A Hidden Witch (A Modern Witch Series: Book 2) (17 page)

He made a beeline for the bowl in Marcus’s hand,
and then caught and ported it to safety when it went crashing
toward the floor. Everyone froze as a flood of love and pain
hammered into every mind in the room. Marcus’s face was pasty white
and a study in anguish.

“Evan.” His harsh whisper as he stared at
Aervyn’s face cut through Nell’s soul.

Her son reached out gently and laid his hands on
Marcus’s cheeks. “I’m not your Evan, but you can love me. That
would be just fine with me.” He climbed into Marcus’s lap and
nestled.

Nell watched the crotchety old bachelor hold her
son like he was spun glass, a haunted sadness on his face.

Aervyn ported over the blueberries and held them
up. “Here, have some berries. They’re my favorites. Did Evan like
blueberries, too?”

“Yes,” whispered Marcus, kissing the top of
Aervyn’s head. “Yes, he did.”

“Was he your brother, or your little boy?”
Aervyn asked. “Your mind is kind of jumbly.”

“He was my twin. He died when he was just a
little older than you.”

Aervyn looked up solemnly. “It makes you really
sad.”

“Yes.”

Aervyn tucked his head into Marcus’s chest. “It
wasn’t your fault. Even really strong witches can’t fix everything.
You were just little, like me.”

Moira sucked in a wavery breath. “You’ve blamed
yourself all this time, Marcus? My sweet boy, it was never your
fault. If anything, it was mine.”

She looked over at Nell. “Evan’s magic emerged
young and hard. He was a fire mage, and a strong one. In the midst
of putting out fires every night, we somehow missed that he was
also an astral traveler.” Her voice dropped to almost nothing. “One
night he left his body and didn’t make it back. He wasn’t quite six
yet.”

Nell’s heart bled with all the sadness and guilt
in the room. She had always wondered at Moira’s strict devotion to
training. Magic that killed was the worst nightmare of every
witchling’s parents.

“I couldn’t call him back,” Marcus said softly.
“I could feel him, but I couldn’t bring him back.”

Aervyn tilted his head. “You still feel
him.”

Marcus leaned down and kissed his head again.
“Yes, my boy. I still do.”

~ ~ ~

Elorie finished her last bite of salmon and
looked down the dinner table in satisfaction. Kitchens were the
heart of any Nova Scotia home, and while she loved intimate dinners
for two, it was also wonderful to have a table full of visitors and
laughter. With all their guests now arrived, the table was
definitely full.

The seating configuration was very strange,
however. She leaned over toward Sophie and Nell. “Since when is
Uncle Marcus a kid magnet?” He had Aervyn on one side, Lizzie on
the other. Normally he and children gravitated to opposite ends of
the table.

Nell spoke quietly. “Since this afternoon—with
Aervyn, at least. Apparently my son looks a lot like Evan.”

Sophie sucked in a breath and exchanged looks
with Elorie. Evan had always been the one subject no one talked
about.

And I’d appreciate if it remained that
way,
Marcus sent.

Elorie felt her cheeks getting red, and the eyes
of more than one child turned her way. There were far too many mind
witches at the table. She checked surreptitiously to make sure her
gizmo was still turned on.

Your brain may not be leaking anymore,
niece, but your face is as expressive as usual.

So find something else to talk about, you old
fart, Elorie thought, and then blushed even more furiously when
Marcus began to laugh. Dammit, how was he hearing her thoughts?

I don’t need to hear them. It’s not the
first dirty look I’ve received in fifty-two years.

Elorie put her mental foot down. Enough. This
was her turf. Her home, her dinner table. She picked the most
sympathetic face at the table. “Ginia, I hear you’ve brought a
suitcase of potions to share with us.”

The girl’s face brightened. “I practiced
everything Aunt Moira showed me on video chat.”

“Excellent,” Sophie said. “I think a potions
class tomorrow morning would be a great way to get witch school
started. Ginia, perhaps you could help me teach the others some of
what Aunt Moira showed you.”

Elorie pushed down the small spurt of jealousy.
It was only right that Sophie help organize witch school. This
might be her turf, but she could surely share it.

Sean groaned. “Potions are boring.”

