A Modern Witch

by Debora Geary

  “Are all seven of you witches?”

  “Nope. Until us triplets, Nell was the only witchling. Dad’s not a witch. He’s an old-school video-game programmer and Mom’s an illustrator. They met in college and created the first version of Enchanter’s Realm. That’s the online-gaming world Nell and I run now.”

  “He married a witch? Did he know?”

  Jamie laughed. “We live in Berkeley. Dad always says Mom was one of his more normal first dates. I don’t think she hit him up with her spellcasting until a bit after they met, though.”

  “He has a point. There are some pretty strange dudes here in Chicago too. I definitely wouldn’t have let some of them in my front door.”

  “Thanks, I think.”

  Lauren shrugged. “So far, it’s been fairly entertaining. So, can all witches cast spells?”

  “Most can do a few basic things, but some witches are good at more complex spells. My mom’s a spellcaster, and so are Nell and I. Don’t think any of us will hold a candle to Aervyn, though. He’s Nell’s son; he’s four, and a heck of a witch.”

  “You have four-year-olds casting spells?”

  Not much way to stop him, thought Jamie. “Power needs to be trained. His showed up strong and early, so we work with him. He’s a really normal kid when he’s not messing with power.”

  Lauren studied him. “He matters to you.”

  “Sure. He’s my nephew, and also my trainee. He’s hard to resist; most people love him.”

  “Why is he so powerful?”

  Jamie shrugged. “No one knows. Spellcasting runs in our family, so maybe he got an extra dose of the genes or something. We just need to find someone who can handle channeling for him.”

  “Channeling?”

  “Sorry, this is turning into more of a lesson than you probably ever wanted. You know how we talked about the five kinds of power? The last two types of witching talent are about what you do with power.

  “Most people access limited amounts of power they can use personally or share in a group. A few witches can act as channelers; they can sense power and act as a conduit. Not much use individually, but a channeling witch can make a circle immensely more powerful.

  “Spellcasters are good at organizing power and turning it into something useful. They tend to lead circles, shape the power into a spell. Nell’s a great spellcaster, just like Mom—she can weave together five or six power streams and execute some really intricate spells. We think Aervyn will follow in her footsteps.”

  Lauren’s eyebrows were on the move again. “It doesn’t seem a bit crazy to stick that much power into the hands of a small child? Can he access power himself, or is he just a spellcaster?”

  “Oh, he’s got plenty of elemental power too, and he’s a strong mind witch.” A smart cookie, Jamie thought. She could pass a test on witching categories, even if she doesn’t believe any of it.

  He hoped she was at least considering the possibility that some of what he said was true. It would make the next steps easier.

  “So, when we assess a witch, all we do is figure out their affinity for various power sources. Not all of them. For now, we’ll assume you don’t time travel or fly with the eagles.”

  Not this week, Lauren thought dryly, loudly enough that Jamie couldn’t help but hear.

  Better amused than afraid. “I’ll set a couple of spells in place that will amplify your talents enough so we can assess them properly. It’s not possible for me to create what isn’t already there, and I can’t make you stronger than you would be with some training. It’s just a way to make your untrained abilities a little more visible and easier for me to monitor.

  “I can’t do this without your consent. At any point during the testing, all you have to do to shut down the spells is to withdraw your consent. Do you trust me to do this?” Jamie hoped to hell she did, since no one really had a Plan B if she refused.

  Lauren looked into his eyes hard and long. Then she shrugged and nodded.

  Jamie reached for her coffee cup and put it on the side table. Lesson number one: no hot substances in the hands of trainee witches.

  “Let’s start with something we touched on yesterday. I’m going to create some images inside my head. I’ll send them toward you with varying strength—think of it like volume control.

  “At first, you’ll definitely know what I’m imagining. I have just enough power to push an image loud enough for anyone to hear, witch or not. Then I’ll dial down the volume, and we’ll see when you can’t read anymore. All you need to do is relax and tell me what pictures come into your mind.”

