got on with business. When it was time to call air, Jamie grabbed only a tiny tendril. He didn’t want to bruise anyone’s circuits.
To his spellcaster eyes, Beth struggled mightily to weave together errant strings of power. Water came from the woman on the wrong side of the circle, the man with earth magic was too weak to connect to anyone, and the two with no magic caused a large gap in the circle’s currents.
With nothing better to do, he sent a mind link to Lauren so she could see what was happening. I told you so. To her credit, she was appropriately horrified.
For a witch with poor training and a fairly useless circle, Beth did more than he’d expected. She lit two candles and almost got a third.
When she released the circle, the last thing he expected was the group dance of victory. It took a moment to make sense of the clamor, but apparently they’d never managed to light more than one candle before. Two was huge, and Beth was aware she’d almost made that three.
They’re trying, Lauren sent. You could help them.
You owe me, he sent back. Big. She was right, however. He’d grown up with a deep sense of communal responsibility for witches in need of training. “Beth, I think you might find it helpful to make some changes in your circle.”
Beth was still high from her candle-lighting prowess. “What changes?”
“You’ve got some people in the wrong places, and a couple of you don’t have elemental magic.”
And oh, shit, that hadn’t been very tactful. Beth held up a hand to prevent mutiny. “How do you know?”
He hoped Lauren was exuding confidence in his abilities right about now. He could use the help. “I train witches. There’s a basic scan you can do to assess elemental power.”
Jamie started pointing to people. “You have water power, not earth. You’re pushing water energy from the wrong side of the circle, and that’s unbalancing things. You two, I don’t detect any power. That’s causing a gap in the circle’s flow. Beth, you’ve got decent power, but you’re having to work too hard to hold the circle together, and you don’t have much leftover for the spell.”
One of the women he’d just de-witched looked ready to break him. “How dare you walk in to this coven, where I’ve been a member for ten years, and say I’m not a witch?”
Jamie tried again. “All I’m saying is what I detected. If it’s a stronger circle you want, then you have people with real earth, fire, and water magic, and for today at least, me on air. I can walk you through a basic circle-training exercise, if you like. Beth, you’d need to let me take the lead, but I can set up a mind channel so you can see what I’m doing.”
Protest was immediate and loud. Lauren pushed at him, hard. Jamie, you need to show them.
Fine. Jamie swung in a circle, mostly for show, and lit every candle in the room. Awe was immediate, and very quiet.
Finally Beth spoke up. “Show us.” She and the other two moved into the new configuration Jamie had outlined.
More gently now, he walked them through a basic call to the elements and the most simple blending of power. He moved slowly, making each step distinct and clear in his mind for Beth’s benefit.
When he’d gathered as much power as he thought this baby circle could handle, he wove a simple spell, one used to entertain toddlers. Colored bubbles of light danced in the middle of the circle.
This time, when the circle released, no one moved. Jamie broke the silence. “Beth, did you follow all that?”
She nodded very slowly, still mute.
Jamie. Lauren’s mental voice was insistent. We need to go. Read the room.
Jamie did what he was told and mentally scanned the room. He didn’t have a fraction of Lauren’s power, but even he could feel the volatility under the silence.
The three who had been in his circle were caught in the afterglow of power beyond what they’d ever known. The other three were a tangle of awe and resentment. This coven meeting was about to get fairly explosive.
Lauren was right. Beth had work to do as coven leader, and his presence was only going to fuel the fire she was about to have to put out.
He got up to leave and stopped briefly beside Beth, handing her a card. “There are places you can go for training. Email me if you’re interested.”