Southwest Days (Semiautomatic Sorceress Book 2) by Kal Aaron (best book recommendations TXT) 📕

Nardi shook his head. He was trying not to look toward the corner of the room containing Lyssa, but his gaze kept darting her way. “There was just a big surprise on the show I was watching. Sorry. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

“Oh.” The nurse smiled. “Don’t scare me like that! Feel free to press the button if you need me. I’ll be here another three hours before shift change.”

“Sure thing,” Lucky said. “Hey, could you do me a favor and close the door? The light’s bothering me.”

“Of course.” She headed toward the door.

Lyssa waited until the nurse closed the door to step to the other side of the room and stand in front of the empty second bed. The position kept her away from the door and gave her time to disappear if someone else showed up. Satisfied with her repositioning, she dropped her wraith form.

Nardi’d had a chance to tell someone she was there and hadn’t. That was a good start.

“I’m surprised you didn’t say anything.” Lyssa inclined her head toward the door. “I get that I can be scary.”

“I figure it’s a dumb move to piss off a Sorceress,” Nardi replied, his voice straining. “Sorry. They’ve got me high as a kite right now. I didn’t even believe it was you at first. I thought I was hallucinating. Between the pain and drugs and nightmares, I can’t always tell what’s real. It’s weird.”

“I’m all too real. A nightmare.” Lyssa stepped toward the bed. “And I only need one thing from you to avenge you and Jake. You can sleep knowing Hecate, Torch of the Illuminated Society, will help you.”

“What do you need?” Nardi asked. He blinked several times but remained glassy-eyed. “I already told the cops everything I saw.”

Interrogating a drugged man could easily produce a false lead, but it also ensured his defenses were lowered. Damien had tried earlier, but getting the right information was often about asking the right question at the beginning.

“I need the truth.” Lyssa folded her arms. “I went to the mine. It was infested with a horde of those creatures, including a queen laying new eggs.”

Nardi swallowed. “The monster got Jake, pulled him away. I ran. There was nothing I could do. You have to believe me. I didn’t have a gun. I wouldn’t have run away if I had a gun.”

Lyssa shook her head. “You did the only thing you could. No one is blaming you. You would have died, too, if you’d tried to fight them.” She leaned closer. “Don’t worry. I destroyed those things. I killed the monster that hurt you and your friend. I destroyed it and all its friends.”

“Then what do you need from me?” Nardi blinked a couple of times as he tried to focus on Lyssa. “Isn’t it over?”

“There could be someone or something else behind this,” Lyssa replied. “You don’t need to worry about the details. You only need to understand those monsters were almost certainly put there by someone. Those kinds of things don’t just pop into existence.”

“It was put there by another one like you?” Nardi turned his head to look out the window.

“Yes, a rogue Sorcerer.” Lyssa shook her head. “Monsters are real, Mr. Nardi, but they aren’t natural, even in this new world. Someone used sorcery to make those things, and the Illuminated Society doesn’t tolerate that any more than your people do.” She curled a hand into a fist. “That rogue murdered your friend the same as if they put a gun to his head. When my kind does something they shouldn’t, people like me clean it up. That person needs to pay for your friend’s death, but I can’t make them pay if you don’t help me. And that starts with you being completely honest with me. I’m not here to accuse you of anything. You’re the victim. But I suspect you might know more than you’ve passed along.”

Tears leaked from Nardi’s eyes. “It’s my fault.”

“How?” Lyssa asked, trying to keep her tone neutral.

Nardi whined, “The email. This isn’t real. You’re not real. This is a dream. It has to be.”

“What email?” Lyssa struggled to keep her tone even. “If this is a dream, it doesn’t matter what you tell me. A figment of your imagination can’t hurt or blame you.”

“It’s a secret account I keep on the side,” Nardi replied. “It’s a throwaway thing for when I want to sign up on forums and sites without it being connected to my real address. I don’t pay much attention to it.” He moaned. “I should have ignored it. None of this would have happened if I’d ignored it.”

“I need to know about this email you received, Mr. Nardi,” Lyssa said. “I need you to focus and tell me all you ot know. Time is short, and I don’t want whoever did this to get away with it and hurt someone else, but I can’t do that without your help.” She took a deep breath. “You’re not just helping me. You’re helping Jake.” She considered what he’d said. “You told the EAA that this was about changing up the channel, but that’s not the whole truth, is it?”

Nardi blinked away his tears. “I got this email, and it talked about the show. I was freaked at first because I didn’t know how they figured out it was my address, but then I kind of got excited when I read the rest of it, even if it was weird. The message talked about how we were losing viewers, and he said he had a solution. He said we could make our show about haunted stuff. All that stuff I told that EAA guy was true. I was desperate. We have half as many subscribers as we did a year ago. Everyone says we’re stale and do the same things over and over.”

“Why would you listen to some random email?” Lyssa tried for a soothing tone, but the natural gravelly nature