by Kal Aaron
She didn’t bother knocking. The door opened with no trouble, and she stepped inside. The house was empty and in need of dusting and vacuuming. She wondered how long it’d been on the market.
Tristan sat in the center of the carpeted living room, cross-legged, palms together and head bowed. He looked at the door.
Lyssa closed the door and released her wraith form. “Okay.” She shrugged. “I’m here. I believe you’re not that interested in killing me for now, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think you won’t try in the future.”
Tristan stood up, not revealing anything, his eyes hidden behind his veil. He motioned at her chest. “Has the feeling returned?”
“Yes.” Lyssa patted the hole. “Your emptiness spirits almost killed me. For a guy who wasn’t trying to hurt me, you sure did some risky things.”
“I didn’t say I wasn’t trying to hurt you,” Tristan replied. “I said I wasn’t trying to kill you. A certain basic ability is necessary for you to be potentially useful to me. If not, I would have done you a favor by killing you before they got to you.”
“Wow.” Lyssa scoffed. “That’s messed up. Those things could have eaten my soul.”
“No, not in this case. I took measures.” Tristan knelt and stared at her again. “You know a lot about emptiness spirits. It’s surprising, given your essence.”
“It pays to know about a lot of things as a Torch.” Lyssa shrugged. “If I hadn’t known things about them, they might have killed me or someone else.”
“I would have released them before they hurt a Shadow.”
“So you say,” Lyssa replied.
“Now that I can concentrate, it’s curious.” Tristan cocked his head to the side. “I now understand the source of your rumored power, the showstopper.”
“You do?” Lyssa asked.
Tristan nodded. “With all the sorcery, shards, and spirits summoned at the motel, there were too many distractions, but now I can feel the power of the spirit in your weapons.” Wonder filled his voice. “You could have killed me using that power.”
“You more than anyone know that kind of power comes with a price.” Lyssa shrugged. “I use the showstoppers when I have no other choice, but yeah, having a powerful gun spirit helps me pull off stunts I couldn’t otherwise.”
“The only thing I question is why it’s allowed,” Tristan said.
“Huh? Why wouldn’t it be?”
Tristan gestured at her. “You lack a spirit essence, which means someone helped you bind that spirit.”
“So what? There’s no Society rule saying only Illuminated with spirit essences can use spirits.” Lyssa kept her voice calm despite her pounding heart. Tristan didn’t seem to know what Jofi was.
“A powerful spirit can be dangerous if it breaks free, regardless of type,” he said. “Some far more dangerous than others. I have more abilities to handle an out-of-control spirit than you do, at least without risking your life or, in some cases, soul.”
“You’re not telling me anything I don’t know.” Lyssa shrugged.
“It makes me wonder.” Tristan stood again and Lyssa tensed. “I’ve been trying to understand why Lubon targeted you. He wasn’t a spirit Sorcerer, but one might have set him up. The spirit in your gun is far too powerful for someone like you. Your Elder and the Tribunal must know that, which means they have their reasons for allowing it.”
Lyssa nodded. “They know.” She licked her lips. “Look, I still don’t trust you. You killed Lubon, but you’re denying involvement in the other murder and assassination attempts?”
Tristan nodded. “I’m aware they occurred, but I wasn’t involved. There’s another party behind them.”
“I’ve got some thoughts of my own about all this, but they require me to have a better idea about what’s going on. I’m willing to give information to get information.”
“A fair exchange.” Tristan folded his arms. “I’m willing to entertain it. Depending on what you tell me, it might explain some things I’m curious about. I’ve already admitted that I killed Lubon, and I stand by that, but in the spirit of fairness, I’ll begin this exchange by noting he was on my list anyway.”
Lyssa chuckled. “Your big Krampus-style ‘Naughty or nice’ kill list?”
“Yes, in a sense.” Tristan shrugged. “Though I kill for something far worse than mere misbehavior.”
“And that is the list that you follow even without Tribunal permission?”
