Page 63 of Fool Me Twice

Ez arches an eyebrow. “Looking for you, obviously. You don’t call, you don’t write. You don’t show up to help me close mega-rifts. I got bored waiting around for you.”

Roma’s heart flutters. “You broke into a high-security compound crawling with hunters just to talk with me?”

Ez wrinkles her nose. “I think ‘high-security’ is an overstatement, but yes.” She swings her legs around to plant her feet on the floor, eyes narrowing. “So let’s talk. Where the hell haveyoubeen? Does the Council have you on lockdown again or something?”

And Roma‍?—

Roma should feel a wide variety of emotions about a demon, anenemy,sneaking into the Sanctum to track her down. Shocked and appalled, as a start. Unsettled and disturbed, definitely.

What she shouldnotfeel is strangely pleased. Annoyed, she forces down the twirl of happiness in her chest. “No. I was just on a job for a few days.”

Ez raises her eyebrows in challenge. “Valid. Then where have you been for all the daysbesidesthose ‘few days’?”

Roma scowls, sinking into her desk chair to sit facing Ez. “Here.”

“Very specific, Gutierrez.” She leans forward to rest her hands on her knees, considering Roma closely. “Talk to me. Is it the conspiracy thing? The Deep thing? The ‘possibility of performing an unproven spell that could kill us both’ thing?”

Roma almost laughs. “All of the above, plus a few otherthingsfor good measure,” she says, slumping back in her seat. “Look, I’m just‍—I’m just tired, okay? I’m just tired of this whole mega-rift epidemic, and I’m tired of whatever’s going on with the Sanctum, and‍?—‍”

And I’m tired of this mission, too. I’m tired of lying to you to get to JJ.

Roma takes a deep breath. Decides to use the smallest sliver of truth she can manage. “I just miss,” she says quietly, looking down at her hands, “how it was last year. Back before JJ abandoned us, and before the epidemic started, and‍—and before I even suspected the Sanctum and the Chain of working together. Everything was sosimpleback then. So black and white. And now, it’s just‍—‍” She shakes her head. “It’s just complicated.”

“Look, I’m not a big fan of any of those changes, either,” Ez says. “Except for JJ joining our squad, because he’s honestly a riot, and he’s also good for Cass and all that jazz. But as far as the conspiracy…” Her jaw works. “I know you’re dealing with the implications of, you know, your entire life potentially being a lie, but have you thought about what it looks like fromourside yet? From the Chain’s side? Roma, they’re handing over demons just like me and my friends to be tortured and probably killed by our worst enemies, and‍—and we don’t even know why.” She lets out her breath in a hiss. “I haven’t exactly been doing well with all this, either.”

Roma’s heart does something unsteady. For the first time all week, for the first time since she locked herself away from Redwater to try and forget about her assignment and the epidemic and the conspiracy andeverything‍?—

For the first time in what seems like years, she feels like someone finally sees her. “I have been thinking about that,” Roma admits. “Trying to see it from the Chain’s point of view. I just can’t figure out what they have to gain from any of this. Are there higher-ups who want to stay in power? Maybe they’re worried about too much competition from neophytes?”

Ez scoffs. “No onewantsto be a higher-up in the Chain. It’s way too much paperwork with way too few benefits. Andneophyte demons don’t stay in the town they were summoned in‍—they usually get sent to a different state, at a minimum. Sometimes even a different country or continent.” Her jaw tightens. “Which ties into what the Conspiracy Fam said about this being a global issue, but I’m really trying not to think about that.”

A pang twists through Roma. Ez looks just as lost as Roma feels, just as frustrated and dejected, and despite the serious conversation, a warm swirl of solidarity curls through Roma’s chest. “Life’s a mess right now.”

Ez snorts. “Yeah. Yeah, you can say that again.”

For a long moment, they lapse into silence. Roma closes her eyes, slowly letting her shoulders relax. Despite the fact that she was raised with Bryant and has been friends with Chester for twelve years, despite the fact that the Sanctum has always been her life‍?—

Despite all that, she feels more content and moreunderstoodsitting here with a demon than she has in a long time.

“But circling back to our current crisis,” Ez says eventually, and Roma reluctantly opens her eyes. Ez looks like she’s fighting back a grimace. “Obie found our spell‍—the one we can use to check if the Deep is stable. It’s a proven spell, so the risks would be minimal. Just about as much as any other spell that involves an ancient and barely understood magic reservoir.”

Roma arches an eyebrow. “Right. ‘Minimal.’”

Ez’s lips twitch. “I looked over the spell with my people, and it doesn’t seem too complicated. From what I’ve seen of your spellcasting, I think you’ll agree. We can probably cast it with about an hour of prep time, including a few dry runs. You want to give it a shot?”

Roma’s stomach churns. “Not like I have much of a choice,” she says quietly, the all-too-familiar drumbeat of guilt wracking through her. “Do you want to do it now?”

Ez shakes her head. “Sunrise or sunset would be better from a spellcasting perspective. Since you usually look dead on your feet in the mornings, sunset will probably be our best bet. Want to do it after tomorrow’s rift-closing shift? Maybe on the far side of the lake? Technically, the veil between Earth and the Deep is thinnest in the Courtyard, but we’ll have a lot more privacy on the west side.”

This time, an entirely different sensation shivers through Roma’s veins. Casting a tag-team spell at sunset on the shore of a lake sounds like something out of a fairy tale, one of the ones that kids like Chester and JJ grew up with.

One of the ones Roma never thought she would care about. “Yeah,” she says at last, nodding. “Yeah, we can do that. Meet you in the Courtyard tomorrow at eight?”

“I’ll have coffee waiting,” Ez confirms, and she pushes herself to her feet, stretching her arms above her head. “All right. I’m out of here. Rest up, Gutierrez. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

Roma’s throat feels dry. “Later, Laguerre,” she says softly, and Ez throws her a cautious smile before snapping her fingers,somehowopening a rift in the middle of the Sanctum’s anti-rifting spell work, and disappearing from sight.

Roma stays in her seat for a few minutes after she leaves. Catches her breath, makes sure Ez isn’t coming back. Eventually, she stands up on shaky legs, stumbles over to her bed, and eases herself onto the mattress right where Ez was sitting, curling up on her side and burying her face in her pillow.

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