by Kal Aaron
Lyssa’s hands tightened on the wheel. “Depending on when this all happened, that would imply there was someone in the Society who knew he was alive after his alleged death.”
“That’s one interpretation. He might have been hiding to protect you.”
“So I’ve been told by more than one person.” Lyssa sighed. “And I’m starting to believe that, given everything you’ve said. Any idea where all the spirit shards are coming from?”
“No.” Tristan shook his head. “Although I was able to trace some of them, the provenance of most remain a mystery. Many are odd in how they interface with the spirit world, but I’ve only been allowed limited personal investigation. The Society and the Elders handled most of that. Regardless, it doesn’t change that spirit shards are some of the most difficult to create.”
“Okay, I don’t get all this,” Lyssa said, “or at least, I don’t get how it fits together.”
Mentioning she had a grand emptiness spirit in her guns might end with Tristan cutting her down, but she could go halfway based on what he said earlier. He was putting together pieces for her, but she still couldn’t see the big picture.
“I don’t know what linked Lubon to the other incidents,” she said. “At first I thought someone had pushed me onto the smuggling job, but now it looks like it was a coincidence. I’m not sure what happened during the mine culling.” She growled in frustration. “Someone sent me to that mine on purpose, and I don’t think it was to get me killed.”
“You stumbled upon a partial truth during the smuggling job,” Tristan said. “There are only so many of our kind. Those who want to break the rules must be more careful than ever, but it’s as I said. I think someone wasn’t being careful enough until recently, and now that’s costing them. Torches and Eclipses are noticing.”
“When the Eclipses aren’t on their side, like Lubon,” Lyssa muttered.
“Something is happening. Consider it serendipity or dark fate, but your encounter in Houston might have set you against the same dark, careful rogues I’m hunting. They might know you have that list. I also know you have more of a relationship with the other recent targets than you’re letting on, but I don’t care.” Tristan looked ahead with a thoughtful expression. “I don’t need information from you, and you don’t know more than I do about this. What I need is your aid, and by now, you should understand we are battling the same enemies.”
Lyssa said, “I care more about finding the truth about my brother than cleaning up a conspiracy in the Society. It’s Sorcerers. There’s always someone pulling a scheme, and there will be long after I’m dead.”
“It doesn’t matter what you want. They want you dead, as proven by their use of Lubon.”
“Is that true?” Lyssa asked. “He could have been corrupt without caring about me.”
“He cast a spell shortly before Khatri went down,” Tristan said.
Lyssa frowned. “They used special bullets that could take high heat.”
“I don’t know for certain what spell he cast, but given his essence of weakness, he might have wanted to make sure she went down. He also received a message shortly before that.”
Lyssa nodded. “Probably my emergency code.” She sighed. “Which he didn’t respond to, but I thought that was because he was dead.”
“You’re free to believe what you want. I know he received two messages in a short time.” Tristan stared at the rearview mirror with a distant look. “I believe Lubon was there to ensure you were killed. He probably wanted to let you take down most of the mercenaries, then kill you. With a pile of bodies, it would look less suspicious. In either event, your best bet for surviving and finding out the truth about your brother is to help me.” He looked her way. “We should work together on Last Remnant.”
“You’re saying you want me to smuggle you to Last Remnant?” Lyssa asked. “That’s what this is about, right?”
“I’ve somewhat misled you,” Tristan replied.
“Why am I not surprised?”
“I could smuggle myself to Last Remnant with ease,” Tristan replied in a smug tone. “To be clear, it’s more that I want you to be a distraction. You were willing to risk your life once in the same way, and now you should do so again to draw out enemies. I’ll be going openly to put our mutual enemies on the defensive.”
Lyssa sighed. “I wanted to go anyway. This is probably my best bet, but I need time to think about it and convince my Elder to let me go. I’ll need a couple of days.”
“A couple of days?” Tristan snorted. “After everything you’ve learned, you want to spend that much time waiting?”
