by Kal Aaron
Whatever leads she found on Last Remnant would send her somewhere else. Chris’s photo had been taken in the United States, judging by the background, but that had been three years ago. Months of globe-hopping weren’t out of the question, though she doubted the Elders would tolerate a Torch taking that much time off.
Bill’s smile faded. “Oh, crap. Is it serious? Did a relative pass away?”
“It’s complicated.” Lyssa set her fork down. “I don’t want to go into all the details, but it involves my brother. I haven’t seen him for a while, and he might have gotten into some trouble overseas. I’m looking into some stuff to help him out.”
“Oh, man. That sucks.” Bill grimaced. “Are we talking, like, ‘I lost my passport,’ or more Locked Up Abroad?”
“A lot more the second one, but it’s more messed up than that.” Lyssa sighed. “I wish I could explain, but this is complicated, and I haven’t even seen him for a long time—fifteen years. For a while, I wasn’t even sure he was alive. It’s only recently I learned otherwise.”
“That’s crazy. I didn’t think things like that happened to people, but that’s a stupid thing to say.” Bill laughed. “We had Hecate and a bunch of other Sorcs fighting giant monsters in southern Arizona just a month ago. Anything can happen these days.”
Lyssa let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, anything can happen, and my things aren’t nearly as important as crazy witches fighting monsters.”
“She’s not a witch,” Bill said.
“Huh?”
“Hecate.” Bill shrugged. He pointed at his head. “She doesn’t have the hat.”
Lyssa chuckled again, trying to make it sound natural. She couldn’t ignore the opportunity to learn something important about her boyfriend. It might help in the future.
“What do you think about Hecate?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” Bill shrugged. “I mean, she takes down monsters, evil Sorcerers, and the worst of the worst among us normies. That’s cool in a certain way, but…”
“But what?” Lyssa pressed.
Bill sucked in a breath and slowly let it out. “She’s also kind of scary, and not just because of the mask. Scarier than some of the other Sorcs I’ve seen on TV.”
“You think she might hurt regular people?” Lyssa asked.
“Nah,” Bill said. “The Society’s got that stuff under control. I don’t even know why rogue Sorcs try to get away with anything. If a Torch doesn’t get them, one of those special hitmen will. What do they call them again?”
“Eclipses,” Lyssa replied. “Yeah, it’s pretty dumb. You don’t think there are a lot more hidden Sorcs out there? Like, way more than they say?”
“Maybe.” Bill shrugged. “I don’t know if it matters.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s no different than before, except now we know.” He gestured around the room. “Hecate could be here right now, but why should I care? If she wants to have a nice steak and a beer, who am I to complain? The woman works hard. She deserves a steak and a beer.”
Lyssa nodded. “Even though you’re a little scared of her?”
“You aren’t? Not even a little?” Bill looked surprised.
Lyssa shrugged. “Let’s just say I can relate to a scary woman.”
Bill laughed before narrowing his eyes. Her stomach tightened. Had the conversation helped him figure it out?
“I see what you did there,” he said.
“I didn’t do anything,” Lyssa replied.
“You steered the conversation away from your trip. We still need to talk about it.”
Lyssa shrugged. “What’s to talk about? I’ll be overseas. Oh, and I’ll be out of contact. I’ll be in a lot of places with no cell phone service. Like I said, complicated and dangerous family stuff.”
“I could come with you,” Bill offered.
Lyssa’s brow lifted. “You want to come with me while I’m messing around with a complicated family matter that’s going to be annoying and upsetting and might involve trips to small villages tucked away in the middle of nowhere? I want that clear, Bill. I’m not going on vacation.”
“I get that you probably have more money and contacts, being a corporate troubleshooter, and I don’t speak…” Bill blinked. “Where are you going?”
“Crete,” Lyssa lied. It was an island, and it’d be easy to remember.
“I’m not even sure what they speak there.” Bill grimaced. “I’m guessing this is a lot more serious than him getting too many traffic tickets?”
