Page 62 of Fool Me Twice

Resentful of the Sanctum and everything they represent. Resentful of Naomi and Sawyer, too, but she’s doing her best not to think about Naomi and Sawyer lately. “Understood, ma’am,” Roma says stiffly.

“Good.” Councilwoman Nasir reaches into her desk, pulls out a cell phone, and swipes into it. “Until then, you’re dismissed.”

Roma inclines her head politely before backing out of the room, making sure the door clicks shut behind her. Fighting back a grimace, she turns down the hallway and starts towards the staircase, trying to make heads or tails of that meeting.

In some respects, it actually went better than expected. Roma was fully prepared to be punished for accidentally destabilizing the Deep, and all she got was a warning that her potential marriage with Long is on thin ice. A few weeks ago, the idea of losing that upward mobility would’ve haunted her, but now‍?—

Now, she has more pressing concerns to haunt her. And Councilwoman Nasir’s sudden interest in the Deep is just one of many. Is it an academic interest? A convenient opportunity to study a magic anomaly?

Or something darker?

So that’s the conspiracy you and Ez found: the Sanctum and the Chain have been on the same side from the start.

An unfamiliar surge of defiance rises in Roma’s chest. Against her common sense and better judgment‍—and before she can lose her nerve‍—she looks both ways down the hall, tiptoes back to the councilwoman’s door, and presses her ear against the polished wood.

“No, this isn’t about the Jackson situation,” Nasir is saying to the person on the other end of the phone. “But Ididjust have a very interesting conversation with Roma Gutierrez. She’s convinced that the Deep might be responsible for the recent proliferation of mega-rifts. If we can confirm that, then this could be the perfect opportunity to conduct more research for Operation Thirteen.”

Operation Thirteen?Bewildered, Roma leans closer. The Sanctum has longstanding goals and objectives, but she’s never heard of one with such an official title. Usually, they just refer to them in general terms: the operation at Lakeside, the mission on the Redwater–Kingsborough border‍?—

The Jackson situation. Stomach churning, Roma strains her ears to hear more.

“Of course,” Councilwoman Nasir says now. “If you call a meeting, I’ll explain the situation personally to Long and Nehemiah. Time is of the essence.”

Roma’s eyebrows furrow. Nasir must be talking to Eugene Solomon, Sawyer’s grandfather and the current president of the Council. Mei Long and Alexei Nehemiah‍—Kenneth’s mother and Bryant’s uncle, respectively‍—are the two other purebred members.

Roma isn’t surprised to not hear Antonia Mendoza’s name. While Redwater’s four purebred families have lifetime seats on the Council, a fifth representative from the mixed-breed families is chosen every two years‍—and, although it’s a great honor to be selected, it’s widely known that the job mostly consists of gruntwork. That’s the position that Roma’s father almost got six years ago, the position that Naomi’s defection cost him.

For the first time, Roma wonders if losing that opportunity was actually a good thing.

Nasir’s conversation with Solomon shifts into more technical matters‍—something about the purebred interrogators on the prison’s night shift. Letting out a slow breath, Roma backs away from the door, turns down the first side hallway, and starts the slow plod up to her bedroom.

Is any of this really worth it? Her mission, her purpose, herlife?Roma saw those allegedly “lost” neophyte demons in the Sanctum’s prison with her own eyes, and even though she desperately doesn’t want to believe Naomi and Sawyer’s conspiracy theory, she has to admit that they provided a plausible‍—if horrifying‍—explanation for the entire mystery.

And ever since then, Roma has felt further from the rest of the Sanctum than ever. Talking with other hunters or even Bryant nowadays leaves a twisting in her stomach and a foul taste in her mouth, like she can’t figure out how much of what they’re saying is true, how much of it is what the Sanctum wants them to believe‍?—

How much of it is a flat-out lie to keep them in line.

And she hasn’t even been able to look Chester in the eye since last week. Even thethoughtthat the Sanctum might’ve orchestrated his family’s murders and then used that grief and anger to brainwash him‍?—

Well. It’s far more than Roma is mentally and emotionally equipped to handle right now.

Maybe she just needs a little distance. Maybe she needs to step outside the cold hallways of the Sanctum, walk back into Redwater, and remind herself that the rest of the world is still turning.

Of course, if she does that, then she’ll probably be accosted in short order by Esmeralda Laguerre. Honestly, though, Roma isn’t even sure if shemindsbeing accosted by Esmeralda Laguerre anymore.

It’s more like Roma doesn’t want to face the fragile intimacy that crystallized between them the other night. Doesn’t want to face the Ez who argued that Roma should be allowed into the secret meeting, the Ez who hauled her out of range when Obie threatened Sawyer, the Ez who sat down next to her in the Courtyard to debrief.

Part of Roma is scared that she’ll do something to break that tiny thread of connection.

Part of her is scared that she’ll do something to make it wind even tighter around her heart. Sighing, Roma unlocks the door to her room, shoulders her way inside, shuts it firmly behind her‍?—

And promptly stifles a shriek of surprise, jerking backwards and summoning her ax into her hand, when the very demon whose self-assured smirk has been monopolizing Roma’s daydreams blinks into existence sprawled across her bed. “Hey,” Ez says, hands laced together behind her head and one ankle crossed neatly over her knee. “’Sup?”

“What‍—‍?”Roma nearly chokes on the word, her heart hammering against her ribcage. “What are you doing here? How did you get into the Sanctum? How did you find myroom?Why‍?—‍?”

“It’s adorable how you lackeys assume that your precious Sanctum is an impregnable fortress,” Ez says, and she snaps her fingers. The soft breeze of a soundproofing spell settles into place around them. “Or that it’s difficult to navigate.”

Slowly, Roma releases her grip on her ax, letting it slip back into its fold in spacetime. “That doesn’t answer any of myquestions,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest. “Namely,what the hell are you doing here?”

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