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

harder. This is your last chance not to do something stupid. You didn’t hit me, so I’ll let it go. I can’t speak for anyone else.” She stopped behind an empty crate near the column. “But that’s the limit of my tolerance.”

“Others? You dare speak of others? They won’t matter if you’re dead.” Aisha brought her arm back, the fireball floating above it. “You honestly think you can beat me?”

“I’ve got more experience, and I’ve beat you before.”

“In sparring, not a real battle.”

“Your current ammo load is insufficient to defeat her,” Jofi said. “I recommend higher-powered rounds.”

“I’m trying to convince her to give this up, not put her more on edge,” Lyssa whispered. “She can still plead for mercy. I don’t know why she’d involve herself in this, but she is a Khatri. Samuel might think I don’t give a crap, but I do understand a little bit about Society politics.”

Aisha snorted. “Appealing to your spirit for help won’t save you, Hecate. Time to burn the trash.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

With a shout, Aisha threw the fireball. The dangerous spell screamed toward Lyssa, but she spun behind the column, avoiding the attack. The fireball crashed to the floor, scorching the concrete and producing a fountain of fiery sparks.

It was a beautiful sight, like a firework. Too bad Aisha was trying to kill Lyssa.

Aisha threw up her hands and chanted rapidly under her breath. Burning blasts ripped from her hands in streams, pelting and blackening the column. “I’ve always thought you were a degenerate, but I held out some hope for you. Killing you is a mercy. You should thank me.”

“And I always thought you were a crazy bitch,” Lyssa replied. “You’re only proving me right.”

Aisha couldn’t maintain the stream for long. Lyssa just needed to wait for her chance.

When the stream of fiery death stopped, Lyssa burst from behind the column and opened fire with both pistols. The bullets struck the shield surrounding Aisha, vaporizing in a sizzling, sputtering mass that left molten lead burning the floor. Not unexpected, but still annoying.

Lyssa retreated behind the column as Aisha tossed another fireball her way. It exploded against the column and blasted out a small chunk. A blanket of heat wrapped around Lyssa. Aisha wasn’t playing around.

“You won’t be able to hold back,” Jofi calmly noted. “She will kill you if this continues.”

“Gee, thanks for the update, Great Spirit Lord of the Obvious,” Lyssa snapped. “But I have to play this smart. Her damned shield will take out my rounds before their spells can go off.”

“Come now, Hecate,” Aisha shouted. “Are you going to let me roast you there without showing your face?”

Two more fireballs chipped away at the column. By staying there, Lyssa risked Aisha blowing out the entire column and bringing down part of the roof. She was hoping the woman would be exhausted before she destroyed the building.

A loud boom shook the room. Aisha jetted to the side, propelled by flames shooting out of her feet and gaining line-of-sight on her opponent. Lyssa sprinted toward the wall, trying to keep pace with Aisha’s rocket-girl act.

One advantage of Lyssa not being obliged to use only sorcery in a fight was not having to worry about exhausting her power. The flashier the spell without a careful ritual, the more tiring it was. It didn’t take a lot of strength to pull a trigger.

Lyssa fired a couple of times at Aisha but didn’t stop moving. The bullets didn’t make it through, but all they needed to do was throw off the aim of the other Sorceress.

Fireballs sputtered toward Lyssa in an erratic line. Her quick movements kept them from hitting her. Even a second’s pause would end with her taking a direct blast. The attacks might be missing her, but their intense heat passed over her, a reminder of what waited if Aisha hit her.

Lyssa continued her run, seeking out decent cover that could survive more than a single fireball. Aisha continued walking explosions across a concrete wall, leaving a trail of scorch marks.

Aisha’s aim became less precise when Lyssa shifted to serpentine movement. Pallets near her exploded in showers of burning wood.

Lyssa offered a silent prayer of thanks that the walls were concrete. She didn’t want to fight Aisha while they were trapped in a conflagration. There were already enough burning pieces of wood to give the flame Sorceress the advantage.

This strategy couldn’t continue. Jofi was right; Aisha was going all out. Lyssa needed to repay her in kind. She also needed a couple of seconds to prepare.

“Stop delaying the inevitable,” Aisha yelled. “There is dignity in accepting your death at my hands. I will listen to your end formally if you wish.”

“How about a big no?” Lyssa called.

She vaulted over a large yellow forklift. The machine took the brunt of the next few attacks before she landed in a roll and popped back up. She ducked, shoving one of her guns into her holster before reaching into a pocket.

Quick ammo changes required good muscle memory, something Lyssa had taken advantage of in Las Vegas and was now taking advantage of in Midland. She brought along the same types of ammo on jobs, and each had its designated pocket.

A magazine wrapped in red tape came out with her hand. She ejected the current magazine and reloaded her pistol in one smooth motion, caught the half-empty mag filled with normal bullets, and shoved it into another pocket. She never wanted a fight to be lost because she was out of ammo.

Aisha stopped her Saturn V impression and dropped to the floor before launching another wide fire blast that spread over the side of the forklift. Her breathing had become ragged. “You can’t run forever, Hecate. It’s your poor luck. Darkness is nothing before light and fire. I’m a true Torch. I will burn the impurities from this world, starting with you.”

Lyssa grimaced. Aisha sure liked to talk. Was that what she sounded like to the men she took down?

“You’re insane,” Lyssa shouted. “This doesn’t