A Hidden Witch (A Modern Witch Series: Book 2) (11 page)

“Cool!” No one missed what she didn’t say.
Just like Aervyn
.

Damn. The next logical person to teach was her
baby brother, but Ginia deserved her day in the sun before being
eclipsed. Especially if she was having one of those rare days when
being big sister to the world’s most powerful witchling was a
little touchy.

Give her some time,
Lauren sent.
And
don’t make assumptions. Maybe Super Boy won’t be the most powerful
Net witch in the land.

Jamie had lost too many times recently to make
any more bets with the women in his life, but he was unconvinced.
There were very, very few things where Aervyn wasn’t the
strongest.

~ ~ ~

The Art Fair was crammed full of people who
loved handmade items and things of beauty. It buzzed with the
sounds of thousands on a mission, mixed with the occasional cry of
a baby or the squawk of a loudspeaker.

Elorie’s reticence had melted away in the first
ten minutes, and now she was having a glorious time sharing her
wares with all the fascinating people flowing into her booth.

She was also starting to get a little worried
that she might run out of things to sell, which was flabbergasting.
She was an artist first, but a businesswoman second. At the rate
her bits of glass were selling, she was going to clear over twenty
thousand dollars in four days.

A small girl caught her attention. She was
managing to twirl in the crowded booth space, holding one of
Elorie’s favorite pieces—a simple chain with four small droplets of
glass.

Elorie smiled at the woman with the little girl
and crouched down. “That’s a very special necklace. I call it the
Mermaids’ Tears.”

The child’s eyes got big. “Are you a
mermaid?”

“Well, my feet are a little sore in these shoes,
but no, I’m just an ordinary girl. What about you—are you a
mermaid?”

The girl looked at her shoes very seriously for
a minute. “Not today. It’s hard to walk around with a tail, so
today I put my legs on.”

Elorie smothered a smile. “I’m glad you did, so
you could come see me and try on a pretty necklace.” She lifted the
child’s soft hair, draped the chain around her neck, and led her to
a small mirror.

“How do you make all the pretty colors? Is it a
magic necklace?”

“Perhaps,” Elorie said. She liked to believe
there was magic in the ocean waters, and maybe even a mermaid or
two. “The colors are pieces of glass that live in the ocean for a
long time. All I do is walk along the beaches and collect them. I
like to think maybe the mermaids send them to me so I can make
beautiful things.”

The child looked skeptical. “I’ve never seen any
tears on my beaches.”

Elorie skipped her usual explanation of ocean
currents. “Well, maybe mermaids don’t swim near your beaches. I’ll
have to go walking on one myself later today and see what I can
find.”

“They come and play,” the girl said. “But they
don’t cry, because I sing to them a lot. They like singing.”

The girl fingered the bits of glass on her
chest, and Elorie knew this was one of those times when one of her
creations simply belonged to someone. “Well, that must be why they
sent me these tears.”

The child looked puzzled. “Why?”

“The mermaids must really love your singing and
want to say thank you. I believe that every necklace I make has a
true owner, and this one must be yours.” The girl beamed, and
Elorie shook her head as the woman dug out her purse. “It’s a gift
from the mermaids. No charge for those.”

It was so easy to make a small child happy.

Elorie realized a little belatedly that she’d
been ignoring everyone else in her booth. As she turned to help
them out, she heard the lilting and slightly off-key notes of a
little girl’s song float into the air.

She wasn’t sure if it was the song or the
adorable girl modeling her treasure that caused the general flood
of goodwill into her booth, but she sold out of Mermaids’ Tears
necklaces in the next hour.

~ ~ ~

Lauren laughed at Jamie’s look of disgust.

“I don’t get it,” he said. “I can see what
you’re telling me to do, but it just doesn’t turn on the same way
as mind power for me.”

They’d been trying to replicate Ginia’s success
activating her Net power. As both mind witch and talented
spellcoder, Jamie had seemed like a good candidate, but so far he
was getting exactly nowhere.

“Maybe we should try with someone else,” Ginia
said. “Mama’s a wicked spellcoder, or we could get Aervyn. He’s a
good mind witch, so maybe he can figure this out.”