Lyssa nodded. “You could say that. It’s a lot bigger deal than traffic tickets.”
“I could provide emotional support,” Bill said. “I’ve got a lot of saved vacation days, and I already had a couple of weeks of scheduled time off around Christmas anyway. You’re going to want someone to lean on during this.”
She sighed. “Bill, I appreciate it, but this isn’t something I want outsiders involved in. It’s sweet that you want to help, but you can’t come halfway across the world with me on a family matter.”
Bill’s shoulders slumped. “Oh. Okay, then. But let me know if you change your mind.”
Lyssa couldn’t have brought him along even if she wanted to. There was a small chance of a Shadow married to an Illuminated being allowed to visit Last Remnant, but even that was a rare scenario. Fred Bennett had never visited the island, and he’d been married to Tricia for over thirty years.
Most of the non-Illuminated servants and staff on the island came from ancient Society families. Some came from Illuminated families but hadn’t manifested the gift, whereas others came from ancient families who’d done nothing but serve Illuminated for centuries. Most of them were trained from childhood to serve the Sorcerers and Sorceresses on the island. Some had even grown up there, despite the average Illuminated not having that opportunity.
“We can see each other more in the meantime,” Bill said, his smile edging back onto his face.
It wouldn’t be an awful thing to go out with him more often in the run-up to her return to Last Remnant. Banking nice memories before diving back into the investigation of the possible murder of her brother might provide an emotional cushion when she needed to shoot some son of a bitch in the face for revenge.
She wondered about letting Bill stay at her place. Thus far, she’d only visited his apartment. There was no strong reason not to let him come to her house. He couldn’t sense the sorcery, and her safe was hidden. There was nothing that screamed Sorceress or Hecate. If her shard compact activated, she could take the message in the bathroom and claim it was her phone vibrating.
Lyssa was glad she was drinking a glass of water to hide her snort. Dating Bill was supposed to be relaxing, and here she was, discovering new annoyances that came with it. She couldn’t blame him. He wasn’t the one who was lying.
Was the relationship sustainable to the point where she could let him know her secret? She honestly didn’t know.
After M-Day, the Tribunal had gotten rid of the Society laws that restricted the Illuminated telling Shadows not already in the know about sorcery and the Society. An Eclipse wouldn’t be sent for Lyssa even if she got on national television and announced she was Hecate. They did, however, heavily restrict telling Shadows about other Sorcerers.
In practice, that meant most of her kind took a dim view of any Illuminated who was cavalier about letting people beyond the EAA and the established families know the truth. Torches and Eclipses, due to the nature of their jobs, were even more cautious.
Lyssa lowered her glass and smiled. She wasn’t going to solve all the problems of her life and the world in the next couple of weeks. All she could do was tackle the issues in front of her, including investigating Chris’s regalia and making sure Bill didn’t have any disgusting hidden habits he hadn’t revealed.
“Sure, we can go out on more dates,” she said. “It’s only fair. After all, we might not see each other for a while.”
Chapter Four
Lyss
a shut off her TV and laid down on her couch. The rest of her date with Bill had been pleasant enough, but he needed to get up early the next morning to help a friend. She didn’t mind. It gave her time to think.
She’d made the mistake of turning on the news. A local state senator was droning on about the Cochise County incident, claiming it proved the American Council for Sorcery Safety had a point. He was floating the idea of Arizona passing laws to better control sorcery.
Lyssa snorted. The man would be disappointed. The Society’s treaties with the United States specified that only the federal government could restrict them, and even then, primarily via the EAA. The last thing the Elders would tolerate was some local yokel politician trying to boss the Illuminated around.
She let the interview float out of her mind. Based on what he’d said at dinner, Bill didn’t seem like the kind of man to listen to the ACSS. She didn’t know if he represented the average Shadow in Arizona, but he was the one she was going to be spending the most time around, other than the guys she saw at the range. An inch of progress was still progress.
Chills shot through her body. Shadowy hands clawed at the corners of her eyes.
