Semiautomatic Sorceress Boxed Set One: includes: Southwest Nights, Southwest Days, and Southwest Truths

by Kal Aaron

  “Don’t worry?” Lyssa inclined her head at their destroyed large brother. “That thing just tried to kill me. It trashed your workshop. It’s a miracle you weren’t killed.” She took a couple of deep breaths and found that the ache was better than before but not gone. “You don’t have your regalia on.” She gestured at the alcove. “If you didn’t have your panic room, it would have smacked you through a wall and killed you. Trust me, I know. It hit me more than once.”

  “It hit you and tried to kill you?” Serafina looked confused. “That makes sense. It’s not unexpected, but I wasn’t sure things would work out that way.” She bobbed her head. “Hmm. Excellent test against someone I couldn’t have ever asked to do it. It has battle abilities, but the generalized attack response wasn’t what I’d intended at all. What went wrong?”

  “To be clear on this, you’re saying you made that thing into a killer on purpose?” Lyssa tucked away her gun but took her time. She stared at her friend, dumbfounded, her irritation and surprise distracting her from the residual pain not handled by the herb.

  “Yes! It’s a new experiment. A guardian doll.” Serafina gestured with both hands toward the destroyed construct like a model on a game show introducing the grand prize.

  Lyssa tried to fold her arms and grimaced at the resulting pain. She reached into another pocket to grab a healing herb bag. “I didn’t ask to be part of an experiment.”

  “Of course. I’d never do that without your explicit permission.” Serafina shook a finger. “This was all an accident, but you can’t spell serendipity without Serafina.”

  “Yes, you can. They’re only the same at the b…” Lyssa rubbed her temples. “I’m so glad me getting punched into a wall helps you.”

  “Oh, thank you.” Serafina smiled brightly.

  “I’m not…forget it.”

  “I’ve been interested in constructs for a while, and it’s a good way to apply some of the newer techniques I’ve been developing.” Serafina pushed her cheeks together with her hands. “I need to be more flexible.” The words came out muffled. She released her cheeks. “I thought I told you about this. I remember having a whole conversation about it. We discussed the pros and cons.”

  “You never mentioned it! I think I’d remember if you said you were building huge killer constructs.” Lyssa jabbed a finger toward the destroyed construct. “Especially one that dangerous.”

  “Oh. I didn’t mention it?” Serafina looked to the side for the moment and laughed. “That’s right. That conversation was with someone else entirely. She didn’t look like you, and for that matter, she was a man, not a woman.” She nodded firmly. “Yes. Not you at all. Sorry for the confusion.”

  Lyssa scrubbed a hand down her face. “This isn’t a game, Serafina.”

  “Of course not. It was a test and a successful one. It wasn’t intentional, but you have to roll with the punches in life, right?”

  “This woman always presents interesting reactions,” Jofi said. “She defies the normal human behavior patterns I’ve come to expect.”

  “You’ve got that right,” Lyssa muttered.

  Serafina rushed over to Lyssa. The Torch’s hand twitched toward a gun by reflex but stopped when her friend skidded to a halt in front of her, her face only inches away.

  “You’re talking to him, aren’t you?” Serafina whispered. “What’s he saying? Is he interested in a construct body? Maybe we could do a project together.”

  “I would prefer not to risk my existence in one of her creations,” Jofi said.

  Lyssa shrugged. “He thinks you’re interesting.”

  “Good.” Serafina spun on her heel and hurried to snatch a scratched ball-peen hammer off the floor. She lowered her glasses and eyed the tool. “Thanks for stopping by. I know I said things were ready, but you still came at a great time. I would have been stuck in there for a while if you hadn’t come in. The threat spell needed to dissipate before I could get out, and the doll might have killed me when I did.”

  The mini-dolls picked up debris and hauled it to the corner pile. It might have been adorable if Lyssa hadn’t just fought something dangerous. All they needed now was high-pitched nonsensical singing. On another day, she might have been tempted to ask for a tiny doll in Kawatsu-chan form.

  “Did you not hear me earlier?” Lyssa asked. “Your toy tried to kill me. I don’t mean it accidentally bumped me. It came at me and punched me into a wall. If I hadn’t been in my regalia, it could have gotten nasty.”

