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

“Serafina?” she shouted. “I’m not playing. If you don’t want something broken, you better answer me.”

Lyssa gritted her teeth. Life was simpler when people didn’t give her a reason to be suspicious.

With a deep breath, she pulled her folded-up mask out of her pocket. After slipping it over her face, she willed the regalia to revert to its natural form.

Lyssa kicked open the door. She’d been in the gallery enough times to know the layout. Another door at the end of the short hallway led to the main workshop. There were storage closets and bathrooms behind the other doors.

The sensation of sorcery intensified. More loud thumping and crashing noises followed. The workshop wall rattled.

Lyssa inched forward, lifting her guns as she headed toward the workshop. The door was cracked open a couple of inches. A loud bang rattled it.

She stopped in front of the door. Holding her breath, she tilted her head and peered inside. Power and hand tools were scattered all over the room, fallen from destroyed metal shelves. A massive anvil had been knocked on its side. One of Serafina’s large worktables was broken in half and had huge holes spread over one side. Buckets filled with metallic slivers and small bars had been knocked off the wall, their contents spilled over the area.

Something had smashed holes the same size as the tables’ holes high in a wall near an exhaust vent. The damage had left a pile of wood and ceiling tile mixed with metal and insulation in the far corner of the room. The pile reached the ceiling.

Half-smashed bricks along with bent metal were the remains of the forge. Large dents marred the metal walls, all roughly the same size as the holes.

“What the hell?” Lyssa muttered.

Something huge had been in the room, and it had caused a lot of damage. There was one problem. Lyssa didn’t see it, but she’d heard it. No one liked an invisible angry giant.

There were many possibilities: camouflage, invisibility, thinning. Without knowing the essence and regalia of her opponent, she couldn’t begin to guess what tricks he might be pulling.

The bastard needed to come out. She wanted to get it over with. Anyone who hurt Serafina wouldn’t be leaving the building alive.

Lyssa sucked in a breath, her stomach knotting. Serafina might not be a Torch, but the woman could defend herself, especially in her gallery. Whoever had done this was a dangerous and powerful foe. That suggested Torch or Eclipse training.

“It’s a trap,” Jofi said.

“Maybe,” Lyssa whispered. “Probably.”

“Then shouldn’t you avoid it? Miss Dale is not answering. Given the situation, there’s a good chance she’s dead.”

“Aren’t you sunshine on a cloudy day?” Lyssa muttered. She pushed the door open. “I’m not leaving to save my ass while my friend is missing. She could be here somewhere and hurt.”

“Where?” Jofi asked. “If she’s in one of the other rooms, that’s all the more reason for you to leave.”

“I need to take down the threat first.”

Lyssa looked around, unsure if the rhythmic sorcerous pulse was from the room or her unseen enemy. Her brief sweep stopped as she narrowed her eyes on the corner pile.

“Why don’t you come out of there and we’ll talk?” Lyssa frowned. “If you haven’t hurt my friend, this doesn’t have to go badly for you. I’m never eager to take down Illuminated.”

A huge four-fingered silver fist punched out and the pile shook, causing pieces to fall. A leg emerged.

Seconds later, the entire body emerged, a massive silver humanoid statue radiating enchantment and covered with glyph work. There were no obvious eyes, though the head was covered with denser glyph work than the rest of the body. The silver figure took a step and smashed debris under its enormous foot.

Lyssa pointed her guns at the new arrival. “Okay, didn’t see that coming. You have a lot of balls, sending a construct after a Sorceress.”

The silver construct lumbered forward. Other than the crunch of trash beneath its feet, it didn’t make any noise.

“Tell me where my friend is. I bet you can talk through that thing.”

The silver construct smashed a fist into the wall, adding a new dent. Wood snapped and trash rustled as it lumbered toward her.

“You’re threatening me?” Lyssa scoffed. “You might have gotten lucky surprising Serafina, but she’s got a much kinder heart than I do.” She narrowed her eyes on the construct. “Wherever you are, Serafina, I hope you soundproofed this place because things are about to get loud.”

Chapter Fifteen

Lyssa’s first couple of shots bounced off the silver construct. Bright glowing azure cracks snaked out from the impact points. A matching aura surrounded the entire body.

“Okay,” Lyssa growled, “this is damned annoying.”

The construct stopped moving. It couldn’t have been that easy. Serafina would have discarded a construct who couldn’t take a bullet with ease.

“Is it dead?” Lyssa murmured.

“I think you’ll have to hit him a lot harder,” Jofi said. “Total annihilation will ensure pacification of the enemy.”

“Gee, you think?” Lyssa rolled her eyes. “Wow. You must secretly be the Spirit of Tactics. I’ll save the big stuff for when I need it.”

She took another shot. More cracks and a brighter glow appeared. The enemy remained immobile.

Lyssa took a step back. “Okay, big guy, sounds like you don’t have a microphone for anyone to talk through you. What’s the plan, then? Smash everything that moves? But you stopped. Why?”

She kept her distance. The ravaged condition of the room made for uneven footing and not many places to hide.

“I might be overthinking this. It might be out of power.”

“It hasn’t fallen,” Jofi reminded her.

“Good point.” Lyssa kept her guns trained on the glowing but unmoving construct. “It’s not standing in a weird way. It wouldn’t necessarily have to fall.”

Lyssa had seen similar creations before and had fought some, too. Her limited experience didn’t translate into analytical confidence.

There was no single easy way to defeat a construct. Some constructs possessed a weak point. Others would keep operating until they were blown to