fight off a lifetime of good manners, and lost. She sat.
Nell handed her a cookie, the witch fix-all. “So bring me up to speed, daughter mine. What have you tried so far?”
Ginia squared her shoulders. “We know that the computer is reading power traces for Elorie, and Uncle Jamie can’t pick them up in a regular scan done at the same time.”
“Okay.” Nell swiped the cookie Jamie was trying to grab. “And have we checked anyone else for this power source yet?”
Jamie nodded. “Yup. When you passed on Marcus’s idea, we headed to Realm and scanned everyone we could find in the witch-only levels. That’s why we’re trying to refine the scans, to see if we can find a common element in their readings and Elorie’s.”
Elorie frowned. This was a lot more information than she’d been given up until now. “What idea of Uncle Marcus’s?”
“He thinks,” Ginia said, “that maybe you aren’t the only one with this new kind of power.”
Since when had Uncle Marcus stopped being a hermit and started making up wild theories about new kinds of magic?
Nell touched Elorie’s hand. “It’s only a theory right now, but Marcus thinks you may be accessing a form of power that only registers in Internet space. He also thinks it might not be just you.”
Three exhausting days were catching up with Elorie. “Let me get this straight. Uncle Marcus thinks there are a bunch of witches running around the Internet with some kind of invisible magic?”
Nell shrugged. “Okay, it sounds a little hocus-pocus when you put it that way. But it’s a good idea. He thinks people like Ginia, who are good at spellcoding, might share your mysterious talent.”
Why was it so stinking hard for everyone to believe she wasn’t a witch? Elorie shoved in the last of her cookie. They could sit in dark basements and theorize all they wanted. She was done.
Ginia finished her milk as Elorie stood up. “We tried scanning me, but nothing showed up.”
Nell was silent for a moment. “What were you doing when you got scanned?”
“Holding the mouse, just like Elorie does…” Ginia slid to a halt, her eyes opening wide.
Jamie snapped his fingers. “Nell, you’re brilliant. Elorie, two more minutes. Please.”
Elorie stood and watched the sudden flurry of activity in the basement, utterly confused. In moments, there was a new computer setup at the table, and Ginia was typing madly into her keyboard. Elorie could see the graphics for Enchanter’s Realm on her screen.
“Keep it simple,” Jamie said. “We just need a basic spell to do the test.”
Ginia nodded. “I’m coding an easy three-step spell. That way, you’ll have three chances to get a reading.”
Jamie nodded, watching over her shoulder. “Good thinking, cutie.”
If she had to stand here, the least they could do was explain why. Elorie leaned over toward Nell. “I’m so confused. What’s going on?”
“We’re trying to figure out if Marcus is right, and witches who can spellcode share your talent. You test for it even with passive readings, but it’s trickier in witches with multiple magics. We’re thinking that if Ginia has what you have, it might be easier to read when she’s actively spellcoding.”
That much made sense. Active magic was a lot more visible—even she could sense the power flows sometimes when one of her witchlings was doing a more complicated spell.
Ginia looked up, all nine-year-old seriousness. “Ready.”
“Ready here, too.” Jamie intently watched his screen.
Elorie watched. Absolutely nothing happened.
Suddenly a familiar voice spoke out of Ginia’s computer. “You called, Warrior Girl?”
Ginia giggled. “Hi, Gandalf. We’re doing a test to see if I have the same power as Elorie. I needed to code a spell to get the reading. I hope you like your new costume.”
Nell leaned over to look at the screen and clapped a hand to her mouth, snickering. She motioned Elorie to look.
Marcus’s gruff voice boomed out again. “It’s not funny, Nell. I’ll be the laughingstock of Realm.” Elorie moved in and got an eyeful of Marcus dressed in Xena splendor.
Ginia grinned. “Nah. That will happen tomorrow. I wrote this one in a hurry, so it probably won’t take you too long to reverse it.”
Marcus’s eyes narrowed. “What happens tomorrow?”
“I hate to interrupt,” Jamie said dryly, “but is anyone interested in the results of the scan while Ginia was spellcoding?”
Every head in the room swiveled, including Marcus’s onscreen. Jamie looked around and grinned. “Whatever magic you’ve got, Elorie—Ginia has it, too. We got a very nice spike of the same unknown power during step two of that