A Reckless Witch - By Debora Geary Page 0,26
if Moira looks green after she’s done.”
Devin grabbed the platter of waffles. “Somebody should warn Aervyn that if he makes Moira puke, she has some devilish ways of getting even.” And scrubbing her cauldron was the least of it.
“Idiot.” Jamie shook his head. “Do you really think it’s the four-year-old who will get in trouble if Moira gets sick on his funnel ride?”
“Point.” But it would be worth it. The Sullivan name would carry on in infamy—even if his nephew wasn’t technically a Sullivan.
~ ~ ~
Lauren poured maple syrup over her waffle and listened to the two Sullivan brothers, amused. Identical faces, but such different minds.
Well, not entirely different. They shared family loyalty and an easy generosity toward everyone who swam into their pond. But after that… Jamie was the cool gamer, patient trainer, devoted husband. Devin was the guy you’d want at your back in a gunfight.
Nat laughed as Devin reached over to wipe a smudge of whipped cream off her belly, making a much bigger mess in the process. “I don’t think you’re helping.”
He grinned. “I’d be doing better if my niece in there wasn’t kicking from the other side.”
It was an easy goofiness Lauren was really happy to see. Devin had been fairly skeptical of Nat the first time he’d seen her. Then again, that had been the day she’d been getting married to his brother, and weddings seemed to give Devin mental hives. Still. Anyone who dissed her best friend, even in his head, started off on Lauren’s bad side.
“So, Aervyn wants to come cliff jumping with you.” Jamie waved a bite of waffle at his brother. “Next time you send pictures, it would be good if you showed the landing-in-water part.”
“Come again?” Devin raised an eyebrow.
“You sent pictures of the cliffs, and the nice waterfall, and the leaping into the air like a nut. But you didn’t send any that show you landing in the water.”
Lauren was as confused as Devin. “What does superboy think you land in?”
“He doesn’t much care,” said Jamie dryly. “This is the kid who can teleport, remember? Nell, on the other hand, would rather he didn’t go jumping off too many dry cliffs, just in case he misses on the porting spell.”
“He wouldn’t seriously try that, would he?” Devin’s mental devil-may-care attitude vanished hard enough that it rocked Lauren’s head.
“Relax, bro.” Jamie handed over more waffles. “This is the kid who wants to be a superhero. I told him long ago that one of the rules of being a little Sullivan is that he has to ask a grown-up Sullivan before he goes leaping off tall buildings. I just told him the same rules apply to cliffs and pretty waterfalls.”
“Smart.” Devin snagged the bowl of berries, looking totally relaxed. Lauren wondered if anyone else could see the caped man jumping off buildings running through his mind.
That would be the other really big difference between Jamie and his brother. Devin still thought most of Aervyn’s harebrained ideas sounded like fun.
Nat rubbed her belly. “It was a really pretty waterfall. Maybe we can come visit one day soon.” She grinned at Lauren. “With an aunt in tow to babysit while I go cliff jumping.”
Lauren snorted. “Or not.” After ten years, it wasn’t hard to spot one of Nat’s attempts to add a little spice to her life. She wasn’t chicken—she just preferred to have both feet firmly planted on the ground. The risks she took were the calculated kind, not the kind that left you splattered all over some hard surface.
Devin grinned. “There’s a baby pool you can jump in. That cliff’s only fifteen feet or so.”
Oh, God. That was a two-story building. “How high is the big one?”
Jamie clamped a hand over his brother’s mouth. “A little bigger.”
~ ~ ~
Devin sat quietly, wondering how any woman as timid as Lauren managed to channel for his nephew.
Shut up, bro. She’s a lot braver than you think. Dev caught the hint of something more serious in his brother’s mental voice.
Jamie raised an eyebrow at this wife. “You still sure he’s the one you want?”
Nat smiled, with a look in her eyes that had Devin’s belly flipping over. His Spidey senses were tingling. Something was up. A glance at Lauren told him two things. Her suspicions were up as well—and she didn’t know what was going on either. He’d played a lot of family poker—he never bet against the instincts of a good mind witch. Whatever this was, they were both involved.
A lifetime of