  “Don’t take it personally, Lys.” Serafina giggled and walked over to the downed doll. “It tried to kill me, too. The poor creation didn’t recognize its goddess.” She crouched and poked the hole in the doll’s center. “Hmm, blew right through it, didn’t you? That’s so Hecate of you. Run into a roadblock and blow it away with overwhelming force. Who needs flexibility when you’ve got force?”

  Lyssa frowned, insulted, but she stowed the feelings. She couldn’t complain about Serafina being right. She was more concerned about getting the woman back to the real world and understanding the seriousness of what had happened before she made more killer constructs that ambushed people.

  “What if that thing had gotten out of your place?” Lyssa asked. “You want it rampaging down Fremont Street? That mime I saw doesn’t deserve to be punched into a wall, invisible or not.”

  “Of course not.” Serafina waved a hand. “Without the power being fed from the gallery, it would have collapsed the second it stepped outside. Then it would be nothing but a boring-shaped statue with some interesting detail work.” She traced glyphs on its arm with her finger. “By the way, it’s only boring-looking because it’s a prototype. I wanted to get the fundamental design down before I worked on the appearance. It’s hard to balance everything when they are this big.”

  “You’re planning to make another one?” Lyssa pulled off her mask. She wanted Serafina to see the exasperation on her face. “You’re kidding, right?”

  Serafina shook her head. “Not right away. I need to figure out what went wrong with this one first. I kind of know, but I don’t completely know.” Serafina shrugged and gave her a frustratingly doe-eyed look of innocence. “You know how it is.”

  “I would recommend not being here when it’s completed,” Jofi said. “Or if you must, bring extra magazines and explosives.”

  Lyssa frowned. “Agreed,” she murmured. “I used up a whole magazine of ablative rounds and a penetrator to take that thing down.” She walked over to the construct and kicked it in the head. “You better replace those for me, along with a bonus since I’m having to use herbs.”

  “Doesn’t Tricia give you those for free?” Serafina looked confused.

  “It’s the principle of the thing.”

  “Sure.” Serafina smiled. “Don’t worry about the other stuff. It’s the least I can do. I also owe you for the surprise field testing. And since it was against a Torch, even better. I’ll give you everything you came for today for free and get started on some new bullets for you.” She hopped up and stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth like a happy puppy that didn’t know what to do with herself. “Did it speed up when you attacked it? I forgot to ask that, or maybe you said it, and I didn’t listen.”

  “Yes.” Lyssa took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “Why did your doll attack me? Was it designed to attack anyone who came in here? I get that, but it also went after you.”

  “That’s my fault. I screwed up some of the glyphs, not having considered the size differential.” Serafina tittered. “Sorry! I should have used a nested northern crane when I used an eastern snapping turtle, and that’s before we get into the formation density. Scaling it to the size I did requires different techniques than I used on the prototype dolls. I didn’t realize it until it started going crazy and trying to kill me. By then, I was, like, ‘Oops, I’m probably going to die if I don’t get out of the way. Silly me.’”

  Lyssa frowned. “Where’s your regalia? Shouldn’t you be wearing it
when you’re testing something so dangerous?”

  Serafina pointed at the corner pile. “It’s in a box under that. I didn’t need it for the activation. I didn’t expect my doll to go nuts. But I see your point.” She rubbed her chin. “I’ll have to set up a better testing system for larger constructs, something that traps berserk creations rather than me. That makes sense, right?”

  “Yes, it makes a lot of sense to me.”

  Serafina leaned closer to Lyssa, a hungry look in her eye. “You know how hard it is to make a good doll without using spirit sorcery?”

  Lyssa shrugged. “I’ve never been interested in that kind of thing.”

  Serafina raised a finger slowly before jabbing it toward one of Lyssa’s holsters. “I’m complete garbage when it comes to spirits. They might as well not exist as far as I’m concerned, but you’ve got one bound to those two guns.”

  “I would prefer not to be examined by that woman,” Jofi said.

