Chapter 38
38
E z saunters through a rift to the address Obie gave her, Roma following close behind. “All right,” Ez says, waving it shut and glancing around. They’re in an unfamiliar living room?—Naomi and Sawyer’s real house, she presumes?—with the two ex-hunters themselves standing by the fireplace, Obie leaning against the couch, and Cass and JJ obstinately sitting on said couch, looking tense but defiant in their decision to be comfortable. “Are we the last ones here?”
“Not quite,” Obie says. His voice is even and his posture is deceptively relaxed, but Ez knows him well enough to see that he’s ready to throw down at a moment’s notice. “Still waiting on Micah and Gregorio.”
“Make yourselves at home,” Naomi adds, her eyes lingering on Roma. “I didn’t expect to see you tonight, kiddo.”
JJ leans forward on the couch, a faint frown creasing his brow. “What are you doing out so late? It’s almost curfew.”
Roma gives him a guarded smile, edging subtly closer to Ez. “Curfew hasn’t exactly been suspended, but it’s been less enforced since the mega-rift epidemic started. I, um, already texted Bryant to let her know I wouldn’t be back tonight.”
Cass’s eyebrows shoot up. “Were you two going to spend the whole night working on the counterspell?” he asks, nodding at Ez. “That’s hardcore.”
Ez bites back a smirk. She and Roma were probably going to spend at least a little time working on the counterspell in between their… other plans, so the sentiment isn’t entirely inaccurate. “We’re always hardcore,” she says loftily. “And we already tried the reversal at sunset with some mildly unpleasant results, so we’re going to try again at sunrise?—unless the Conspiracy Fam has other ideas.” She arches an eyebrow at Naomi and Sawyer. “So where are Micah and Gregorio, anyway? Do we actually need them here?”
Naomi squints at her. “‘The Conspiracy Fam’? Do you seriously call us that?”
“And Micah and Gregorio are just running some tests,” Sawyer says lightly. “Nothing major. They should be here in a few minutes.”
Roma and JJ shift in place at the same time, their narrowed eyes fixed on Sawyer, and a prickle of unease runs down Ez’s spine. Sawyer actively trained JJ for six years and indirectly mentored Roma for almost as long, so if anyone would know when the purebred is lying, it’s them.
Whether Sawyer is deliberately misleading them or just being intentionally vague, she’s clearly hiding something.
“And us?” Cass’s spine is ramrod straight and his shoulders are stiff. “Me and JJ, I mean. Why do you need us here?”
He looks like he’s prepared to physically fight someone, and JJ has hunched shoulders and downcast eyes next to him. Ez’s heart hurts. She knows that their last meeting with this particular group didn’t go well for them, between Naomi and Sawyer nearly sending JJ into a full breakdown and Cass making the executive decision to get him out of there?—even though it meant leaving Ez and Obie behind.
Ez doesn’t want to think about how much it must’ve pained Cass to ask JJ to trust his old mentors one more time.
Sawyer hesitates before answering. “Technically, we don’t need you here. We want to keep you both in the loop for any important updates, but…” She smiles unsurely. “Mostly, we just wanted to see JJ again.”
JJ’s head jerks up. “Me? Why me?”
Naomi huffs out an impatient breath. “Because we missed you, dumbass. Why else?”
“I thought we were trying to be more tactful this time,” Sawyer says pointedly.
“Please. I don’t think anyone in this room has even an ounce of tact,” Naomi says, and she meets JJ’s eyes. “Listen, Sawyer and I have made a lot of mistakes over the past six years, okay? A lot of mistakes. We’ve been fumbling around in the dark, trying to do what’s right for Redwater and the world, but we lost sight of some important things along the way. Like?—like you.” Her eyes dart to Roma. “And you. I promised I’d be there to celebrate with you after Strike Team Kappa’s first official mission. I wasn’t. And I wasn’t there for any of your other accomplishments, either. I’m?—I’m really sorry about that, Roma.”
“Same here,” Sawyer says softly, pain twining through her voice. “I know we’ve said it before, but we never wanted to leave you two behind?—not you two, and not Chester and Bryant, either. At the time, we thought it was the best option to keep you safe, but?—but even if you were safe, you weren’t happy. You weren’t free. And safety versus freedom is a choice, just like anything else, but we made that choice for you, and that wasn’t right. Not with what we knew back then, and not with what we know now. So…” Unexpectedly, she reaches out, threading her fingers through Naomi’s. “We’re sorry for leaving you. We both are.”
“And about our trash fire of a reunion earlier this month,” Naomi adds, looking chagrined. “JJ, we never thought you were expendable, okay? We just thought you were the only defector who still knew the Sanctum well enough to find what we needed. But we never even stopped to ask if you wanted to help us. We shouldn’t have assumed.”