Tristan nodded. “Yes.”
“And I’m not on your list?” Lyssa asked. “I want to be very clear about that before we go any further.”
Tristan smiled. “If I wanted you dead, I could have let Lubon kill you without it implicating me. Why spend the effort and time to save you, only to kill you later? I don’t care how people on my list die, only that they do. I don’t engage others to accomplish that.”
“I don’t know you did anything but kill an Eclipse yet.” Lyssa pointed at him. “You say you did it to save me, but that doesn’t mean I believe you. And I still have questions before I give you anything.”
“Oh? Ask one, then.”
“Why were you using emptiness spirits?” Lyssa asked.
“Why do you care so much about the type of spirits I used?” Tristan asked. “I used many different types of spirits in that attack. It was draining and challenging, but it accomplished what it needed to. It tested you.” He stepped back. “Have you had a negative experience with an emptiness spirit before?”
“Not exactly.” Lyssa paused to choose her words carefully and ensure Jofi would stay quiet. “I’ve heard a lot about them. From what I understand, they are somewhat compatible with my essence.”
“Then you know more than I expected. I’m impressed.” Tristan placed a hand over his heart. “Our essences define us Illuminated, and as you might suspect, impact what types of spirits we share maximum compatibility with. I wanted to study those aspects of your essence.”
“Why?” Lyssa asked. The more he talked, the more she suspected he knew the truth about Jofi.
“That’s not necessary to discuss right now.” Tristan moved toward a window and looked outside. “There are questions I won’t ask you because I don’t think you’ll answer, and I see no reason to waste our time. You’ve already confirmed some of what I’ve wondered in our discussion, so I’ll skip past several steps. I’ve heard from my sources that you’re going to Last Remnant soon.”
“I was supposed to.” Lyssa shrugged. “But with all these assassination attempts, I don’t know if it’ll happen.”
“And you’re going because of your brother’s regalia?”
Lyssa nodded. “I am. I’m not convinced he died when they say he died, but I’m also not sure about that. If he did survive, then it implies he died recently. So, let me ask you something. Have you seen my brother since the day he was allegedly killed?”
Tristan shook his head. “I haven’t. That means nothing, though. The world is a big place.”
“Yet you and I bumped into each other.”
“Do you think he’s dead now?” Tristan asked.
“I can’t say for certain. That’s why I need to check.” Lyssa added, “The timing isn’t enough proof in and of itself, but it’s suspicious. Being targeted by assassins only adds to my suspicions, but I can’t be certain my brother is related to all of this. He might be, or maybe I’m caught up in a couple of conspiracies and not just one.”
“I see.” Tristan lifted his veil. There was something unsettling about his deep, penetrating dark eyes and weathered face. “There are always conspiracies around our kind. That’s what it means to be an Illuminated. Conspiracies wrapped in more conspiracies, subtle and not-so-subtle betrayals justified with arguments about long-term benefits.”
“What’s this all about?” Lyssa asked. “Why bother to test me? What do you want from me?”
“You’re going to Last Remnant,” he said. “I’m thinking of taking a trip at the same time. I believe something important
will happen there, and I’d like to be there when it happens.”
Lyssa frowned. “You think there’s going to be another assassination attempt there? On me? In the one place they know there will be a lot of Sorcerers?”
Tristan nodded. “Perhaps. They already tried once. Whoever was directing Lubon is powerful. It’d make sense if their center of power was on Last Remnant or they traveled there often. But there are problems with doing things there as you suggested. At the minimum, the current tension, along with your arrival, would make people on all sides of this conspiracy nervous. That would provide me new opportunities and potential targets.”
“In other words, you’re saying you want to use me as bait?” Lyssa chuckled.
“Isn’t that what you were doing in the ghost town? It’s not as if Hecate and Flame Deva would need several days for a straightforward monster-culling.”
“Huh. Aisha was right.” Lyssa shrugged. “I’m not saying no. I just need to better understand what’s going on. I don’t know anything about you other than you’re the Eclipse who kills unauthorized people and gets away with it.”
