top speed to race towards them.
Smiling, Obie catches her as she jumps into his arms, lifting her up and spinning her around. She laughs, wriggling delightedly. “Hello,pumpkin! Howareyou?”
