A Modern Witch - By Debora Geary Page 0,37
going to do it with a totally swaddled head. She took a deep breath and focused on her bricks. Make them a little thinner, a few cracks in the mortar, maybe some moss growing into the brick. Better.
She opened her eyes and smiled, pleased with her remodeled and slightly more porous brick walls. Walking out into the office, the normal Monday morning chatter hit. Maxine was happy; she must have closed her deal. Jenna Mae was bored and trying to check out wedding dress websites without anyone noticing.
Whoops. Lauren realized she couldn’t actually see Jenna Mae or her computer. Maybe the modified bricks were letting a little too much through, but she was still functional. For today, that was good enough.
…
Sophie wandered into her stockroom—her third bedroom, really, but with the built-in shelves and desk full of shipping supplies, there was no room left for sleeping. The little mid-century ranch house had been a lot of work to fix up, but it held her and the business end of A Modern Witch very well.
The master bedroom and bath were her retreat, done up in restful greens that soothed and restored her mind and her earth magic. A second bedroom was her herbals room, where she prepared ingredients for the lotions and salves for sale on her website. This room held everything else, the crystals and books and other basic witching supplies she stocked.
She walked over to the shelf where her crystals were stored, straightening some out-of-place items as she went. It had been a busy time, getting the chat room up and running. Her stockroom needed some attention, and soon.
Considering her stock, she began to select some crystals. Carnelian for supporting creative mental work. Citrine for working with power. Emerald to help the physical mind heal—Lauren would probably overload again before her training was done. White moonstone for balance. And most importantly, lapis for clarity and heart connection.
Sophie slipped a large, intensely blue lapis crystal into a wrapper fashioned from silver wire. She loved the artistry these handcrafted settings added to the crystals. Tools performed better when surrounded by beauty. She slid the twined lapis onto a silver chain. It was the right gift for a mind witch.
She would overnight the package to Lauren, along with some instructions on the use of each of the crystals. Maybe some lavender lotion as well; that was very good for relaxing and clearing communication channels.
Holding the lapis, Sophie reached for the moss-agate crystal hung around her own neck and collected her powers.
“I ask the powers of earth
That flow through me,
Strengthen this gift and let it aid
As Lauren learns who she must be,
Of what she is made.
As I will, so mote it be.”
…
Jamie and Nat both looked up as Lauren literally stumbled through the door of her apartment. She looked at the food on her table and gave an exhausted smile.
“Well, make yourselves at home. Food smells yummy.”
Nat handed her a cup of tea. “Jamie cooked. I was the taste tester—it’s stupendous. Come sit down.”
Lauren collapsed into a chair, took a sip of tea, and made a face. “Jeez, Nat—did you put a cup of sugar in here?”
“You need the boost. Your blood sugar is crashing.” Jamie carried two more cups of tea to the table and sat down. He sent a light probe to see if the spell reinforcing Lauren’s barriers was still holding. Crap, it was gone.
He sent a stronger probe. Not only was the reinforcement spell missing in action, her brick wall was noticeably different. Nice touch with the moss, but that would weaken the wall. Girls. Always trying to make stuff prettier. No wonder she was exhausted.
Lauren drained her tea. “Disgusting, but you’re right; it’s helping. You seriously cooked this, Jamie?”
Nat nodded. “He did. Pumpkin and avocado green curry. It’s amazing, and there’s chocolate cake for dessert.”
Lauren tasted a bite and closed her eyes in obvious bliss. “Will you marry me?”
Her eyes flew open again. “Okay, you two. I don’t know what’s up between you, and I don’t have the energy to ask right now. But if you’re both going to freak out when I say the word ‘marry’, could you at least do it out of my head?”
She rubbed her forehead. “Jamie, I hate to ask, but my barriers are about to crash and burn. Can you put some up for me again like you did yesterday?”
Jamie mentally kicked himself for not taking care of that sooner, especially if she was going to drop the big M word randomly