Southwest Truths (Semiautomatic Sorceress Book 3)

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