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

of Phoenix requested a Torch, and the Society has sent one. Let her do her damned job.”

Lopez ignored Damien and stared at Lyssa. “All your magic’s in those special clothes, right? But not every one of you uses a mask. That’s got to mean more than you say. We can’t trust your kind to tell the truth.”

Lyssa saw no reason to clarify that regalia enhanced rather than supplied the innate sorcery essence of an Illuminated. Essence manifested at puberty and reflected the fundamental nature of their powers, like her darkness sorcery.

The average person didn’t understand that sorcerous abilities all related to that essence. While a trained and clever Sorcerer could do far more with their ability than a person from Shadow society might expect, there were still limits.

A smart Sorcerer worked within their conceptual limits rather than waste effort trying to copy techniques from different essences. No matter what, Lyssa was never going to be tossing fireballs around.

Regalia offered other special powers, usually protection and healing in general, as well as specific abilities, such as Lyssa’s Night Goddess, which enabled her to see in the dark. Each costume was unique and bound to a Sorcerer or Sorceress in a Rite of Passage Initiation ceremony three years after they came into their powers post-puberty. Compatible essences and regalia types informed the theoretical choices. Some regalia wouldn’t bind to a given Illuminated.

It wasn’t as if the Society had been going out of their way to conceal all the details of sorcery, but they also didn’t see a reason to kill every rumor and misunderstanding among Shadow society during the transition between secrecy and openness. Information asymmetry could be a useful weapon.

“Go read a book if you want to know about regalia.” Lyssa pointed at the house. “My orders include paying attention to what you have to say. What level of force should I limit myself to?”

Lopez sucked in a breath before nodding at the house. “It’s not supposed to be a massacre. You might not have to follow the same rules we do, but even if this guy is a total piece of trash, we want him for trial and to roll on the rest of the cartel. Same thing for his lackeys. If we end up with a house full of corpses, that’s only going to set the cartel back a little while. But if we get enough of these guys to spill their guts, the feds can do some serious damage.”

“You should have picked someone else if this is about keeping everyone alive when they’re trying to kill me.” Lyssa shrugged. “Finesse isn’t my forte.”

Damien sighed. “It’s not like there’s a Rent-a-Sorc app, Hecate. No one’s saying you should let yourself get hurt. Just keep it reasonable and give them someone they can interrogate.” He motioned around. “We need to get going on this before it’s too late. Notice what you don’t see?”

Lyssa looked around. “No media?”

Damien pointed at a helicopter overhead. “I could only do so much about the choppers and drones. I’ve been busting my butt to keep them away from here with EAA tricks, but that’s not going to last long. We’d like this over before every teen with a phone shows up to get selfies with the #SemiAutomaticSorceress.”

“Semi-automatic Sorceress?” Lyssa asked. “Did you come up with that yourself? I kind of like it.”

Damien frowned. “Can you clear out the building?”

“Sure.” Lyssa looked at the house. “Distract the idiots in the house in a big way in five minutes. I’ll open the front door when the cops should join me.”

“Understood.”

Lyssa headed toward trees on the border of the yard. She’d need the time to strengthen her defenses. Whoever was watching the outside for the cops would have spotted her. She didn’t go out of her way to hide her arrival, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t get inside without them knowing about it.

Five minutes would be good. It was enough time for the criminals to spread the word inside that a Sorceress was coming. She’d get paid and receive credit with the Society for clearing out the house either way.

“Engagements with only hostiles are always easier,” Jofi said.

“You’d think.” Lyssa patted her holsters. “But I don’t know if you’ll get to play today. It’s not supposed to be a ruthless clearance job.”

She could control herself. It wasn’t like she couldn’t, like certain other Torches she knew.

“At least I’m not Aisha,” she muttered, shuddering at the thought of a prodigy Torch she hadn’t seen for months and hopefully wouldn’t see for many more. “Time to be a professional.”

Every police siren went off at once, along with a loudspeaker blasting a loud rock song Lyssa didn’t recognize. Lieutenant Lopez was good for something other than insulting her.

She spun from behind a tree, already cloaked in her wraith form. The tenebrous outline would stand out under the bright Arizona sun, but she’d chosen to approach in the shadows cast from the house.

Lyssa scampered up the side of the house. Layers of blackness covered her hands and feet to connect her to the darkened side of the house. She reached a top window and pressed her back to the wall, then pulled her hands away and yanked out two telescoping batons.

“Be careful,” Jofi said.

“I don’t know if that goes with this job.”

With a flick of her wrist, Lyssa locked her batons at their full length. Arcane-looking symbols ran up and down their shafts, but that was for show. Her sorcery and skill would supply the power.

She half-closed her eyes, picturing twined streams of pulsing dark lines and running her hands over the batons until dark auras surrounded both. The spell would increase both their damage and knockout power. Shooting people was easier, but bashing their heads in relieved stress and kept down the number of accidental deaths.

A dark curtain covered the window, with a thin slit at the bottom. She craned her neck to look. She couldn’t see much other than a long hallway with no one in it.

Had