Page 22

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I t’s just past six p.m. on the first Tuesday in June when Roma lowers her arms after their latest mega-rift closure, checks her watch, and yawns into her hand. “How much longer are we going to be out here?”

“That depends on you, lackey,” Ez says, wrinkling her nose when another warm breeze of magic wafts past them. Heaving a sigh, she flicks open a rift and strides through it, Roma following her without complaint. “I can keep going all night, but I’ve been reliably informed that humans are wimps.”

Roma’s scowl looks more halfhearted than anything else. “Bold words from the demon who complains if I’m not in the Courtyard by exactly eight a.m.,” she says, and she spreads her arms as they approach the mega-rift. “One, two, three?—ages upon ages…”

In under a minute, the mega-rift is crumpling in on itself. Roma rubs her eyes tiredly, yawning again, and Ez shoots her a frown. “You should probably get back to the Sanctum, Gutierrez. You look like death warmed over.”

It’s not a lie, either. Roma has been showing up for their ten-hour shifts almost without fail since the epidemic began, and Ez knows for a fact that she buries herself in spell books when she goes back to the Sanctum every night, trying to find a solution to Redwater’s current crisis.

Ez has been burying herself in spell books every night, too, but demons don’t actually need to sleep. The hunting enchantments baked into Roma’s bones might mean that she needs slightly less rest than a normal human, but considering her chronically slumped shoulders and bloodshot eyes, Ez thinks the constant stress might be catching up with her.

Now, Roma winces, glancing around. “Is anyone coming to relieve us?”

Ez grimaces. Public Safety is generally good about providing a demon spellcaster at around this time, and even the Sanctum seems to send their hunters out at regular intervals, but there’s never any guarantee?—especially because summoners haven’t stopped wreaking havoc just because of the mega-rift crisis. She pulls out her phone. “Not sure, but I’ll shoot a message to Maggie Khan. Let her know that we need our shiny replacements sooner rather than later.”

“That won’t help on the human side,” Roma points out.

Ez waves a hand dismissively, sending off the text. “We can always find a replacement human if we need one. You’re just the most readily available.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Anytime.” Another rush of magic breezes over the back of Ez’s neck, and she swears under her breath. “One more?”

“One more,” Roma agrees grimly, and Ez nods as she homes in on the power surge, raises a hand to snap open a rift??—

And nearly jumps out of her skin when another rift entirely opens a few feet away. “Laguerre,” Gregorio says, striding through with Micah just behind him. “You’re a hard demon to track down.”

Roma jerks away in a flash, her ax sliding into her hand as quickly as breathing. Gregorio and Micah both stop dead, visibly startled.

Before Ez can think about what she’s doing, she instinctively puts herself in front of Roma. Micah’s eyebrows shoot up, and Ez fights back a flinch. “I’m not that difficult to find,” she argues, trying to divert attention away from the fact that she’s currently in the bizarre position of protecting a known hunter from two old demon friends. “You just have to follow the mega-rifts, and you can usually find me cursing at them.”

“That’s the problem. The mega-rifts just keep moving,” Micah says, and he gives Roma a tight smile. “Who’s this, then?”

Considering Micah and Gregorio’s obvious interest in “Gutierrez the Younger,” Ez is damn sure that they already recognize Roma. “Pet hunter,” she says brusquely, her lips twitching at Roma’s disgruntled noise of protest behind her. “What do you guys need?”

Honestly, Ez isn’t just tense because Roma is here. Even though she’s still mostly convinced that she can trust Micah and Gregorio, still mostly convinced that they’re on the same side, still mostly convinced that they’ll have her back when it counts??—

Part of her still can’t forget that Roma found the name “G. Ricci” on the Sanctum’s documentation. Or that Gregorio flat-out threatened to expose Cass and JJ if Ez crossed them.

Gregorio and Micah trade one of their annoyingly meaningful looks before focusing back on Ez. “We think we might know what’s going on,” Gregorio says eventually. “With the mega-rifts.”

The words jolt through Ez. Behind her, she senses rather than sees Roma snap to attention. “You do?” Roma demands, stepping forward. “What is it?”

Gregorio stiffens, his eyes narrowing dangerously, and Micah steps forward like he’s ready to intercept her. “Nothing you need to know,” Micah says smoothly, that same flat smile still firmly in place, and??—

Oh, for Nostringvadha’s sake. Ez sighs explosively, massaging her temples. “Can all three of you idiots just stand down? You’re giving me a headache.”