The perimeter alarm spells weren’t disturbing in and of themselves, but the mild sorcery tightening her chest from the outside told her it wasn’t a delivery driver or an Arbor Scout outside hocking strawberry wafers.
Lyssa leaped to her feet and sprinted into her bedroom. She hadn’t brought Jofi along on her date to cut down on inopportune interruptions. She revealed and opened her safe in record time. Someone knocked loudly on the front door.
After jamming a penetrator magazine into one gun and conventional bullets into the other, she jogged back to her front door, holding them behind her. She squinted through the peephole. A sweaty fat man in a tracksuit stood on the other side. He was the source of the sorcery.
Lyssa frowned down at her dress, regretting not changing into something more functional instead of slumping on the couch. There was nowhere to hide her guns without help. She set the gun loaded with the conventional bullets on the floor and held the other gun behind her back before opening the door.
“It’s the middle of the night,” Lyssa began. “You have ten seconds to exp—”
“Miss Corti, be quiet and listen to me carefully,” interrupted the sweaty man in Samuel’s voice.
Lyssa stared at him in disbelief. It wasn’t as if Samuel couldn’t use any sort of disguise given his essence, but a big guy in a tracksuit was so opposite his usual choices it would have made her laugh if not for the harshness in his voice.
She hadn’t done anything since their meeting. There was no reason for him to storm over to the house.
“I’m listening.” Lyssa shrugged.
He looked her up and down. “Go into your bedroom and put on something more practical. Be quick about it. You’re to come with me immediately.” He gestured at a gray sedan parked in her driveway. “But you’re to leave your enchanted weapons.”
Lyssa scoffed. “Did Antoine mix you up a hallucinogenic potion? I’m not going anywhere unarmed until you tell me what’s going on.”
“I have my reasons,” Samuel barked, his face contorted in anger. “This is one time I can’t countenance your stubbornness. It’s vital you leave your weapons here.”
“This is unadvisable,” Jofi said. “I often question your more extreme conclusions, but there’s a significant chance this is a trap.”
“Don’t I know it,” Lyssa muttered. She backed away, her gun still behind her back. Her gaze dipped to her other pistol. “You want me to leave my home and my weapons and not wear my regalia? No damned way. If this is some sort of test of loyalty, too bad. I’ll be too vulnerable. There’s being not paranoid, and there’s being stupid.”
Samuel scowled. He took a deep breath. “No. You’re right. It’d be foolish. Wear your regalia and disguise it as you wish, but I must insist you leave the weapons. I’m not saying you should be unarmed, but I’d ask you not to bring those particular weapons.”
“He wants to remove your ability to use enchanted rounds,” Jofi said. “That will limit your combat effectiveness. That still points to a trap.”
“I can bring a gun as long as it isn’t Jofi?” Lyssa asked.
Samuel nodded. “But hurry. I can’t be sure about certain things. I’ll be waiting in the car.”
Lyssa slammed the door and grabbed the pistol on the floor. “I’ve never seen him like that.”
“Can you be completely sure it’s him?” Jofi asked.
“No, but he’s got the voice down.” Lyssa headed toward her bedroom. “As long as I have the Night Goddess, I can get away if it’s a trap, but Samuel might have a good reason for asking me to leave you behind. Weird spirit sorcery, for example.”
Lyssa’s heart sped up. There was one good explanation for why Samuel wanted Jofi left at home. He might want to talk about the true nature of the spirit.
She didn’t understand. Lee was the one who was supposed to be monitoring Jofi and Lyssa, and he had his special procedures and shard set up to make sure the spirit never knew about him or suspected too much. Knocking loudly on the door at night and insisting Lyssa leave Jofi behind was suspicious.
“It’s fine.” Lyssa put the pistols back in the safe and grabbed her regalia. After putting it on and willing it to look like jeans, a t-shirt, and a white jacket, she stuffed a couple of conventional magazines into her pockets, along with a Glock and her batons.
Jofi interrupted her on her way to her door. “And you don’t find this peculiar or concerning?”
