Page 93 of Fool Me Twice

“Is that what you said last time, too?” Sawyer asks bitingly, and she turns to Naomi. “We need a new safe house. This one is probably compromised.”

Naomi glares at Roma for a long, hard moment before nodding. “Agreed.”

“I didn’t‍—I wouldn’t do that!” Roma protests, her voice coming higher and faster. “I didn’t tell the Sanctum anything, all right? Not about you two, and not about the conspiracy, and‍?—‍”

One after another, the pieces are slotting into place in Ez’s mind, taut and merciless. “You switched the spell.”

Roma goes still. “Ez?”

Ez jabs a finger at one of the memoryscapes. “Locke and Nehemiah weren’t casting the spell fromThe Magic-Weaver’s Companionat first. If this wasyouroperation from the start, then that meansyouwere the one who chose that pre-WMSA spell for them to use. The one that started the epidemic.”

Naomi stiffens. “Avoiding those spells was the first lesson in spellcasting class, Roma!” she hisses. “Why would you even‍?—‍?”

“You only have to avoid them if you don’t understand them!” Roma snaps back. “But Ididunderstand it, and I checked all the nuances, and it was less taxing for Bryant and Chester, and‍?—‍”

Obie’s laugh is biting. “Youunderstoodit? Really? So you knew that you were about to spark a monthlong epidemic that would exhaust half of Redwater’s resources?”

“I‍—‍” Roma snaps her mouth shut, trembling. “No. No, that was an accident, and we didn’t realize it would destabilize the Deep, and‍?—‍”

“But you knew.” The roaring in Ez’s ears is louder now, louder andangrier‍?—

And this time, it sounds more like words. More like accusations.

Stupid, stupid, stupid‍—did you really think you could trust a Sanctum hunter? Did you really think you could trust the same person who already betrayed you once before? How could you put your friends at risk like this? How could you‍?—‍?

“You’ve known whatactuallystarted this epidemic for weeks,” Ez says, hating how her voice shakes. “You knew the exact spell we needed long before you actually told us about it, and you knew about the dual spellcasters from the start, and‍—andwe could’ve died!We could’vediedcasting that untested counterspell, and you would’velet us‍?—‍”

Gregorio sneers. “Oh, please. She probably would’ve gotten a commendation for taking out Redwater’s most powerful demon spellcaster.”

“What?” Roma’s eyes widen.“No!No, that wasn’t it at all! I never wanted to put Ez at risk, never wanted her to get hurt‍?—‍”

“So whatwasthe plan here, Gutierrez?” Cass bites out. “Just keep lying and hope we never found out?”

Roma cringes. “I don’t‍—I don’t know what the plan was anymore,” she admits, her voice strained. “Because thingschanged,okay? Things changed with all of you, and withyou,Ez, because I‍?—‍”

Ez laughs. It sounds hollow in her own ears. “Don’t say you started falling for me. That’s just tacky.”

Roma jerks back like Ez slapped her. “But‍—but I think I did,” she whispers, and the words are like a knife in Ez’s chest. “I think Idid,and‍?—‍”

Abruptly, Obie steps forward. “Ez. With sufficient time and practice, do you think JJ could cast this counterspell with you?”

Cass twitches. And Ez knows that Cass hates anything that could put JJ in danger‍—frankly, Ez hates it, too‍—but right now‍?—

Right now, it looks like JJ is their only option. The only one Ez can trust, at least. “We have a solid chance,” she says curtly. “Especially because we already have reasonable evidence that our counterspell is correct.”

“JJ, are you comfortable with that?”

JJ glares at Roma for a hard moment before looking away. “I guess I have to be.”

“Great,” Obie says, and he snaps open a rift, grabs Roma’s arm, and shoves her unceremoniously through it.

Roma stumbles on the last step, whirling around like she’s trying to reach back. “Wait‍—Ez‍?—‍!”

Before Ez can react, Obie flicks his wrist, snapping the rift shut.

Cutting Roma Gutierrez out of Ez’s life as ruthlessly as she wormed her way into it.

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