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

elevated position makes for better reconnaissance. An excess of animal sounds would only raise the chance of you being ambushed. All tactical considerations must be remembered.”

“Here lies Lyssa Corti, aka Hecate. She died because of too much nature appreciation.” She chuckled. “You think someone’s going to jump me because I’m too busy listening to cicadas?”

“Not in particular, only pointing out the possibility.”

“Why do I have a feeling that in five years, you’re going to burst out of my guns, cackling about how you’ve been putting me on all this time?” Lyssa shook her head. “You are probably the Grand Spirit of All Humor.”

“I assure you, I’m not a spirit of humor,” Jofi said. “I don’t understand your jokes, Lyssa.”

“That much is obvious. I’ve been working with you for years, and you don’t learn.”

“It’s not in my nature. I’m a gun spirit.”

“Sure.” Lyssa frowned. “That’s what you are.”

Her breath caught. She didn’t see anything new through her binoculars, but a question begged to be asked. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d asked, but it’d been a long time. Lee would have been outraged to know she wasn’t asking it weekly. The answer could be an early warning of Jofi’s seal weakening.

“Hey,” she asked quietly. “How does it feel to be a gun spirit?”

“I feel satisfied when you use me,” Jofi replied. “I don’t take pleasure in the destruction of your enemies, only in your use of me, but I do wish rapid defeat for all your enemies because of the risk they represent to your life.”

That was a solid enough reply. There was no hint he doubted he was a gun spirit.

“We could hit the range more.”

“I’d like that.”

Lyssa yawned and pulled out her phone. Wearing a watch while she was in her regalia presented complications. “It’s been forty-five minutes since we saw any movement in the back, and those guys were leaving. The first security guard and the guy who relieved him haven’t been near the back that I can see, either. I doubt they’re going to do another shift change after only an hour.”

“We can’t see everything,” Jofi said. “There could be hostiles inside who haven’t passed a window. Or they could be invisible.”

“That’s true, but I’m thinking this is as good a time as any to check out the back.” Lyssa shifted to her knees and twisted her body in a stretch. That was enough recon yoga. “What it comes down to is that we haven’t seen anyone other than the guy in the front in a while. I’m a little surprised. Reed might be wrong about this, but it won’t hurt to check it out.”

“And if it doesn’t belong to the Lone Five Stars?” Jofi asked.

“We poke around for a while and then leave.” Lyssa shrugged.

“If it is them, they could be prepared for inspection by hostile Torches.”

“I’m sure they can get reinforcements there quickly, but it’s not like they’re going to call the cops if something’s off at their gangland warehouse. That guard in the front looks an awful lot like a gangster to me, down to the resting bitch face with a messed-up nose, ill-fitting suit, and the not-so-hidden gun. I think if this were a legit place, there would be a rent-a-cop there in an obvious uniform, not a reject from a Martin Scorsese flick.”

“Do you intend to clear the warehouse out if you confirm it belongs to the criminals?”

Lyssa stood and dusted off her knees. Her long coat fluttered in the wind. “No. We could burn down that entire place, but we’d risk this ending up like it did in Japan. If we cut off the middlemen, we’ll never find the source. This is going to require more finesse. We look first, then we shoot.”

“You don’t enjoy finesse.”

Lyssa chuckled. “I enjoy solving problems in a straightforward way, but that’s not always possible. I prefer to win efficiently. Sometimes that means going in guns blazing, and sometimes that means convincing a guy not to fight. That’s a type of finesse.”

She walked over to the edge of the building, folding the binoculars and tucking them into a pocket. Stepping off, she filled her mind with interlocking glyphs and pictures of flowing smoke. She gently floated down to the ground, where she released the spell and jogged toward the back of the warehouse.

A six-foot chain-link fence protected it from would-be robbers. She didn’t need sorcery to vault over it. After landing in a crouch on the other side, she scanned for trouble. She spotted cameras, but any review of the footage would have a hard time proving she was there. That was one advantage her abilities presented over the mind sorcery of someone like Lee.

The ample rear parking lot could easily accommodate a semi, but there was only a handful of nondescript vans. That supported Lyssa’s suspicion that the place belonged to criminals. Companies liked to advertise. Criminals didn’t.

Lyssa took careful steps as she worked her way toward a window. She made a point of staying away from doors, especially the loading door. She approached a barred window and peeked inside.

She saw a darkened warehouse loading floor with a single parked forklift and empty pallets piled up and stored along the wall. There were crates scattered around the room, and open crates circled a concrete support column in the center.

There was no truck inside, nor any men. It didn’t impress her as a major distribution hub. There was no busy hive of men packing drugs and weapons.

Reed might have given her bad intel. She needed to make sure it wasn’t on purpose before she dished out too many threats.

Her chest tightened. Sorcery. She ducked reflexively and held her breath. Could they feel her?

Lyssa slowly lifted her head. She might have jumped to conclusions. It was time to go back to basics. She’d hoped to find shards there, and sensing their power could feel like normal sorcery. That didn’t mean there was a full-fledged rogue here, and even if there was, knowing her general direction wasn’t