Lyssa spent the rest of the magazine blowing holes in what was left of the mercenaries’ cover. Bright muzzle flashes announced their positions. All she needed to do was offer two penetrators and an explosive bullet to finish them off as she advanced. It was an expensive counterattack but effective.
Breathing heavily, Lyssa ducked and put her back against a scorched brick wall. A dead mercenary lay at her feet. She tucked her explosive pistol away before reloading with another penetrator magazine. There was only one mercenary left standing, the commander.
Pressure built on her chest from a couple of buildings down. More shard bullets?
“You’re a big bitch, Hecate,” the commander shouted. “Is it any wonder that someone wants you dead?”
She didn’t respond. Instead, she turned back into a shadow and crept along the wall. The commander, as if anticipating her tactic, hurled more flares around him and kept looking both ways. He crouched, holding his rifle in one hand and a knife radiating sorcery in the other. There was the shard she’d been sensing. She was a little disappointed.
Lyssa brought up her gun. Her one free shot didn’t need to kill the man. She lined up her pistol and aimed at the center of his gun, then pulled the trigger.
The mercenary jerked back as the bullet struck the rifle with a bright flash. He hopped to his feet and swung toward her. The front of the rifle fell to the ground. With a scream, he charged Lyssa, the knife held in front of him.
He had two knees, so she gave him two rounds. The commander fell to the ground, screaming in pain.
Lyssa stomped toward him and shot the knife away from him before pointing the gun at his head.
“Damn,” the man wheezed. “You’re better than I thought.”
“I was holding back before because I wanted survivors, but then you pissed me off.” Lyssa crouched and reached out. “Don’t worry. I’m going to give you a magical healing herb, then I’m going to put you to sleep. We’ve got some questions for you and any other survivors. Night-night.”
Chapter Eleven
Lyssa jogged toward Aisha. She’d sent another text code to the Eclipse, but he hadn’t responded, just as he had not responded to the last one. A distant pulse of sorcery sent her already racing heart into the next gear. She ducked and aimed in the direction of the hill, but no attack came.
She still didn’t know if the mercenaries had brought a Sorcerer with them, but she doubted it. Nothing about their tactics pointed to that idea. They were well-equipped, well-trained men who’d been depending on a couple of bonus toys to see them through the battle.
Lubon remained hidden out there on a hill, waiting for his chance to weaken and kill any Sorcerer who appeared. Maybe he’d seen or sensed something that kept him in place.
She tried texting one more time, but he still didn’t respond. Checking on Aisha would have to come first.
Lyssa frowned as she passed a dead mercenary. There was no sorcery coming off him. It was the same situation with the other bodies she had encountered on her way to Aisha. The only man she could identify as having a shard was the commander.
That bothered her. He couldn’t have seriously been expecting to win by knifing her. Everyone knew she relied on her guns. Had they used up all their shard bullets on Aisha?
“Is it over?” Aisha asked. She was still on the ground and looked like she was in less pain than before. To Lyssa’s relief, the wound had stopped bleeding.
“I took the commander alive,” Lyssa said. “And we’ve got a couple of others still breathing to hand over.” She furrowed her brow. “I texted for backup, but our boy didn’t show. That’s annoying.”
Aisha scoffed. “The Eclipse is waiting for his target. He must have thought dealing with the Shadows beneath him.”
“That’s crap.” Lyssa snorted. “Samuel agreed that if we used the emergency code, the Eclipse would help even without a rogue making an appearance. You could have been killed.”
“It’s fine.” Aisha managed a weak smile. “I’m merely badly wounded, not dead.” She grimaced. “They were nothing more than lucky fools with shard bullets.”
“I’m not sure about that.” Lyssa glanced at a body. “I kept feeling mild sorcery, but it might have been from the shard knife the commander had. None of the other bodies are giving any off, except the big pulse I felt in Lubon’s direction. I don’t think I would have noticed it if we weren’t sitting in an abandoned ghost town with nothing else distracting me. Something’s off about this battle.”
“The bullets passed through my heat shield,” Aisha replied. “They must have some sort of anti-sorcery enchantment.”
“But there’s no such thing. Even my luck’s not so bad that they’d suddenly invent anti-sorcery rounds after ten thousand years to kill me and anyone around me. If someone’s out there with an anti-sorcery essence, we’d know about it, and there would be a lot more dead Torches. If the bullets were shards, someone probably put a heat resistance spell on them. The commander seemed…”
She felt more sorcery in the distance. It was surprisingly powerful and again came from the hill.
Aisha glowered. “It’s the enemy. Lubon must be engaging him. That explains why he didn’t come.” She raised a shaking arm. “Go help him. Don’t let him take all the glory, especially after his refusal to aid us against the enemy’s minions.”
“What about you?” Lyssa asked. “You’re not in great shape. I’m not all that comfortable with the idea of leaving you here alone.”
“I’m not going to die between the Flame Goddess and your herbs, and there’s no one left but the rogue.” Aisha gritted her teeth and took a shuddering breath. “If the rogue gets away, this exercise becomes nothing but a painful practice session. We can’t be
