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

by Kal Aaron

  “Okay,” Lyssa replied. “I’ll give you that. It’s different.”

  “The doc couldn’t do much for him, so the guys who brought him took him and said they’d take care of the rest. I don’t know about you, but if I found a popsicle man and a mysterious half-frozen truck with no refrigeration gear, I’m thinking abracadabra. That’s what’s going on.”

  “Interesting.” Lyssa nodded slowly. “Okay. You might be onto something.”

  “It gets better. Because I happened to have heard something the other day you’ll like. You might think I’m a lying piece of crap, but you pay me well, and you’ve done me enough solids in the past that I owe you.”

  “Then spill.”

  “The Lone Five Stars got themselves a base in Midland.” Reed sounded impressed with himself. “It’s their big hub. All the important product goes through there before it heads out farther west.”

  “Do you have the address?” Lyssa asked gruffly. “I can’t kick in every door in Midland, and I don’t want them smelling me coming and scurrying away.”

  “Uh…” Reed swallowed audibly over the line. “Yeah, actually, I do, but…”

  “Don’t ask for more money. I’m not in the mood. You’re already going to get a big bonus as it is.”

  “That ain’t what I’m saying, Hecate. What are you planning to do? Just walk in there and say, ‘Any of you bitches smuggling magic artifacts?’” Reed laughed. “You’re scary, but even you can be killed.”

  “You worry about you. I’ll worry about me.”

  “You pay the best of anyone I sell to, and I know you ain’t gonna help anyone trafficking girls or crap.” Reed snickered. “Just trying to make sure a good employer doesn’t bite it.”

  Lyssa scoffed. “I wonder about that, but for now, all I need to know is where they are.”

  “Your funeral,” Reed replied. “If they have enough abracadabra stuff to sell to other people, there ain’t no way they ain’t keeping some around for them. And if they’re connected to Alvarez having fancy stuff, that means they’re gonna know you might come sniffing around. They’re gonna be ready for you in a way he wasn’t. It’s not like you need to be a guy in the know to hear on the news about how you went and beat all those guys down.”

  Lyssa let out a slow-building chuckle that turned into a mocking laugh. “I’m Hecate the Night Goddess, a Torch of the Illuminated Society. I am the darkness that comes for evil men. I am a Torch that will burn the impure from the world. I’m not afraid of some Shadows with shards.”

  “Okay. You do you.”

  She grimaced. The speech had sounded a lot better in her head.

  “Give me the address, and you don’t have to see or hear from me for a while,” Lyssa rumbled.

  “But I love your money,” Reed replied. “But sure, I’ve got that address for you. Take care. I’ll be watching the news and checking the obituaries.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Damn it.” Lyssa eyed the empty pint she’d pulled out of her freezer. “Why did I put this back if it was empty? My vice is ice cream, not booze. Why can’t I remember?”

  “You said yesterday it would serve as a reminder to go buy more ice cream,” Jofi said. “That was right after you said you needed a long shower. You looked exhausted.”

  “That’s the problem with using healing herbs,” Lyssa complained. “It always leaves me tired when it’s heavy healing. Another problem is this rip-off empty pint.” She tossed it in the trash. “I need to learn how to make ice cream out of darkness sorcery.”

  “I think your endeavor is unlikely to succeed.”

  “Quiet. You can’t even taste.”

  All sorts of things made sense in the middle of the night when a woman was so sleepy she might as well have been drunk. She could have used another of Tricia’s herbs to wake up, but wasting one when she planned to go to sleep soon anyway was pointless.

  “I did need a long shower, which was why I took one when I got up.” Lyssa rubbed her arms. “Every time I deal with someone like Reed, I feel like I need to shower. He might not be hurting innocent people directly, but he’s a parasite sucking the blood of society. What I need for my job as a Torch and what I’d prefer to do are two separate things.”

  “You could always take care of him, violently or otherwise,” Jofi said.

  Lyssa blinked. “You want me to kill Reed?”

  “I’m simply noting the possibilities. If he is a threat to your vision of a just society, it might be warranted.”

