Southwest Days (Semiautomatic Sorceress Book 2) by Kal Aaron (ebook reader for manga .txt) 📗

Lyssa asked. “I see you guys set up boards, but I’m talking about getting in far enough that you can’t see the entrance.”

Adams laughed. “Sorry, ma’am, but hunting demons isn’t why I became a cop. That’s way above my pay grade.”

Lyssa shook her head. “Let’s be clear about this. Whatever’s in there isn’t a demon. Presuming it isn’t a rabid coyote or an overgrown snake, it’s nothing more than a creature that has been enhanced by sorcery by some fool who should have known better. It’s dangerous, but I can kill it.”

Adams waved his hands in front of his face. “Look, I got no problem with you people, and I’m glad you’re here. I’ve got a family and I got my son, and I can’t go in there and get my head bit off by some weird freaky monster, especially one with a venomous bite.”

Lyssa turned to Ortiz. “That didn’t answer my initial question. How about you? What do you have to say?”

“The sheriff made it clear deputies were to secure the area while he contacted the EAA,” Ortiz replied and inclined his head toward the trunk. “If any monsters come out of the mine, we were ordered to see what we can do with our shotguns and rifles, but otherwise, we were just supposed to make sure looky-loos and reporters didn’t sneak in and get themselves eaten.”

“And no one has snuck in?”

He shook his head. “No, ma’am. We’ve had total coverage. The department has been taking shifts in teams of two. Oh, and the sheriff said if he couldn’t get a Sorc, he was going to request the National Guard.”

“In other words, we’ve got nothing besides the half-dead survivor to tell us what we’re dealing with,” Lyssa said. “But at least we know a couple of things.”

“What’s that?”

“Whatever it is wants to stay in there.” Lyssa pulled out a baton and extended it. The men didn’t react. She pointed the weapon at the mine. “It’s comfortable in the dark and can see or smell well enough to hunt prey in low-light conditions, but it didn’t come out after the survivor. That could mean something, assuming it’s not just guarding a small patch of territory.” She nodded at the mine. “This happened last night, which means it had hours of both dark and light. That suggests there’s nothing about the environment keeping it in. There might be other spells involved, but I’ll have to get closer to confirm that.”

“Can’t you just smell ‘em, their magic or something?” Adams asked, looking confused.

Lyssa shoved down the annoyed grunt wanting to erupt over Adams using the term “magic.” She’d been close to letting it go and had been working on trying not to care. Petty concerns made for petty distractions.

For now, she ignored it. These men weren’t disrespecting her, and there was no reason to establish a bad relationship with the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department over word choice. She didn’t need Adams going home and telling his son that Hecate was an unreasonable diva. She wasn’t Aisha, who was both a diva and a deva.

“It’s more complicated than that.” Lyssa narrowed her eyes at the mine entrance. “They don’t give off sorcerous energy unless they have highly unusual abilities. The sorcery happens when they’re made.”

“Really?” Adams sounded surprised.

“Think of it this way,” Lyssa replied. “Someone might get their DNA mutated by walking through a closet full of plutonium, but after a while out of it, assuming they survived, they wouldn’t show up as irradiated anymore. The mutations would still be there, though. That’s what we’re talking about—using sorcery to mutate a creature.”

“Huh.” Adams nodded. “Got it.” He whistled. “I know you’re the Witch Queen of Darkness and all that, but I don’t envy you going down a dark hole filled with monsters.”

“Do we have confirmation of multiple monsters?” Lyssa asked. “I don’t care. I’ll do what I need to do, but every piece of information we have makes this easier and ups the chance of rapid completion.”

Adams looked uncomfortable. “The survivor, Lucky—” He laughed. “Damn. Has there ever been a more inappropriate name?”

Ortiz glared at Adams. “Keep it professional, man. A kid died in there.”

“We don’t know that,” Lyssa said. “If he’s alive, my priority will be recovering and extracting him before cleaning out the mine. I’ll be honest, though; it’s not impossible he survived, but it is unlikely.”

“We’ve already told his family there’s a good chance he might be dead,” Adams replied. “But we didn’t say he was toast.”

Ortiz shook his head. “What did I just say? ‘Toast’ isn’t professional.”

“Oh, yeah. Right.” Adams gave a sheepish smile. “And Nardi wasn’t sure what he saw or how many. He thought there might have been more than one, but it wasn’t like he was taking a good look around and writing down notes. The poor bastard was running for his life.”

“And we’re sure it’s not a normal person with a strange non-shard weapon?” Lyssa asked. “My contract doesn’t extend to the elimination of non-Illuminated targets and their products at this time. The Society takes a dim view of unsanctioned human deaths. You’d need the sheriff to recontact the EAA.”

Ortiz nodded. “Understood, ma’am. If it’s a human freak, can you at least beat him down and drag him out here for us? Would you get in trouble then?”

“Not if you don’t complain.” Lyssa nodded. “Okay, that works.”

“And what if there’s a whole bunch of monsters in there?” Adams asked, casting a nervous glance at the mine. “Maybe those kids woke up some ancient nest from like five thousand years ago, and they’re getting ready to pour out.”

“An ancient nest that’s only fifteen minutes into the mine, and nobody found it when they were working it within the last century?” Lyssa shook her head. “I think these are a more recent vintage of monsters.” She patted a pocket. “And I brought a lot of extra ammo. I’m presuming you guys don’t have a problem if I kill anything unnatural that moves in there. My contract is