“I need to talk to some people. Like I said, my Elder wants me to hide in the deepest hole at the bottom of the deepest ocean, not rush to Last Remnant.”
“Then do what you must, but remember, the longer you wait, the more your life is at risk. Be cautious about who you trust, including your Elder.” Tristan gestured at her pocket. “I’ll give you a number. If you call that number, I’ll be at the house where we talked before within the hour.”
“Not a base, huh?” Lyssa chuckled.
“It’s convenient, and it allows me to kill others without risking innocents.” Tristan nodded at an upcoming exit sign. “Pull off here. Leave me at the first gas station.”
“Okay. I’ve got a lot of thinking to do.”
Chapter Twenty
Returning home and grabbing her Ducati might have not been the wisest course of action, but Lyssa gambled that whoever was hunting her wouldn’t be able to field another powerful team so quickly. She sent a message to Samuel asking for Aisha’s current location. When he replied, she was surprised to find Aisha was back at her apartment in Oklahoma City. Tenebrous Air and Lyssa’s other standard travel spells got her to the city quickly and safely.
There were a couple of things, loose ends she needed to take care of before her trip to Last Remnant. She wasn’t sure she’d survive the trip, only that it’d bring everything out in the open.
Aisha answered after a single knock. She was wearing a red and green silk robe. She raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t expect you to come here.” She still looked pale, but she was moving without obvious trouble. She motioned inside. “Join me then, Corti. You’ve come a long way for some difficult-to-fathom reason.”
Lyssa stepped into the apartment. She’d been expecing a grand shrine to elegance rather than the tiny utilitarian apartment with no decoration other than a small golden statue of the Hindu god Agni sitting on Aisha’s coffee table. There wasn’t even a television.
The last one didn’t surprise Lyssa much. She doubted Aisha was the kind of woman who would get into something like Sensual Sorceress.
After Lyssa’s recent travels, she couldn’t risk sitting on Aisha’s bright white couch. Assuming she survived her trip, she didn’t want to spend the next ten years hearing about how she’d stained the glorious Flame Deva’s handpicked furniture. Aisha closed the door behind Lyssa and headed to the couch. She sat on the edge, crossing her ankles before shooting Lyssa an expectant look.
“I’d prefer it if you didn’t bring your enemies to my doorstep,” Aisha said. “I don’t regret helping you, but that wasn’t at my home.”
“I’ll be gone soon.” Lyssa sighed. “I wanted to check on you. You got hurt pretty badly, and I’m not a person who overlooks when people get messed up helping me. Samuel said you were doing okay, but I wanted to make sure since there’s a lot of crap going on right now.” She looked at the robe. “Is that your regalia?”
“There are advantages to a more naturally flowing regalia when a woman needs to recover from injuries.” Aisha smiled. “You needn’t worry. I have some pain, but my main wounds are closed. I’m a Torch. It’s not the first time I’ve been seriously injured, any more than Houston was your first time.”
Lyssa winced. There wasn’t time for guilt or self-pity. Aisha was right. Torches put their lives and bodies on the line all the time. The end of the encounter wasn’t important; it w
as what led up to it. “Thank you.”
“For what?” Aisha scoffed. “For being shot by Shadows like a fool? It’s embarrassing, but I will need to take it into account for the future so that kind of humiliation doesn’t happen again.”
“It might not have been your fault.” Lyssa lifted a hand. “Not that being more careful will hurt either of us.”
“Not my fault, how?” Aisha narrowed her eyes.
“I don’t want to go into the details because it’ll drag you into something more dangerous, but did you feel any sorcery before the shot?”
“Of course I did. We were both using a lot of sorcery.”
“But your shield didn’t thin, or would you even be able to tell?”
Aisha’s face twitched. “You’re saying it wasn’t only the bullets?”
“I don’t know for certain, but I think someone damaged your shield with a subtle spell, and the bullets were the final push.” Lyssa shrugged. “It might have also made you more vulnerable.”