  A cold shiver passed through her. Jofi spoke with the same calm tone he always did, but she couldn’t help but wonder if his true nature was seeping through. He’d made similar suggestions before. Even in his sealed form, his morality was alien on the best days, but he understood her political limitations and generally guided her accordingly.

  Lyssa blew out a breath. “If he crosses the line, I’ll pass something along to the cops. For now, he’s useful.”

  “I see,” Jofi said. “Useful and necessary?”

  “I’m always going to need to have some fingers in the underworld.” Lyssa opened her freezer again and peered into it. She shoved a package of ground beef aside to make sure there were no hidden pints. “It’s nice when every job is as clean and straightforward as ‘Go into this house and beat the bad people down,’ but long before I met you, I learned the hard way what it’s like to do an investigation as an Illuminated without decent Shadow leads or contacts. Elders don’t focus on that kind of thing. It makes jobs a lot harder.”

  “I have no memory of our first meeting,” Jofi said. “I can only speculate from what I’ve heard you say when you speak of it to others.”

  Lyssa pulled her hand out of the freezer and slammed it shut, unease heavy in her mind. Not all spirits were sapient, and the ones who were varied wildly in personalities and basic psychology, if applying such concepts made sense with their kind.

  There was no such thing as an average spirit. People, even Illuminated, seldom dealt directly with them, making them the closest thing to aliens humans could encounter.

  Worrying too much made no sense. Jofi had no reason to be suspicious of her. Besides, he was better off sealed. In that form, he was helping fight darkness in the world, not adding to it. The procedure had also saved him from being destroyed.

  The excuses didn’t comfort her. Jofi wouldn’t be easy to destroy. Lee had admitted as much. Sealing him was a plan birthed of desperation, not mercy.

  The whole situation was strange. Lyssa was like a spirit parole officer, and that made it hard to process, even after all these years together. What would it be like to be a person stripped of their past and fundamental essence?

  It wasn’t impossible. Lee could do something like that if he wanted to. She shuddered at the thought.

  “Are you okay?” Jofi asked.

  “Don’t worry. I’m just overthinking some things.” Lyssa frowned at the freezer door. “I should probably have something other than ice cream for breakfast before I head to Texas. Dealing with criminals is exhausting enough without being hungry.”

  A chill shot through Lyssa. Shadows clawed at the edge of her vision. She was about to blow it off as another visit from overeager HOA reps when pressure built in her chest.

  “Were you expecting another visitor?” Jofi asked.

  “No.”

  Lyssa sprinted toward her bedroom to open her safe. Her doorbell rang as she yanked out an enchanted pistol. She grabbed a magazine containing penetrator rounds and loaded the gun. The doorbell rang again.

  She ground her teeth. Without her full regalia, she might not be a match for a Sorcerer in theirs, but she also didn’t want to wait and risk someone launching a public attack outdoors. The penetrator rounds drew as much on Jofi’s power as her own.

  “Just a minute,” she called as the doorbell rang again. She walked toward the door holding her gun behind her back. When she checked her peephole, she saw a frowning man she didn’t recognize in glasses and a gray suit.
“Can I help you?”

  The man leaned in closer toward the door. “In your last message to me, you suggested we speak face-to-face, Miss Corti. It was right after yet another unnecessary comment about herbs and spices.”

  Lyssa opened the door and gestured to the living room. “You could have told me you were coming, Samuel.”

  The man entered. Once Lyssa closed the door, his form warped and blurred, revealing an older-looking man with white hair, along with a matching mustache and Van Dyke beard. The Sorcerer’s white suit was accessorized by a long, skinny white tie. He was Elder Samuel, the bearer of the Distinguished Aristocrat regalia and master of light sorcery.

  She’d not been expecting him, but his arrival didn’t surprise her. No EAA jobs passed to the contract stage without an Elder’s approval. That didn’t mean she welcomed his arrival, but she did her best to keep her expression calm and neutral.

