“I already respect you, Samuel.” Lyssa smiled. “You faked your death, infiltrated Last Remnant, and took on a bunch of shard-armed Shadows, and that was after fighting off an assassination attempt. You would have made a good Torch.” She gasped. “Speaking of faking your death, what happened? You mentioned figuring some stuff out, but that was over the top.”
“I was attacked again in America by someone who I knew worked for Elder Nektarios shortly after coming to my conclusions that he might be involved,” Samuel said. “Because I knew you and Mr. St. James were both going to Last Remnant, and I was worried about what would happen if I tried to oppose the Elder directly, I decided to avail myself of certain options I’ve prepared over the years in case of unusual problems on Last Remnant.”
Lyssa gave him a thumbs-up. “Running practically rogue, St. James style. Nice. I like this new badass Samuel.”
He cleared his throat. “Please don’t compare me to Mr. St. James.”
“Speaking of him, is he still around?” Lyssa asked. “I’d be interested in comparing notes.”
Samuel shook his head. “After his initial aid in the analysis of what happened, he left the island. He claims he’s accomplished what he needed to. In truth, I think he’s afraid we’ll finish him off while he’s weak.”
“Would you?”
“He’s a useful tool. For now. Oh, from what I’ve been able to determine with Mr. St. James’s help, most of the people, if not all of them, on your memory card were directly or indirectly investigating activities related to the entity’s plans.”
“Why did Adrien Allard have the card?” Lyssa asked.
“We don’t know for certain, but our initial evidence suggests he wasn’t under the entity’s control even though the smuggling involved Nektarios,” Samuel replied. “He was nothing more than a convenient tool.”
“Oh, good old-fashioned corruption.” Lyssa scoffed. “Somehow he got a list of people who might be willing to push back. In other words, he was looking for a backdoor if things got too hot for him.”
Samuel nodded. “Most likely. The entity understood subtlety was necessary. Killing dozens of Illuminated would be too suspicious, and there do appear to be limits to how many people it could influence, with a small number of Illuminated. There are other curious factors about this with long-term implications.”
Lyssa nodded. “Like what?”
“Elder Nektarios was the one most insistent the Society come forward after M-Day,” Samuel said. “Despite what many people believe, we have no clear understanding of why those men attacked the Queen of England, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was somehow responsible. There’s some tentative evidence for that.”
“He wanted Sorcerers to become public?” Lyssa asked. “What good would that do him?”
Samuel nodded. “The Society can’t be targeted if it’s hidden. There are many questionable things to investigate. It remains unclear why he was so obsessed with you, though it might have been because your recent success in interfering with his plans brought you to his attention.”
Lyssa nodded. She understood Samuel meant Jofi, not her. The Far One had made it clear he craved the spirit’s power.
It’d be strange dealing with Jofi now. His new seal meant they could go back to their old relationship, but as much as she wanted him to know the truth, she wasn’t ready to confront the ranting spirit who was ready to swallow her soul and threaten the world.
“There’s such a thing as being too successful,” Lyssa said, chuckling quietly.
Samuel stood and straightened his lapels. “I could spend hours talking to you about this, but there are some things I must attend to. But there’s another person you’ll want to speak with. He can explain other details and give more direct insight.” He headed toward the door. “Do know, Miss Corti, that we appreciate all you’ve done, and it is clear that without your efforts, Last Remnant might have fallen.”
Lyssa gave him a salute. “A Torch burns away all that’s wrong with this world.”
Samuel opened the door and looked back at her with an amused smile. “This time you did.” He stepped through and turned to someone in the hallway. “Please talk to her. I know she’ll want to see you.”
Lyssa tried to guess who it might be. Her eyes widened when Chris walked through the door.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chris looked older. Not fifteen years older, but the gray in his hair and the crow’s feet around his eyes pointed to him aging faster than she would have expected for a Sorcerer. She stared at him for a moment, almost unable to believe it was him.
“Jofi, is he here?” she whispered.
“Yes,” the spirit replied. “Congratulations. I must admit I was doubtful, but for now, I’ll remain quiet so you can enjoy your reunion.”
Lyssa teared up. “I never truly gave up.” She wiped away her tears. “I always knew you were still alive. Even after finding your regalia in the Vault of Dreams, somehow I knew… That’s not true. I gave up. I wanted revenge. Damn it. All I needed to do was keep the faith a little longer.”
He sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand. “It’s okay, Lyssa. You believed in me a lot longer than anyone else did. I heard about you looking for me both before and after M-Day. Then I heard you were coming here.”
Lyssa frowned. “Of course. You were here. Wait.” Her eyes widened. “The servant in the ritual room. You tried to stab him. I forgot about it in all the chaos.”
Chris nodded. “I’ve been under its control for a long time, ever since the job I allegedly died on. I was an earlier host.” He sighed. “When you’re not the main host, it’s not total mind control. You do things, but it feels like you want to do them—as if you’ve always wanted to do them.” He held up his fingers and spread them apart. “Think of it this way. It’s like the main host was the brain, and the rest of us were fingers. The host
