Southwest Truths (Semiautomatic Sorceress Book 3)

lot more solid, especially if this involves me covering for you going to Last Remnant and acting as your decoy. What’s Helga Strand have to do with any of this? Does she have some sort of relationship with you?”
“Why do you believe she would?” Tristan asked.
“I’m not ready to tell you that. Remember my ‘hell, no?’”
“You’re holding back far more than I’ve given you. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.” Tristan sounded amused.
Lyssa shrugged. “I’m the one people have been trying to kill lately. It makes me bitchier and more selfish. Sorry. You’re the one who wants something big from me, and all I’m asking for is information. Convince me to trust you before I go to Samuel and spill everything. He’s not your biggest fan.”
“I could kill you,” Tristan remarked.
“You could try and end up half-dead.” Lyssa didn’t go for her guns. “But we both know you’re not going to do that for the same reason I couldn’t leave those people to die. We’re both ruthless when we need to be against our enemies, but we’re not monsters.” She took a single step back in case she was wrong. “You said yourself that you have a code. You don’t think I’m corrupt, so you have no reason to kill me.”
“Are you sure my tolerance extends that far, Torch?” Tristan replied. “I’ve been eliminating threats to the Society for over eighty years. I’m not an Elder who is content to sit back and send others to do my work. I’m a man who has dedicated his body and soul to become a weapon to destroy the cancer that threatens to eat the heart of the Illuminated Society.”
Her heart almost galloped out of her chest. She felt like she was close to truths that had eluded her for months, if not years. This man was one of the few telling her she wasn’t insane to be suspicious about her brother, but he was also threatening to kill her after throwing deadly spirits at her with innocent people around.
Helga’s name had never come up in any discussion with Lee or Samuel about Jofi. Lyssa had barely known who she was before she found the woman’s picture on the memory card. She’d prefer it if the conspiracies threatening her life converged into one, but there was no guarantee that would happen. Right now, she needed more evidence before Tristan disappeared into the world again on his purification mission.
“If you’re going to kill me, do it.” Lyssa stared at him. “I’ll make you pay for it, and it won’t do anything to help clean out the garbage we both know is out there. If you’re not going to kill me, tell me what the hell Helga has to do with any of this. That way, I can figure out if I should tell you more.”
Tristan stood in silence for a long while. He took so long that Lyssa moved to a wall to sit. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do that day other than buying more ice cream. The Eclipse in front of her held the keys to the mystery that might lead back to her brother. Even if her brother had nothing to do with the mysterious conspiracy targeting the Jofi-sealing Sorcerers, tracking down her brother was her next step once she’d cleared up the current incident.
“Helga…” Tristan began. He cleared his throat. “If you already know her name in connection with mine, you’ve stumbled upon more than I anticipated anyone investigating would find without more effort, especially if you’re being honest about how recent this all was.”
“It’s not like I haven’t been looking into my brother’s death for a while,” Lyssa said. “But yeah, all the other stuff is more recent, including finding out about Helga. So, there, I gave you some information after all.”
“I see.” Tristan lapsed back into silence.
Lyssa gave him ten more seconds before she made a circle in the air with her hand. “Let’s move it along. Same deal as before. You give me more, I give you more.”
“She’s another woman like you who noticed unusual and suspicious things,” Tristan replied. “She isn’t a Torch, so the things didn’t occur in the context of violent Society business. However, her career choice takes her all over the world, and she has far more contact with different types of people, both Illuminated and Shadow, than you might expect. That only increased after M-Day. As a public Sorceress and entertainer, she was sought-after. The Elders used that to their advantage.”
“I don’t get it.” Lyssa furrowed her brow. “You’re saying she was a spy?”
“That implies and suggests too much,” Tristan protested. “You’ve been far too engrossed in the Torch lifestyle all your life. I don’t think you appreciate how the other Illuminated exist in the Society, including their relationship with the Elders.”
“Okay, then make it clear to my short-sighted Torch self.” Lyssa shrugged.
“Elders collect information in a variety of ways via different people and means. Making sure your Elder is aware of things is important for having them favorably inclined toward you, even if you aren’t their sword as a Torch.”
“Okay.” Lyssa nodded. “I get it. Helga picked up on something suspicious, the same kind of thing worrying you.”
“Yes.” Tristan gestured at Lyssa. “Like you, she ended up in an incident in which she was targeted. She was almost a victim, but because I was already investigating the incident, I was able to intervene.”
“I’ve never heard anything about that,” Lyssa replied. “One of the big, high-profile public Sorceresses almost got taken out, and the Elders didn’t think that was worth mentioning to the rest of us? Or at least the Torches?”
“Politics, both internal and external, rule everything for them.” Tristan curled his hand into a fist. “If it were truly an independent operation, they might have been more public in their displeasure. My elimination of the people involved along with the capture of several to turn over for interrogation eliminated the immediate threat, but unfortunately, the prisoners killed themselves before