  Samuel inclined his head toward the couch. Lyssa got the point. If he wasn’t behind a desk, he liked to talk down to her rather than the other way around. She set her gun on her end table and folded her arms before taking a seat.

  He stared at the gun, distaste visible on his face. It wasn’t about disliking firearms. He knew the truth about Jofi but rarely mentioned it, despite his penchant for criticizing her.

  The spirit didn’t seem to care for Samuel, even though he consistently urged Lyssa to respect the man’s orders. The spirit never spoke to Lyssa when the Elder was around, but when she’d asked him about it, he’d repeatedly denied ill-feelings. She wasn’t sure if a sealed spirit of his nature could lie.

  “Sell any chicken lately?” Lyssa asked, losing the battle between professionalism and petty entertainment.

  “That doesn’t become more amusing with repetition.” Samuel narrowed his eyes.

  “It does to me.” Lyssa grinned. “And you didn’t even laugh the first time. It’s because you have no sense of humor.”

  “As you grow older, I find myself less tolerant of your disrespect. Talent isn’t a license to behave without restrictions or common courtesy.”

  “It’s called a joke, Samuel.” Lyssa shrugged. “Lighten up.”

  “I don’t have to lighten up over disrespect, Miss Corti.” He glared at her, disapproval coming off him in waves.

  Dialing it back might not be as fun, but it would save her pain. There was no reason to prolong the meeting.

  Lyssa wasn’t sure why they had such trouble getting along. She’d dealt with other Elders without this much trouble, and regalia aside, she wasn’t a BBD—bitch by default. Given that his essence was light and hers was darkness, there could be some fundamental repulsion between their souls.

  She waved a hand. “Okay. I apologize. You caught me off-guard, and I’m hungry.”

  “I’ll accept your apology for now.” Samuel lifted his chin, going into full-on haughty mode. “I thought it best if we talked directly concerning the shard incident, given this is a matter of importance beyond your new city or even your general region of primary responsibility.”

  “The investigation is proceeding,” Lyssa said. “I’ve got some solid leads. The EAA hasn’t come up with anything since I last talked to Agent Riley, but they’re not getting in my way. I can’t guarantee anything yet, but this isn’t anywhere near going cold. It’s heating up. I’ll be checking out a place tonight.”

  “I see. I’m glad to hear that.” Samuel stroked his beard. “Setting aside your questionable personality, I have confidence in your ability to rapidly see this incident through. That was why I decided to come here directly—to place it in the proper context and reinforce my expectations. I wanted us to both understand your position in this.”

  Lyssa tensed. “Expectations?

  “There’s extreme concern in the Society over this incident,” Samuel said.

  “The Alvarez Shard incident?” Lyssa asked, wanting to be sure.

  Samuel nodded. “Of course. You’ve not been involved in anything else of note in recent months.”

  “I was well within my rights to take Alvarez and his men out.” Lyssa shrugged. “Those were powerful shards they had. I could have been seriously injured.”

  “Yes, I agree with that evaluation. Please note I have other people tracking down the provenance of the artifacts. The robe goes back centuries, so it’s unlikely its creation will be traced to a living Sorcerer, but the crossbows present a better possibility.” Samuel held up his palm, and tiny three-dimensional images of the crossbows appeared and circled it. “It’s because of our concern that we aggressively encouraged the EAA to ask for a formal contract in this incident.”

  “Huh?” Lyssa stared at the fire crossbow. “Why go through middlemen? If this is something the Society needs to handle, we don’t have to beg their permission. That’s not like you.”

  Samuel waved his hand, and the images vanished. “Miss Corti, I hope you learn to consider the future. I’m disappointed but not surprised you aren’t doing that in this case.”

  So much for controlling herself. What was the point? It was like Samuel couldn’t go a minute without being insulting.

  “Enlighten me, O Great Elder.” Lyssa rolled her eyes.

  “We need to strengthen our political image and power with the rest of the world,” Samuel replied. “M-Day weakened it in many ways, although it was necessary. One method to increase our power and influence is to ensure that when incidents exposing potential rogue activity occur, the relevant Shadow governments are kept well-informed about what’s happening and our efforts at mitigation. Having them hire you does that while reinforcing the appearance of control on their part, but it also leaves you free to do what is needed and filter information as necessary.”