“And we didn’t trust you at all,” Sawyer says to Roma bluntly, and Ez fights back a snort. “I still think that was justified, considering what we’ve heard about the last time you were allegedly on our side, but?—but Ez trusted you. And we should’ve realized that any friend of Ez’s is a friend of ours, too.”
Roma’s breathing looks the slightest bit shaky. “Thanks,” she croaks.
Ez’s chest aches for her, but for once, it’s a good ache. “Well, now,” she says, clapping a hand on Roma’s shoulder and squeezing lightly. Roma relaxes the tiniest bit. “This is all very sweet. I should’ve brought tissues.”
Obie looks towards the ceiling like he’s praying to Nostringvadha for patience. “Ez.”
“What? I’m not immune to heartfelt apologies and the power of forgiveness!” She takes a deep breath, glancing at Roma. “And Roma might be working with us more in the future, too. So it’s probably good that we’re airing out all these emotions now.”
JJ snaps to attention. “You are?” he asks, frowning at Roma. “But after the epidemic is over, the Sanctum is going to be on their guard again. You’ll barely be able to talk to us without drawing suspicion, much less work with us.”
Roma raises her eyebrows. “Well, you managed it, didn’t you?”
JJ’s lips twitch. “The Sanctum wasn’t on high alert back then,” he says, and he absently shifts to the side, pressing his shoulder against Cass’s. “And I had help.”
For a split second, Roma looks like she’s wrestling with something.
And then she says, “I should’ve helped you, too. But I didn’t. Actually?—?” She laughs uneasily. “Actually, I basically did the exact opposite of help you. I just wanted everything to go back to the way it used to be. Before everything got complicated, and before I had to start questioning the Sanctum?—and our places in it.” She meets JJ’s eyes. “I’m really glad you’re happy now. It took me a long time to realize that, but?—but I think part of me always knew you were better off on the outside. I just didn’t want to think about it. Didn’t want to think that you were better off without us.”
JJ pushes himself to his feet, turning to face her directly. “I was never better off without you, okay? Not without you, and not without Chester and Bryant, either. If I could have the three of you here with me, then?—then life would be pretty damn perfect, honestly.”
Roma gives him a hesitant smile. “Well, you might have me,” she says, and she takes a tentative step towards him.
JJ jerks away. “Wait??—?”
Instantly, Roma snaps back to Ez’s side. “Sorry,” she blurts out, her voice lightning-fast and tight with emotion. “I?—I know that we’re not really okay yet, and I know that I hurt you really badly, and??—?”
“No, no?—?” JJ shakes his head. “It’s not that. I forgive you for that.”
Ez’s heart leaps. Roma goes still. “Really?”
JJ gives her a small smile. “Really. Listen, I’m not gonna lie?—what you did to us was terrible on a thousand different levels. I almost lost Cass,” he says, and almost unconsciously, his hand drifts to the side. Without even blinking, Cass grabs his palm, squeezing lightly. “I almost lost everything, Roma, and I?—I thought it was my fault. My fault for trusting you.”
Roma’s face crumples. “JJ??—?”
“But it wasn’t my fault,” he cuts in. “And I don’t think it was your fault, either?—not entirely. You were just doing what you had to do to survive, because?—?” His lips twist in a bitter smile. “Because you and I always got the worst assignments, didn’t we? We always had the most to prove. Always had to fight for our place at the table. Always had to beg for those scraps of approval from the Council. Hell, I probably would’ve done the same thing in your position.” His eyes are sad. “You wanted your friend back because you thought someone was manipulating him. Trust me, I understand that more than ever nowadays.”
Roma’s eyes look watery. “Thanks, Jayj,” she says haltingly.
“Yeah.” JJ laughs awkwardly. “And I only backed away because it looked like you were about to go in for a hug, and, um. I would give those corrosion burns a zero out of ten. Would not recommend. They took almost three weeks to heal last time.”
The words jolt through Ez. Roma straightens, blinking back at him. “Oh, Ez and I actually found a workaround for that. You just have to deactivate the corrosion spell on the injured party, and the burns heal pretty much instantaneously.”
JJ’s jaw drops. “What?”
“Ex cuse me?” Obie demands, looking torn between stunned and appalled. “Since when? We’ve been trying to figure out how to heal them for centuries!”
“Turns out we just needed a few more hunters in our lives,” Ez says. “And, for the record, I deactivated Roma’s enchantments. She’s corrosion-free at the moment.”
JJ stops dead. “What?”
“Yep,” Ez says, and she pokes Roma’s cheek to prove it. “See?”
Roma swats her away, simultaneously amused and exasperated. “You’re infuriating.”
“Wow. Ungrateful, much?”
“Listen, Laguerre??—?”