Micah looks surprised at the words, but he takes a miniscule step away. Roma doesn’t move at all, just crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at the two demons, but at least her ax is back in its holding place.

“Stop pouting,” Ez orders her, and she turns her back on Roma’s indignant sputtering. “Seriously. What’s your idea?”

“It’s something we’re not sharing with the Chain yet,” Gregorio says evenly, his eyes still fixed on Roma. “Or the Sanctum, obviously. We already invited the rest of your crew over to our place to talk about it, but we just need to round out the group with someone who actually knows their way around a spell book.”

Ez nods, unsurprised. “There’s a spell to fix it.”

“A varsity-level one,” Micah confirms. “Fit for Redwater’s best demon spellcaster.”

“Flattery doesn’t work if it’s just a fact,” Ez drawls, and she raises her eyebrows. “Do we need a second spellcaster, too? Or a human one?”

She’s not entirely sure why she asks the question. The vast majority of spells are created for solo spellcasters, and spells that require both a demon and a human are vanishingly rare. Especially for a varsity-level spell, the overwhelming balance of probability is that Ez can cast it alone.

But Ez and Roma have been closing these mega-rifts together for weeks. Even though their spells are technically different, attacking the problem from two angles has worked well so far, and human magic and demon magic are known to strengthen each other. And if they need a second spellcaster who actually has the chops for a varsity-level spell, well??—

Roma is their best bet.

Gregorio shifts minutely. “Don’t worry. We already have a human spellcaster lined up.”

“JJ, you mean?” Ez asks, and all three of them tense. “Relax. Roma knows that JJ is one of my people. It’s not really a secret at this point.”

Micah twitches. “Ah,” he says, giving Roma an unreadable look. “So you are the younger Gutierrez sister.”

Roma glares back at him. “My name is Roma.”

“So we’ve heard,” Gregorio says briskly, and he turns back to Ez. “Yeah, we’re pretty sure you and Jackson can pull it off.”

“Highly unlikely,” Ez says. Micah and Gregorio both look startled. “If this really is a varsity-level spell, then his spellcasting probably won’t cut it. He hasn’t trained much beyond the basics of magic.”

Not to mention that JJ’s soul isn’t fully human anymore. But no one in the immediate vicinity needs to know that little detail.

Gregorio’s jaw works. “We’re not bringing the hunter with us,” he says, jerking his chin at Roma. “Not happening.”

“Dude, I didn’t even ask,” Roma snaps back.

Ez doesn’t back down. “Roma is the best human spellcaster the Sanctum has, and we’ve been handling the mega-rift situation together for weeks. At this point, our spellcasting is complementary. That’ll give us the highest probability of success with the lowest chance of error.”

Micah’s shoulders are tight. “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Ez,” he says quietly.

“Then I’m not wasting my time,” Ez says bluntly, and out of the corner of her eye, she sees Roma start with surprise. “It could take weeks for JJ to build up the requisite power demands for a varsity-level spell, if he can manage it at all. Don’t get me wrong?—JJ is a hard worker and a great fighter, but spellcasting of this magnitude is a whole different ball game. Roma comes out of the box several levels higher than him, and again, we’ve been working together for weeks. It just makes sense.”

“Am I an action figure to you or something?” Roma complains.

“More like a trading card,” Ez says, and she turns back to Micah’s and Gregorio’s twin scowls. “Well?”

This is a risky game. Ez knows it is. Yes, “trust” is a word that she would use to describe her relationship with Roma at this point, but only under certain circumstances?—with spellcasting, with the mega-rift epidemic, with their corruption investigation.

Trusting Roma enough to bring her to someone’s house is very different from trusting her in public places, and trusting her with Ez’s friends?—particularly JJ?—is very different from trusting her when they’re alone together.

If Ez is wrong about Roma?—if Roma really is the loyal Sanctum lackey that everyone else believes she is?—then the results of this gamble could be catastrophic. Locations compromised, people compromised.

Everything they say reported back to the Council and used against them.

But if Ez is right?—if Roma’s loyalty to the Sanctum has been wavering as she sees a different side of demonkind through Ez?—then this could be a huge step forward in not only ending the epidemic, but maybe even solidifying Roma as a permanent ally.

For that possibility, Ez is willing to roll the dice.

