A Hidden Witch - By Debora Geary Page 0,53
though.”
“Neither did I.” Wonder crossed Gran’s face. “It’s more power than I’ve ever known. Such magic, waiting for us…”
“Then let’s get started, shall we?” Marcus nodded at Ginia. “Let’s have you do your joining trick. Aervyn and I will give you two simple spells to work with.”
He looked at the rest of the group. “Lauren will mindcast what Ginia does so you can all see. Once you think you’ve understood, let Lauren know.”
Elorie frowned. She was no mindspeaker.
Marcus rolled his eyes. Trust me, niece—she won’t miss anything you’re thinking.
She and Uncle Marcus were going to have a conversation about privacy. Soon.
Until then, she’d better start paying attention. Ginia was already pulling Net power. Much like the day before, Elorie watched from the mind-window Lauren provided as dancing power streams formed into intricate spell shapes, and then melded. Some of it had made sense, but she wanted to watch one more time.
One more time didn’t happen, however. Lauren dropped them out of mindlink, and Kevin nodded solemnly. “I can do it, I think.”
Marcus raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you don’t want to see it again?”
Kevin met his gaze straight on. “Yes. I want to try.” Elorie mentally cheered at his self-confidence. Generally Sean was the twin rushing headlong into magic, with Kevin trailing quietly behind.
Aervyn and Marcus began their spellwork again, and this time Elorie watched with her eyes. Marcus created a globe of dancing color on his palm, and Aervyn whipped up a very small whirlwind. Kevin focused, a look of deep concentration on his face.
The globe disappeared for a moment, and color briefly danced around the room. Then all signs of magic vanished. Elorie’s breath caught.
Kevin never wavered. “Again, please.”
One more time, Marcus and Aervyn created their spells and Kevin focused. One more time, the globe wavered. Everyone in the room held their breath.
And then light blew around the room, a shimmering stream of dancing color.
The fierce pride in Kevin’s eyes nearly brought Elorie to tears.
Then it was Moira’s turn, and she repeated the trick with quiet confidence and not the slightest wobble, childlike joy on her face. Kevin looked at her in awe. “Wow, Gran, that was great.”
Moira ruffled his head. “I’ve been practicing spellwork for seventy years, darling boy. Now I know why.”
Jeebers. Her turn next, and she had a grand total of about two minutes of spellwork practice.
Globe of light waiting on his palm, Marcus raised an eyebrow. It was time.
Elorie closed her eyes—and realized she had a big problem. By the time she’d opened her eyes, it was clear every mind witch in the room knew as well.
“That’s rather an issue,” Marcus said.
“What is?” Ginia asked.
Lauren explained. “Unlike the rest of you, Elorie doesn’t have elemental power, so she can’t see the power streams or shapes for the two spells.”
Terrific. She wasn’t a useless witch now, just a defective one.
Aervyn looked puzzled. “What’s a ‘defective’ witch? Can you solve mysteries?”
Ginia giggled. “That’s a detective, goofy boy.”
Lauren shot Elorie a warning look, but she’d already gotten the message loud and clear. No pity parties while the witchlings were listening. Good grief, she wasn’t usually this much of a wimp.
She cleared her throat. “So how do we fix this? I could see the power streams when you were patching me in, Lauren—can you do that for me again?”
“Nope.” Lauren shook her head and winked. “Welcome to the exclusive and sometimes inconvenient club of witches with no elemental powers. You could see them before because Marcus and I were working together, and he can visualize the elemental energies. I can’t.”
Elorie tried really, really hard to block the next thought that came to her mind. What on earth had she done in her life to deserve having to partner with Uncle Marcus if she wanted to do any magic?
Given Marcus’s snort, she hadn’t blocked hard enough. “You’ll notice I haven’t yet volunteered.”
“You’re not the only witch on this coast,” Moira said crisply.
Kevin rode to the rescue, all valiant four-and-a-half feet of him. “I can do it. I can help you see, Elorie.”
Marcus looked skeptical. “You’ve had mind powers for all of a week, my boy, and they’re not that strong. Broadcasting takes a steady hand. If you falter, Elorie’s spell could easily go awry.”
Kevin gave him a pointed look. “Then you’d better cast a training circle. Gran will be mad if we scorch her furniture.”
Elorie bit back a giggle, and then shoved any doubts out of her mind. If Kevin was willing to try, she would do everything