Southwest Nights (Semiautomatic Sorceress Book 1) by Kal Aaron (large ebook reader txt) 📕

would it be before there was no more separation between the two strains of humanity?

Lyssa stood and shook out her arms. Worrying about relationships could wait for the future. She was still getting established in Phoenix after years in San Diego, and there was at least one non-personal loose end fraying in her mind.

“I wonder how long it’ll take,” she mumbled.

“How long what’ll take?” Jofi asked.

She’d almost forgotten he was there. That was dangerous. She should never allow herself to forget about the spirit.

“For Damien to turn up something.” Lyssa sat on the couch. “I’ve been thinking about it. I’m half-wondering if that job was a trap.”

“That’s what you’re concerned about?”

She retrieved a water bottle sitting on a small end table. After downing a quarter of it, she let out a sigh of relief.

“There are a lot of people out there I’ve helped take down who are still alive.” Lyssa set the bottle back on the table. “Twelve years of being a Torch, and most of my targets have been the worst kind of trash. Some make Alvarez look like a saint.”

“Are targeted assassinations of Torches typical?” Jofi asked.

She was surprised by the question, but she shouldn’t have been. They didn’t spend much time discussing Society business, but Jofi was always there to passively listen and observe when she received orders. Ultimately, his view of the Illuminated Society was narrow and shaped through the experiences of one young-ish Torch.

“No. I can’t say they are, whatever you might think. There aren’t a lot of Sorcerers and there are fewer Torches. On the other hand, it’s not like the threat can be ignored. You might not appreciate the politics of all of it, but there’s a reason Torches and Eclipses have to be careful about who knows their true identity. Soldiers and assassins are bigger targets. No one’s going to go out of their way to screw with a Sorceress with healing sorcery and Earth Mother regalia.”

“The mere possibility of an assassination isn’t the same thing as verifying an occurrence,” Jofi said. “There are many negative events that could happen but haven’t.”

“Such as?”

“A large meteor destroying a major city,” Jofi explained, “like they spoke about on that show you were watching last week.”

“True.” Lyssa laid her head against the back of the couch. “The thing is, an assassination’s far more likely than a killer meteor, and I feel like there’s something here worth looking into. I want to know what it is before I stick my neck out.”

“Are you sure you’re not seeing connections that aren’t there due to the incident with your brother and the anniversary? You’ve demonstrated emotional distress well beyond normal in the last week.”

Lyssa jerked upright. “This isn’t about that. Mostly. Besides, it doesn’t change what I’ve said.”

“Is there another possibility you can think of?” Jofi asked. “Something less pernicious that might make you worry less?”

Lyssa opened her mouth but closed it without uttering a single syllable. There were too many possibilities, and that was the problem. No one liked accepting that there were many different reasons someone might want to kill them.

“Let’s not worry about it for now.” Lyssa stood. “I’m going to take a shower, then go out to get something to eat. I’ve been ordering in too much.”

“Will I be coming?”

“No, I think I can grab a chicken sandwich without needing to shoot someone.”

“You should take a normal weapon, just in case.”

Lyssa smiled. “I’m not going to have a shootout at Emperor Chicken unless they’ve run out of chicken sandwiches again.”

She waited for him to offer an additional complaint with a hint of guilt stabbing her. She wanted to be honest with Jofi. Her brother might not be the only reason someone might want to take a shot at her.

No. She wouldn’t worry about the spirit. One crisis at a time. That was all she could handle.

Lyssa stopped in her garage and stared at her bike. She still planned to get food, but the shards and Alvarez snuck back into her mind.

Waiting around was adding to her agitation. She trusted Damien to get her information, but the EAA had its limits. They couldn’t handle shards without the help of the Illuminated.

She ran her hands through her hair and groaned. “This sucks.”

“What?” Jofi asked. “You’ve yet to leave. It seems premature to complain about your meal before you’ve eaten it.”

“I’m trying to be patient about the shards, but I can’t let it go.” Lyssa shrugged. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a job where I got ambushed by something that unexpected.”

“The rocket launcher incident in Sacramento didn’t bother you as much?”

“No, because they told me ahead of time those terrorists might have weapons like that.” Lyssa moved over to the bike and straddled the seat. “Knowing I’m in for a tough fight doesn’t bother me.”

“Then your primary concern in this incident was the lack of forewarning?”

“Sort of.” Lyssa shook her head. “The trap alone wouldn’t have bothered me. A single crossbow or the robe alone wouldn’t have spun me up as much. But the entire package? It was too much.”

“You survived with only modest injuries.”

Lyssa snickered. “You were the one who wanted me to get rougher from the beginning.”

“Due to tactical considerations, nothing more.”

Lyssa thought for a moment and hopped off her bike. “I’m not going to sit around doing nothing.”

“You’re not going to the chicken restaurant?” Jofi asked.

“I am, but first, I need to get one of my spare phones out of the safe.” Lyssa headed toward the garage door. “I need to give Reed a call.”

“Didn’t you threaten to kill him last time you talked to him?”

“Sure, because he gave me a bad tip.” Lyssa grinned. “He’s got a chance to make up for it now.”

Lyssa donned her regalia before making the call. She’d long since learned faking her Hecate voice without her regalia was harder than she expected, and the last thing she wanted to do was provide a sleazy informant like Reed Peters any clues about