Slowly, Micah shakes his head. “Truth be told, this isn’t just about the spell. There are… certain other aspects of this situation that we need to discuss with you and your crew. Certain other aspects that have to do with?—with??—?”

“With the conspiracy we mentioned last month,” Gregorio finishes flatly. Micah winces. “It’s time for us to get other people involved, and you’re lucky enough to be one of the few demons we trust.” He waggles his fingers unenthusiastically. “Hooray.”

Ez doesn’t budge. “Roma is the one who told me about the corruption in the Chain, not you two. You’re not the only ones with a stake in this.”

Roma stiffens. “You’re talking about the neophytes? The ones who ended up in the Sanctum’s prison?”

“Mm-hm,” Ez says, and she gestures at Micah and Gregorio. “Oh, where are my manners? Roma, this is Micah Devereux and his husband, Gregorio Ricci himself. Your mystery hunter allegedly forged his signature.”

Roma’s fingers clench and relax. Suddenly, Ez realizes that Roma is resisting the urge to pull out her ax again?—or fire up a magic offensive.

Probably only resisting because Ez is standing right there. She swallows down the fluttering in her chest at the thought. “So those are your options,” she says, giving Gregorio and Micah her best smile. “I’m either bringing Roma with me to end this mess quickly, or I’m going to head home and enjoy a nice evening of streaming the new Water Wars movie. Your choice.”

For a long moment, Micah and Gregorio stare her down.

And then, with a defeated sigh, Micah pulls out his cell phone. “Give me a minute,” he says, and he taps a few quick buttons before pressing it to his ear. “Hey. Ez Laguerre insists that she wants Roma Gutierrez for dual spellcasting purposes. Opinions?”

Ez blinks at him, confused. There’s someone else involved in this trainwreck, too? Micah and Gregorio mentioned their “sources” the last time she spoke with them, but she thought they were just informants, not active participants.

Apparently, though, they’re involved enough to warrant getting their approval for an updated guest list. Ez can’t hear the other side of the conversation?—probably a soundproofing spell over the phone itself?—but Micah only listens for a few seconds before glancing back at Ez. “And this is the same Roma Gutierrez who double-crossed you all and almost got Cass and JJ killed a few months ago?”

Roma flinches. A little bit of that old anger stirs behind Ez’s sternum, but she decisively squashes it down. “The very same. But she’s not claiming to be on our side this time?—just Redwater’s side. I think we can trust her enough to get our town back to status quo.”

Roma’s wide eyes snap to Ez, honest surprise written all over her face. Like she wasn’t quite expecting Ez to use the word “trust.”

Conditional trust, but trust nonetheless.

Micah’s jaw works. “You heard it straight from Ez,” he tells the person on the phone. “Yea or nay?”

Nearly a minute trickles by in silence before he lets out his breath in a hiss. “Sounds like a plan. See you soon,” he says, and he disconnects the call. “All right. We’re moving this little get-together to a more neutral location, but yeah. Yeah, Gutierrez the Younger can come.”

Roma scowls at the nickname, but she stays silent. Looking resigned, Gregorio pulls out his own cell phone and starts typing out a text message. “I’ll see if Obie has any spare properties we can use. He owns a full third of Redwater; he must have at least one vacancy.”

Ez nods, unreasonably satisfied by Micah’s and Gregorio’s glowers. “Excellent. We’ll have this entire nightmare dealt with by tomorrow at noon.”

“Yeah, I doubt that,” Gregorio says ominously. His phone buzzes in his hand, and he squints down at the message before snapping open a rift. “Got an address from Obie. Let’s get moving.”

He strides through without a backwards glance, Micah following close behind. Ez casts a quick spell to track the rift’s destination, nodding when she recognizes one of Obie’s apartment buildings. “You good, Gutierrez?”

Roma doesn’t move. “Are we sure we can trust them?”

And there’s that “we” again. “Nope,” Ez says truthfully. “But don’t worry. I’ll protect you if things go sideways.”

The words slip out before Ez can think better of them, and frankly, she’s not quite sure where they came from. Maybe the little gap between allies and friends that they’ve found themselves reluctantly cornered into? Maybe the shared trauma of being grudging work buddies under a corrupt system?

Maybe something else entirely, something that Ez just doesn’t want to name yet.

Whatever it is, Roma’s expression goes perfectly blank before smoothing back into its usual resting bitch face. “That’s really not comforting,” she says, but she takes a deep breath, squares her shoulders, and follows Ez through the rift.