“What’s wrong?” Tricia asked. “Fred’s out shopping. I can call him if you need him to buy you something.” She peered at Lyssa. “You don’t look hurt. Internal injuries? Do you need herbs?”
“I’m not hurt, and I don’t need anything.” Lyssa shook her head. “Last Remnant told me to contact them to receive a message. I just got my message in Los Angeles. It hit me hard.”
Tricia’s breath caught, and worry crept over her features. “What did the message say?”
“They claim Chris’ regalia returned to the Vault of Dreams,” Lyssa whispered.
Tricia came and sat beside Lyssa. She took the younger woman’s hand in hers and squeezed gently. “I’m sorry. I truly am. We knew this day was coming. I know you held out hope, but I’ll be here for you. Fred will be, too. We’ll get you through this together.”
“No.” Lyssa shook her head. “He’s not dead. I refuse to believe it.”
“That’s not healthy.”
“It’s not possible.”
Tricia kept her voice quiet. “His regalia returned, Lyssa. You know what that means. There’s no explanation other than he is dead. I don’t know why it took so long, but it’s impossible to unbind a regalia without killing the Illuminated. I’ve never heard of it being done, ever.” Tricia gave Lyssa a worried look. “Have you heard such a thing?”
Lyssa’s stomach continued its revolt. “No. I haven’t, but I don’t believe that’s what happened.”
“What then?” Tricia wore her pity like a mask.
Lyssa pulled her hand away from the woman. “There’s an obvious explanation that doesn’t require unbinding. They lied about it being in the vault. Someone higher up is messing with me. They know I’m interested and getting close, so they sent the message to throw me off.”
“Why would they do that?” Tricia shook her head. “Why go through all that trouble? I understand how badly you want and need your brother to be alive, but you’ve had no evidence he’s alive for fifteen years. And now this. Even in the Society, the simplest and most direct explanation is usually the truth.”
“And you don’t think this is all too perfect?” Lyssa shot off the couch, almost slamming her knee into the coffee table. “The second I get evidence that he’s alive, I suddenly get the confirmation he’s dead. That timing is ridiculous, even for Sorcerers.”
Tricia looked confused. “What evidence are you talking about? You never mentioned finding evidence he was alive.”
Lyssa stared at Tricia. No one but Jofi knew about the pictures she’d found in Oklahoma. In most cases, that was because she didn’t trust anyone enough to reveal it, but Tricia was one of the few people on the planet Lyssa trusted without reservation. Tricia would die before betraying her.
That wasn’t the concern. The problem was that bringing her in would lead to another complication. Lies and secrecy pointed to conspiracy, which in turn meant danger. Lyssa had already lost her original family. She didn’t want to lose another because of sloppiness.
Lyssa shook her head. “I don’t think it’s safe to tell you.”
“Honey, you have to tell me what’s going on,” Tricia said in a plaintive tone. “I can’t help you otherwise. Tell me what you know. You don’t have to keep this all on your shoulders.”
Lyssa sighed. She’d come this far. Jofi was a good partner in a fight, but she needed her foster mother for emotional support.
“The smuggler Adrien Allard mentioned some things during our fight,” she said. “Things that made me think Chris was alive and he knew where he might be.”
“It must have been a trick,” Tricia replied with a shake of her head. “Allard was trying to hurt you. You have a reputation as a Torch. He was operating near your territory and researched you. I don’t have to have your job to imagine people using such unpleasant tricks.”
“That’s what I thought at first. It didn’t affect anything at the time because he didn’t leave me with any choice but to kill him.” Lyssa frowned. “But before he died, he gave me some other information. That info led me to a memory card with a bunch of pictures of Illuminated in and out of their regalia. Chris was in those pictures, and they were clearly taken after his alleged death. He was alive three years ago.”
Tricia blinked several times. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.” Lyssa gave a firm nod.
“You’ve lived your life investigating things. I won’t doubt you.” Tricia shook her head. “But three years ago? It’s hard to accept.”
“I know. This has been bothering me for the last month.” Lyssa fought the urge to pace after standing by sitting down again in Fred’s favorite chair. “The rest of the pictures are a random grab bag, including some dangerous people, but I don’t know what they mean in and of themselves. I don’t think I should show them to you. That way, if anyone comes by asking about them, you can honestly say you haven’t seen them, and they can’t extract the information from you.”
Tricia averted her eyes. “I hate to say this, but you could have been right about your brother being alive before. But now—”
“No!” Lyssa gave a sharp shake of her head. “Nothing changes. It’s too perfect. All I have is a message from Last Remnant funneled through who knows how many people, saying his regalia is there. It’s not like they showed it to me, and it’s not like they couldn’t have faked it.” She scoffed. “Samuel knows I want to go there, and he probably mentioned it to someone who mentioned it to someone else who doesn’t want me there. They needed to give me a reason not to come, so they decided to lie and say the regalia’s back.” She scowled. “Taking down the rogue was bound to have made someone nervous. There’s no way he was smuggling that many shards without help.”
Tricia nodded, though her eyes remained doubtful. “That could all be true, but I don’t understand what you think is going on