She’s right,
sent Lauren, as Jamie
spluttered in protest
.
“Sounds like a plan. Why don’t you go
fetch them?”

“We’re already here,” Nell said, walking out
into the back yard with a pizza box, Aervyn skipping at her heels.
“I came to trade Ginia for food, but there’s enough here for
everyone. What do you need?”

As they all settled on the grass, lulled by
gloriously cheesy pizza, Lauren explained what they were working
on.

Aervyn spoke with his mouth full. “So it’s just
like mind power, but we hafta hold the mouse when we turn it
on?”

Jamie rolled his eyes and grabbed another slice.
“I hope it’s that easy for you, short stuff.”

“Let’s give your mama a try first,” Lauren said.
She looked at Nell. “We assume it will be easier for people who
already know how to spellcode. I’ll pull you into mindlink so you
can watch Ginia, and then I’ll walk you through it more
slowly.”

Nell nodded and hooked easily into mind
connection. After watching Ginia access Net power several times,
she backed out. “Got it. It’s kind of like gathering energy for
spellcasting.”

“Uh, huh,” Jamie said. “But it’s a lot harder
than it looks.”

Nell smirked. “Watch and learn, brother
mine.”

Big witches were sometimes no more mature than
the witchlings, Lauren thought. When Ginia was ready to track the
scanner readings, Nell closed her eyes, and Lauren dropped into
monitoring to watch.

After several tries, they knew two things. One,
Nell was indeed better than her brother. And two, that wasn’t
saying much. She’d managed to get a couple of tiny bursts of light
to fire, but that was about it. The power levels had been no more
than a blip on Ginia’s screen.

Lauren hoped Aervyn wouldn’t squish the growing
sense of pride she could sense in Ginia.

Go ahead,
Jamie sent.
Let Aervyn show
us creaky old witches how it’s done.

She’ll be okay,
sent Nell, with a small
nod toward Ginia.
I think. And if she’s not, we’ll deal
.

Lauren wiped the tomato sauce off Super Boy
Wonder Witch’s face. “Aervyn, why don’t you mindlink with me, and
we can watch what Ginia does. Then I’ll walk you through it
slowly.”

“Okay.” He finished wiping his mouth on his
sleeve, causing Nell to roll her eyes.

Lauren dropped quickly into their very familiar
connection, and together they watched the mental fireworks of Ginia
accessing Net power.

I can do that,
Aervyn sent.

Oh, boy.
Let’s go through it a few more
times, buddy. I know it moves kind of fast.

Nuh, uh, I can do it.
Aervyn dropped out
of mindlink long enough to take the mouse from his sister. Lauren
watched in bemused awe as he set off his own mental fireworks
seconds later.

Nell looked at her grinning son and shook her
head. “I take it he can do it, too.”

“Yeah.” Lauren shook her head. “Sorry, I didn’t
even have time to clip you in to watch.”

Ginia looked at the computer readouts and waved
at Jamie to take over. “Hey, Aervyn, can you do it again? This time
turn on all the power, ’kay?”

Aervyn tried again. And a third time. He was
consistent and fast, and Ginia was a very good coach. In a few
minutes, they were all convinced he was accessing his full power.
But Lauren, with a mind channel hooked into Jamie, could read his
surprise. Aervyn’s spikes weren’t nearly as high as Ginia’s.

Well, damn,
Jamie sent on a very narrow
band.
He’s got decent power, but Ginia’s far stronger.

Nell nodded in approval as she watched her two
witchlings work together.
Good
.

Elorie walked into the back yard, sniffing.
“Please tell me that’s food. I’m hungrier than a herd of
seals.”

Nell shook her head and laughed. “Witches are
always hungry. Glad you got my text to come here. Aervyn, honey,
there are two more pizza boxes on the counter. Can you get
them?”

Jamie pouted in protest. “There’s more, and you
were hiding it?”

Two boxes thunked onto the ground at Elorie’s
feet, causing her to jump. Aervyn giggled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to
get your toes.”

She rubbed his head. “I forgot you can teleport,
sweetie. We don’t have any witchlings in Nova Scotia who can do
that. It’s kind of handy when I’m this hungry, though—thanks!”

Jamie’s voice spoke in Lauren’s head.
Do we
hit her with this now?