  As he talked, Jaime mentally cast a simple training circle, more to protect Lauren’s furniture than anything else. If he was wrong about her elemental powers, that would keep anything outside the circle from getting scorched.

  Lauren laid her head back on a pillow and tried to clear her mind. “My friend Nat always says to picture a happy place. Maybe the beach, or the coast highway on a motorcycle. Wait—” Her eyes popped open. “Was that you? Curvy road, blue skies, motorcycle?”

  Jamie nodded. “Outside Carmel. One of my favorite places to ride. Come to California one day and I’ll take you on a tour.”

  “It was beautiful. Might be worth the trip. So, this is telepathy?”

  “Not exactly. True telepathy would require an active use of power by you to read something I wasn’t projecting on purpose. Right now, we’re just trying to figure out how sensitive your receiver is, more or less. Let’s try again. Keep your eyes closed and tell me what you see. I’ll keep sending pictures, so just keep talking.”

  Jamie picked up with the Carmel highway scene again, and made them both happy by spending a few minutes just curving down the road. Interesting. She could feel the wind, the heat, the vibrations of the bike. Most people just got visuals.

  He added a touch of feeling. Oh, yeah. She picked up on the sense of freedom and exhilaration right away. Definitely some empathic talent.

  Slowly Jamie dialed back the volume on various parts of the mental story he was sending. Fascinating. She was losing the visuals now and just pulling in the sensory stuff. He had both an unusual and highly sensitive mind witch on his hands.

  He opened a second, careful channel to monitor her. It was always good to be cautious. Gently he eased her out of the first test.

  Lauren’s eyes floated open. “Okay, that was fun. I’ve never been on a bike before. I might not be able to resist now.”

  “Wind chill’s a little steeper here in Chicago,” Jamie said. “That was interesting. You picked up on the non-visual pieces really well. That’s fairly uncommon.”

  Lauren rolled her eyes. “So, do I have ‘witch’ stamped on my forehead now? If motorbike-ride daydreams are the full extent of my talents, that seems pretty harmless.”

  Jamie wasn’t dumb enough to tell her just how wrong she was. “For now, let’s just say you have an unusual sensitivity to fairly low-volume mind projections.”

  Lauren smirked. “That sounds suitably geeky. I’ll put it on my business cards.”

  Jamie threw a pillow at her. Why were his trainees always the ones with maturity issues? “Close your eyes again. I’m going to stir a few elemental power currents, just like I did at the restaurant yesterday, only without visual effects. I want you to tell me if you sense or feel anything.”

  Jamie reached for power and gathered a basic elemental web. He went gently at first, softly pushing threads of power closer to where Lauren sat. A trained or sensitive witch would have felt even those gentle touches.

  When she didn’t respond, he pushed a little harder. Then he separated out each element one at a time and did the magical equivalent of pouring a bucket over her head. Within a couple of minutes, he was absolutely sure she was deaf, dumb, and blind when it came to elemental magic.

  “You’ll be thrilled to know you’re most definitely not an elemental witch.”

  Lauren opened one eye. “Does that mean I can’t make a storm?”

&
nbsp; “Pretty much. It’s the most common talent, but it tends to be weak for most. Unfortunately for those of us who test and train witches, it also runs crazy strong in a few, and generally their control sucks. At this point, I can be pretty sure you’re not going to set me on fire or pull a hurricane off Lake Michigan.”

  “Now there’s good news.”

  Jamie resisted the temptation to light a decent-sized fire just to tweak her lack of belief. It was a really comfortable couch and hadn’t done anything to deserve scorch marks.

  “For this next test, I just want you to follow some basic instructions. Eyes closed again.”

  Lauren lay back into the pillows one more time. “This is almost better than napping.”

  “We’ll start easy. Wiggle your toes. Do girls always paint their toenails; is it a rule? Never mind, don’t answer that. What’s your favorite color?”

  Jamie quietly stopped talking, and just projected words with his mind. Lauren, open your eyes. If your favorite color is blue, why are your toes red?

  “Nail polish is a mood thing.”

