good thing, but right now, he appreciated the second-hand glow. It was a nice improvement over the emotional swings she’d been going through since yesterday.
She grinned and reached into her bag once more, this time coming out with a copper pendant holding a blue orb. He would have denied it to his last breath, but he coveted the deep blue. It called to him.
“It’s a marble,” Elorie said, handing it to Jamie, “tumbled in the sea for years, or maybe centuries. Guessing from the size, it’s hand blown, and probably very old.”
He rolled the rough sphere between his fingers, sensing that it was a hard piece for her to give up, one of her favorite treasures. Refusing to take it, however, would dim her joy, and that he wasn’t willing to do. He’d never bought into the trappings of witchcraft, but as he hung the pendant around his neck, he was very sure it would stay there.
Elorie handed two very similar, but smaller, pendants to Nat. One was a gorgeous pink, and looked like it was born to match the crystal already around her neck. The second was fire red.
Jamie was puzzled, but as four sets of eyes got all gooey, it was obvious he was the only one who was lost.
“Oh,” Ginia said softly. “It’s for the baby.”
Fire red for his little fire witch.
He could feel his eyes getting all gooey, too. Dang.
As Nat linked her fingers with his, a very official-looking man arrived, asking Elorie to come sign some paperwork. With a last worried look at her booth, she followed him off.
“She’s a really special person,” Nat said. “She’s struggling, though.”
As always, Jamie was somewhat awed by his non-witch wife’s ability to pick up emotional undertones. “I think it threw her to find out she really is a witch.”
“Why does that make her sad?” Ginia asked.
Nat helped Ginia clip on her necklace. “I think it’s mostly confusing, sweetie.”
“But she’s always wanted to be a witch. She told me it was her dream. And she’s a really cool new kind of witch.”
And that, Jamie thought, was the crux of the problem. “Not everyone wants to be something new and different, cutie. It’s exciting for you, but where Elorie comes from, witches are pretty traditional. When she dreamed about being a witch, I don’t think this is quite what she imagined.”
He watched as Ginia, who had been born adaptable, struggled to understand someone who was less open to change. “Maybe she just has to get used to it a little. I can teach her how to spellcode.”
He nodded. “That’s definitely a good thing to work on, but first she has to be able to access her power. We don’t really know how to do that yet, so we need to figure it out before we can train her.”
Ginia frowned. “I tried to do it really slow so you could see.”
“I know you did. We’ll keep trying.”
Nat cocked her head. “What are you trying, exactly?”
“Uncle Jamie’s trying to watch inside my head while I spellcode, but he can’t quite see what I’m doing.”
He handed out granola bars from his messenger bag. Nat was looking hungry, and nine-year-old girls were always up for a snack. “One of the advantages of being a mind witch is that I can watch and see how people are using power. Then I can mindshow the steps to someone else.”
Nat nodded. “So, you want to see what Ginia’s doing, and then use that to teach Elorie.”
“Right. Except it’s all kind of fuzzy, and it doesn’t seem to work like elemental power, so I’m having trouble getting the steps in focus.”
“It’s cuz he’s a feeble mind witch,” Gina said, mouth full of granola bar.
“Brat.” Jamie wondered if she was too old to hang upside-down in public.
Nat held up her hand to forestall any niece tormenting. “So, if you were a stronger mind witch, you’d be able to see what Ginia does more easily?”
Great, now his wife was calling him feeble.
She kissed his cheek. “Stop thinking like a man and ask for help. Lauren’s coming over this afternoon, and I’m sure she’d be happy to play.”
Ginia nodded. “That’ll work. Lauren’s a rockin’ mind witch. She can see practically anything.”
Duh. He’d totally missed that one. Feeble and slow. Good thing he had a really smart wife.
~ ~ ~
Sophie: What’s up, Marcus? I was just about to trip a nice little spell on Warrior Girl when you interrupted.
Marcus: You should thank me. I tried that exact move last week—she has a