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

“You going to do something about that?” Lyssa gestured at them. “They probably disabled the sprinkler so they can test shards that blow things up, but I’d rather not choke to death, and you’re not immune to smoke either.”

Aisha raised her hands. She walked toward a burning crate. The flames flowed away from the crate toward her palms, leaving a charred, smoking mess. They formed a burning fireball in her hand before disappearing in a flash of light.

She repeated the process until every fire was out, apart from a single lantern spell. With a flick of her wrist, she set it to orbiting her.

“Wait.” Lyssa frowned. “I’m not trying to accuse you of anything, but how did you know about the sound-eating shard?”

“I paid attention when I walked into this room from the front instead of sneaking in like you and not taking in my environment.” Aisha scoffed, this time successfully folding her arms. “This is the worst part about you, Corti. You always act as if I’m a fool. I’m a trained Torch. I passed the Trials too, you know.”

“You’re hot-headed, not a fool.” Lyssa shrugged. “But sometimes those categories blur.”

“Don’t make me burn you again, Corti.”

“Wait a sec. You walked in the front?” Lyssa’s gaze flicked to double doors leading to a hallway and the front of the building.

“Yes.” Aisha offered a condescending smile. “I borrowed some potions. One hypnotized the guard. It made the whole thing rather easy.”

Lyssa barked a laugh. “You hypnotized him? I thought you always said that kind of spell was for weaklings. I’d kill to have something that useful.”

“Of course you would. You like to skulk about like a black cat.”

“What about cameras?” Lyssa asked. “You figure out a way to make cameras drink potions?”

Aisha shrugged. “I had him shut them off and erase the portion where I came in.”

“That could have alerted someone off-site,” Lyssa said.

“Do you see anyone other than me?” Aisha gestured around.

Lyssa rolled her eyes. “You still need to learn to ask questions before you blast away, but progress is progress. Aisha Khatri not burning down everything in sight. What a miracle! You’re learning self-control. What about the cameras after you left the front?”

“There are blind spots. I made sure he explained them to me in detail.”

“Good job.” Lyssa rubbed her chin in thought. “Then we haven’t lost the element of surprise against the Lone Five Stars.”

“I don’t need your praise. I’m a competent Torch.”

There was a hint of satisfaction in the younger woman’s voice. At thirty years old and with twelve years’ experience as a Torch, Lyssa had eight years of both chronological age and job time over Aisha. On some level, she wanted Lyssa’s approval.

The Khatri-Corti feud had mostly been a one-way affair, and Lyssa had never been sure of the best way to handle it. Her mother had largely ignored it, and it hadn’t boiled over to more than occasional verbal abuse and the shin kick until Aisha had come of age and taken the Flame Goddess regalia.

Lyssa had already cycled through different potential solutions. Beating Aisha down in the past during sparring sessions hadn’t helped. Trying to reach out directly hadn’t helped since Aisha had insisted Lyssa first admit her mother was a thief. At least now, Aisha was only trying to kill Lyssa when she thought she had a legitimate Torch excuse. That wasn’t progress, but it wasn’t backsliding.

Aisha might think of Lyssa as a thief from a family of thieves, but it was hard for Lyssa not to think of the other Sorceress as a bratty, ultra-violent pyromaniac younger sister. In some other life, where the Khatris had kept the Night Goddess, maybe they could have been closer.

Lyssa blew out a breath. “Now that we’re done with the Khatri-Corti Violence Hour and we know there’s at least one shard in here, why don’t we look for more?”

“I’ve already done that.” Aisha pointed to the column. “I searched this area for two hours before your arrival.”

“Of course, you did. That makes sense. Otherwise, I would have spotted you going inside.” Lyssa nodded slowly. “That means you were here during the shift change.”

“I had two potions.” Aisha smiled.

Lyssa furrowed her brow. “I was only able to spot one guard on duty from the outside. Are there more?”

“There’s only the one now.” Aisha’s tone dripped smugness. “I think they’re overconfident about their security or reputation.”

“There’s another possibility,” Jofi offered.

“I know,” she whispered.

Aisha wrinkled her nose. “Relying on a spirit is a type of weakness too. I won’t ask what it’s saying. I honestly don’t care.”

Lyssa gave Aisha a tight smile. There was petulance in the woman’s tone that made Lyssa think she cared far more than she let on. They didn’t have time to get lost in petty bickering or more sorcery duels.

“You’ve been searching the place for a while,” Lyssa replied. “You might be an annoying pain in the ass, but you’re thorough.”

“Get to the point, Corti.”

“Even inactive, you’d sense something from the shards if you were close enough. That means they’re probably not here, other than the sound-swallowing bad boy. That would be part of their standard defenses.”

Lyssa walked toward the column. A tiny straw doll hung from a string looped around a small stub. She concentrated and raised an arm, and a long, shadowy tentacle extended up. Her new shadow limb grasped the doll and yanked it down. She caught it in her palm and shoved it into a pocket. After a moment of consideration, she pulled the doll out and tossed it on the floor.

Aisha glared at her. “Have you lost your mind? You’re going to leave it here for the criminals?”

“I’m under an EAA contract. It’ll help things along if they process all the shards before they hand them back. We can have them pick it up.”

“It’s a waste of time to involve Shadows when we don’t need to, and we might not be able to contact them until this is all over. There’s no guarantee the Lone Five