with only a relatively mild case of overload. Lauren was going to be a very powerful witch.
And he’d just blasted her channels wide open.
Chapter 7
Lauren walked into the kitchen with Nat close behind. “I could eat half of Chicago, and I feel like my brain got hit by a bus. What the heck happened?”
Jamie, well versed in the needs of trainee witches, shoved a carton of food in her hands. “Eat. That will help with the head. Then we’ll talk.”
Nat took a plate out of the cupboard, and then stood watching in amazement as Lauren began to vacuum-suck lo mein straight out of the carton. Jamie watched her reaction with amusement. Clearly Lauren didn’t usually eat like a starving teenage boy.
He handed Nat a carton as well. “Dig in. Trust me—you want to get to it before she does.”
Jamie looked at the stranger he would love and the witch he’d just begun to train. Now what the hell did he do?
He had a very tricky conversation coming up with each of them, and he wasn’t sure he felt equipped to handle either one. He bit into an egg roll and decided Nell had no idea how big she was going to owe him.
Let’s handle it like a complex spell, he thought. One step at a time, and try not to break anything too critical.
“The head doing better, Lauren?”
“Yeah.” Lauren spoke around mouthfuls of her second carton of lo mein. “Food’s helping. You the genius who ordered enough food for ten people?”
“Yeah. Trainee witches are always hungry.”
“Smart man. You going to share those egg rolls?”
Jamie ran a quick scan on Lauren just in time to hear her pick up Nat’s thought. He called her a witch and she didn’t even blink.
“It’s a long story, Nat.”
Nat frowned. “Was I talking out loud?”
“Oh, shit. I can hear you thinking.” Lauren turned to Jamie, rising panic on her face. “I can hear her thinking. What happened to me?”
Jamie sent out as much calm as he dared. “Your channels overloaded. Too much input. When that happens, people often end up extra-sensitive for a few days. Just like it was hard to soften your mental barriers before, now it’s going to take some work to put them back up. Until you do, you’ll pick up at least the outer layer of thoughts and emotions from people around you.”
“Okay.” Lauren nodded very slowly, but still looked skeptical. “Why can’t I hear you?”
“I’ve got barriers up. It’s what we were working on when you overloaded.” He turned to Nat. “With your permission, I can help strengthen your barriers as well. Too many stray thoughts are going to be hard for Lauren to handle right now.”
At Nat’s nodded assent, Jamie slipped quietly into contact with her mind. He took just a moment to soak in her amazingly serene energy, and then gently fortified her barriers.
“That should take care of it for a few hours. It’s not a total block; it will just soften what gets through. Lauren, as soon as we’re done eating, we’ll go work on getting your channels closed back up some.”
Lauren waved her chopsticks like a weapon. “Nuh uh. Not a chance I’m playing that game with you again until I know what the heck happened the first time. It felt like my head exploded.”
Jamie sighed. “That was my fault, and I owe you a big apology. It’s the trainer’s job to make sure the energy flows stay manageable, and I totally blew it.”
“That was more than a bit unmanageable.”
Jamie could see the lines still creasing her forehead. “Head’s still bad, isn’t it. Do you have some ibuprofen or something? That will help.”
Lauren walked out of the room, a third carton of lo mein in her hands.
…
Finally full after three cartons of lo mein and four egg rolls, Lauren sprawled on her couch beside Nat and eyed Jamie. “So, back to the big question. What the hell happened?”
“I have some ideas,” Jamie said, “but I’d like to gather a little more data first. I need you to try to think back and tell me exactly what you remember, what you felt.”
“I was concentrating, trying to shrink my bubble.” She looked at Nat. “You’d be better at it than I am. It’s a lot like the breathing and meditation stuff you do.”
Nat looked puzzled. “Bubble?”
Jamie beat her to an explanation. “It’s the first lesson for mind witches. The goal is to create flexible barriers where Lauren can control what passes in and out of her mind.”