“It’s simple.” Tristan turned away from the window. “I’ve been tracking something twisted and wrong in the Society for a long time. It was originally smaller, but I believe it’s grown more twisted and dangerous in recent years. There’s always been corruption and darkness among our people, but our small numbers have limited its impact and the ability of the plotters to get away. There’s only so much one can do to hide. Something changed decades ago.”
“Are you talking about more true Sorcerers being born?” Lyssa asked. “And those rumors about the moon landing somehow involving the Society?”
“I’d be lying if I claimed I knew all the answers,” Tristan replied. “And the grand scope of things has never been my concern. But you’re right; it started around that period. Everyone else was focusing on the increasing number of our kind, but I started noticing certain oddities here and there—more rogue activity, more active corruption that was difficult to explain and ferret out. It was minor at first, but it’s accelerated since M-Day and especially in the last few years.”
Lyssa shrugged. “More people, more crime. Same as ever. Now that Illuminated can play more openly with the Shadows, it’s led to more messes. What’s that have to do with me?”
“That remains to be seen. It might be nothing. I’m more interested in using you as a cover than anything else, but I wanted to be sure you wouldn’t be slaughtered the minute you arrived. That would have been useless to me.”
“Okay.” Lyssa nodded. “Let me get this straight. You think there’s some sort of decades-old conspiracy preceding M-Day, something that might have to do with why we have more Sorcerers now, but maybe not. At a minimum, it is related to more corruption, but it’s only gotten really bad since M-Day.”
Tristan nodded. “Yes and no. Consider that illegal shards have been making it into Shadow hands since long before M-Day.”
“That’s what Torches are for,” Lyssa replied.
“You’d be surprised how many shard weapons were used in high-profile assassinations and terrorist acts in recent history.” Tristan’s tone darkened. “Acts that don’t appear to have benefited the Society. Chaos rarely does. Before they were few and far between, but the patterns are there if one is willing to look.”
“Okay, someone’s playing a long game. That makes sense. Our kind lives a lot longer than the Shadows. But what’s the end game?”
“That remains unclear. Right now, I suspect it is related to the recent assassination attempts, but I don’t know why they’re targeting you.”
Lyssa stopped herself from glancing at her holsters. A rogue interested in weakening the Society could use a nice grand emptiness spirit to demonstrate the dangers of sorcery. The monster-based terrorist attack in Cochise County appeared to have been motivated by a similar idea. Whoever was behind the incident might have somehow learned about Jofi and decided to approach their plan from a different angle. She wasn’t prepared to relate that to Tristan, even if everything he said made a certain sense.
Before they proceeded, she needed to test him. She had too many questions about the recent major incidents in her life.
“Were you the one who led those internet guys to the mine?” Lyssa asked. “Were you the one at the library? Was it another test? Some way of figuring out if I could follow clues?”
“I know about that incident.” Tristan scowled. “I’m a killer, but I have a code. I only kill Shadows who are attempting to kill me. I had no reason to lead two boys to their deaths to test you.”
“My theory is, someone was trying to warn us about the mine but not reveal themselves,” Lyssa replied. “I thought it might be you.”
“I would have no reason to not go directly to Samuel or another Elder. Monster-culling is the domain of Torches, not Eclipses.”
“Do you know who did it?” Lyssa asked. “I don’t know how much you know about the resolution of that incident, but the man behind the operation was a Shadow loaded with shards but whose memory and personality had been manipulated by sorcery.”
Tristan narrowed his eyes. “The enemy hides deep in the darkness. I don’t have all the answers. I only know corruption is spreading farther and deeper in the Society, and I intend to excise it before it destroys us all.” He nodded at her. “That’s why I’m interested in you, and even more so now that I sense the power of that spirit in your gun. Certain pieces now fit together.” He offered a cold smile. “There might be more patterns in some of these incidents than you realize. I suspected Adrien Allard of being linked to someone of greater power, most likely a corrupt Elder. He wasn’t on my list yet, but he was coming close.”
