A Hidden Witch - By Debora Geary Page 0,45

to cost her mucho game points. She initiated the spell and a dome slapped into place around them. “It only lasts for fifteen minutes, so think fast.”

“I didn’t know you could do that.” Ginia looked moderately impressed.

She should be. Only four Realm players had cloaking capabilities, and Sophie had managed to keep hers secret until now. “So how do we fix the conk on her head?”

Ginia shrugged. “I could make her a new avatar, but I think Aunt Moira likes this one. I don’t have any healing spells, though.” She raised her eyebrows. “Somebody hasn’t been sharing lately.”

Spellcoding only worked with magic you possessed in real life, so Sophie was one of the very few Realm players who could create healing spells for the game. Once upon a time she’d done a brisk business trading those spells for other useful things, but in the last few weeks, she’d been hording them. Healing your competition just wasn’t all that smart in the long run.

Besides, no decent healing spell worked in this level. Witches were restricted in the spells they could use in level one, mostly for safety reasons. “None of my spells are basic enough to work here—they’d all trigger the spellcode lock.”

Ginia frowned down at the still-unconscious Hecate. Then she looked up at Sophie, eyes full of mischief. “The lock only works on spellcode. Maybe we can try something different.”

Uh, oh. “Like what?”

Ginia looked around furtively. “Is your cloaking spell soundproof?”

Just barely, but no point letting Warrior Girl know that. “Do I look like an incompetent witch?”

Rolling her eyes, Ginia pulled one of her trademark spellcubes out of her bag. They were remote-triggered, and everyone in Realm had learned to be very careful when they spotted one. She set it gently on the ground. “Now we’re soundproof for sure.”

Yeesh, what was this—a secret spy convention? “What are we doing, kiddo, waking the dead?”

“Close.” Ginia’s eyes twinkled. “I want you to do a healing spell on Hecate.”

“I can’t heal in-game, you know that. We need spellcode to do that, and we’ll trigger the lock if we try. Maybe we can take Hecate to one of the higher levels.”

Ginia shook her head. “Nope. She’s almost ready to pass to level two, but not quite. I can’t seem to teach her to keep her sword hand high.”

Since that was how Sophie had gotten around Aunt Moira’s guard, she wasn’t about to argue. “So what are you suggesting we do?” Ginia was plenty creative—maybe she’d figured out a way around the lock.

“I’m going to use Net power.”

“I thought that just worked for spellcoding.”

“Nope. It works to join things. Spellcoding joins magic with programming code, but I can join other stuff, too. I tried it yesterday with Uncle Jamie and Gandalf, and we joined two spells here in Realm.”

Splendid. Just what they needed in the game—Warrior Girl with magic no one else could match.

Ginia looked down at Hecate. “So I bet that if you try to heal her, I can use Net power to join your in-real-life healing magic with what happens here in Realm.”

Real magic in Realm?

Sophie was pretty sure she’d just heard the final clink in Ginia’s quest for Realm domination, but she couldn’t resist the lure of a new magic trick. Crouching down, she laid her hands on Hecate’s head and chest. “Let me know when you’re ready.”

When Ginia nodded, Sophie reached for power and tried to pretend she felt Aunt Moira under her hands, rather than her computer keyboard. It was a very strange sensation.

Strangeness vanished when Hecate coughed and tried to sit up. She looked up at Sophie, eyes scolding. “Sophie Ellen Delaney, what on earth were you thinking, conking me over the head like that?”

Oh, yes, definitely Aunt Moira. “How does your head feel?”

“My head is just fine, but Hecate here will probably have a bit of a bump.”

Sophie laughed at herself. It had been a dumb question to ask, but she wasn’t used to virtual healing.

Virtual healing. Or rather, real healing magic, done in-game. They’d brought real magic into Realm. Sophie looked over at Ginia, the weight of what they’d accomplished suddenly sinking in. Ginia met her eyes with a very sober, very adult look.

Two things hit loud and clear. One, Net power was a new world, and Ginia was leading the scouting party. Witch school was going to be very interesting. And two, Warrior Girl was about to turn Realm upside-down. With Aunt Moira at her side.

First things first. Sophie grinned, warrior to warrior. “So, how about