  Jamie caught the visual of her nail polish drawer in all its neat little color-coded rows. He mentally elbowed her. Wow, how much nail polish does one woman need? Do you organize your clothes by color, too, or are you just anal about your nail polish?

  He saw the moment Lauren realized she was the only one talking out loud. Unfortunately, pissed-off mind witches could really broadcast their displeasure. Hers was edging into panic.

  This was the part of the program where he needed to tread very carefully. Cranky witches could be really touchy creatures.

  “I told you to stay out of my mind. Out.”

  Jamie winced. “You don’t need to yell. Trust me, your mind is making plenty of noise. I wasn’t in your head. In fact, I took some pretty careful precautions to stay out.”

  “Then how the hell do you know I have a color-coded nail polish drawer? And why can I hear you talking in my head?”

  “You met me halfway, Lauren. Even as untrained as you are, you can push images well enough for me to pick them up. Emotions, definitely. Feel free to ratchet down your mad anytime now; it’s hurting my head. I’d say you have pretty much the full package of mind-witch powers.”

  Lauren was still steaming. “Maybe you just have darned sensitive receptors.”

  Jamie risked a laugh. “Nope. My mind talents are pretty weak. Not as useless as you are with elemental power, but not near sensitive enough to pull off what you’re accusing me of. I can’t read worth a darn unless you’re sending.”

  He heard what she wasn’t saying and tried to speak to her fear. “Lauren. Remember, I have the amplifying spells in place. No one on the street is hearing your thoughts as you walk by. This is a taste of what you could do with more training, but you’d also have more control.”

  Lauren just stared.

  Back off, big guy. She needs time and space, which means you need a fast exit plan. “We can talk more about all this later. Time for a break now.”

  He looked at Lauren’s wide eyes. Shit, he wasn’t managing this very well. Most people he tested very much wanted to be witches. “I know it’s a lot to deal with. One step at a time, okay? For now, I’m meeting a friend for lunch. Come with me.”

  Lauren managed the beginnings of a smile. “I think I need some time alone, but thanks.”

  Jamie wished he knew how to offer her a little comfort. “No problem. Will you let me in if I come back later this afternoon? I can show you some of the first mind-witch training exercises.”

  He got at least half a grin this time. “I’ll consider it.”

  She was already finding her feet. That was good. If she was half the witch he thought she was, there were some interesting times ahead.

  Jamie gambled again and tried using the one piece of information he had inadvertently picked up from her mind. She wished someone named Nat were here. “It’d be really helpful to have someone willing to play along—do you have an open-minded friend who might like to try some mind reading? The kind of thing we did with the motorcycle, nothing creepy or invasive.”

  Lauren nodded slowly. “Reinforcements might be a good thing. My friend Nat’s coming over for dinner. She’s unflappable, and one of the few people I know who would think floating plates are really cool.”

  “I don’t think you’ll be floating anything, but someone you trust is perfect. I’ll come an hour earlier so we can do some initial prep work. Do you guys eat Chinese? I’ll buy dinner.”

  “Yeah. I like lo mein, she likes lettuce wraps. Ice cream would get you bonus points.”

  Jamie left Lauren sitting in the corner of her couch, hugging a pillow. He pulled out his phone and tried to pick up a wireless signal even before he’d left her building. She wasn’t the only one who needed reinforcements.

  Chapter 6

  Jamie: Nell, that is a touchy login spell. It told me I had the wrong password twice.

  Nell: It’s meant to keep out troublemakers, brother mine :-).

  Jamie: Be nice to me, punk sister. I have at least partially good news for you.

  Sophie: That must mean Lauren let you in.

  Jamie: I brought coffee and bagels. I also ambushed her early in the morning. Figured I might get further if she wasn’t entirely awake.

  Moira: Surely that wasn’t necessary, Jamie? Such manners.

  Jamie: I didn’t know how else to play it, Moira. It didn’t seem like good manners would get the job done in this case. Since she let me in, I figure it wasn’t such an awful choice.

  Sophie: Were you able to test her?

