Page 5 of Fool Me Twice

Ez and her friends have done enough for today. “One disappearing act, coming right up,” she says shortly, and she snaps open a rift. “Well, this has been‍—what’s the opposite of ‘fun’? That. Let’s not do this again.”

Roma’s eyes glint dangerously. “Couldn’t agree more.”

Chester is still trying to catch JJ’s eye, regret written all over his face, but JJ just looks away and takes Cass’s hand. “Come on,” he says softly, and he pulls Cass through the rift first. Obie follows after them, shooting Ez a clear “don’t start anything” look as he goes, and Ez returns Roma’s glare for a long, hard moment before stalking through the rift and waving it closed behind her.

So much for having a nice lunch with her friends.

3

Roma raps cautiously on the door to Councilwoman Nasir’s office and waits for the order to enter before slipping inside. “You wanted to see me, Councilwoman?” she asks uneasily, trying not to fidget as she closes the door behind her.

Honestly, she’s already seen far too much of the Council for one day. After calling the cleanup crew to dispose of the summoner’s body, she and her friends had to trek back to the Sanctum‍—unfortunately sans poutine‍—to report on everything that happened: how the summoner created a multi-demon rift in the middle of Lakeside; how Roma, Bryant, and Chester ended up tripping over a handful of fugitive demons during the fight‍?—

How JJ was among those fugitive demons. How his skinburnedlike one when Chester touched him. The thought alone makes bile rise in Roma’s throat, and she swallows it down hard. The Sanctum may have stripped away JJ’s powers when he first defected, but that doesn’t mean he should be vulnerable to their corrosion spell now.

That enchantment is only supposed to affect demons. The fact that it hurt JJ makes Roma feel sick to her stomach.

“Gutierrez,” Councilwoman Nasir says, her usual flat smile not reaching her eyes. “Thank you for coming. I just want to clarify a few points of your story with you.”

Roma fights back a flinch. As far as she’s aware, Bryant and Chester weren’t called in for a follow-up report, and she has the sinking feeling that the blame for everything that went wrong today is about to get placed squarely on her.

Obviously, the Sanctum isn’t going to punish a purebred like Bryant for a debacle like that‍—not when the Nehemiah family has a permanent seat on the Council. And even though neophyte hunter Chester has an even lower standing than mixed-breed Roma, he’s not trained for fieldwork like she is.

And, above all, Roma is Strike Team Kappa’s de facto leader. The final call rested on her shoulders. She takes a deep breath and braces herself for the fallout. “I apologize again for our inability to bring the demons back for testing, ma’am. As we were in a civilian area‍?—‍”

“‍—‍the most prudent tactical decision was to retreat and let the Chain handle it,” Councilwoman Nasir cuts in, and Roma blinks with surprise. “Although it’s not the outcome we would’ve preferred, it was the best decision you could’ve made under the circumstances. While our testing program is imperative to rid Earth of demonic influence, our first priority always has been and always will be the safety of humankind. The Council doesn’t disagree with you.”

“Oh.” Roma tries to remember what else she could’ve done wrong. “I’m‍—I’m glad.”

“Hm.” Nasir leans forward, threading her fingers together and resting her chin on top of them. “There were two other points in your story that stood out. Remind me again how you closed the rift?”

Roma winces. That rift-closing fiasco was probably the closest she’s ever come to working with a demon, andshe already knows that she doesn’t want to repeat the experience. “Since the spellcaster was particularly powerful, our standard blocking spell didn’t work, and neither did Esmeralda Laguerre’s demonic disconnecting spell. As demons were still being summoned and posing a threat to civilians, I‍—I proposed to Laguerre that we time our incantations to amplify our magic.”

The councilwoman nods slowly. “And it worked.”

“It did. Some spellcasting research shows that human magic and demon magic can have synergistic effects when used together, so it makes sense.” Hastily, Roma adds, “Luckily, I didn’t have much cause to interact with Laguerre again after that. Which wascompletelyfine by me.”

“It was an… unconventional idea,” Nasir says cryptically. Roma can’t tell if that means she’s in trouble or not, and she bites back the urge to ask. “Regardless, it’s good to know that such a combination is possible. If we ever find a way to safely harness demon magic, a dual-action spell like that could be useful for hunters worldwide.”

Roma almost starts with surprise.Useful for hunters worldwide?Was that a compliment? Is Councilwoman Nasir actuallypleasedwith Roma’s performance? “I‍—I’m glad,” Roma repeats weakly, struggling to figure out where this conversation is going. “The safety of our hunters is paramount, of course.”

“Of course,” Nasir agrees, and her eyes sharpen. “Now, about Jackson.”

Roma’s stomach lurches. Up until recently, the Council in general and Councilwoman Nasir in particular always referred to JJ by his first name, Julian. After all, there was no reason to call him “Jackson” when that surname wasn’t connected to a hunting bloodline.

Now, though, the councilwoman just sounds dismissive. Distant. Like Nasir herself wasn’t the one who ordered Sawyer Solomon to train JJ and Chester over a decade ago andwelcomed them as part of the hunting community a few years later. “About Jackson,” Roma says quietly.

“From what I understand,” she says, “Chester touched Jackson’s forearm‍—bare skin on bare skin‍—and Jackson was immediately struck with corrosion burns comparable to those inflicted on demons. Correct?”

Roma’s throat feels dry. “Correct.”

“I see.” Councilwoman Nasir considers her closely. “You can understand how this is of enormous interest to the Council‍—and the Sanctum at large.”

“I… suppose,” Roma says carefully, trying not to let her confusion show. The fact that a human was affected by the corrosion spell is a big deal, of course, but she didn’t expect the Council to take a particular interest. Honestly, she thought they’d just written off JJ entirely by now.

“The Council was convened to discuss this development,” Nasir continues, fixing Roma with a steely gaze, “and we’re convinced that you would be the best operative to investigate further.”

Surprise jolts through Roma. “Me? Me and‍—and Bryant, you mean? Our strike team?”

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