Page 18 of Fool Me Twice

9

Roma impatiently checks the clock from her spot in the corner of DJ Ice Cream, shoveling rocky road into her mouth and glowering out the window.

She’s been doing a lot of glowering lately, she thinks. Bryant and Chester have been coming in clutch with their mega-rifts, as usual, and Roma has been dutifully closing them with the nearest demon, as usual, but‍?—

But that neophyte in the Sanctum’s prison is decidedlynotusual‍—and it’s been nagging at Roma for the past few days. Despite her most fervent promises to herself, she snuck back down there alone the day after her initial visit with Chester under the guise of checking another spell book.

She wasn’t altogether surprised to find the other two demons from the Lakeside debacle in adjacent cells at the very end of the main hall.

The only thing she can’t figure out iswhy.She checked their chain-of-custody binders, and the name “G. Ricci” was signed neatly each time‍—and, more suspiciously, they were all delivered to the prison on the same date, less than twenty-four hours after their summoning. A lone hunter capturingthree demons in one day isn’t something that goes unnoticed, especially in a small town like Redwater.

Like Roma told Chester, questioning the Sanctum is a dangerous game. Fortunately, it’s also a game that she plays better than he does. Being raised from birth as a mixed-breed hunter gives her a solid understanding of which boundaries she can toe and which she should stay far away from, and she’s been casually spending some extra hours in their in-house library, scouring through membership rosters for all the Sanctums in their state.

No record of a G. Ricci anywhere. At this point, she’s considering whether to expand her search to the entire East Coast. It’s not abnormal for hunters to visit other Sanctums, even ones on different continents‍—in fact, they have two visiting strike teams from Ethiopia right now, along with a few spellcasters from South Korea.

But, as far as Roma can tell, there’s no G. Ricci visiting Redwater. No demonic attacks reported in town, no rumors about an especially skilled operative within the Sanctum. Nothing about out-of-town hunters or vindictive neophyte demons from Redwater’s legendary gossip mill, either.

All she’s heard about, really, is the mega-rift situation.

A situation that’s about to be repeated. Some of the mixed hunters helping with Roma’s assignment have been tracking the movements of JJ’s new posse, and while she’s pretty sure most of their tips are bogus, it looks like this one actually panned out. The bell over the door jingles cheerfully as Esmeralda Laguerre strolls into the ice cream shop, takes a single step towards the counter‍?—

And stops dead when she sees Roma. “No,” she snaps, jabbing an accusing finger at her.

Roma’s dislike of the demon ticks up another few notches. “What do you mean, ‘no’? I’m just eating, Laguerre.”

“Everytime I see you, another rift opens,” Ez hisses. “So what’s the Sanctum’s game? Because I’m not stupid enough to think any of this is a coincidence.”

Roma’s stomach lurches. Quickly, she plasters on a sneer. “Seriously?Seriously?I haven’t been able to finish a meal on one of my days off in weeks, and you think this ismyfault?” She leans forward, lowering her voice. “And I’m a hunter. I don’twantmore demons on Earth. So why does a rift to Tamaros open every timeIseeyou,Laguerre?”

Ez’s eyes flash. “You‍?—‍”

Abruptly, there’s a wave of power from outside the shop, roiling through Roma’s veins and rattling her teeth. She gives Ez her most vicious smile. “What a surprise. The momentyoushow up, we have problems.”

“Shut up, Gutierrez,” Ez bites out, turning on her heel and stalking straight back outside. Roma follows with her ice cream in tow, hoping against hope that she’ll actually be able to finish it before it melts.

The predictable mega-rift is billowing open right in front of the strip mall, looming larger and larger by the second. Not for the first time, Roma is impressed. Bryant and Chester might never beat Roma in general-purpose spellcasting, but she thinks they’ll be experts in rift-opening by the time this operation is over.

By the time Roma gets JJ back.

Ez barely spares Roma a glance as she sets her ice cream on a nearby bench and jogs up to meet her. “Ready?”

Roma fights back a scowl. “As I ever am.”

“One, two, three‍—in the name of Nostringvadha‍?—‍”

“Ages upon ages‍?—‍”

At this point, Roma is starting to get a sense for how her incantation flows with Ez’s, how their magic blends together. She hates to admit it, but she’s accustomed to it. Whenevershe’s had to work with another demon over the past few weeks, whether that was Cass or Obie or someone else entirely, there was a noticeable amount of stuttering and fumbling, but Ez‍?—

Ez knows what she’s doing.

Luckily, so does Roma. “‍—‍command you to close!” she orders, holding her glowing hands out wide.

“‍—‍close what once was opened!” Ez intones at the same moment, making a sharp gesture downward.

The rift teeters dangerously, reeling from side to side, before folding in on itself and vanishing into nothing, just like usual. What’snotentirely usual, though, is that Ez immediately starts mumbling another incantation under her breath, her narrowed eyes sweeping around.

“What are you doing?” Roma asks, wrinkling her nose.

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