  Jamie: Yeah, got a solid test done this time. Total dud on elementals, but she’s at least moderately strong on all forms of mind magic. I’m going back tonight to start some basic barrier work with her.

  Nell: No elemental powers—that’s unusual. How did she do with the testing?

  Jamie: She was pretty overwhelmed when I left. Most of the people we test want to be witches, or at least know they’re different. I’m not used to being the bearer of unwelcome news.

  Moira: Is it unwelcome, Jamie, or is she just needing some time?

  Jamie: I don’t know. She can project emotions with a hell of a wallop, and she definitely got pretty wound up. I can’t blame her, honestly. We don’t usually start with the mind-witch training because it’s so much more invasive.

  Nell: That, and it’s usually the elemental powers that get witchlings into trouble.

  Jamie: Well, that too. But there’s a lot more intimacy involved in mind-reading practice than working with candle flames or blooming flowers.

  Sophie: The first magic I ever did was helping a flower bloom, and you’re right—I didn’t even realize at the time that Aunt Moira was assisting me.

  Moira: I remember that, Sophie dear. You were so excited.

  Jamie: She was actually pretty relaxed for receiver testing. It’s when I tested her on projection that she reacted strongly. She feels like I invaded her headspace.

  Moira: I’m sure you had better manners than that.

  Jamie: Did, but there’s no reason for her to believe that.

  Sophie: What now?

  Jamie: She has a good friend coming over for dinner. I’m going to try to work some basic exercises with the two of them. Once Lauren has a bit of barrier control, she can experiment a little on her own.

  Nell: She still thinks it might be you doing all this.

  Jamie: It’s the most rational explanation, if you don’t believe in witches.

  Nell: Tell her your mind-witch talents are really wimpy.

  Jamie: I did, actually, but it’s not words that will convince her at this point. She needs to do something with her own powers that can’t be explained any other way.

  Moira: Wise. She’ll feel safer with a friend by her side, as well.

  Nell: Sounds like it’s still a little rocky, but honestly, I think that’s about as good a start as we could have hoped for. I’m not sure there’s any easy way to spring th
is kind of news on someone.

  Jamie: One more thing. You guys might want to consider what the next steps are if she’s stronger than average. I think there’s a decent chance of that.

  Moira: Mind powers can be hard to measure, initially.

  Jamie: I know, but she picked up very soft broadcasting—emotional and sensory undertones included—with no training.

  Moira: Oh, my. That definitely puts her on the stronger side of things.

  Nell: Well, you can handle at least the basic training with her.

  Jamie: I can. But leaving a reasonably sensitive mind witch on her own with only rudimentary barrier training doesn’t sound like the world’s best idea.

  Moira: And we won’t, if it comes to that. One step at a time, lad. Get a better read on her, and then we’ll formulate a plan.

  Jamie: Thanks. It was a bit of a shock to find that kind of strength, actually. You’d think someone would have noticed.

  Sophie: She doesn’t live in witch central, Jamie. Lots of empaths can cobble together mental barriers if they don’t get training, so that might be why she didn’t have any sense of her powers. If she doesn’t have any elemental magics, those are the ones that usually hit teens hardest, so she might have come gradually into her powers without really realizing it.

  Jamie: I hear you, but still. She’s strong, Soph. I don’t have any real data to say that yet, but that’s what my gut says. It’s usually the weaker talents that manage to slip under the radar.

  Sophie: Does she have any healing talents?

  Jamie: Didn’t test those yet. I’ll throw that in tonight if I have a chance, but I’d say not. I’d guess that her empathic sensitivities, in combination with healing, would have made her too vulnerable to pain in others to live as normally as she does.

  Sophie: That combination usually produces the most powerful healers.

  Jamie: Indeed—but can you think of any empathic healers that made it to adulthood undetected?

  Moira: No. And we’ve a lot of empathic healers here. They’re so over-sensitive as children until they get some barriers in place. I’ve seen some empaths live as non-witches, though. That’s an easier skill to hide or ignore, if it’s all she has.