Page 20 of Fool Me Twice

G. Ricci.Roma bites back the words. Much as she wants answers, there’s no way she’s siccing a demon on a fellow hunter. “Not sure. The signature was illegible. It was the same signature for all three of them, though, which is what struck me as weird.”

“This entire situation is weird. Weird andawful,”Ez says, and suddenly, she looks a lot more human than Roma is used to‍—human and worried and sad. “No demon should live in fear like that, especially not ones who are so new to Earth. They don’t even know about all the good in this dimension yet, and‍—‍” Abruptly, her expression closes off. “But it’s not like a hunter would care about that, right?”

The unexpected one-eighty takes Roma off guard, and that, more than anything else, sets her back in her usual defensive posture. “Not really,” she says curtly, and she turns away. “Anyway. Just curious. Later, Laguerre.”

“I sincerely hope not,” Ez says, and by the time Roma peeks back over her shoulder, her demonic counterpart is already gone.

Gone, and leaving Roma alone with a half-melted bowl of ice cream and an uncomfortable churning in her stomach.

10

Ez is ninety-nine percent sure that Roma Gutierrez had some sinister ulterior motive for telling her about the neophytes in the Sanctum’s prison.Ninety-ninepercent sure.

Because there’s a nagging one percent of her that thinks Roma looked honestly shaken by the entire situation. It’s a one percent that Ez has been determinedly trying to ignore for the past three days.

She scowls down at her hot cocoa, prying off the lid to let it cool more quickly. Right now, she’s drowning her sorrows in the back corner of a cute little downtown café, and right now, she’s hoping andprayingthat she won’t get caught up in another stupid rift-closing escapade with Roma.

Or any other hunter, really. It’s just that Ez has started to think of Roma as her own personal annoyance. Her cross to bear. Her significant bother.

Her significant bother who issignificantlybothering her right now, even though the hunter in question is nowhere in sight.

And there are a thousand potential explanations for Roma’s spicy piece of intel, of course. She could have mistaken thedemons’ identities, or she could be actively lying to mislead Ez, or she could even be trying to run another long con, but‍?—

But there’s a little whisper of “what if?” in the back of Ez’s mind, obstinately refusing to go silent. Because if Roma is telling the truth, then this entire situation reeks of something nasty.

Something like corruption. Demons aren’t immune to bribery, after all. Some newer demons can try to take shortcuts to establish themselves on Earth once they realize they’re stuck here for good, hoarding money and power to pave their way, and some older demons can develop a taste for everything humans have to offer.

Like soul energy. Ez shudders at the thought. Creating the soul bond between JJ and Cass as a last-ditch attempt to save Cass’s life was bad enough; she doesn’t even want to think about a demon actively preying on humans to increase their own power.

But it’s not outside the realm of possibility that a Chain demon could’ve traded those neophytes to the Sanctum to advance their own agenda. The idea makes Ez feel sick to her stomach, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

And if the Sanctum is still trying to perfect their “testing”‍—the spells they used to tear Cass’s soul into shreds‍—then she could imagine a particularly sociopathic hunter trading human lives for demons to experiment on.

Ez needs to find out what’s going on, but she doesn’t have the resources. Cass isn’t an option, since he’s currently hiding from the Chain, and even though Obie has probably accumulated enough favors to get answers, she doesn’t want to put him in that position. Maggie Khan is out, too‍—she wouldn’t stand for corruption like this, so if she knew anything, she would’ve acted already.

That leaves her with two last options‍—two last options who she isn’t quite sure she can trust. Impulsively, she digs out hercell phone, swipes into Obie’s contact, and presses the button to call him.

He picks up within two rings. “What’s wrong?”

Ez sputters indignantly. “What? A demon can’t call just to say hello?”

“In general? Sure. But not you. You’re the most Gen Z–coded demon I’ve ever met, Ez. You’ll send a thousand-word text before you dial a number.”

“Touché.” Ez takes a deep breath. “So do you remember what I told you and Cass a few days ago about those neophytes from Lakeside allegedly being in the Sanctum’s prison?”

An edge of tension creeps into Obie’s voice. “Hard to forget. Why? Did something else happen?”

“Thankfully, no,” Ez says. “Or not yet, at least. There might be some developments occurring in the very near future.”

There’s a sudden clatter on the other end of the line‍—almost like Obie stood up so quickly that he knocked over a chair. “Donotbreak into the Sanctum, Esmeralda,” he barks out. “Not without backup, at least. I can meet you there.”

Ez presses a hand to her heart, touched. “You’d help me with a jailbreak? That’s so sweet, Obie. I might just shed a tear.”

“I’m serious, Ez. Where are you?”

“Nowhere near the Sanctum,” she assures him. “But Imightbe a stone’s throw away from a certain demon’s Recordkeeping Outpost.”

There’s a beat of silence. “Wow. You’re worse than Cass.”

---