Page 74 of Fool Me Twice

Actually, it looked like she was more surprised to be included in the first place. Like she didn’t even think she would rank on Ez’s list of trusted confidants, much less that Ez would take her comments seriously.

Maggie’s always been a bit of a loner, but sometimes, Ez wonders if that’s really good for her. “In any case,” Ez continues, glancing at the clock, “I’ll just ask JJ when he gets home, and then I’ll be finished on my end. I’ve only asked demons so far, so getting a trained hunter’s opinion will be helpful.”

Especially because, when she talked to Micah and Gregorio, neither of them offered to pass the counterspell along to their resident ex-hunters. Part of Ez is glad that the decision to reach out to Naomi is firmly in Roma’s hands, but her heart hurts at how Roma is clearly struggling with how to handle that decision.

Cass’s eyebrows furrow. “Isn’t Roma asking the Sanctum’s spellcasters?”

“They already signed off on it,” Ez confirms. “But I actuallytrustJJ, so even if his spellcasting is subpar, it’ll still ease my anxiety a bit.”

Cass grins. “Valid,” he says, following Ez’s gaze towards the clock. If Ez isn’t mistaken, he actually looks a little disappointed that they still have another few hours until Obie brings JJ and Desi home.

“Don’t tell me you miss them already,” Ez says, rolling her eyes. “They’ve barely been gone for half an hour.”

“What, I’m not allowed to love my boyfriend and our daughter?” Cass’s eyes flicker back to Ez. “Although Iwilladmit that it’s nice to have an adult conversation for more than five minutes. Now that JJ and I both need to sleep, it’s like‍—like we have less time to be ourselves, you know?” He shrugs one shoulder. “Not that I’d change any of it, of course. It’s just strange to share my life with people after living it solo for so long.”

Unbidden, Ez’s thoughts snap to Roma, her spellcasting buddy and companion for all her daylight hours. “What do you mean?” she asks carefully, shoving the hunter from her mind.

“I was neveralone,obviously,” Cass says, and he shoots Ez a smile. “I always had you and Obie. I was never lonely. But I never really had anyone in my home, in my space. Never really had anyone relying on me. And I don’t think I ever realized just how nice it is to be needed‍—neededandwanted‍—until I got Desi and JJ. I mean, I just love watching Desi learn about the world and everything in it, and I love how she’s so excited to meet new people and learn new things, and Ilovehow she always looks back at us to check if we’re excited, too. She’s growing into her own person, and it’s honestly incredible to watch.

“And JJ…” Cass’s eyes soften. “JJ is amazing. He’s a great dad, of course, but there’s so much more to him than I ever would’ve imagined. He’s only been alive for twenty-two years, but Ez, he containsmagnitudes.And I want to learn everything about him, from his favorite childhood memories to why he drowns his coffee with milk every morning. I want to know what makes himhim.”He hesitates. “Sometimes, late at night, he’ll look at me and say, ‘I’ve never told this to anyone before, but…’ And those are my absolute favorite moments, because he’s giving me a gift that he’s never given anyone else. He’s giving me a piece ofhimself,and he’s trusting me to handle it with care.”

Ez’s chest twinges. “Sounds perfect.”

To her surprise, Cass snorts. “It’s not. Trust me. Don’t get me wrong‍—I love JJ with all my heart, but the man is a piece of work. He has no idea how to compromise, so he’ll just let me get my way and then be bitter about it without telling me why he’s upset, and he never learned how to ask for help, so he’ll get frustrated when he can’t accomplish something and not tell me that he’s struggling, and‍—‍” His smile wavers. “I know that a lot of it is residual trauma from the Sanctum. He wasn’t reallyallowed to have his own opinions, and they looked down on him if he showed any weakness. Honestly, I feel like we’re going to be unpacking what he went through for years to come, and‍—and it’s not always a neat process. It’s messy. It’s complicated. I wish I could just snap my fingers and make it all better, but my magic can’t fix that. All I can do is try to be there for him when he backslides or lashes out.”

Suddenly, Ez realizes that she’s holding her breath. “But he’s getting better?”

“I’m starting to think that ‘getting better’ is more of an ongoing process than a final destination,” Cass admits. “But yeah. Yeah, I think he’s getting better. Day by day. And I think part of why I see him at his worst is because hetrustsme to see him at his worst, you know? I remember one night, after a particularly bad fight, we were on opposite sides of the bed and not even looking at each other, and out of nowhere, he just whispered, ‘Thank you for not leaving me.’” He looks away. “That broke my heart, honestly. Because he’s not used to the idea of someone loving him unconditionally anymore. Not since the Sanctum took that away from him.”

Ez’s chest hurts. “You two are good for each other.”

“Yeah. I think we are.” He arches an eyebrow. “And you?”

Instantly, Ez’s defenses shoot up. “Whataboutme?”

Cass scoffs. “Did you think I was just sharing and caring about my relationship with an ex-hunter for my own health? No.” He leans forward. “What’s going on with you andyourlackey?”

“Roma’s notmylackey,” Ez stresses, her stomach churning uncomfortably. “She’s just, you know, a lackey that I happen to associate with. She’s tolerable.”

Cass narrows his eyes at her.

Ez scowls back. “What?”

“Listen, Ez,” he says, leaning back in his chair, “I know that we were all suspicious when Roma first came back into our lives, but from what I can see, she’s really proven her goodwill over the past few weeks. I feel like we’re past the ‘enemies’ stage at this point, so it’s not out of line to admit that you enjoy her company.” He winces. “JJ is struggling with that, too. Hewantsto trust her again‍—wants to believe that she’s still his friend, and that they can move on from the past together‍—but he’s still licking his wounds from the last time he trusted her and everything went wrong. That hurt him more than he wants to admit.”

A pang twists through Ez. “For what it’s worth,” she says quietly, “Roma still asks about him sometimes. And not in a creepy, ‘authorized by the Sanctum’ way. More like‍—like she genuinely wants to know how he is. And when she chewed out Naomi and Sawyer for trying to use JJ for their own ends, that didn’t feel fake, either.”

Cass searches Ez’s face. “So you trust her?”

Ez grimaces, looking away. “‘Trust’ is a strong word, but‍—but it’s been getting more and more true every day. I can always rely on her, you know? Always count on her. We work really well together, and she has this deeprespectfor magic that I don’t see in many humans, and…” She trails off, thinking back to Roma’s awestruck expression when they checked the Deep together. “I almost feel likeshetrustsme,and that makes me want to trust her, too. You know?”

“Yeah. I know.” Cass rests his chin on his palm, scrutinizing her closely. “What about, ah, thingsbeyondtrust?”

Heat flames up the back of Ez’s neck. “Don’t even go there, Chin. We’re not going to be the next you and JJ.”

“Are yousuuuuure?”Cass wheedles, dragging out the last word for longer than strictly necessary. “Because you do spend quite a lot of time together, and youalwaystalk about her‍?—‍”

“I do not!”

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