But Ez never gets to hear the rest of Roma’s threat, because in a flash, JJ bolts forward with a speed that’s just a little more than human and tackles Roma into a hug. “Oh,” he says, and he hugs her even tighter, burying his face in her shoulder. “Oh. Hi, Roma.”
For a moment, Roma looks frozen with shock.
And then she squeezes her eyes shut, cinching her arms around him and pulling him close. “Hi, JJ,” she mumbles back.
JJ’s voice is soft and shaky. “I’m really sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Roma whispers, her voice hitching.
Ez’s heart feels full. Casually, she strolls over to the couch, where Obie and Cass are watching the proceedings with thunderstruck eyes. “Hey,” she says pleasantly, perching on the armrest and smirking at them. “You look surprised.”
“You deactivated her enchantments?” Obie asks, his eyes narrowing. “Why?”
Cass lowers his voice. “Is it permanent? Or human-permanent, at least?”
A trickle of disappointment curls through Ez. “No. Not yet, anyway. I just put a twelve-hour deactivation in place, because?—well, long story short, the Deep doesn’t like Sanctum enchantments. Our first attempt at the counterspell didn’t kill Roma, but it came concerningly close. We’re planning to try again without the enchantments tomorrow morning.”
Obie’s face clears. “So that’s why Roma is staying with you overnight? So you can redo the spell at sunrise?”
Ez waggles her eyebrows. “Among other reasons.”
“Shut up, Ez,” Roma says, her voice muffled against JJ’s shirt.
“That’s a pretty lengthy hug there, Gutierrez,” Ez drawls. “You’re gonna make me jealous.”
JJ peels himself away from Roma, looking between her and Ez in bewilderment. “Wait. Are you two??—??”
“Oh, I so called this,” Cass says, and he wiggles his fingers at Obie. “Pay up. You owe me twenty dollars.”
Obie looks affronted. “I never agreed to those terms. I agreed with you. It was really only a matter of time before they slept together.”
Roma buries her face in her hands. “I hate all of you.”
“Roma?— Roma.” JJ grabs her wrists and wrestles her hands down, eyebrows furrowed. “Are you and Ez together now? For real? Are you?—??” He takes a deep breath, meeting her eyes. “Roma, are you going to defect?”
The words sound like anvils dropping in the suddenly silent room. And much as Ez wants to grab Roma and bring her home and never let her go, much as she wants to have with Roma what Cass found with JJ??—
She knows that it’s Roma’s decision to make, not Ez’s. And she knows that Roma hasn’t quite finished grappling with it yet. “Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” she begins awkwardly. “We’re still??—?”
“I’m seriously considering it,” Roma says, and Ez’s heart stutters. Roma is clearly talking to JJ, but for the barest hint of a second, her eyes flicker to Ez. “I’m?—I’m very much considering it.”
Naomi’s smile is fond. “The fugitive life is a lot nicer than you might expect.”
“We can help you set it up, too,” Sawyer says, a smile twitching on her lips. “And maybe even help you process all the residual trauma. Because there’s a lot of residual trauma to process.”
“I can arrange a spare apartment for you,” Obie offers. “I’m getting the vibe that you’ll be staying with Ez, but you can never have too many safe houses.”
“And you and JJ will have a lot to talk about,” Cass adds cautiously. “Maybe we could have you over for dinner sometime. You can?—you can meet Desi.”
JJ’s grin is as bright as Ez has ever seen it. “We’d love to have you,” he says, and he hugs Roma again. “Just let us know what you need, okay? Once you make your decision.”
Slowly, Roma nods. She has the same vulnerable expression from when she and Ez were imagining a new future?—a future with them together?— back at Ez’s house, but this time, there’s something different underneath it.
Something like determination. “I will. I’ll probably have a lot of questions for you. Like?—like what I should bring with me from the Sanctum.”
“I didn’t exactly have the chance to pack a bag,” JJ says.
“Sawyer and I did,” Naomi says. “We’ve got you, kiddo.”
Warmth floods through Ez. Everyone looks so relieved and happy, so thankful that they have another ally, another friend? ? —
Another person to love. And, personally, Ez thinks they have more than enough love to go around. “Perfect,” she says, reaching out a hand for Roma; like an instinct, Roma steps back towards her, tangling their fingers together. “Now, all we need to do is end the epidemic, and??—?”
Right on cue, a purple-gold rift blossoms to life in the middle of the room. Micah stumbles out of it, closely followed by Gregorio. “Hey, guys,” Micah says, blowing his bangs out of his eyes. “Glad you could make it.”
“Not like Naomi and Sawyer gave us much of a choice,” Obie says, giving the ex-hunters in question a pointed look. “So what’s this about?”
“Nothing much,” Gregorio says. “Just that we might’ve found a way to figure out exactly how the mega-rift epidemic began?—and who started it in the first place.”