Southwest Days (Semiautomatic Sorceress Book 2), Kal Aaron [book recommendations based on other books .txt] 📗

sure about that. During her most recent visit to Vegas, she hadn’t even seen any of the tiny dolls at Serafina’s place.

“Serafina couldn’t concentrate on a conspiracy long enough to help hunt it down.” Lyssa chuckled. “If I need someone to help me in the end, I might ask her, but not at this stage in the investigation. The same thing for most people I know and trust—pretty much all of them, and it’s a short list.” She shrugged. “I’ll have to figure something out, but you’re right. I can’t go hunting down people on that list until I have a few more things lined up.”

“Then what is your immediate plan?”

Lyssa slipped under her covers. “To stop asking and force Samuel to give me work. If there’s pressure on him from the higher-ups to keep me benched, the louder I get, the more obvious it’ll be. And if he gives me work, I’ll end up that much closer to Last Remnant.” She nodded, now more comfortable with the situation. “It’s time I insisted. If he refuses, I’ll know something is up.”

Chapter Six

Lyssa yawned and stretched out on her couch. Watching the latest episode of the new season of Sensual Sorceress might not be the best way to spend her time, but she’d become addicted after binging on the train wreck that was the first season. It was at least something to distract her from her thoughts of throttling Samuel. She couldn’t go around town beating up every bike thief.

She’d contacted Samuel two days before with her shard mirror and insisted he give her work. She’d preemptively countered every objection about her health and mental state with the same arguments she’d given to Jofi. The finishing touch was explaining how placing Torches under extra pressure weakened their availability in all of the western United States.

“I’ll take your concerns under advisement,” Samuel wrote back to her. “I understand your desire to return to the field, and I also understand you are feeling frustrated. Rest assured, I keep general readiness in mind when assigning contracts. Please stand by for now.”

Lyssa didn’t know what to make of that. She’d been prepared for a definitive answer, but the slippery chicken mascot clone had managed to commit to nothing without refusing her. The damned Elders were always slithering away like that.

That was why she’d never make a good Elder. Politics and ambiguity weren’t natural to her. Being Hecate was easy. It involved a mask and shooting people, not manipulating them.

Without a clear no, she needed to stay home in case an emergency contract came up. While she accepted it wasn’t like the EAA or the Society needed a Torch every day, she’d never get to Last Remnant by sitting around watching terrible reality shows. For once in her life, she wished the area was a little more out of control.

“I screwed up, didn’t I?” Lyssa said, pausing her show during a hot tub scene featuring a faked water sorcery display involving waves in the tub.

“In what sense?” Jofi replied. He remained tucked away in her safe. “I don’t approve of your every decision, but you’ve survived so far. That does imply you’ve made fewer mistakes than good choices.”

Lyssa sat up. “I don’t mean in general. I meant about Samuel. I should have pestered him for more jobs right away instead of overthinking the pictures. Right after Houston, I should have been up his ass demanding work. He would have been resistant, but I’d already be back doing what I do best, and I think he’d be less inclined to keep up the status quo. It’s hard to argue with momentum.”

“The battle you fought was difficult,” Jofi said. “I would not so lightly dismiss the level of injury you sustained, nor the level of sorcery you were forced to use. The effectiveness and beauty of the showstopper round don’t negate the dangers of its use.”

“Beauty?” Lyssa stopped herself from frowning. Jofi could see her expressions.

She’d held onto a slight worry that the fight had done something to Jofi’s seal. On most days, those concerns were easy to dismiss, but she didn’t trust her recent luck. She didn’t need to panic, but a little follow-up wasn’t unwarranted.

“There’s beauty in complete annihilation,” Jofi continued. “You don’t agree? I don’t harbor the same aesthetic sensibilities as you in a sense, but I can’t deny that I find it appealing. You made statements during the fight suggesting the same.”

“I don’t know about that. I accept the power of complete annihilation, but that’s not the same thing as beauty.” Lyssa shook her head. “I don’t think much about the beauty of what I do, only the effectiveness. I used that round because Allard left me no choice. I would have preferred not to.” She sighed. “Believe it or not, I’d prefer if every job ended with the guy surrendering. I like being good at what I do, but it’s not like I find joy in killing people. I don’t feel sad about taking out trash, either.”

“I see. That’s interesting. I know you’re reluctant to use the rounds, but I was under the impression that was more about the expense and difficulty involved with their creation. Does the level of power involved disturb you?”

Her face twitched into a slight frown, but at this point, she thought she could explain it away. Having Jofi focusing on the rounds versus her statements about killing fueled her worries.

“It disturbs me a little. Yeah.” Lyssa lifted her hand and looked at the back of it. “We could get through almost anything with a showstopper if we had to. I don’t know if I like that. It’s good to have a final option, but I prefer being careful about using them.”

“Why do you dislike having an effective weapon?” Jofi asked. His tone remained steady and without any emotion. “Would you prefer weapons that could be defended against? That would increase the personal risk to you.”

Lyssa thought about the question. She wasn’t all that philosophical on most days,