  This wasn’t the first time Serafina had expressed interest in Jofi, and it was difficult to deflect her attention without offering the whole truth, something Lyssa wasn’t at liberty to share without pissing off Lee.

  “I had help when I bound Jofi,” Lyssa replied. “And some of that came with me having the Night Goddess.” She shook her head. “Now that you’re okay, I need to pick up the ammo I came for and get out of here. I’m working a job, and I don’t have time to stick around and chat about your latest killer projects.”

  Lyssa accepted she would need at least one day at home for recovery. She couldn’t risk getting into a major fight before her ribs were in a better state. Getting home wouldn’t be much of a hassle thanks to the herbs, assuming no one ambushed her along the way. Reed had said he would have something for her by evening, so the timing worked.

  “Oh, sure.” Serafina looked around the room, then all but dived into a pile of trash. She threw pieces of wood and metal out of the way until she found two narrow boxes. “Here we go.” She stacked and offered them to Lyssa. “I’ll let you know when your reward pay is ready. Sorry about the almost-killing-you thing. Mondays, am I right?”

  Lyssa took the boxes and gave them a light shake, enjoying the quiet rattle of the enchanted bullets inside. A couple of bungee cords would secure them on the way home.

  “And a new job, huh?” Serafina cocked her head to the side. “Anything interesting?”

  “I’m investigating shard smuggling. Some Shadow criminals in Phoenix had a bunch of combat shards.”

  “Oh.” Serafina looked disappointed. “That’s boring.” Her eyes widened, and the interest returned to her face. “Hey, you interested in having a doll when I get these worked out? You can have a partner. Ride around with him. Hecate and the Silver Man! Well, I have no idea how to get one with decent long-lasting autonomous power, but I’ll figure it out eventually.”

  The idea of Kawatsu-chan puttering around at her home returned. An image of the mascot bashing Lyssa’s face against the wall and chasing her with a kitchen knife killed the desire.

  Lyssa grimaced. “I think I’m okay.” She lifted the boxes. “And I really should get going.”

  “Okay.” Serafina waved. “Let me know if you change your mind.”

  Lyssa backed away slowly, half-convinced the tiny dolls would malfunction and swarm her. Picking up supplies wasn’t supposed to involve fights. It wasn’t an auspicious beginning to this job.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Lyssa lay on her bed in her regalia. Her mask was on her nightstand. She had spent most of the day in bed, trying to heal her ribs. Between the Night Goddess and healing herbs, they were now in one piece, though she still needed painkillers to do anything useful.

  She would be fine by tomorrow. Any thoughts she had about luck giving her more time to recover died when her burner phone rang with the expected call.

  Lyssa grabbed her mask and put it on since the vocal filter wouldn’t activate without it. “Reed, I’ve had a crap day, so I hope you have something useful for me about Alvarez and the shards. I don’t want another ‘Hey, I totally led you on’ deal like last month.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Reed replied. “I’m here to help you out. You have to trust me.”

  Lyssa snorted. “I trust you to give me information in exchange for money. Nothing more, nothing less.”

  “Then we’re on the same page.” Reed laughed. “I ain’t gonna piss off a Sorceress, especially one with a temper like yours.”

  “Until you can make enough money doing it.”

  “That would be an interesting day.” Reed clucked his tongue. “But I get you, and I’ve got you, so let’s get down to business.”

  “That would be nice.” Lyssa sat up. There was something ridiculous about being in her full regalia, including mask, in bed, but it wasn’t like Reed could see her.

  “You know about the Lone Five Stars?” Reed asked.

  “A little.” Lyssa frowned. “They’re a big organized crime group out of Texas. I don’t know much about them other than that.”

  “All you Sorcs have tunnel vision,” Reed whined. “It’s always about the magic for you. It’s going to bite you in the ass.”

  His observation applied more to her than to the Society in general. The Society had had its hand in many aspects of the Shadow community in the past, including using influence on certain criminal groups. She’d found it repugnant, but through the centuries, the argument had always been that no one could eliminate all corruption, so it was better to have a hand in guiding it to minimize its excesses. The Society had allegedly pulled away from such groups by the twentieth century, but most people doubted that.

