Page 52 of Fool Me Twice

Roma knows that voice. She knows thatgoddamnvoice, and so does JJ, but‍?—

But she hasn’t heard it in six long years. Judging by JJ’s stunned expression, neither has he.

But it doesn’t make sense. They disappeared years ago, ran away years ago, defectedyearsago, and‍?—

And it doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense, but when Naomi Gutierrez and Sawyer Solomon step through the rift side by side, Roma can already feel her carefully constructed life starting to crumble around her. Her breath hitches. “Naomi?”

“Sawyer?”JJ sputters.

And Sawyer smiles thinly as Gregorio closes the rift behind them. “Hiya, kiddos. Did you miss us?”

“Seriously?” the dead ringer for Roma asks, giving her companion a long-suffering look.“That’sthe best you can come up with?”

The other woman shrugs one shoulder, looking from JJ’s stricken eyes to Roma’s bloodless face and back again. “There’sreally nogoodway to start a conversation after six years of no contact.”

Roma is trembling next to Ez. Ez leans the slightest bit closer to her, lowering her voice. “Gutierrez, are they who I think they are?”

Roma’s voice is strained. “Yes.”

Naomi Gutierrez and Sawyer Solomon. Just last week, Roma confided in Ez about her complicated relationship with her runaway sister, about her bitterness at still living in the shadow of Naomi’s decisions, about how Naomi and Sawyer both modeled a strict adherence to the bloodlines hierarchy that still affects Roma to this day‍?—

Somehow, Ez doesn’t think this little reunion is going to end well.

“But you‍—‍” JJ’s voice sounds raw. “You left Redwater years ago. You’ve been gone forsix years,and‍?—‍‍”

“Actually,” Naomi cuts in, “we never left‍—not for long, anyway. We had a few stints abroad when our research called for it, but…” She lets out a slow breath. “Redwater is our home. Always has been, always will be.”

Cass’s hand finds JJ’s shoulder, his eyes dark and sharp. “Micah. Gregorio. What the hell is going on?”

“We’re bringing you up to speed on what’s actually happening in this godforsaken town,” Gregorio says, and he gestures at Roma and JJ. “You might want to have your hunters sit down. They look like they’re about to pass out.”

Roma crosses her arms over her chest. She still looks pale and shaky, but there’s a defiant set to her jaw. “I’d rather stand, thanks.”

“Same,” JJ says quietly, but he leans the slightest bit towards Cass. Just as subtly, Cass shifts back against him, supporting some of JJ’s weight.

For a fleeting second, Ez considers pressing her shoulder against Roma’s, but she hastily discards the impulse. Roma is perfectly capable of standing on her own.

“All right.” Naomi blows her bangs out of her eyes, looking torn between determined and sad. “For those of you who don’t know us…” She waves awkwardly. “Hi. I’m Naomi Gutierrez. Roma’s older sister.”

“And I’m Sawyer Solomon,” Sawyer says breezily. “We’re both former self-defense instructors from the Redwater Sanctum.”

“Yes, I think we all deduced that from the context clues,” Obie says. His voice is even, but his shoulders are tense. “How about we skip the introductions and get to the part where you tell us why we’re here?”

Sawyer smiles back. It’s a bit of an unhinged smile, Ez thinks. “Oh, Ilikeyou,” she says, and she turns to Naomi. “I like him. He doesn’t bullshit around.”

“I don’t think he likes you,” Naomi informs her bluntly, and she focuses back on the crowd in front of her, folding her arms over her chest in a striking mirror of Roma’s posture. “All right. Let’s start at the beginning‍—theverybeginning. Twelve years ago, a group of unregistered demons murdered the Jackson and Locke families. The only survivors, Julian and Chester, were taken in by the Sanctum and trained to be hunters.”

Sawyer waggles her fingers. “I was assigned to do most of that training. Naomi taught JJ‍—and Roma‍—how to work as a strike team, but I was chosen to teach JJ and Chester how to be hunters.” She leans forward. “Which was a bizarre proposition from the start, because hunters aren’t made‍—they’re born.”

Out of the corner of Ez’s eye, she sees JJ flinch. Roma shifts on her feet, hands twitching like she’s braced for a fight.

Almost like, Ez realizes with a jolt, she’s accustomed to defending JJ against that particular accusation.

“Sawyer was suspicious from the beginning,” Naomi continues, “but she kept her head down and did her job, just like the rest of us. But that all changed six years ago.” Her eyes find JJ. “Jayj, did you ever find it strange that the demons who killed your family came back to Redwater just in time for your final exam?”

The tension in the room instantly spikes, every eye zeroing in on JJ, and Ez swallows hard. She knew that JJ and Roma’s strike team was assigned to kill the unregistered demons responsible for the Jackson–Locke murders‍—Cass told her and Obie as much‍—but it never occurred to Ez to question why those demons were back in town in the first place.

“Don’t call me ‘Jayj,’” JJ says shortly. “And no. I didn’t. I presumed that the Sanctum was keeping tabs on them and managed to trick them into coming back.”

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