A Modern Witch - By Debora Geary Page 0,20
other eyebrow. “Interesting theory. Let’s go back to the science. Elemental powers, mind powers. What else?”
“Life-force energy. That’s usually where you find the healers. Most healers are limited by the amount of their own life force they can safely use up. Some, like Sophie, can link their healing to elementals and not drain themselves as much.”
“Is it dangerous for the healer?”
“It can be,” Jamie said. “All witchcraft can be dangerous. That’s why training matters; it decreases the risks.”
“Cheery. What else have you got for me?”
Jamie wasn’t used to students who wanted to hear this stuff. “The last two power sources are a lot less common. Some witches are good at what used to be called animal magics—speaking to animals, or even shapeshifting. A lot of shamans had these kinds of powers. We’re still learning and testing, but the power source seems to be our own DNA, the energies of a shared evolution and prehistory.”
Lauren’s eyebrows just kept traveling higher. Jamie hoped it was a good thing. After shapeshifting, maybe mind powers would sound fairly normal. “Some witches can access power in the astral plane, or the afterlife. This is where you find your mediums, time travelers, fortunetellers, oracles. They’re pretty rare.”
Lauren laughed. “Not so much. I can turn on the TV and hire you as many as you’d like for just two dollars a minute.”
Jamie grimaced. “They don’t do us any favors either. There are plenty of fakes.”
“If I pretend I’m crazy, I can almost wrap my head around a weather witch or someone who can mindspeak. Time traveling, shapeshifting—sorry. Too big a leap for my first day.”
Jamie grinned. “Tell me about it. I have a great-uncle who shapeshifts. It’s entirely creepy. The first time I saw him shift, I was about four, and I had nightmares for a week.”
“Why would he do that where a child could see?”
He hoped telling Lauren some of his family’s crazier escapades wasn’t a bad idea. “It wasn’t on purpose. I’d been playing snake wars with my brothers. We’d bespell little plastic snakes and fly them through the air at each other.
“My uncle happened to walk around the corner at the wrong time and got dive-bombed by plastic snakes. He was old and couldn’t see all that well, and apparently he was terrified of snakes. He shapeshifted into a hawk in self-defense. Scared the three of us silly.”
Lauren shook her head. “Sounds like you earned that one. Your brothers are witches too? How did your parents survive?”
“Mom’s a witch, and a good one. She has some precog—she sometimes catches bits of the future. We didn’t get away with much, although I still don’t know how much of that was magic and how much was mama instinct.”
“Are all seven of you witches?”
“Nope. Until us triplets, Nell was the only witchling. Dad’s not a witch. He’s an old-school video-game programmer and Mom’s an illustrator. They met in college and created the first version of Enchanter’s Realm. That’s the online-gaming world Nell and I run now.”
“He married a witch? Did he know?”
Jamie laughed. “We live in Berkeley. Dad always says Mom was one of his more normal first dates. I don’t think she hit him up with her spellcasting until a bit after they met, though.”
“He has a point. There are some pretty strange dudes here in Chicago too. I definitely wouldn’t have let some of them in my front door.”
“Thanks, I think.”
Lauren shrugged. “So far, it’s been fairly entertaining. So, can all witches cast spells?”
“Most can do a few basic things, but some witches are good at more complex spells. My mom’s a spellcaster, and so are Nell and I. Don’t think any of us will hold a candle to Aervyn, though. He’s Nell’s son; he’s four, and a heck of a witch.”
“You have four-year-olds casting spells?”
Not much way to stop him, thought Jamie. “Power needs to be trained. His showed up strong and early, so we work with him. He’s a really normal kid when he’s not messing with power.”
Lauren studied him. “He matters to you.”
“Sure. He’s my nephew, and also my trainee. He’s hard to resist; most people love him.”
“Why is he so powerful?”
Jamie shrugged. “No one knows. Spellcasting runs in our family, so maybe he got an extra dose of the genes or something. We just need to find someone who can handle channeling for him.”
“Channeling?”
“Sorry, this is turning into more of a lesson than you probably ever wanted. You know how we talked about the five kinds of power? The last two