  “Get to the point before I eat your soul,” Lyssa said.

  “You’re joking, right?” Reed asked.

  “Maybe,” Lyssa growled. “Do you want to find out?”

  “You ain’t gonna do that over the phone. You can’t.”

  “Says who? You? You’re a sorcery expert now?”

  “Okay, okay. Calm down.” Reed let out a mirthless laugh. “The Lone Five Stars ain’t just about Texas anymore. Yeah, they’re from Texas, but their reach stretches all over the Southwest. Some of the guys at the top are as smart as they are ruthless, and the word is they’re trying to grab the best of the best from other gangs. They don’t care about where you’re from or who you are, just that you can take orders and keep your mouth shut and do your job.”

  “They’re the UN of organized crime. Got it.” Lyssa shifted her phone. “How is that relevant to Alvarez? He’s not a member of the Lone Five Stars. He’s a cartel boy connected to worse people down south.”

  “Now you’re thinking like me and not a Sorc. Good for you, Hecate.” Reed coughed. “Yeah, you’re right. Alvarez was loyal to his cartel, but his cartel uses connections with the Five Stars to move all sorts of crap. You got it all wrong.”

  Lyssa hated not being face to face to intimidate Reed. Things always worked out better that way.

  “You just said I was right,” she replied. “Before saying I’m wrong.”

  “Not about it all. Just about some things. You see, the Five Stars ain’t the UN. They’re the UPS of big crime in the Southwest. Ain’t that always the way? The smartest way to get rich is as a middleman.”

  “Am I supposed to be impressed?” Lyssa asked. “I don’t care about where criminal scum are located on the ladder of depravity.”

  Reed snorted. “Just saying. You ain’t got to work harder, you got to work smarter. Criminal business-to-business services, you know? The Five Stars have been hooking up with everyone to expand. You a large street gang? They want to deliver to you. Cartels in Mexico? They want to help. They’ve even been trying to get some stuff established with Russians in Texas lately, but that ain’t the most interesting part.”

  Lyssa scoffed. “I hope ‘interesting’ is the same as useful. These people aren’t delivering pizzas and PlayStations. They’re helping facilitate misery.”

  “Oh, Hecate, you’ll love this then
because it’s what you self-righteous types want: a reason to feel good when you’re beating a man up.” Reed chuckled. “The thing is, the word went out that you don’t just use the Lone Five Stars for smuggling anymore.”

  “Dealing?” Lyssa asked.

  “Got it in one, but this is where it gets weird.”

  “Weirder than me?”

  Reed snickered. “The word is also they’re going into the direct supply business for people interested in being less than legal, but they’re playing it close to the chest as to what they’re selling.”

  Lyssa chuckled. “Maybe you don’t know, but that doesn’t mean no one does. This might just be their way of feeling out the cartels about competing in the drug trade.”

  “Nah. There’s no point in them trying to make their own drugs with all the cuts they get along the way from everybody else. Most people are thinking they’re talking about guns, but a couple of weeks ago, a rumor about them surfaced among us people who like to live on the edge of the law. Something very, very interesting.”

  Lyssa narrowed her eyes, her heart rate kicking up. “And what did this rumor say?”

  “There was some fool who got in an accident in New Mexico. The Five Stars were supposed to be involved. Nobody knows what they were hauling, but when the cops showed up, they found an empty overturned truck. It was cold in the back, nothing left but some melting ice.” Reed shrugged. “You can look that part up. It was on the news.”

  “So, they had a refrigerated trailer.” Lyssa’s shoulders slumped. She had thought he had something. “Who cares? They could have taken up smuggling stolen high-end beef for all we know.”

  “Nah, that’s the thing.” Reed’s tone bordered on smug. “Ain’t no cold machines in the trailer. The news said that too, but no one put two and two together, at least not that they’re saying publicly. You had to have your ear to the ground to get it.” He lowered his voice and whispered conspiratorially for effect, “And that’s where I heard real interesting stuff.”

  Lyssa hissed. “Get to it, then.”

  “There’s an underworld doc near where the accident happened who said a guy got dropped off at his place, all but frozen solid like a freaking human popsicle.”