Page 2 of Fool Me Twice

But, at the very least, it looks like JJ will have a few hundred years to come to terms with it. “That’s not a bad deal,” Ez says, nodding at JJ. “Cass and I have both been around for about two and a half centuries. Not too long, not too short. As long as you keep yourself busy, the years can fly by.”

“And it’ssoeasy to stay busy with streaming services nowadays,” Obie adds. “I will readily admit that I dislike most things about modern society, but streaming services aren’t one of them.”

“I meant keeping busy in a way that gives your lifepurpose,”Ez drawls, “but sure. Let’s go with that.”

JJ snorts, rolling his eyes. “Well, for now,” he says, reaching over the table to pick up Desi and put her safely back in front of her churros con chocolate, “we have all the purpose we need right here.”

Cass’s smile is soft. Ez’s heart twinges. It’s not jealousy this time, not guilt or remorse, but‍?—

But it’s more like homesickness. Nostalgia. Because she, Cass, and Obie have been following each other into danger for two hundred years, freeing humans from oppression and making a difference in the world, but now‍?—

Now, Cass seems content just to stay home and take care of his little family. JJ is struggling a bit with the transition to civilian life‍—twelve years of demon-hunting indoctrination are difficult to overcome‍—but he’s rapidly settling into a packed schedule of playing dragons with Desi and learning how to cook. Even Obie seems to be enjoying their vacation from warfare, focusing on his bowling league and his garden and his myriad streaming services.

Ez… is not. She’s been trying to distract herself with a few spellcasting experiments‍—deactivating Sanctum enchantments, healing corrosion burns, the usual‍—but it’s hard to concentrate without an external deadline. And she loves these twice-weekly get-togethers the five of them have‍—really, she does‍—but part of her almost wishes shedidn’thave to see how much things have changed.

Although Desi, of course, is always a gem. She slurps down the last dregs of her hot chocolate, grinning with a wide brown mustache. “Ooh, Uncle Obie! Do you thinkIcould go on a science boat, too?”

“I don’t see why not,” Obie says.

“Hooray!”

Cass shoots Obie a look. “Maybe when you’re just alittlebit older, sweetie,” he says, ruffling Desi’s hair. “Maybe we could start with a regular boat first? Go on a little vacation and‍?—‍”

Abruptly, Ez catches a glimpse of purple-gold in her peripheral vision. She whirls around to see an enormous rift opening at the far end of Lakeside, right between Currywurst To Go and Gimme Tortilla. Twenty feet away, there’s a man with glowing hands and a sinister expression, chanting in a decidedly ominous way‍?—

Summoning a demon from Tamaros. Summoning a demon from Tamaros in the middle of a damncivilianarea.

Oh, thank Nostringvadha. Finally, some action,Ez thinks, and she drops the glamours as she and Obie leap to their feet.

2

Bryant is still explaining the finer details of aluminum versus carbon arrows to an entirely uncomprehending Chester when there’s a telltale crackle of power behind them. Roma swears, jumping to her feet and almost tripping over their picnic table’s bench seat. “Really?Rightin front of my poutine?”

“Never off duty, are we?” Bryant drawls, and she extends her fingers. Her recurve bow appears in her hands as easily as breathing, complete with an arrow‍—carbon, not aluminum‍—ready to be nocked and fired. “Chester? Will you be joining us?”

Chester’s escrima sticks are already in his hands, but his shoulders are tense. “Well, I’m trained for it,” he says tightly, trepidation winding through the words. “Even if it’s, ah, not exactly my department.”

Roma flicks her wrist, activating the summoning spell on her ax. It slides smoothly out of the gap in spacetime where she stashes it, nestling firmly between her palm and fingers. “Chester, stay behind me,” she orders, because even though Chestercanfight, his skills lie more in interrogation than fieldwork. “Bryant, back us up.”

“On it,” Bryant says, and before Roma and Chester can even start running, she leaps on top of their table, pulls back her bowstring, and sends an arrow hurtling straight for the summoner.

He barely misses a beat, snapping a glowing hand in their direction. The arrow freezes in midair and disintegrates long before getting close to him, and Roma can hear the vestiges of Bryant cursing behind her as she and Chester sprint forward.

Lakeside is probably the worst possible place for an altercation like this‍—too many civilians, too few escape routes. In fact, it’s the perfect place to spring a trap, just like Roma tried to do last month with‍?—

She shoves the memory away. No reason to think about JJ now.

Not after he abandoned them.

And she has bigger problems at the moment‍—specifically, the gargantuan demon that’s currently being wrenched through the summoner’s rift, screaming in protest all the while. It resembles a ten-foot-tall tarantula with bat wings and an electric-blue stripe along its belly, and Chester barks out an incredulous laugh next to her. “Oh, that’s justgreat.”

Roma bites back a curse, her eyes sweeping around. All the civilians gathered at Lakeside for a nice lunch are a predictable mess of fear and panic, hiding under picnic tables and cowering behind food trucks. The Sanctum has been encouraging its strike teams to bring newly summoned demons back for testing lately, but right now‍?—

Right now, with so many potential casualties, they might just have to kill this one. “Chester, get the summoner! I’ve got the demon.”

“Better you than me!” Chester says, and they peel apart right at the point where the sand meets the grass. Roma’s sneakers pound against the ground as she races for the neophytedemon, mentally starts the shorthand incantation for a magic offensive‍?—

Another form lunges into her path before she can cast the spell, herding the neophyte backward. Roma skids to a stop, blank terror roiling through her at this new monster that looks like a cross between a chimera and a dragon‍?—

---