A Modern Witch - By Debora Geary Page 0,16

Yep.

Sophie: AND…?

Jamie: She’s got nice legs.

Nell: I’m sure that was worth the plane flight for you, but the grown-ups here want to know if you had a chance to assess her before you hit on her.

Jamie: Sort of.

Nell: Grrrr!!

Jamie: Sorry, sorry. I’m eating pizza and typing one-handed. Long answers interfere with my pizza consumption.

Moira: That’s what levitation spells are for, dear one. As I recall, you’re quite a skilled levitator. Surely you can lift the pizza, and then you’d have two hands to type, now, wouldn’t you?

Sophie: Aunt Moira, you’re hysterical. Jamie, you heard her—be a multitasking witch. What happened when you met Lauren?

Jamie: Fine, I put down the pizza. I hope you all appreciate the sacrifices I’m making here. First off, Nell, I don’t hit on trainee witches. All kinds of issues with that. Wasn’t that kind of spark between us, but even if there was, I’d have waited until I handed her over to someone else to train.

Moira: Ah. She has power then.

Jamie: She does. I did a basic probe when we first shook hands. Got a plenty high-enough read on the voltage meter.

Nell: Duh. My spells don’t go that wrong.

Jamie: Really? I seem to remember some of our beta testers turning into cute little hoppy frogs a couple weeks ago.

Nell: And who ‘forgot’ to proofread that code?

Moira: Children, squabble later. Jamie, you say Lauren has power. Were you able to refine your reading any more than that?

Jamie: Not a lot, sorry. How strong her power is, or in what areas, I can’t be sure. She’s not very happy with the message. She’s pretty damn sure she’s not a witch. Didn’t think I was either, and a crowded restaurant limited my options for showing her.

Nell: Oh, God. What did you do?

Jamie: Relax, nothing big. Levitated some plates for a few seconds. The only person who noticed besides Lauren was the toddler in the next booth, and he’s not talking.

Moira: People see what they want to see.

Jamie: That’s what I told Lauren.

Sophie: So when the plates floated—nice trick, by the way—did that convince her?

Jamie: That I was a witch, or at least had some telekinetic powers—I think so. I damn well hope so. It took some effort to pull off a levitation spell when all I’d had to eat all day was a few pretzels.

Nell: Way to take one for the team, brother mine.

Jamie: That’s a freebie. You owe me for the rest. I think it’s still legal to shoot the messenger here in Chicago.

Nell: Oh, shit. What rest?

Jamie: Well, I ran a couple of really basic tests while we talked. She didn’t notice anything when I grabbed power before the levitation spell, and I did it fairly loudly, on purpose. So her elemental talents are likely weak at best, but she can read broadcasted mind images, and the volume doesn’t have to be all that high.

Moira: A mind witch, then.

Jamie: I think so, but you know as well as I do how tricky mind-witch powers can be to evaluate in a crowd.

Moira: Indeed, I do. I also know that it’s a little easier for that talent to fly under the radar. Mind witches don’t set things on fire, but she may well be unintentionally manipulating the minds around her.

Jamie: I understand the risks well enough. The problem will be convincing Lauren.

Sophie: How did she react to the mind broadcasting? I presume she read what you sent, so surely she’s aware that’s not typical?

Jamie: If a strange guy showed up, did a few magic tricks, and then you got some images from his mind, what would you think?

Nell: Crap. She thinks you did it.

Jamie: Bingo. She might believe I’m a witch, but it’s going to be a whole different can of worms to convince her that she is. I can’t do that without at least some cooperation on her part.

Nell: Dang. I was hoping this might resonate for her at some level—most of our trainees have at least some sense that they have unusual talents.

Jamie: I’m pretty sure she was telling you the truth when she believes she doesn’t have any. Empathy’s not one of my stronger skills, but I didn’t get any sense she was hedging. I might have made a little headway asking about intuition right at the end of our conversation. She’s the top realtor in her office.

Nell: I wondered about that. Mind powers would be pretty useful for a realtor.

Jamie: Hopefully I planted a seed, but mostly I think she was just backpedaling from the