Elorie elbowed him. “That’s because yours never
work. Perhaps if you pay attention and actually mix things
correctly, your potions would be a little more exciting.”

“Who wants to make stuff for aches and pains,
anyhow?” His brain finally caught up with his mouth, and he glanced
at Moira with concern. “Sorry, Gran. I know that stuff works good
for you.”

“Healing hurts is a great gift,” Sophie said,
“and not one to be taken lightly.” Her eyes twinkled. “But I have a
little recipe that says it will help a baseball pitcher’s arm
recover faster.”

Sean looked interested in spite of himself. If
anyone could make him sit through potions without grumbling, it
would be Sophie. And Elorie had a sneaking suspicion that the
pitcher’s potion had a lot in common with the one Gran used for her
aches and pains.

Aaron and Mike returned from the pantry, bearing
pies. “Anyone have room for blueberry pie?”

If anyone didn’t, they got drowned out under the
avalanche of noise from people who did. However, as Aaron started
slicing pieces and plating them, there was a sudden drop in
volume—the kind that got any trainer’s attention very quickly. Four
witchlings were very quiet and all looking at Ginia.

“What are they up to?” Nell asked under her
breath.

Elorie shook her head. “No idea.”

“They’ve pulled together a circle of sorts,”
Sophie whispered. Nell nodded in agreement.

Elorie watched with interest as one of the
dessert plates of blueberry pie levitated, and then disappeared. It
reappeared teetering on the very edge of the table in front of
Marcus.

He scowled and nudged it to safety. “Aim more
carefully, young ones. Who’s doing what?”

Aervyn looked up quizzically. “Can’t you
see?”

Marcus shook his head. “Not all of it. I can see
you’ve each called some elemental power.”

Aervyn grinned. “That’s cuz Net power is
invisible. It’s like a special superpower no one can see.”

Marcus nodded at Ginia in approval. “No mean
feat, blending four working spells like that. It looks like you did
more this afternoon than accidentally fall in the ocean.”

Ginia giggled. The five witchlings had come in
for dinner dripping wet and proclaiming innocence. “We practiced
with rocks. Good thing we didn’t start with plates. We kind of
dropped a few at first.”

Elorie felt her world tilt. They’d done actual
magic with Net power? On the beach?

Nell frowned. “What were you using for a power
source, girl of mine?”

Ginia reached into her pocket and pulled out an
iPhone, looking sheepish. “I borrowed your phone and tweaked it,
Mama. The touch screen works just like the mouse does.”

Nell rolled her eyes. “Remind me to have a chat
with you about roaming charges, kiddo. How long did you have it on
for?”

“Just a couple of hours, Aunt Nell.” Sean,
obviously trying to be helpful, dug Ginia in deeper.

Marcus stepped in. “Since you’ve already spent a
fortune, a little more won’t matter. Do that trick with the plates
again. I want to watch.”

“Wait.” Elorie was astonished to hear her own
voice almost shouting. She was not going to be sidelined yet again
by witches doing magic she couldn’t understand. Her home, her
table,
her power
. “Ginia—this is the same magic I have,
right?”

Ginia nodded.

Elorie looked at Aervyn. “Can you mindlink with
me the way you did in California? I want to see what you’re
doing.”

He grinned. “Sure. Can you turn off Uncle
Jamie’s gizmo, though? It’s a lot of work to hook into your brain
when that’s on.”

And put her mind on display for half the
table?

“Not to worry,” Marcus said dryly. He gestured
to Sean and Kevin. “These two will be plenty busy with their part
of the spell, and Lauren and I have better manners than you think.
Aervyn is right—he needs the gizmo off if you want to see.” He
crossed his arms, almost a dare.

She wanted to see.

Elorie laid Jamie’s gizmo on the table, focused
as hard as she could on blueberry pie, and turned the device
off.

Aervyn’s mindlink clicked into place moments
later.
You can relax now. I can make sure your brain isn’t
leaky
.

She didn’t much care anymore. Mindlinking had
brought her a gift beyond measure. For the first time in her life,
Elorie could
see
power at work. For someone who had watched
thousands of spells from the outside, it was sheer joy to finally
see the power in which she so deeply believed.

