Page 49 of Fool Me Twice

And nearly jumps out of her skin when another rift entirely opens a few feet away. “Laguerre,” Gregorio says, striding through with Micah just behind him. “You’re a hard demon to track down.”

Roma jerks away in a flash, her ax sliding into her hand as quickly as breathing. Gregorio and Micah both stop dead, visibly startled.

Before Ez can think about what she’s doing, she instinctively puts herself in front of Roma. Micah’s eyebrows shoot up, and Ez fights back a flinch. “I’m notthatdifficult to find,” she argues, trying to divert attention away from the fact that she’s currently in the bizarre position ofprotectinga known hunter from two old demon friends. “You just have to follow the mega-rifts, and you can usually find me cursing at them.”

“That’s the problem. The mega-rifts just keep moving,” Micah says, and he gives Roma a tight smile. “Who’s this, then?”

Considering Micah and Gregorio’s obvious interest in “Gutierrez the Younger,” Ez is damn sure that they already recognize Roma. “Pet hunter,” she says brusquely, her lips twitching at Roma’s disgruntled noise of protest behind her. “What do you guys need?”

Honestly, Ez isn’t just tense because Roma is here. Even though she’s still mostly convinced that she can trust Micah and Gregorio, still mostly convinced that they’re on the same side, still mostly convinced that they’ll have her back when it counts‍?—

Part of her still can’t forget that Roma found the name “G. Ricci” on the Sanctum’s documentation. Or that Gregorio flat-out threatened to expose Cass and JJ if Ez crossed them.

Gregorio and Micah trade one of their annoyingly meaningful looks before focusing back on Ez. “We think we might know what’s going on,” Gregorio says eventually. “With the mega-rifts.”

The words jolt through Ez. Behind her, she senses rather than sees Roma snap to attention. “You do?” Roma demands, stepping forward. “What is it?”

Gregorio stiffens, his eyes narrowing dangerously, and Micah steps forward like he’s ready to intercept her. “Nothingyou need to know,” Micah says smoothly, that same flat smile still firmly in place, and‍?—

Oh, for Nostringvadha’s sake.Ez sighs explosively, massaging her temples. “Can allthreeof you idiots just stand down? You’re giving me a headache.”

Micah looks surprised at the words, but he takes a miniscule step away. Roma doesn’t move at all, just crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at the two demons, but at least her ax is back in its holding place.

“Stop pouting,” Ez orders her, and she turns her back on Roma’s indignant sputtering. “Seriously. What’s your idea?”

“It’s something we’re not sharing with the Chain yet,” Gregorio says evenly, his eyes still fixed on Roma. “Or the Sanctum, obviously. We already invited the rest of your crew over to our place to talk about it, but we just need to round out the group with someone who actually knows their way around a spell book.”

Ez nods, unsurprised. “There’s a spell to fix it.”

“A varsity-level one,” Micah confirms. “Fit for Redwater’s best demon spellcaster.”

“Flattery doesn’t work if it’s just a fact,” Ez drawls, and she raises her eyebrows. “Do we need a second spellcaster, too? Or a human one?”

She’s not entirely sure why she asks the question. The vast majority of spells are created for solo spellcasters, and spells that require both a demonanda human are vanishingly rare. Especially for a varsity-level spell, the overwhelming balance of probability is that Ez can cast it alone.

But Ez and Roma have been closing these mega-rifts together for weeks. Even though their spells are technically different, attacking the problem from two angles has worked well so far, and human magic and demon magic are known to strengtheneach other. And if they need a second spellcaster who actually has the chops for a varsity-level spell, well‍?—

Roma is their best bet.

Gregorio shifts minutely. “Don’t worry. We already have a human spellcaster lined up.”

“JJ, you mean?” Ez asks, and all three of them tense. “Relax. Roma knows that JJ is one of my people. It’s not really a secret at this point.”

Micah twitches. “Ah,” he says, giving Roma an unreadable look. “So youarethe younger Gutierrez sister.”

Roma glares back at him. “My name is Roma.”

“So we’ve heard,” Gregorio says briskly, and he turns back to Ez. “Yeah, we’re pretty sure you and Jackson can pull it off.”

“Highly unlikely,” Ez says. Micah and Gregorio both look startled. “If this really is a varsity-level spell, then his spellcasting probably won’t cut it. He hasn’t trained much beyond the basics of magic.”

Not to mention that JJ’s soul isn’t fully human anymore. But no one in the immediate vicinity needs to know that little detail.

Gregorio’s jaw works. “We’re not bringing the hunter with us,” he says, jerking his chin at Roma. “Not happening.”

“Dude, I didn’t even ask,” Roma snaps back.

Ez doesn’t back down. “Roma is the best human spellcaster the Sanctum has, and we’ve been handling the mega-rift situation together for weeks. At this point, our spellcasting is complementary. That’ll give us the highest probability of success with the lowest chance of error.”

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