Aisha leaned forward, her brow furrowed. “In the excitement of the battle, I could have missed something like that. I’m used to needing more power for my shields and can manipulate the necessary spells without much thought.” She stared at Lyssa. “You’re saying the rogue got me but didn’t get you?”
“Something like that.” Lyssa walked over to Aisha’s window and peeked between the blinds, half-expecting Tristan to be floating outside, ready to kill them both. “I’ve given up on hiding. I’m going to keep pursuing this until I take the people responsible for it out, both for myself and you.”
“Me?” Aisha asked.
“You didn’t have to help me when I asked, but you did.” Lyssa shrugged. “And sure, I know you have your whole ‘No one can kill you but me’ thing, but agreeing to help me out when you know I’m being hunted by a possible rogue means a lot. You also watched over me when I got hurt fighting Allard.”
“I did it all for the Society.” Aisha folded her arms. “Rogues threaten our order. If things get disrupted, the Shadows might make a move.” She looked away. “Don’t get too conceited, Corti. Not everything’s about you.”
Lyssa bit her tongue to keep from laughing. Years of bad blood weren’t going to be wiped away by a couple of months of good work together, but Aisha’s continued defiance bordered on absurd.
“You can just say we’re friends now, Aisha.” Lyssa smiled. “I know we had bad blood for a long time, but I always kind of thought of you as my talented but bratty younger sister.”
Aisha snorted. “You know what I thought about you.”
“But we’re past that.” Lyssa patted her jacket. “I understand why you and your family were annoyed about the Night Goddess. In a parallel world where my mom didn’t bind this regalia, I probably would have ended up in other regalia, too. We probably would have been friends.”
“You have other objectionable traits.” Aisha huffed.
Lyssa snickered. “Whatever you think, we make a good team. We don’t have to be besties to bring the pain.”
Aisha nodded. “I won’t question our combat effectiveness, but did you come all this way to tell me that? I suspect there’s something far more than trying to make me feel better by suggesting it wasn’t mere Shadows who defeated me. I’m not sure I believe you, but I appreciate the gesture.”
“You think I’d lie about a rogue messing you up just to make you feel better?” Lyssa asked.
“I think in your misguided mind, it makes perfect sense.” Aisha’s mouth twitched with a flicker of amusement. “I know you think yourself a superior investigator, and I might even be willing to acknowledge that’s true, but you’ve hinted there’s far more going on here than I already believe. I don’t think you came here just to check on me.”
“I don’t want to go into details because of the risk, but something’s come up,” Lyssa replied. “I’ve got a decent lead for some of this, or I think I do, but it’s going to require another dangerous strategy. Maybe this is my way of checking in with my frenemy before I head out to do something else stupid, but this time, I’m only risking myself.”
Aisha nodded with a thoughtful look on her face. “Please assure me that this isn’t another strategy where you risk your soul.”
Lyssa grimaced and waited for Jofi to chime in, but he remained quiet. She couldn’t get angry at Aisha for letting it slip. She wasn’t used to keeping those kinds of secrets.
“No, nothing like that.” Lyssa shook her head.
“But you do intend to put yourself out as bait again?” Aisha asked. “You’re going to attempt to draw the rogue to you and finish them off all by yourself.”
“Yes, but this time I’m going to do it on Last Remnant.”
Aisha’s brow lifted. “Last Remnant? That’s your idea?”
“I think it’s a place where I can guarantee there are a lot of shards, security, and Sorcerers. And no matter what happens, nobody will have to explain it to the Shadows.”
Lyssa glanced down at the hint of her holster under her jacket. How did Tristan’s conspiracy and Jofi fit in together?
“I also think,” she continued, “Samuel’s got the wrong idea about how to get through this. We can’t hide from it. We need to find this bastard and take him out. I don’t care who it is or how connected they are. I’ll do what I need to do to protect myself and the Society.”
“Then why are you telling me this?” Aisha’s tone carried something that might pass for grudging respect. “You don’t need my permission. You’re not one to be overly concerned about the opinions of Elders either.”
