A Reckless Witch - By Debora Geary Page 0,66

made for babies—she’d sent her square for Nat’s little girl, and there was surely one underway for her Seedling, as well. But they hadn’t known about Sierra when she was born. It was good to know that no child was ever too old for a proper welcome.

Caro folded the blanket neatly. “Nothing holds a candle to that throw you made, Moira. I’ve never seen anything knit that so resembled water.”

“It was my Sophie who dyed the yarn for that one.”

Sophie grinned. Aunt Moira had been an exacting taskmaster—they’d tried four batches before she’d been satisfied with the result.

“Really, now.” Caro’s eyes gleamed. “And how might I go about getting some of that for my yarn store?”

Sophie laughed. “I’ll need an apprentice.” She was no dummy—every water witch on the continent was going to want some of that yarn. It was totally luscious.

Nell laughed as hands shot in the air. “How about three?”

Sophie had no idea when the triplets slept. They seemed to be involved in everything these days.

“Does it require magic?” Nat touched the throw meditatively.

Sophie’s eyebrows shot up. Nat wasn’t a knitter. Yarn shouldn’t call to her like that—unless she was nesting. And when someone was nine months pregnant, nesting only meant one thing. She reached out for Nat’s hand—and met Moira’s knowing eyes.

Carefully, she dropped into healing scan, lightly following the energy strands linking mom to babe. The baby was fine, cocooned in the safety of a warm, dark womb and a room full of happiness.

Everything okay? She heard Lauren’s mental question, lightly shaded with concern.

Then she remembered Lauren had shields in place for the baby. Perhaps those were affecting her readings. “Can you drop the baby’s barriers for a minute? I want to have a quick listen.”

“I can, but in this crowd, it might give her a headache.” Lauren grimaced. “I still can’t figure out how to teach her to barrier for herself. Every time we try, she just gets mad.”

Moira chuckled. “Our little fire witch is throwing tantrums already, is she?”

Nell snorted. “No surprise—she’s got a full set of Sullivan genes.” She winked at Nat. “Good thing you really love my brother. If there’s justice in the world, any child of his is going to be a handful.”

Sophie leaned in as everyone laughed, still feeling a need to scan the baby.

Nat grinned. “Didn’t you just check ten minutes ago?”

Normally Sophie tried to avoid making those in her care feel like watched pots, but something was niggling at her. She nodded at Lauren—she wanted those barriers down.

And when they came down, she knew why. This babe was preparing for arrival. She squeezed Nat’s hand gently. “It won’t be more than a few days now. She’s ready.”

~ ~ ~

Devin set down the tray loaded with fast food. “Two burgers enough for you, or do you want more?”

Sierra grinned. “I’ll let you know.”

Fair enough. Witches were always hungry, and she’d blown a lot of magical calories on Govin’s pond. “You were pretty impressive out there today.”

She grabbed a fry and scowled. “I didn’t ever figure out how to get ten funnels down.”

“Govin says it can’t be done.”

She shrugged. “Math is cool and all, but it can’t figure out everything.”

Neither could magic. “Govin and TJ are pretty genius with that stuff.” He held up his hands. “Not saying they can’t be wrong, but not every problem has a solution.” And cripes, that made him sound really old.

“What if it was real, and people were in trouble?” Her eyes were dark and serious. “Just because the computer can’t find a way doesn’t mean there isn’t one. We’d try to help.”

Man. How had they turned their witch from reckless to carrying the weight of the world in less than a week? “Sure. But try is the important part. Weather can be big and mean, and magic can’t always fix it.” Devin had a fair amount of experience throwing magic at the impossible. He could see that same need in Sierra, and it worried him. “Govin and TJ save a lot of lives with the work they do.”

“But not all of them.”

“No.” And it took a special person to handle that kind of work on a daily basis.

She suddenly looked young and very sad. “It’s all gotten so complicated.”

“Weather’s always been complicated.” He tried to tread carefully. “You’ve got a lot of talent, but even a basic weather spell is pretty tricky.”

She looked down, toying with her fries, but he could hear the tears in her voice. “I always thought spells were so