We don’t have a lot of choice
.
She
leaves the day after tomorrow
.

Elorie looked around at all the computer
equipment strewn in the grass and sobered. “Are you still doing
readings on that new power?”

“Sort of,” Jamie said. “We’re trying to figure
out how to train it.”

Lauren could feel mixed emotions streaming out
of their new arrival. Jamie was right—Elorie’s brain was really
leaky. She tightened up her mental barriers.

“It’s okay,” Aervyn said, obviously reading the
emotional storm as easily as Lauren. He took Elorie’s hand. “It’s
really easy to use. I can show you.”

Lauren started to interrupt, and then
reconsidered. Elorie might well respond better to coaching from a
pint-sized teacher—she seemed to have a real fondness for kids.
Go ahead, Super Boy,
she sent to Aervyn.
But go SLOW.
Remember, she’s a brand-new witch
.

Jamie’s mental voice was highly amused.
If he
goes as slow as he did when you were new, he’ll scare her
silly
.

Lauren remembered all too well the totally
overwhelmed feelings of her first week at witch boot camp. She
hooked into Aervyn’s mental connection with Elorie, ready to put on
the brakes if necessary. Hearing Jamie’s mental knock, she patched
him in as well.

Aervyn, taking his trainer responsibilities very
seriously, helped Elorie watch as Ginia accessed Net power. Then,
in a very nifty move, he replayed it in slow motion for her.

Well, heck,
Lauren muttered.
Why
didn’t I think of that
?

That’d be why he’s Super Boy, and we’re just
old and creaky,
Nell sent dryly.
Although, even seeing it in
slow motion, I don’t think I could do it any better. We’ll see how
our newest witch does
.

After watching the replay several times,
Elorie’s emotions had settled. Good, Lauren thought as Ginia handed
over the mouse. And very interesting. Unlike everyone else, her
brain showed a low level of Net power activity even when she wasn’t
trying to pull power.

That’s why we were getting readings on the
scanner,
Jamie sent.
She’s got a really strong affinity for
Net power.

So, what does that mean, exactly?

Damned if I know.

Aervyn very patiently walked Elorie through her
first attempts at accessing Net power, and like most newbie
witches, her initial efforts got nowhere.

By now, Lauren had patched in Nell and Ginia as
well, and they let out a collective mental sigh at each failed
try.

Lauren thought she could see the problem. At the
key point of engaging more active power, Elorie balked.

She’s not the first,
Jamie sent.
I
remember a certain mind witch who didn’t step up and claim her
power happily, either.

Lauren stuck out her mental tongue at him. Then
she paused. Aervyn was setting his student up for another attempt,
and she had the distinct feeling he had something up his
sleeve.

As Elorie hit the sticking point, Aervyn moved
like mental lightning. Giggles reverberated in all their heads as
he launched a sneak tickle attack.

A moment of shock and laughter—and then
fireworks exploded in Elorie’s head.

Lauren could feel the awe of every witch
present, including Aervyn.
Oh crap,
Jamie sent.
Now we’re
in the big leagues
.

Yup,
said Nell.
With a newbie at bat
and a four-year-old manager.

Ahem,
came from Ginia.

Well, I guess you’re a little better than a
four-year-old in charge,
Jamie teased as Ginia spluttered.

Who’s going to tell Elorie she’s the baddest
Net witch in the West?
Lauren asked—and was promptly reminded
that when push came to shove, the Walker clan voted as a bloc, and
Jamie was all too happy to join them. Terrific.

~ ~ ~

Elorie took off her shoes and enjoyed the feel
of sand between her toes. Most Nova Scotia beaches had more pebbles
than sand, so this was a strange, but lovely, feeling.

The crisp night air was a welcome change from
the smells of stale popcorn and slightly burned hot dogs she’d been
breathing in her booth.

She could feel her very soul exhaling as she
began to meander down the moonlit beach. Jamie had dropped her off
and then gone for a late-night ride, promising to return for her in
an hour. She had a blessed sixty minutes to herself.

The motorcycle ride had been exhilarating, but
what she really craved was silence. Or what passed for silence on
an ocean beach, with the sounds of waves crashing and occasional
birds overhead. Night spray blew against her face as she dipped her
toes into the receding water.