Page 120 of Fool Me Twice

“No, no,” Micah says. “That was on purpose.”

“Ah,” Gregorio says, passing it back to him. “In that case, carry on.”

Roma laughs as Micah sends the emails with a flourish. “Looks like life is about to get a lot more interesting around here,” she says, smiling at Ez.

“I could do for some less interesting right around now,” Ez admits, and she turns to face Roma fully. “But we still have one last job on our end, too: casting that counterspell. The epidemic hasn’t slowed down at all, and the longer we leave the Deep destabilized, the higher the likelihood of something else going wrong.”

“Agreed,” Roma says, and she pushes herself to her feet. “But that’ll be a project for sunset at the earliest. For now, I want more food. JJ, did you get me any churros?”

“What kind of question is that?”

Grinning, Roma goes to clap him on the shoulder as she walks past.

And then, hastily, she snatches her hand back. “Sorry,” she mumbles, retreating to the bag and fishing around for her churros. “Corrosion spell.”

JJ’s smile wavers. “Right.”

Ez’s chest hurts. “Do you want a twelve-hour deactivation?” she asks, holding up a hand. “To get you through the rest of the night?”

Roma pauses. Takes a deep breath. Turns around to face Ez directly. “Actually, how about the sixty-eight-year deactivation you mentioned?”

The words jolt through Ez. Cass straightens in his seat, his eyes snapping to Roma. “You want to get rid of the Sanctum’s enchantments?” he asks. “Permanently?”

Roma doesn’t drop his gaze. “As permanent as Ez can make it, at least.”

For a long moment, Cass considers her.

And then he smiles. “You know,” he says, “I think we’re going to get along just fine.”

Roma smiles tentatively back as she returns to the couch, meeting Ez’s eyes. “Right now?”

Ez hovers her hand over Roma’s shoulder, heart twirling. “Last chance to back out.”

“Not happening.”

“Good,” Ez says, and she launches into the incantation. As she flows through the familiar words, she lets her eyes drift around the room, taking in the full picture: Gregorio, Micah, Naomi, and Sawyer arguing over the pros and cons ofWater Warsby the back door; Cass hovering next to JJ on the armchair, both of them chatting with low voices and relaxed shoulders; Obie settling into his own chair with a fond half-smile‍?—

And Roma, sitting close next to Ez with her eyes fixed on Ez’s face. Ez finishes the spell, grabs Roma’s hand, and squeezes it once. “There we go. We can renew it again when you’re ninety.”

“Perfect,” Roma says, and she cups Ez’s cheek against her palm, leans in, and kisses her.

And, as the voices of their friends rise and fall around them, Ez knows that she’s found exactly what she’s always been fighting for.

EPILOGUE

One Week Later

Ready?” Ez asks, raising her eyebrows at Roma.

Roma glances through the trees to their left. Along Lakeside’s shoreline, JJ and Cass‍—fully glamoured, of course‍—are making a sandcastle with Desi while Obie lounges with a book in a nearby beach chair. Even though they appear as casually oblivious as all the other civilians out to enjoy the early July sunshine, Roma knows that they’re watching for any sign of enemies‍—hunters and demons alike‍—who could interrupt Roma and Ez’s spell.

Nodding firmly, Roma turns back to Ez. “Ready.”

Ez’s lips twitch. “One more dry run?”

“Ez,” Roma says, exasperated. “We’ve donedozensof dry runs at home. We’ve closed actual mega-rifts with this counterspell. I think I can hear the incantation in my sleep by now.”

“Well, that just means we’ll be as safe as possible,” Ez says, and she tips her chin up, eyes gleaming. “One more?”

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