Page 109 of Fool Me Twice

Well. After that, she’ll figure out whatever comes next. Squaring her shoulders, she tightens her grip on her duffel bag, turns her feet towards Redwater, and takes off at a quick jog, heading towards her new fate.

46

Ez whistles appreciatively, turning in a slow circle to survey the lavish living room around her. “Obie, my man, you havefinetaste in safe houses.”

“Right?” Naomi agrees, sprawled across one of the couches like she owns the place. Technically, she doesn’t, but since she and Sawyer have been living here for just over a week and will likely continue living here for the foreseeable future, it seems fitting. “Gregorio could never.”

“Because I’m not as ostentatious as Obie,” Gregorio says bluntly. “And I’m not as old as him, either. Haven’t had sufficient time to become a billionaire.”

JJ’s eyebrows rocket up.“Areyou a billionaire, Obie?”

“It’s impolite to ask,” Obie says, and he glances around the room. “So how’s everyone feel about our counterspell?”

Ez’s mood immediately sours. Ever since last week, she’s spent most of her rift-closing shifts in the company of Sawyer, Naomi, or JJ, and so far, she hasn’t been impressed by any of them.

Sawyer is out. Although she’s competent enough by now to cast the Sanctum’s blocking spell together with Ez’sdisconnecting spell, her incantations are still shaky and her gestures are still imprecise. Functional, but nowhere near good enough to tap into the Deep.

Naomi isn’t much better, but to her credit, she’s been practicing on her own time and taking Ez’s feedback seriously. Her skills are decidedly rusty‍—after all, she hasn’t had to use anything beyond basic spells since she defected‍—but she’s clearly trying to polish them up, and she’s getting incrementally better every day.

Actually, Naomi’s aggressive determination reminds Ez of Roma. She’s trying her hardest not to entertain that comparison for too long, though‍—and, persistence aside, Naomi is still leaps and bounds away from what Ez needs in a spellcasting partner.

Their best human spellcaster right now is Julian Jackson. It makes sense, since he only defected from the Sanctum a few months ago and has been practicing magic with Cass ever since, but that just brings JJ’s other issues‍—namely, his half-demon soul‍—into sharp relief.

Ez doesn’t know if “human enough” will cut it for a brush with the Deep, and she’s not about to take that risk with both of their lives at stake. She’s been fairly vocal about that fact, which Cass seems to greatly appreciate.

Not that it helps their current predicament. “It’s not great,” Ez says flatly. “Out of the three humans in this room, precisely zero are capable of pulling off this counterspell with me.”

JJ looks chagrined. Sawyer looks annoyed. Naomi, though, just considers Ez with narrowed eyes. “Are you sure about that? Because JJ’s skills would’ve made our old spellcasting instructors proud.”

Ez’s hackles rise. “He’spassable,”she stresses, “and with sufficient preparation, I would be confident enough in his abilities to let him try‍—ifhe were still one hundred percenthuman. We don’t know if the Deep would be offended by a half-demon’s soul, and I’d rather not find out the hard way.”

“And you really don’t think Naomi or Sawyer could handle it?” Micah asks, his eyebrows furrowing. “They definitely need practice, but Naomi in particular has been improving a lot.”

“Not so much with Sawyer, though,” Gregorio says.

“Piss off, Ricci.”

“Love you, too, Solomon.”

Ez shakes her head. “It would take at least two months to get Naomi close to the level where I’d be comfortable accessing the Deep with her. Not happening.”

Cass presses his lips together. “So we’re back to square one?”

The thought is even more depressing out loud than it was in Ez’s head. “Yep. Looks like it.”

For a long moment, silence reigns. Naomi is picking at a stray thread on the couch, avoiding everyone’s eyes; Sawyer is sitting on the adjacent armrest, her body angled in Naomi’s direction; Cass and JJ are sharing the loveseat, matching dejected expressions on their faces; Gregorio and Micah are hovering near the hallway, clearly disappointed by the news; and Obie‍?—

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Obie says, scrutinizing Ez from his spot by the window.

Ez fights back a groan. “Takewhatthe wrong way?”

“Is the problem really that they’re not capable of casting the counterspell?” he asks. “Or is the problem just that they’re not Roma Gutierrez?”

All the blood rushes from Ez’s head at once. The entire room snaps to attention, seven pairs of eyes trained directly on her. “I’m very aware that no one here is Roma Gutierrez, thanks,” she says through gritted teeth.

Obie doesn’t back down. “Look, I’ll readily admit that tapping into the Deep for an unproven spell requires an abundance of caution, and I agree about not letting JJ or Sawyerdo it. But I’m pretty sure Naomi could reach the baseline you need within twoweeks,not two months. She might not be at Roma’s level, but‍?—‍”

“Will youstop?”Ez snaps. “I’m not just comparing everyone to Roma, okay?”

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