A Modern Witch - By Debora Geary Page 0,24

a good friend coming over for dinner. I’m going to try to work some basic exercises with the two of them. Once Lauren has a bit of barrier control, she can experiment a little on her own.

Nell: She still thinks it might be you doing all this.

Jamie: It’s the most rational explanation, if you don’t believe in witches.

Nell: Tell her your mind-witch talents are really wimpy.

Jamie: I did, actually, but it’s not words that will convince her at this point. She needs to do something with her own powers that can’t be explained any other way.

Moira: Wise. She’ll feel safer with a friend by her side, as well.

Nell: Sounds like it’s still a little rocky, but honestly, I think that’s about as good a start as we could have hoped for. I’m not sure there’s any easy way to spring this kind of news on someone.

Jamie: One more thing. You guys might want to consider what the next steps are if she’s stronger than average. I think there’s a decent chance of that.

Moira: Mind powers can be hard to measure, initially.

Jamie: I know, but she picked up very soft broadcasting—emotional and sensory undertones included—with no training.

Moira: Oh, my. That definitely puts her on the stronger side of things.

Nell: Well, you can handle at least the basic training with her.

Jamie: I can. But leaving a reasonably sensitive mind witch on her own with only rudimentary barrier training doesn’t sound like the world’s best idea.

Moira: And we won’t, if it comes to that. One step at a time, lad. Get a better read on her, and then we’ll formulate a plan.

Jamie: Thanks. It was a bit of a shock to find that kind of strength, actually. You’d think someone would have noticed.

Sophie: She doesn’t live in witch central, Jamie. Lots of empaths can cobble together mental barriers if they don’t get training, so that might be why she didn’t have any sense of her powers. If she doesn’t have any elemental magics, those are the ones that usually hit teens hardest, so she might have come gradually into her powers without really realizing it.

Jamie: I hear you, but still. She’s strong, Soph. I don’t have any real data to say that yet, but that’s what my gut says. It’s usually the weaker talents that manage to slip under the radar.

Sophie: Does she have any healing talents?

Jamie: Didn’t test those yet. I’ll throw that in tonight if I have a chance, but I’d say not. I’d guess that her empathic sensitivities, in combination with healing, would have made her too vulnerable to pain in others to live as normally as she does.

Sophie: That combination usually produces the most powerful healers.

Jamie: Indeed—but can you think of any empathic healers that made it to adulthood undetected?

Moira: No. And we’ve a lot of empathic healers here. They’re so over-sensitive as children until they get some barriers in place. I’ve seen some empaths live as non-witches, though. That’s an easier skill to hide or ignore, if it’s all she has.

Nell: She could be a spellcaster, too. That would be a nice mix. Easier to coordinate a circle when you can send everyone a mental map of where a spell is headed.

Jamie: There’s no way to know right now. She’ll need more training before we can assess that, of course. Sorry to repeat myself, but what do we do about training?

Nell: What’s bothering you?

Jamie: Right now, it’s just a gut feeling. I’ll go back and start some basic work with her on clearing and setting barriers, but I’m no good to her beyond a few lessons. If she’s as strong as I think she is, once she opens those channels a little, she’s going to need more training, and quickly.

Moira: You have a point there. If she’s fairly sensitive, basic barriers aren’t going to be enough.

Jamie: She lives in the middle of downtown Chicago—there are people everywhere. If her sensitivity is high and her barriers are shaky, that’s not something we can walk away from.

Moira: Indeed. For her safety and theirs.

Jamie: Exactly. I don’t want to leave her unable to function, and I sure as heck don’t want to leave her unstable and a danger to others.

Nell: If it comes to that, we’ll figure something out. You’re just the first line.

Jamie: Good point. I need some downtime, and then I’m headed back over for dinner. We’ll see where Chinese food and ice cream take us. First contact report complete, over and out.

Nell clicked out of chat and rolled