  Lyssa ignored the rest of the political considerations to focus on one word. “’Rogue?’ You’ve confirmed there’s a rogue Sorcerer? Not saying I’d be surprised, but we need to consider the possibility that someone might have gotten lucky and found a cache of shards somewhere. I’m looking into an organized crime group that might be supplying people, but it’s unclear how many they have.”

  “We haven’t confirmed anything on our end.” Samuel returned his hands to his back. “It’s the most likely explanation, but we’re more concerned about the damage this might do to the Society’s relationship with the United States government.”

  “What about it?”

  “There was an unfortunate spate of similar shard smuggling incidents in Japan last year. The Society was better able to control the news with the help of the Japanese government, which was why it didn’t penetrate much into the media.”

  Lyssa nodded. “I heard about that, but I didn’t realize it was a big deal and that they’d had a lot.”

  “The incident created extreme friction between the Japanese government and the local Elders.” Samuel’s expression darkened. “What’s worse, they were never able to determine the ultimate source of the shards. The Torches assigned to the matter solved it by helping the government crush the Shadow smugglers involved. The Japanese accepted that outcome, but the belief that the Society was covering something up lingers.”

  “That’s too bad since that’s probably where we’ll end up with this job, too.” Lyssa shrugged. “If it is a rogue, they might be good at covering their tracks. They’d have to be if they didn’t want to end up on the bad side of a Torch or an Eclipse.”

  Samuel stood silently, looking at her for a long while, concern etched on his features. “I tell you all this to encourage you to please keep in mind the political considerations of this job. It’s a delicate time for the stability of the relationship between the Illuminated Society and the Shadows. Every time an incident such as Phoenix occurs, groups like the ACSS take their chance to denigrate us. At least they’ve stopped bringing up the Sicilian Inferno at every opportunity, but that doesn’t mean it’s not in the back of many people’s minds.”

  The incident was one of the highest-profile public massacres involving sorcery, where a rogue Sorcerer had parti
cipated in a Mafia war and killed not only criminals but scores of innocent people. The Society had declared it a heinous abuse of power, and in an unprecedented move, they had assigned an entire team of dedicated Eclipses in the hunt for justice.

  Lyssa protested, “That was four years ago, and Eclipses took out the Sorcerer responsible, and it was criminals—”

  Samuel lifted his hand to quiet her. “We won’t be able to convince the Shadows not to be suspicious if we use their criminals as excuses. They already view us as dangerous puppeteers, and I can’t say that’s completely unfounded. For now, we need to remember it’ll take many more years, if not decades or longer, to achieve some sort of equilibrium in our coexistence, given the general public’s knowledge of us.”

  “I don’t know how you can have equilibrium with a handful of Sorcerers and billions of Shadows.” Lyssa shrugged and gave him a defiant look when he frowned at her. “I get what you’re saying, but you’re talking about the distant future.”

  “Our true numbers are increasing again for the first time in a long time. Our revelation to the world has worked out better than we planned and fits well with our other increases in fortune. The Society is growing stronger.” Samuel’s expression turned stern. “We need a probable path toward equilibrium, not a guarantee based on any one timetable.”

  Lyssa didn’t bother to press Samuel on that. With the sinking of Lemuria, the last of the pure-blooded Sorcerers had passed into the dustbin of history. The Cataclysm had also taken most of the knowledge and records concerning their relatives. The event and the spread of Illuminated into the cracks of Shadow society had resulted in a steady decline in their numbers, along with a loss of overall power.

  It was hard to separate the propaganda from the truth about greater power in the past and success in the future, but the Society had trumpeted steadily increasing numbers of Sorcerers since the 1960s. Before, a family might produce a true Illuminated once every few generations, and now some families spit out more than one, such as the case of the Cortis. Some rumors attributed this to the moon landing, but no one was able to explain how a Shadow technological achievement would contribute to Illuminated sorcery.