“Because you almost got killed the last time, and I thought you deserved to know how that investment might pay off.” Lyssa gestured at Aisha. “I also wanted to make sure you weren’t here in pain. I should have been there with you like you were with me after the Houston showdown. I shouldn’t have been hiding, concerned only about protecting myself.”
Aisha objected, “I was fine, and you were still threatened. Besides, I didn’t want you here.”
“Come on. Me being around annoys you that much?”
“If only it were so simple.” Aisha glared. “I didn’t want you to see me so weak and helpless that first couple of days. I’ve always only wanted you to see me strong.”
“You’re damned strong, Aisha.” Lyssa patted her holsters. “And you’re right that I rely on tricks, whereas you have a lot more raw power and…the matter we talked about.”
She’d almost slipped up. It was amazing that Jofi hadn’t been pressing her more, especially after Aisha mentioned Lyssa risking her soul.
Aisha narrowed her eyes. “Is that what this is about? Did you find something else linking to that particular matter?”
Lyssa appreciated that Aisha seemed to be aware of the risk of tipping Jofi off. It might be impossible to resolve this incident without the truth coming out, but she’d prefer to make it to Last Remnant first.
“Possibly.” Lyssa gave her a worried look. “Damn it. I shouldn’t make your decisions for you. I can tell you, but it might put you at more risk.”
“So you keep saying. I’d rather know the truth than be protected like your bratty younger sister, Lyssa.” Aisha offered a mischievous smile. “Have some respect for me as a fellow Torch and someone whose power you have acknowledged. I don’t want you to bring your enemies to my home, but I’d also prefer to know who and what might be coming.”
Lyssa smiled. She couldn’t remember the last time Aisha had referred to her as anything other than Corti, not counting “thieving cat.”
“Let me tell you what happened at the motel I was staying at.”
Aisha’s frown deepened with each new revelation from Lyssa about Tristan St. James and his investigation. Lyssa held nothing back. She didn’t need Caroline to know she could trust Aisha, and she only didn’t highlight Jofi because Aisha already knew the truth.
“This is madness. Your involvement goes beyond reckless.” Aisha pinched the bridge of her nose. “If even half
of what St. James suspects is true, you might not be able to trust anyone.” She smirked. “Other than Elders Samuel and Theodora, despite your earlier complaints.”
Lyssa waved her hands. “Okay, I get it. I was wrong about Theodora. I’d say being the Queen of Paranoia is a bad look for me, but I was wrong about some of the details, not the overall picture. Something strange is going on. I don’t know if my brother is linked to it or not, but the only thing left for me is to go forward, both for him and whoever might want to kill me.”
“Then follow your instincts, Torch,” Aisha said. “This threat, if true, goes beyond your family considerations. It’s a grave threat to the Society and needs to be extinguished before it can do more damage.”
“You don’t think I should wait and have the Elders tell me what to do?” Lyssa asked, surprised by Aisha’s suggestion.
“I don’t think you should lie to them, and I question holding back information about Tristan St. James, but if he intends to openly travel to Last Remnant, it’s not as if you’re lying to an Elder by pressing for a trip that was already offered.” Aisha shrugged. “I wish I could come with you, but I think you should resolve this incident as quickly as possible, and I’m still not at my best. No matter what, remember there is a difference between bravery and foolhardiness. Be—”
“Careful.” Lyssa chuckled. “I know. There’s only so careful I can be, but maybe having a notorious Eclipse around will take some of the heat off.”
“One can hope.” Aisha extended her hand. “Remember our deal, Lyssa.”
“It’s pretty one-sided, but sure.” Lyssa shook her hand. “I won’t let anyone but you kill me.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Lyssa wondered if Samuel had a sick sense of humor she’d never experienced. That was the best explanation she could come up with for his behavior.
She’d contacted him via her mirror, insisting they meet. He’d responded and given her a specific time and told her to meet him where she’d met Lee to discuss “the issue.” When she arrived at a rural location north of Phoenix, he was waiting in his regalia as if he hung out near dry creek beds all the time.