“If he wanted to set up an ambush, he wouldn’t have let me get my regalia,” Lyssa replied. “It’s nighttime, too. Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.”
“Be cautious,” Jofi said. “This situation is highly irregular.”
“My life is highly irregular.” Lyssa jogged out to the car, looking up and down the street. She spotted a teen on a longboard in the distance, but the only strong sorcery she felt was from the car and her house. She went to the passenger door and kept one hand on the grip of her pistol. For all their abilities, a Sorcerer would die from being shot in the head just like a Shadow.
“Hurry up and sit down,” snapped Samuel as Lyssa settled into the seat.
“What’s this—” Lyssa replied.
“We can’t talk here,” Samuel said. “We’ll talk when we’re at a safe location.”
“Is my house about to blow up?” Lyssa looked at the cute little home. She wasn’t sure her insurance would cover an explosion with an indeterminate cause. There were no Act of Sorcery provisions in homeowners’ policies yet.
“I don’t know,” Samuel replied, starting the car. He pulled into the street. “It’s not impossible, but no more talking. Ten minutes, then we’ll talk.”
Lyssa folded her arms, keeping her hand tucked into her jacket. She suspected she wouldn’t be able to go out with Bill again anytime soon.
Chapter Five
True to Samuel’s word, he pulled into a parking lot alongside an empty park ten minutes later. Lyssa didn’t sense anything from the location, so she doubted it was a hidden entrance to the Traveling Club, but she wouldn’t have been surprised.
Samuel kept his tracksuit disguise. He grimaced and took a deep breath before leaning back in his seat. “We can talk here. I didn’t want to risk the spirit overhearing the conversation. It involves him.”
“I figured.” Lyssa scoffed. “Thanks for that, by the way. Lee spends so much time telling me to be careful, then you come storming in and all but scream, ‘Leave the dangerous spirit behind!’ I’m going to have to explain this later. Do you know how hard it is to lie to someone who spends ninety percent of his time with you?”
“I understand the difficulties,” Samuel replied. “I wouldn’t have come so abruptly if I’d had another choice. Unfortunately, my primary means of contacting you was recently damaged. It’ll have to be replaced, although I anticipate that happening in a day or two.”
He gritted his teeth, a pained grimace on his face. “This entire issue suggests a failure on my part. I should have had a backup for such an eventuality.”
“How about a call, then?” Lyssa rolled her eyes. “That can be your backup. Use code words or something like the EAA does if you’re worried. There are ways to make it safer.”
“A phone?” Samuel barked a laugh. “So I can announce to the Shadow spies where I am? You’re the one who claimed paranoia is your hobby. The Shadows can track phones everywhere with ease. Their intelligence agencies brag about it.”
“Can we get to the point of all this?” Lyssa glared at him. “I’m supposed to be going to Last Remnant soon, and you come barreling into my house and drag me out of it. Is there a high-priority assignment that’s come up? You honestly can’t get someone else to do it? Ryan? Anyone?”
“This isn’t a contract or a Society request,” Samuel said, his voice quiet. “This is an unusually sensitive situation that will need to be handled accordingly. It also may impact your ability to go to Last Remnant.”
“That’s crap.” Lyssa slapped the window. “After everything I’ve done, you’re going to screw me this close to leaving?”
“Lee is dead,” Samuel said. “He’s been assassinated.”
Lyssa stared at the Elder. She hoped he’d crack a smile, but she couldn’t remember the last time he’d told a joke. There was no change in his angry expression as he stared straight ahead, a pained look haunting his face.
“I want to be very clear on this.” Lyssa swallowed, her heart thundering. “You’re saying Lee, as in Imperial Sage Lee, the guy I least like to have meetings with, has been assassinated?”
“Obviously.” Samuel snorted. “You think I’d be here if it was some other Lee?” His mouth twisted into another grimace. “The death of any Sorcerer is a matter of concern, and those among non-Torches and Eclipses are even more worthy of attention. This confluence of circumstances is troublesome because his duty is monitoring Jofi.”
