Lyssa hopped off the bike and stuck her hands in her jacket pockets. She looked at a wooden door on the other side of the garage and waited. The seconds ticked away, and she whistled.
A man with perfect hair wearing a black and red uniform opened the door. His face was a mask of blandness, but there was no sorcery coming off him.
“Good afternoon, Miss Corti,” he said, bowing his head.
“Hey. I got a message from your boss telling me to stop by.”
Lyssa forced a weak smile. There weren’t a lot of reasons she’d be summoned to this house and even fewer that might not change her life.
“Yes,” the servant said. “We were informed of your arrival.” He gestured at the doorway. “If you’ll please follow me.”
The servants never made any attempt to disarm her. She wanted to believe that spoke to trust, but she doubted she could draw her weapon in the sorcery-fortified location without ten men with shards jumping her.
Lyssa pulled her hands out of her pockets and followed the servant into and through the home. She didn’t bother paying attention to the circuitous route. Based on the art landmarks, it was different than the last time she’d visited. Navigation was only going to get more annoying before the end of her visit, another aspect of the hostess’s security measures.
They ended up in a sitting room covered with paintings. Her hostess loved her expensive works. They were all originals, some famous enough that even Lyssa recognized them.
Prints wouldn’t do in this mansion. They were affronts to the owner’s sorcery essence as much as her ego.
The servant gestured toward a white settee. “She’ll be with you soon, miss.”
Lyssa nodded and took a seat, worried about getting dirt or grime on the furniture. That one was one of the reasons she avoided white furniture at home.
“Thanks.” She smiled at the man.
Dealing with servants always bothered her. Plenty of Illuminated relied on them. A lot of families even had servants from other trusted families who no longer could produce heirs with sorcerous ability.
Lyssa’s parents, though coming from the proud Corti line, nonetheless eschewed servants and the trappings of faux aristocracy. She’d inherited their dislike.
The servant bowed his head before retreating from the room. There was nothing to do but wait. Sitting there in a leather jacket didn’t fit the ambiance of the room, but at least it was her disguised regalia. There were few things on Earth more important and valuable than regalia.
“You’re always worried this woman is going to attack you,” Jofi said, his voice neutral as always.
“Why do you think that?” Lyssa whispered. “I’ve never said that. It’s not like I can maintain all my traveling spells without my regalia.”
“You’re always tense when you’re here, and you make a point of bringing me. It’s the logical conclusion when considering that evidence.”
“We’re a long way from Scottsdale,” Lyssa replied. “This isn’t a quick stop at the corner Emperor Chicken.”
“Are you sure that’s the full truth?” Jofi asked.
Lyssa snorted at his choice of words. They were too perfect, given the falsehood essence of her hostess.
At least Jofi wasn’t offering any sinister commentary on the beauty of destruction. He’d been a good and normal bound spirit since her run-in with the rogue in Texas. With everything else going on, she didn’t need more stress.
“The point is I could get jumped along the way,” Lyssa explained. “I’m not worried about Caroline. Of all the people lined up to kill me, I imagine she’s pretty low on the list. Higher than Tricia, but not much.”
She looked up as the door opened. A silver-haired woman in a pure white layered outfit that was half kimono and half Roman stola stepped through. The woman’s smooth, pale face wasn’t covered, but a white blindfold was wrapped around her eyes. Full-length white gloves covered her arms and hands. It was the Wronged Innocent regalia, bound to the Sorceress owner of the mansion, Caroline Malley.
Lyssa stood and extended a hand with her palm up. “Hey.”
“Hello, Lyssa,” Caroline replied. “It’s been too long.”
“That’s probably a good thing.” Lyssa gave a wry smile. “Most people can only take me in small doses.”
“Bluntness has a charm all its own.”
“If you say so.”
Caroline reached over and took Lyssa’s hand. A pulse of sorcery made Lyssa shiver, but she knew there was no way this meeting would continue without letting the other woman perform her spell. Everyone had their own way of protecting themselves.
“Did you come to lie to me today?” Caroline asked, her voice soft and strangely soothing.
Lyssa shook her head. “I came because you contacted me. I didn’t think you would bother unless it was important.”
“I presume it’s important,” Caroline replied. “Do you mean me harm today?”
“No.”
“Do you ever mean me harm?”
Lyssa shook her head. “You might try to kill me at some point, and then, yeah, I’d mean you harm.”
“Understandable.” Caroline dropped her hand.
Relief flooded Lyssa. The tension in her neck and shoulders vanished.
Jofi misunderstood why she was nervous. She had brought him to protect herself along the way, but her problem with Caroline was something else entirely.
Everyone had secrets they wanted to keep, and that could be hard around a woman who could detect lies. It was one of the simplest spells the woman could pull off with her falsehood essence.
It didn’t matter that they weren’t enemies. They weren’t friends either.
Lyssa had helped Caroline out of a dangerous situation a few years prior, but things could change quickly among the complicated political scene of Sorcerers and Sorceresses. Most Illuminated did not end up as rogues who needed to be put down, but a strong political position was as deadly a weapon as any gun or spell. The more secrets Lyssa hoarded, the safer she’d be should anyone in the Society target her.
“It’s pleasant to see you again,” Caroline said. “I understand you’ve been busy
