Beth leaned into the power of a full and healthy circle for the first time in her life.
And exalted.
This is what she had come for.
Chapter 16
Nell watched the shimmering light bathing the circle below her and heaved a sigh of relief.
It had worked.
And even if her contribution was limited to tree-limb babysitting, the delighted awe painted all over Beth's face was a very welcome sight.
A tiny fraying in the light near Moira caught her attention. Nell reached out with a mopping spell just in time to get sprayed with water by her favorite troublemaker of a brother. She tapped into his head. Punk.
His response was fast and amused. What, you think I can't take care of a little water leak?
Devin had never had a problem with humility. But he'd also made very sure Moira wouldn't know her magic had wavered.
Beth was holding nicely - and she'd done very well with Aervyn's impromptu display of pyrotechnics. Thank goodness. He would have been horrified if it had scared her, but he could only hold his five-year-old self to good manners for so long.
Kenna wiggled in her lap. Nell grinned. "Hard for a one-year-old, too, isn't it? They'll be done soon, sweetheart."
The tiny, fiery girl waved her hands insistently - and then power lit up around them like a Christmas tree.
The unease in Nell's gut went supernova.
Nell. Lauren's mental voice was sharp and insistent.
Dammit. On it. Adrenaline surging, Nell threw up a barrier around Kenna, and then realized, several seconds too late, what the baby had done.
The shimmering river of light had been irresistible to the tiny spellcaster. She'd pulled the lines of power up into the tree and was busy shaping them into something intricate, pretty, and completely unrehearsed.
With eight people attached to her plaything.
Oh, hell. Nell jumped in to link with one mind at each element. Jamie. Dev. Aervyn. Ginia. Her blood and Kenna's, and the witches who would need to be on the front lines if this blew. Anyone know what she's making? Halting a spell in progress was dangerous business - halting an unknown one was insanity.
It looks a little bit like my magical ball, Mama. Aervyn sounded less than certain. But she's doing something else, too.
There's an awful lot of air power in whatever it is. Jamie mentally squinted. It's pretty hard to see from down here, though.
Nell traced the lines of power as fast as she could, trying to reverse engineer her niece's creation in the making. Whatever it was, she appeared to be making two of them. Sort of. Damn, she was fast.
And then Kenna scrunched up the loose end of a power flow, cooed happily, and tossed it into the crowd below. Straight at Beth Landler, the most fragile witch in Berkeley.
Nell hurled a containment spell at the tossed line, intent on grabbing it - and yanked her magic back just in time. She wasn't part of the circle. Busting in that hard would cause serious backlash.
It's okay. Jamie sounded thoroughly impressed. She caught it.
And she had. Beth held the end of the tossed line of power with both hands, easily the most astonished witch in Berkeley - but a reasonably steady one.
Then a lot of parts started moving all at once. And Nell's gut wasn't the only one churning.
Kenna was spellcasting for real now. The baby babble was gone, replaced by intense concentration - and Beth was firmly tied into whatever she was doing.
Crap. Jamie was up in the tree beside them now, staying at a respectful distance from his daughter's handiwork.
Any ideas? Nell was still trying to catch up with her niece's flying fingers.
We need her out of the tree. She's warping the circle badly from up here.
As was Jamie. Which the experienced witches down below were handling fine so far. But if Kenna's spell exploded... Moving her is dangerous, too. Spellcasters didn't like to be disturbed - and neither did opinionated babies.
Port her to Nat's lap. Lauren's voice was cool silk. See her, Jamie?
Nell looked down. Nat was sitting calmly in the center of the circle. How the hell did she get in there? The magic blast crossing the perimeter should have knocked her out cold.