Southwest Truths (Semiautomatic Sorceress Book 3)

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
Lyssa 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