Page 64 of Take You Home

Chester’s eyes sting. He presses his thumb and forefinger against them, taking a shaky breath. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Obie’s hand settles on his shoulder, warm and comforting. “Of course.”

And, for just a moment, Chester lets himself imagine it. Lets himself imagine waking up in Obie’s guest room, sunlight already tickling his face because he doesn’t have to stress about getting up early to train before his job. Lets himself imagine stumbling into the kitchen to find Obie already awake and reading a book at the table, a mug of hot cocoa waiting for Chester on the other side. Imagines settling in next to Obie on the couch to watch a movie, chopping vegetables for a salad while Obie cooks dinner, going on those “triple dates” with JJ and Roma and‍?—

Chester’s stomach drops. “No.”

Obie pulls his hand away. “No?”

“I‍—‍” Chester’s heart feels raw. “Bryant. I can’t leave Bryant. I can’t‍?—‍”

Obie’s expression shifts. “Chester‍?—‍”

“Ican’t,okay?” Chester manages. His chest feels like it’s unraveling. “Look, I know that JJ and Roma didn’t really have a choice when they defected, okay? I know that they couldn’t drag us out with them. But Obie,they left us.They left us, and it‍—it tore me apart. I can’t do that to Bryant. Ican’t.”

Obie is very still. “I get that,” he says quietly. “Trust me, I do. But JJ and Roma have said that Bryant would probably be the hardest toconvince, since she’s a purebred. Do you think she’d come with you?”

Nausea licks up Chester’s throat. He rests his forehead on his knees, trying to swallow it down. “I don’t know,” he whispers. “And I don’t think what Maggie brought us last night would convince her. She’d probably think it was fake or doctored somehow. And telling her about the binding spell and the telepathic connection would be too risky, so it’s not like I can explain why I know it’s true.”

Gently, Obie runs his palm up and down Chester’s back. “We could come back for her. Once we have more evidence, we could come back and convince her.”

I can’t leave her behind, Obie.Chester pushes the thought directly through their telepathic link, squeezing his eyes shut.I just can’t.

For a long moment, Obie is silent. Chester feels the weight of the world‍—the weight of theSanctum‍—start to seep back into his bones, harsh and overwhelming.

Is he going to have to stay here? Is he going to have to pretend that he’s still blindly loyal, that he’s still the good little attack dog the Sanctum wants him to be? How long will it take for him to convince Bryant? Days? Weeks?

Years?

The very thought of staying here and acting like nothing is wrong makes despair churn through him, thick enough that he can practically taste it. It would be so easy, so goddamneasy,to just walk away with Obie and never think about this place again, but‍?—

But he’d never forgive himself if he let Bryant think another friend abandoned her. Not after JJ and Roma.

Not after everything they’ve been through.

Suddenly, Obie’s hand stills on Chester’s back. “Hard evidence. That’s what you need to convince Bryant, right? And that’s whatweneed to bring the Sanctum down.”

Chester frowns at him. “Yeah. But how long will that take? Sawyer and Naomi have been searching for six years with barely anything to show for it, right?”

A slow smile spreads across Obie’s face. “Yeah, but you see, Sawyer and Naomi didn’t have a man on the inside. Not until today, at least.”

Chester’s heart stutters. “What?”

“You’ve probably figured out by now that I’ve been actively searching for intel against the Sanctum since you spellbound us together,” Obie says breezily. “But the binding spell didn’t let me explore more than twenty feet from you until fairly recently, and even beyond that, I don’t know where any important documents are‍—or how to get into the Sanctum’s intranet.” He leans forward, his eyes gleaming. “Butyouknow all that. You know where all their most sensitive records are stored, and you know all the passwords to log in to the computers. You could point me in the right direction, and I could get everything we need, and we could bring it all back to the Conspiracy Fam to add to their Wall of Crazy.That’show we build an airtight case.That’show we win this war.”

Chester’s pulse is roaring in his ears. He stares at Obie with wide eyes, his throat too tight to speak, his mind racing with the possibilities‍?—

“We can still leave right now,” Obie says. “Put this place in our rearview mirror and never look back. We’ll come back for Bryant‍—I swear that we will‍—but after what the Sanctum did to you, you’d be perfectly within your rights to bail. But Chester…” His hand finds Chester’s shoulder, squeezing tightly. “Chester, you could bring them down. You and me, together‍—wecould bring them down together.”

The savage fire behind Obie’s eyes is intoxicating. Chester feels like he could drown in it. “Yeah?” he whispers hoarsely. “You really think we could?”

“I know we could,” Obie says, a smirk twitching on his lips. “Because they would never see you coming. You’re the perfect spy. And I can cast all the spells we need to cover our tracks.”

Adrenaline spikes through Chester’s blood, lighting up all his nerves in unison. Leaving the Sanctum behind sounds like a beautiful dream, but taking them down himself? Using everything the Sanctum ever taught himagainstthem, using it to destroy the organization that took everything from him?

Being able to look the Council in the eye and tell them that he was the one who brought them to their knees?

That’s not a dream. That’s apurpose.That’s something to get Chester out of bed in the morning, something for him to build a new life around, something for him to run towards instead of away from.

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