Page 69 of Fool Me Twice

“It’s not,” Roma says immediately, and she flushes. “I mean, they’re‍—they’re not. They didn’t just hand me the spell and expect me to take it at face value. I know how they figured it out. The process was sound, the magic was sound. The spellcasting was sound.” Hesitantly, she reaches out, tapping a finger on the corner of the paper. “This is the spell, Ez. I swear.”

Ez lets out a slow breath, casting her eyes towards the sky.

She doesn’t like this. She doesn’t like this atall.While spellcasting at a lower level can involve some guesswork and uncertainty, spellcasting at her and Roma’s level is an entirely different matter‍—especially if they’re going to be accessing the Deep. They don’t have any room for risks or doubts.

If one tiny aspect is incorrect, it could be a death sentence for both of them.

“I’m sorry,” Roma says quietly, and Ez shoots her a sharp look. Roma’s eyes are fixed on her hands again. “That I can’t tell you how we came up with the spell. I know it’s a lot to ask of you, but‍?—‍”

“No,” Ez says, and she scrubs a hand down her face, sighing. “No, it’s‍—it’s fine. I trust you.”

It’s not until the words are out of Ez’s mouth that she realizes how true they are. She trusts Roma Gutierrez. Not just during their rift-closing shifts, not just with their little conspiracy‍?—

She saw how Roma reacted when Naomi and Sawyer were willing to put JJ’s life at risk. At this point, Ez is pretty sure she can trust Roma with her friends, too.

Apparently, Roma is just as surprised to hear the words as Ez was to say them. “I‍?—‍”

“With spellcasting,” Ez blurts out. “I trust you with spellcasting. So‍—so if you say that the Sanctum’s methods are legit, then I believe you.”

Ez swears that she sees a flash of disappointment cross Roma’s face. She’s feeling more than a little disappointed herself, even though she can’t quite pinpoint why. “Ah,” Roma says, nodding stiffly. “Well, um. Thanks. For that.”

“Yep,” Ez says awkwardly, and she clears her throat, looking back down at the incantation. If she’s going to accept that this is the spell that destabilized the Deep‍—if she’s going to accept that she trulytrustsRoma now‍—then she needs to put her money where her mouth is. “Do you have any extra paper? We can start drafting a few reversals with different magic bases and compare our results.”

“I already created a few,” Roma says, and she pulls a notepad out of nowhere‍—or, more likely, out of her makeshift pocket dimension. “Our spellcasters gave me theMagic-Weaver’sspell last night, so I went on a counterspell-creation binge. I wrote one with a neutral base and two with human-magic bases‍—even though you can’t use those, I figured they’d be helpful to make sure we agreed on all of the nuances.”

The words set Ez’s worries even more at ease. If Roma is already putting together reversals, that means she really does believe this is the correct spell‍—she wouldn’t waste her time otherwise. “Sounds good,” Ez says, and she holds out a hand. “Can I borrow that? I’ll write out another three counterspells, and then we’ll compare.”

“Sure,” Roma says, passing the notepad to Ez with a pencil. “Here. Go nuts.”

Ez nods her thanks before setting the original spell on top of the pad, making shorthand notes in the margins and running through a quick nuance analysis.The Magic-Weaver’s Companion,huh? Who was reckless enough to usethatspell book? Besides the fact that it doesn’t have any printed counterspells, italsodoesn’t specify whether its spells are safe enough to perform over magic reservoirs‍—magic reservoirs like the Deep.

It’s difficult to say whether it was a human or a demon who started this epidemic‍—the spell’s magic base is neutral, so it can be used by both‍—but whoever they are, they’re clearly an idiot.

Once she’s finished analyzing the original spell, it doesn’t take long for her to draft a few counterspell variations. She starts with two demon-magic bases as a warm-up‍—like Roma said, they’re useful for solidifying Ez’s understanding of the spell’s nuances‍—before choosing a suitable neutral base for her third attempt.

And, after so many years of practice, creating point-by-point counterspells is child’s play. When she finishes her last one and glances up at Roma, it’s to see that the hunter’s eyebrows are approaching her hairline and her mouth is hanging slightly agape. A spark of satisfaction dances through Ez‍—along with a spark of something else, too.

Part of her really likes being able to impress Roma. She’s determined not to analyze that part too closely, though. Instead, she just clears her throat, tearing out her three counterspells and laying them in the middle of the table. “Compare?”

“Compare,” Roma agrees, ripping her own three out of the notepad and putting them side by side with Ez’s. Immediately, her eyebrows shoot up. “Huh. We used the same neutral base. You’re a fan of Blakeman?”

“Who isn’t?” Ez says, reading through their twin Blakeman drafts. Almost identical‍—in fact, they only differ by two words. Ez taps them with one finger. “Why did you choose these? Other words would be more exact.”

“Syllables,” Roma says, pointing at the next line. “I wanted to make sure the pattern stayed consistent.”

Ez nods slowly. “Valid, but precision generally matters more than intonation.”

“Maybe we could meet in the middle?” Roma suggests. “Find words that are more exact than mine, but have more syllables than yours?”

“If we decide to use Blakeman, at least,” Ez says, and she turns to Roma’s other reversals. “I’m not totally familiar with human-magic bases, but I think most of the nuances match the neutral counterspell. Except‍—‍” She squints at one of them. “What’s with this wordplay in the last line?”

“It’s part of the base,” Roma admits. “Not my best work, but it was nearly midnight by then. I was exhausted.”

Ez blinks at her, surprised. “How long did it take you to make these?”

“Longer than the five minutes it took you,” Roma grumbles, and she skims over Ez’s demon-magic counterspells. “You even managed torhymethis one. It reads more like a poem than an incantation.”

“The Johannes baseispretty flowery,” Ez concedes. “Not my favorite from a practical standpoint, but it’s a lot of fun to play with‍—and it’s a good warm-up for other spell work.”

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