“And the mine incident?” Lyssa asked, desperation edging into her voice. “You don’t have any leads on that?”
Tristan laughed. “I’m not all-knowing, but given what you’ve told me, it wouldn’t be impossible for the same person to be behind both.”
“Here’s the thing.” Lyssa took a deep breath. “I’ve thought that, too, but I’m not sure. I have more evidence, but I’m not yet ready to give it to a crazy Eclipse who jumped me at a motel just because he tells me what I want to hear.”
Tristan nodded. “More evidence might be useful to convince you to share, then.”
“Like what?”
“I’ve been researching your family in recent weeks as part of my investigation into you, and I’ve come across irregularities. You’re right to be suspicious of the timing of the return of your brother’s regalia to the Vault of Dreams.”
Lyssa’s eyes widened and her heart rate kicked up. “What have you found?”
“It’s all circumstantial, but I was able to link the mission your brother allegedly died on to a rogue Sorcerer I eliminated years ago, after the reported death of your brother,” Tristan replied. “This rogue was similar to Allard—a man interested in spreading misery for profit and whose smuggling involved helping to spark unnecessary conflicts among the Shadows.”
Lyssa swallowed, not knowing how to handle that information. “You’re saying you already got my revenge for me? That it doesn’t matter now? Why didn’t the Elders tell me about this?”
“We both know the Elders don’t feel compelled to share all information with all Illuminated, but to be fair, they might not have known the connection between the rogue and your brother. I don’t share all my information with them for my own reasons.” Tristan added, “And no, I’m not saying it doesn’t matter because I suspect this goes much deeper than the rogue I killed, especially given the timing.”
“Okay, so the Elders decided to keep it to themselves, but you never bothered to contact me about it?” Lyssa all but shouted. “It’s not exactly a secret that I’ve been investigating this.”
“It was safer for you not to know,” Tristan replied, “and you cannot stand up to the Elders as I do. If you’d investigated this years ago, you’d probably be dead.”
“Okay. O
kay.” Lyssa took a deep breath. “You’re saying this goes pretty high up, probably to Elders. I’ve thought that too, but how far? Are we talking rogue Elders, as in plural?”
“Perhaps.” Tristan shrugged. “I can’t be sure yet, but I find it hard to believe the smuggling and the manipulation of both the Society and Shadow governments were pulled off by rogues of lesser status.”
“Samuel and Theodora,” Lyssa said. “Are they clean, or are they on your list?”
Tristan shook his head. “I don’t believe either is corrupt, but I do have reason to believe Theodora might somehow be involved in my investigation. I’m not ready to share the reasons why.”
It was time to push forward. She needed to risk exposing some of her evidence to get more. It was time to mention one of the names on the list and see how he reacted.
“And what about Helga Strand?” Lyssa asked. “How does she fit into all this?”
“What?” Tristan sounded shocked. “Who?”
“What about Helga Strand?” Lyssa repeated. “How does she fit into all this?”
“Helga?” Tristan lowered his veil. “You’re surprising me far more than I suspected.”
Chapter Eighteen
Lyssa was proud she’d managed to surprise a Sorcerer older and more powerful than she, one who’d taken out an Eclipse with ease. It wasn’t that she thought he knew everything already. He wouldn’t be asking her questions if that were the case, but his reaction to the mention of Helga’s name proved her earlier suspicions had been on the right track.
It was nice to be ahead of one of the most dangerous men in the Society, one who had been investigating conspiracies longer than she’d been alive. But finding the truth, not ego-stroking, was her goal.
“You’re not the only one who can investigate suspicious crap,” Lyssa said to move the conversation along. “Helga’s name came up in evidence I ran across in a recent case, the one involving Adrien Allard. I haven’t been able to find out what it means in context, but you might be able to give me a clue about it.”