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

“True, but these pictures are on this card for a reason, and I don’t think it’s because some fan collected them.”

Lyssa shook her head and continued flipping through the pictures before stopping at a familiar dark-haired man. He looked a few years older than the last time she had seen him, but that was to be expected in more than one way. Slowed Sorcerer aging wasn’t the same as not aging.

She double-checked the date. It was three years ago. The photo showed her brother Chris. The next picture, however, was a different Sorcerer and not Chris in regalia.

She fell to her knees. “All these years.” She wiped away a tear. “Adrien wasn’t lying. Chris is alive.”

“We don’t know that,” Jofi replied. “The dates might not represent when they were taken. This may still be an attempt to manipulate you.”

“Maybe. But why would they want pictures…” Lyssa switched back to Chris’ picture and pointed to a movie marquee listing showtimes in the corner. “Rainbow Chicken Screams So Loud came out the year listed in the filename. I remember seeing it in the theater with Tricia. You’ve never heard a woman laugh so loud at such a silly movie. I thought she was using sorcery for a while to be so loud.” She shook her head. “If somebody faked this, they went out of their way to make it seem like it was only a few years ago. No way. This picture was taken three years ago, long after my brother’s alleged death and after M-Day.”

“It might not be your brother,” Jofi said. “It could be someone using a spell to look like him.”

“Then I want to find them and ask them why the hell they’d do that. He’s important to me, but it’s not like he’s important enough for someone to pull that kind of stunt otherwise.” Lyssa shook her phone. “This is the first real lead I’ve ever gotten. I appreciate what Tricia and Samuel said to me, but this proves they were wrong. Chris is still alive.”

“Then why hasn’t he contacted you?” Jofi asked.

Lyssa’s stomach knotted like she’d been punched. She didn’t answer because the question had haunted her for years. It would be easier if Chris had been killed rather than disappearing in the line of duty. He was the only blood family she had left after their parents died.

“I don’t know,” Lyssa murmured. “But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t find out. I deserve answers, and after all these years, there’s no way I’m walking away from this. Why would I? I’d have to be insane to ignore this lead. You heard what Adrien said. Maybe it’s not a coincidence that I ended up with this job. Maybe my brother was trying to get my attention.”

“That seems a roundabout way to do it versus contacting you directly,” Jofi replied.

“What do you want me to do, Jofi?” Lyssa shouted. “Walk away from this? After all this time?”

“In my time with you, I’ve learned one important thing about human concerns.”

“What’s that?”

“Closure isn’t always satisfying. Please keep that in mind.”

Lyssa continued through the pictures, seeking more clues. “No, I’ll figure this out. These pictures mean something, and now I know for sure my brother’s alive.”

“Do you intend to tell anyone?” Jofi asked.

“Not sure. Maybe just Tricia and Fred.” Lyssa sighed. “I can’t be sure about who I can trust.”

She stopped on the penultimate picture. There was no preceding picture of the man out of regalia. A shiver ran through Lyssa. She wished she didn’t recognize the regalia.

The outfit wasn’t as flashy as some, especially compared to people like Aisha and Helga. The tall, willowy man in the picture wore a pair of loose white pants, a matching belt, and a white shirt, and his face was covered with a white veil held in place with a headband. Long white gloves covered his arms and hands. The only thing visible was the back of his shaved head.

“You seem upset,” Jofi said. “Who is this man?”

“This is Tristan St. James. He’s an Eclipse, an infamous one. The ultimate assassin. He’s taken down some of the worst rogues in the last forty years. Every once in a while, a rumor that he’s a rogue himself pops up, but the Elders insist that’s not true.” Lyssa rolled her tight shoulders. “He sometimes goes by the name Purity. And don’t let the look of his regalia, Snow Ghost, fool you; the guy is seriously dangerous. Super-powerful spirit Sorcerer. Sometimes I wonder if the Elders downplay the guy because they’re in some sort of Cold War with him that they don’t want to admit to, or if he is a rogue but he’s taking out other rogues.”

Lyssa advanced to the last image. In it, a regal-looking white-haired woman in a dark blue suit was leaving a French restaurant. Somebody looking at the woman might compliment her smooth skin and say she looked great for her age while being fifty years off in their guess. It was Elder Theodora, and she was over a hundred years old.

“You know what I hate most in the world?” Lyssa asked.

“Based on our conversation yesterday, amaretto ice cream.”

“Today, the number one on the list changes.” Lyssa frowned at the picture. “I hate coincidences. These pictures mean something important. My brother, a grab bag of different Sorcerers, one of the most dangerous Eclipses of the modern era, and an Elder who just happened to send a woman who hates me on the same job as me. That has to mean something.”

“I don’t think Miss Khatri hates you as much as you think, judging by what she did after the battle and her cooperation during the assignment.”

Lyssa still wasn’t sure where she stood with Aisha. The flame Sorceress had waited with her while the police and the local EAA agents showed up, and she’d stayed with her the first day to make sure she was healing. It was awkward, and Aisha couldn’t go