Page 103 of Fool Me Twice

Chester shoots Bryant a sharp look.“Nehemiah.”

“What? We’re both thinking it, Locke. Ignoring the warning signs is how we lost JJ, remember?” Bryant’s gaze snaps back to Roma. “Well?”

Panic bubbles up Roma’s throat. Did Laguerre and the other demons get in her head? Well, as a matter of fact, they did. They got in her head and herheartand‍?—

And they washed away all the stains the Sanctum left there. Scraped away the rust and rinsed away the grime.

They made Roma feel whole, feelseen,for what felt like the first time in her entire life.

Especially Ez. But it’s not like Roma can tell her friends any of that. “Um,” she says, and she forces a smile. “Maybe a little. But I‍—I promise I’m okay. I don’t have, uh. A love interest and a demon toddler waiting for me on the outside. I just need a few more days to, you know. Process everything.”

Chester’s lips press into a thin line. “Listen, I know that it’s hard not to get emotionally invested,” he says softly, “but youhaveto remember that it was all an act, okay? It was all fake. They’re not your friends, Roma. They don’t care about you, not really.”

“And it doesn’t help that your entire family name got wrapped up in this stupid assignment,” Bryant adds. “But even though it seems impossible now, Roma, Iswearthat things will get better. The Council will find a new target for their disapproval, and the other hunters will find a new target for their gossip, and thiswillall fade away. You’ll be able to stand on your own reputation again, not the one that everyone else chose for you. Okay?”

Chester and Bryant both look so concerned, sosincere.They genuinely want to help Roma, genuinely want to keep her safe, genuinely want her to be okay.

They really, truly believe what they’re saying.

But their words ring hollow in Roma’s ears. She knows that Ez and JJ and Naomi weren’t pretending anything, weren’tfakinganything. It wasn’t an act, not for them.

It wasn’t for Roma, either. Even if they all think it was.

And, above all, she’s barely noticed the other hunters’ censure since she failed. Months ago,weeksago, she would’ve been ready to crumble under that weight, but now, she just feels numb to it.

They’re not the people whose approval she really wants.

But Bryant and Chester can never know that. She attempts another smile. “I know. Thanks, guys. I‍—I appreciate you looking out for me.”

Chester smiles back. “Always.”

“Absolutely,” Bryant confirms, clapping a hand on Roma’s shoulder. “Now, we should take advantage of the training grounds to do some actual training. Want to watch me kick Locke’s ass at close combat?”

“Oh, you wish, Nehemiah,” Chester says, grinning back at her.

Roma swallows down the emotions crawling through her stomach as Bryant and Chester fall into place on either side of her, heading towards their usual sparring mat in the far corner. And despite how much she cares about them, despite howcloseshe is to them‍?—

Right now, she feels further away than ever.

44

Ooh, and Auntie Ez!” Desi says excitedly from her perch on Ez’s hip. “Do you wanna stay up all night and play dragons with me? I promise I won’t tell JJ and Cass!”

Just out of Desi’s eyeshot, Cass frantically shakes his head, slicing a finger across his throat in an “absolutelynot!”motion. Ez fights back a laugh at the sight. “Not tonight, pumpkin,” she says, tapping a finger on Desi’s nose as she carries the toddler to her bedroom. “Auntie Ez needs her quiet hours, too.”

And Ez might notneedto sleep, but shutting off her brain for a solid six to ten hours a night has proven to be helpful over the past week‍—and so has the walking distraction machine that is Desi Jackson-Chin.

Desi has been ecstatic to have Ez staying with them, of course. As she should be, Ez thinks approvingly. Auntie Ez always lets Desi watch scary movies and eat junk food and stay up past her bedtime, much to the exasperation of Desi’s actual fathers.

But they should really just let Ez have her small pleasures. After all, she helps out enough around the house when she’s off shift to make up for it. She’s taken over most of the cleaningwith a ferocity that made JJ look faintly concerned, she’s meticulously worked her way through Cass’s stockpile of spell books, she’s played dragons with Desi until Desi herself was ready to call it quits‍—anything to pull Ez away from her tangled thoughts.

Especially since they always seem to drift back to a certain hunter.

Desi pouts as Ez tucks her into bed and hands her Hana the Wyvern. “But I don’tlikequiet hours. They’re so boring!”

“Well, you can always take a nap,” Ez points out, sitting on the edge of Desi’s bed and plucking a picture book off the shelf. Desi has long since graduated to chapter books, but they still indulge her with a more colorful story every night at bedtime. “Or you can read by yourself. Have Cass and JJ taught you how to read by yourself yet?”

Desi brightens. “A little bit,” she says, snuggling up to Ez, “but I like it better when they read to me! They do all the funny voices. Can you do the funny voices, Auntie Ez?”

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