Page 67 of Fool Me Twice

“We’re already two for two on surviving a brush with the Deep,” Chester says. “I’m sure Roma can make it three for three.”

He says it with the same confidence he’s always had in her spellcasting. Guilt crawls through Roma’s chest. “We can hope,” she says, forcing a smile as she sits down at the table and flips the spell book open. “And‍—and I do have the advantage of creating and casting the counterspell with the most powerful spellcaster on the East Coast. I could think of worse demons to work with.”

“She’s good for that, at least,” Bryant agrees, sprawling in her own chair.

“Yeah.” A cautious expression creeps onto Chester’s face as he sits next to Bryant. “Has she‍—has she mentioned JJ at all?”

He looks both hopeful and afraid of Roma’s answer. Roma’s heart hurts. At this point, Chester is the only one who still calls him “JJ” in public‍—everyone else, even Bryant, reverts to “Jackson” when other hunters are in earshot.

Making the distinction between their old friend’s affectionate nickname and the distant surname for the defector. Romaweighs her options and decides to tread as close to the truth as possible. “Once or twice,” she says softly. “It sounds like he’s doing well.”

Bryant’s eyebrows shoot up. “You really believe that?”

“Yeah. I do.” Roma realizes that she’s picking at the edge ofMagic-Weaver’scover and pulls her fingers away. “I don’t think any of us know exactly what happened between him and Chin, but I think JJ is as happy as he can be right now.”

“Huh,” Bryant says, and she and Chester exchange knowing looks.

Instantly, Roma’s hackles rise. “What?”

“Chester and I were just discussing this the other day, actually,” Bryant says. “The possibility of you starting to sympathize with Laguerre and her crew.”

All the blood rushes from Roma’s head at once. “What? What do you mean?”

Bryant and Chester are worried about Romasympathizingwith Ez? Why do they think that? Has Roma talked about Ez too much? Forgotten to refer to her by her last name? Showed too much respect for Ez’s spellcasting abilities, deferred to Ez’s judgment too often, smiled too much at Ez in public?

How many other people might be “worried” about where Roma’s sympathies lie? The overnight spellcasters? The mixed-breed hunters who initially helped her with the con?

The Council?

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of!” Chester adds hastily. “And it doesn’t mean you did anything wrong.”

“No, not at all,” Bryant assures her, throwing one arm over the back of her chair. “But you and Laguerre have been working together since, what, mid-April? And you’ve been on ten-hour shifts with each other for almost a month. There’s a certain amount of familiarity that comes with that.” She raises hereyebrows meaningfully. “A certain amount of trust. Even if that trust is in the worst person possible.”

“And strike teams aren’t trained to be aware of it,” Chester adds, a note of seriousness dropping into his voice. “Not like interrogators are. There are some demons who stay in this prison for weeks or months or even years, and after a while, you develop a rapport with them. They start asking you questions instead of just answering them. Sometimes, you can get them to tell you more by sharing a few details about yourself.” His jaw tightens. “But you can’t let yourself forget that it’s all an act, okay? On both sides. Laguerre is playing you, just like Chin and the kid played JJ. You can’t let yourself fall into that trap.”

Roma’s chest aches. Chester looks so earnest about what he’s saying, so sincere about trying to protect Roma, and for a brief moment, Roma wonders if the demons in the prison reallyaretrying to manipulate him.

Maybe they just start talking because there’s no one else around to listen.

But there’s no way she’s going to say that out loud, not when Bryant and Chester are already doubting her resolve. “Thanks for looking out for me,” she says at last, nodding. “I’ll keep my guard up, I promise.”

Chester hesitates. “And you’ll bring JJ home. Right?”

Roma’s stomach churns. “I’ll do my best,” she says, ignoring the uncomfortable fact that bringing JJ back to this place is the absolute last thing she wants to do. “But‍—but to do that, we have to convince Laguerre that this is the correct spell without letting on that we were the ones who cast it. Thoughts?”

Chester drums his fingers against the table, considering. “Maybe we could find a bunch of different rift-opening spells, and you could show her the real one in a pile of decoys?”

Roma shakes her head. “It’s a good concept, but a spellcaster of her caliber wouldn’t even think about creating a reversal unless she was certain she had the correct spell.”

“Well…” Bryant’s eyebrows furrow. “What if you couldconvinceher that this is the correct spell?”

Roma frowns at her. “What do you mean?”

“The Sanctum always has its secrets, right?” Bryant says. “Secrets that you obviously wouldn’t tell a demon. So you can use that to your advantage: claim that our spellcasters have been doing their own research, and that they guaranteed this is the real spell. If Laguerre presses you for details, you can brush her off by saying the Council forbade you to talk about their methods with outsiders.”

The thought makes Roma feel faintly ill. “Laguerre and I have always beenverytransparent about spell work. It’ll be a red flag if I hide something this important from her.”

Chester winces. “You might have to risk it. This is too important to leave to chance‍—or to put off for longer than necessary. And…” His eyes turn cautious. “And your entire mission has revolved around earning her trust. Don’t you think she trusts you by now?”

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