A Modern Witch - By Debora Geary Page 0,21
types of witching talent are about what you do with power.
“Most people access limited amounts of power they can use personally or share in a group. A few witches can act as channelers; they can sense power and act as a conduit. Not much use individually, but a channeling witch can make a circle immensely more powerful.
“Spellcasters are good at organizing power and turning it into something useful. They tend to lead circles, shape the power into a spell. Nell’s a great spellcaster, just like Mom—she can weave together five or six power streams and execute some really intricate spells. We think Aervyn will follow in her footsteps.”
Lauren’s eyebrows were on the move again. “It doesn’t seem a bit crazy to stick that much power into the hands of a small child? Can he access power himself, or is he just a spellcaster?”
“Oh, he’s got plenty of elemental power too, and he’s a strong mind witch.” A smart cookie, Jamie thought. She could pass a test on witching categories, even if she doesn’t believe any of it.
He hoped she was at least considering the possibility that some of what he said was true. It would make the next steps easier.
“So, when we assess a witch, all we do is figure out their affinity for various power sources. Not all of them. For now, we’ll assume you don’t time travel or fly with the eagles.”
Not this week, Lauren thought dryly, loudly enough that Jamie couldn’t help but hear.
Better amused than afraid. “I’ll set a couple of spells in place that will amplify your talents enough so we can assess them properly. It’s not possible for me to create what isn’t already there, and I can’t make you stronger than you would be with some training. It’s just a way to make your untrained abilities a little more visible and easier for me to monitor.
“I can’t do this without your consent. At any point during the testing, all you have to do to shut down the spells is to withdraw your consent. Do you trust me to do this?” Jamie hoped to hell she did, since no one really had a Plan B if she refused.
Lauren looked into his eyes hard and long. Then she shrugged and nodded.
Jamie reached for her coffee cup and put it on the side table. Lesson number one: no hot substances in the hands of trainee witches.
“Let’s start with something we touched on yesterday. I’m going to create some images inside my head. I’ll send them toward you with varying strength—think of it like volume control.
“At first, you’ll definitely know what I’m imagining. I have just enough power to push an image loud enough for anyone to hear, witch or not. Then I’ll dial down the volume, and we’ll see when you can’t read anymore. All you need to do is relax and tell me what pictures come into your mind.”
As he talked, Jaime mentally cast a simple training circle, more to protect Lauren’s furniture than anything else. If he was wrong about her elemental powers, that would keep anything outside the circle from getting scorched.
Lauren laid her head back on a pillow and tried to clear her mind. “My friend Nat always says to picture a happy place. Maybe the beach, or the coast highway on a motorcycle. Wait—” Her eyes popped open. “Was that you? Curvy road, blue skies, motorcycle?”
Jamie nodded. “Outside Carmel. One of my favorite places to ride. Come to California one day and I’ll take you on a tour.”
“It was beautiful. Might be worth the trip. So, this is telepathy?”
“Not exactly. True telepathy would require an active use of power by you to read something I wasn’t projecting on purpose. Right now, we’re just trying to figure out how sensitive your receiver is, more or less. Let’s try again. Keep your eyes closed and tell me what you see. I’ll keep sending pictures, so just keep talking.”
Jamie picked up with the Carmel highway scene again, and made them both happy by spending a few minutes just curving down the road. Interesting. She could feel the wind, the heat, the vibrations of the bike. Most people just got visuals.
He added a touch of feeling. Oh, yeah. She picked up on the sense of freedom and exhilaration right away. Definitely some empathic talent.
Slowly Jamie dialed back the volume on various parts of the mental story he was sending. Fascinating. She was losing the visuals now and just pulling in the sensory stuff. He had