Big Witch Energy - Kelly Jamieson Page 0,62

my call go to voice mail. “Hey.”

“Hi.” I pause. “You’re at work?”

“Yeah.” She sighs. “I screwed up, Trace.”

I bite my lips. “Um. Well, I’m hearing some things, but I wanted to talk to you.”

She sniffs. Ah shit, is she crying? “I don’t want to talk about it.”

My chest clenches at her unhappiness. “What happened?”

At first I think she’s not going to answer. Then she says, “I was trying to be innovative. In my world, that’s a good thing.”

“Okay.” I rub the back of my head. “Oh, wait. I’m getting another call.” I check and it’s Ziggy Cox. Holy shit. I go back to Romy. “Listen, let’s have lunch. You can tell me about it then.”

She sounds despondent. “Okay.”

We arrange to meet at a place near her office, and I quickly take Ziggy’s call.

“Trace,” he says. “How are you?” I hear the terseness in his voice.

We make meaningless small talk, and then he jumps to it. “Romy Larson.”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve been tutoring her.”

“Yes.”

“Where the hell is she getting these ridiculous ideas?”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “What ridiculous ideas?”

“The iPad? Pinterest? The apps?”

“Apps?”

“Yeah. She thinks she can do witchcraft with apps.”

I purse my lips, considering that. She probably can. But Ziggy clearly doesn’t agree. “She works in technology. It’s understandable that she would want to solve problems with technology.”

“She’s trying to fix things that aren’t broken!”

“Not broken, no. But maybe there are better ways.”

“We’ve always done it that way!”

I knew he was going to say that.

I recall my argument with Joe about having a website for the business. About using more computerized systems. He said the same. I managed to win him over although there are still things I think we could do differently. I reminded him about the invention of power tools and how that changed the industry. I convinced him that bid management apps would help us be more competitive. Now I’m working on him about Building Information Modeling, which uses 3D models to improve collaboration among stakeholders on a project, and the importance of energy efficiency.

I know where Romy’s coming from.

I rub the back of my neck. “I’m meeting her for lunch. I’ll talk to her about it. But Ziggy, in the end, isn’t the most important thing that she learns all our values and how to use her power appropriately?”

“Yeah, but—”

“We all do things a little differently, but if the result is the same, does it really matter?”

“Okay, I get what you’re saying, but speaking of values… she asked us why there are no women on the Board of Elders. Or why there has never been a woman archmage.”

I bite back a smile. “Oh. And what did you answer?”

He makes a frustrated noise.

“I’m sure it’s not because women aren’t capable of doing it.” My tone is dry.

“Trace.”

“Times change, Ziggy. We need to adapt.”

“You’re supposed to be training her, Trace. Not her brainwashing you.”

It’s almost funny, but I’m suddenly pissed and out of patience. “I’m hardly brainwashed,” I bite out. “I’ll admit I was taken aback when she started using her iPad to take notes and made that her grimoire. But it’s working for her, so why not? She’s a brilliant woman with amazing intuition and probably extraordinary powers. We need to develop that, not discourage her. She spent her whole life up until now having her nature and powers repressed. We are not going to continue that.”

Heavy silence.

Aaaaaand… I remember who I’m talking to.

“You don’t get to tell us what we are going to do and not do.” Ziggy’s voice is terse.

Shit.

“The board is riled up over this. They’re not exactly pleased with you either since you’re the one tutoring her.”

I frown. They’re blaming me?

“There could be consequences for you,” he adds.

My eyes spring open wide. “Excuse me?”

“You’re a respected member of the coven, Trace. Your parents were both greatly admired. We’ve always thought you’d follow in your father’s footsteps. But you’re acting like your teenage self all over again.”

What. The. Fuck. “What kind of consequences?” I demand, my tone hard.

“You could be limiting your options when it comes to leading the coven.”

I didn’t think I had options. But hearing this pisses me off even more.

“Worst-case scenario, you could have your powers revoked.”

My hand grips my phone so tightly it’s in danger of cracking. I strive for a calm tone. “That seems pretty severe for the situation.”

“Well, that would be worst case. But you need to talk to Ms. Larson.”

“Oh, I’ll talk to her. But heads-up—I’m not going to tell her stop with the innovation.”

Silence. “Give this some