She could see the five witchlings, each calling
a power source. The only one she recognized was the network of
fireworks—that would be Ginia’s Net power. She concentrated, trying
to identify the others. The sinuously flowing lines must be
Lizzie’s water energy, and the crackling light would be Kevin’s
fire. Aervyn held earth magic, and that left Sean calling air.

Elorie’s heart danced with the beauty of it. The
four streams of energy touched and twisted as each witchling
created a spell. Lizzie’s and Sean’s looked fairly simple, but
whatever Kevin and Aervyn were doing was complex and convoluted.
She yearned to understand.

It’s not difficult, girl. Lizzie and Sean are
working together to lift the plate,
Marcus sent. Elorie jumped.
She hadn’t realized anyone else was watching.

We’re all watching, child,
came Gran’s
soothing voice.
Marcus and Lauren have patched us all in. Kevin
calls fire, but he’s acting as channeler, helping to blend all the
energies and keep them balanced. It’s very delicate work he’s
handling, and well done
.

Aervyn’s readying a teleporting spell,
Nell said.
But I don’t think he’s the one that actually uses it.
Watch
.

Elorie watched in fascination as Ginia’s
fireworks suddenly got brighter. The four spells glistened for a
moment, and then melded.

It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever
seen.

Damn it!
Marcus cursed.
They
missed
!

Elorie felt Aervyn’s giggles beginning as they
all thudded out of mindlink. She opened her eyes to find Uncle
Marcus looking at the blueberry pie in his lap with disgust, and
everyone else at the table in various stages of mirth.

Her own sense of humor kicked in as she realized
they probably hadn’t missed at all.

You think I don’t know that, girl?

Elorie managed to turn Jamie’s gizmo back on
before she collapsed on the table, laughing.

Gran leaned over and patted Marcus’s hand. “It
might be a good time to practice those cleaning spells you so
disdain, nephew.”

Marcus just growled.

~ ~ ~

“The moon’s gorgeous tonight.” It wasn’t often
Elorie could convince her husband to take a midnight walk on the
beach, so she was pleased the night sky had decided to show off a
little.

Of course, it wouldn’t be her who had to get up
at the crack of dawn to cook breakfast for an inn full of
witches.

Aaron wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “So,
what exactly happened at dinner tonight?”

“The magic, you mean?”

“Is that how Marcus ended up with my pie in his
lap?”

Elorie stopped dead in the sand as realization
hit. He’d been the only non-witch in the room. “Oh, honey. I’m so
sorry. I should have told you what was going on.” Heaven knows
she’d been shut out of the magic often enough to know what it felt
like.

He kissed her forehead. “So, tell me now.”

“I think the children practiced together this
afternoon, and they did a nice little demonstration with your pie.
Each of the children cast a spell, and then Ginia blended them
together to do one big spell.”

“Dumping pie on Marcus is a big spell?”

Elorie giggled. “I’m not sure whether they meant
to do that part or not.”

“And Aervyn made it so that you could see what
was happening.”

“Right. Uncle Marcus and Lauren patched in
everyone else so we could all watch.” She winced even as she said
it. “All the witches, at least. I am sorry, Aaron. That was
horribly rude of us.”

He grinned. “Nah. I got to watch the look on
Marcus’s face as the pie landed. The rest of you missed that.”

He stopped for a minute, bending over to pick up
a shiny moon opal, and held it out to her. “I also got to see the
look on your face. You were happy, Elorie. Really happy.”

The joy of that moment still echoed in her
heart. “I’ve never been able to see the magic before, see power
being used. It was amazing.”

“What Ginia did, blending the spells together—is
that what you’ll be able to do?”

Elorie’s legs simply melted. She sat down hard,
staggered by sheer shock. In the magic, and in all the laughter,
she had somehow missed that one essential point. “Oh, my God. That
was Net magic Ginia did.”

He nodded, clearly confused.

She could feel the tears coming. “I can learn to
do what she did. I’m not going to be a useless witch.”

Nell looked around Moira’s back yard and
grinned. It looked like a tornado had swept through and dumped off
random heaps of computer parts. Clustered around them were some
excited, but very confused, witches.

Moira had put out the call—everyone should come
to be tested. Clearly the witch population of Nova Scotia had taken
that literally. There were almost a hundred people in the back
yard, with only a handful competent enough to test for Net power.
And one of those was four and in need of a nap.