Southwest Days (Semiautomatic Sorceress Book 2), Kal Aaron [book recommendations based on other books .txt] 📗

Should she have asked Tricia to look at it? Getting a different perspective might help.

Lyssa worried it might not be anything deeper than simple coincidence. There weren’t a huge number of Illuminated in the world. It wasn’t impossible that Chris, Theodora, and Tristan St. James had ended up on the list by mere chance. They might have just wandered in front of a camera.

She sucked in a breath and shook her head. That couldn’t be true. There had to be some meaning.

Adrien Allard had been smuggling shards, and he didn’t have any deeper connections with Last Remnant than any other random Sorcerer. There was no way he could have pulled off something on that scale by himself.

Was it that simple? A greedy and ambitious Elder who’d been helping smuggle shards and hadn’t counted on two stubborn Sorceresses putting their differences aside to deliver justice?

That didn’t explain Chris or the sudden return of his regalia, but Lyssa didn’t have all the evidence yet. A crime couldn’t be investigated until someone knew about it. The smuggling was too high-profile and blatant to ignore, but there could be many more dark plots waiting to be uncovered.

“Damn it.” Lyssa picked up the whiteboard and stared at it. “I’m getting nowhere fast. I need to up my pressure on Samuel or get more information from somebody on that memory card.”

“You could ask Elder Theodora directly about her presence,” Jofi suggested.

Lyssa burst out laughing. “Yeah, that’s not happening yet. I don’t trust her.”

“You could have Caroline accompany you to verify the truth.”

“That’s not a half-bad idea, but I’m not ready to pull that trigger until I’m all but sure of the answer. I don’t like politics, but it’s a consideration, and it’ll be difficult to get the princess out of her LA castle to help me without solid proof.”

“Do you trust any of the others on the memory card?” Jofi asked.

“I barely know any of the others. None of my friends are on the card, and if I knew where Chris was, I wouldn’t be sitting here in my bed making weird whiteboard evidence lists like a crazy detective who ran out of vodka.” Lyssa frowned. “There’s something here. I just don’t know what it is.”

“Given what you’ve stated in the past and presuming there is a grand conspiracy connecting those pictures to Mr. Allard,” Jofi said, “any approach of an Illuminated on your list risks eliciting a dangerous response, up to and including Tristan St. James or another Eclipse being sent for you.”

Lyssa groaned and fell back on her pillow. “Nothing like having to take on an Eclipse, but it’s not like I can’t fight. He might be a specialist in assassination, but I like to consider myself a generalist in the art of destructive mayhem. If I see him coming, it’ll be an even fight.”

She wasn’t as confident as she sounded. Her skills were top-notch, but Tristan had been killing Sorcerers longer than she’d been alive. Having Jofi helped close the gap, but she’d rather not take the chance unless she had no other choice.

“I would suggest you redouble your efforts to recruit specific trustworthy allies who can aid you in battle,” Jofi said. “Regardless of who you might face in the future, it’ll be difficult to succeed on your own.”

“I wish Rafael was in the States.” Lyssa draped an arm over her face. “The guy was annoying, but he’s not corrupt, and he can fight. But it’s hard to know where he is half the time.”

She hadn’t seen her mentor in years and only received the briefest of messages on occasion. The last time she’d heard from him, he was spending time in Australia hunting enchanted koalas that had been upgraded into vicious drop bears.

There was something pure about a monster hunt. Taking down hideous perversions of nature lacked the moral and political complications of a lot of her jobs.

“There are other possibilities,” Jofi said. “There is a person who is closer and more easily tracked down. She might prove to be of assistance.”

“Since when are you the head of Sorcerer HR?” Lyssa asked. “And I hope you’re not talking about Tricia. I need people who I know aren’t corrupt but who can also take care of themselves outside their home. At the end of this twisted rainbow, there’s not going to be a pot of gold. It’s going to be a cauldron filled with blood. I love her to death, but she’s not ready to kill like I am.”

“Your choice of metaphors is colorful, but I’ll address your primary concern,” Jofi replied. “Given what I’ve witnessed, I’d recommend approaching Miss Khatri for aid.”

Lyssa burst out laughing. “You want me to ask Aisha for help? Are you drunk?”

“It’s impossible for me to get drunk,” Jofi replied. “Your statements in your last encounter and her actions after your battle with Adrien Allard when you were wounded and vulnerable suggest she’s no longer a threat to you. Her constant proclamations also suggest she takes a dim view of Illuminated corruption. Her combat skills, by your own admission, approach yours, even though she’s younger.”

“She’s a frenemy, not a friend.” Lyssa sat up and stacked the whiteboards on her nightstand. “Yes, that’s a big upgrade from her previous status of ‘woman most likely to murder me in my sleep’ or ‘petulant shin kicker,’ but it’s not the same as being a friend willing to have my back in a dangerous investigation of Society corruption. And if people think I lack finesse, Aisha is the Empress of Explode First and Ask Questions Later.”

“But you don’t question her potential corruption?”

Lyssa shook her head. “Not anymore. The other problem is she believes in the Society more than I do. She came up with a lot of explanations for Theodora’s behavior when I brought up some weird things.”

“Would Miss Dale be a possibility?” Jofi asked. “Her dolls would prove useful in a battle. Presumably, she’s made some improvements in control.”

Lyssa wasn’t