tighter than Fort Knox.
That didn’t bode well. Jamie raised an eyebrow. “What’s up?”
His sister blew raspberries into Kenna’s belly and laughed when sparks flew out the baby’s fingers. “Silly wiggle. Your dada thinks I need an excuse to come visit.”
Hardly—Witch Central didn’t have the foggiest idea what privacy was. “You have your mind barriers all battened down for no good reason, huh?”
“ Some of us actually practice our mind magics on occasion,” said Nell dryly, dancing lights on her palm to amuse Kenna.
Jamie caught the edge of his daughter’s power surge and threw up a training circle, breathing a sigh of relief as it landed about a nanosecond before Kenna’s streaks of fire. And snickered as his sister’s eyebrows almost got crisped. It was his job to protect the couch—aunties who should know better were on their own. “ Some of us are a little busy at the moment. Kenna, no hot fire inside the house.”
His daughter, mildly chastened, held up a very well-behaved fire globe. And then slid off Nell’s lap, scooting across to her beloved fire truck. “’Ot, ’ot, ’ot.”
Maybe their next child would be a water witch. He could always hope.
Nell snorted. “Be careful what you wish for.”
He ported drinks and some of Nat’s homemade granola from the kitchen. “Okay. Maybe our next child will be a mild-mannered, cooperative sweetheart who sleeps at night and enjoys afternoon siestas.”
His sister nearly sprayed granola crumbs across the room. “Only if you’re not her father.” She grinned at Kenna. “And siestas are boring, right, biggest girl?”
Jamie only sighed and snagged another handful of granola. Nell had done plenty of late nights and nocturnal babies. “So, back to whatever it is that brought you here?”
He got hit by the sudden image of Nell’s mind carefully choosing words. “You know that Beth’s here.”
“Yup.” His nieces had been buzzing with the news. “What’s going on?”
“How much do you remember about your visit to her coven?”
Not a lot. Jamie dug for the memories buried deep under layers of diapers and all the places a small child could hide the TV remote. “A little magic, a lot of attitude. Beth had some potential.”
Nell raised her eyebrows. “Lauren said you walked in, defrocked several witches, flashed your magic, and left.”
He winced—that sounded about right. “I had stuff going on. I probably wasn’t very patient.”
“Well, you’re going to get a second chance.” His sister’s gaze was serious now. “She’s here, and she wants training.”
A picture floated to the surface of a woman in a dark cloak. “She was the only one with more than a sniff of magic. I told her to come if she ever wanted help.”
“Mmmm. She came.”
Jamie frowned at the skeptical tone of her voice. “What’s up? We train witches all the time.” He mused. “Might be a good project for Elsie.”
“Beth’s different,” said Nell carefully. “She’s got a kind of high-functioning autism called Asperger’s.”
Jamie knew what that was. Geek syndrome. “We have a lot of people like that here in California.” His quiet investing activities brought him into contact with plenty of geeks.
“Maybe.” Nell fiddled with a stray thread on the couch. “But most of them don’t have magic.”
Something was up. Jamie waited for the shoe to drop.
Nell looked up. “I don’t get her, Jamie. She came over this morning for a training session, and it was a disaster.”
He listened as she filled him in on the tale of the witch who needed slow, quiet, and controlled and had somehow landed in the middle of a Walker-house morning instead. And heard what she didn’t say. His tough, charge-at-life sister was confused, oddly wary, and hurting.
Her mind wasn’t anywhere near Fort Knox anymore.
He got up and moved to join her on the
That didn’t bode well. Jamie raised an eyebrow. “What’s up?”
His sister blew raspberries into Kenna’s belly and laughed when sparks flew out the baby’s fingers. “Silly wiggle. Your dada thinks I need an excuse to come visit.”
Hardly—Witch Central didn’t have the foggiest idea what privacy was. “You have your mind barriers all battened down for no good reason, huh?”
“ Some of us actually practice our mind magics on occasion,” said Nell dryly, dancing lights on her palm to amuse Kenna.
Jamie caught the edge of his daughter’s power surge and threw up a training circle, breathing a sigh of relief as it landed about a nanosecond before Kenna’s streaks of fire. And snickered as his sister’s eyebrows almost got crisped. It was his job to protect the couch—aunties who should know better were on their own. “ Some of us are a little busy at the moment. Kenna, no hot fire inside the house.”
His daughter, mildly chastened, held up a very well-behaved fire globe. And then slid off Nell’s lap, scooting across to her beloved fire truck. “’Ot, ’ot, ’ot.”
Maybe their next child would be a water witch. He could always hope.
Nell snorted. “Be careful what you wish for.”
He ported drinks and some of Nat’s homemade granola from the kitchen. “Okay. Maybe our next child will be a mild-mannered, cooperative sweetheart who sleeps at night and enjoys afternoon siestas.”
His sister nearly sprayed granola crumbs across the room. “Only if you’re not her father.” She grinned at Kenna. “And siestas are boring, right, biggest girl?”
Jamie only sighed and snagged another handful of granola. Nell had done plenty of late nights and nocturnal babies. “So, back to whatever it is that brought you here?”
He got hit by the sudden image of Nell’s mind carefully choosing words. “You know that Beth’s here.”
“Yup.” His nieces had been buzzing with the news. “What’s going on?”
“How much do you remember about your visit to her coven?”
Not a lot. Jamie dug for the memories buried deep under layers of diapers and all the places a small child could hide the TV remote. “A little magic, a lot of attitude. Beth had some potential.”
Nell raised her eyebrows. “Lauren said you walked in, defrocked several witches, flashed your magic, and left.”
He winced—that sounded about right. “I had stuff going on. I probably wasn’t very patient.”
“Well, you’re going to get a second chance.” His sister’s gaze was serious now. “She’s here, and she wants training.”
A picture floated to the surface of a woman in a dark cloak. “She was the only one with more than a sniff of magic. I told her to come if she ever wanted help.”
“Mmmm. She came.”
Jamie frowned at the skeptical tone of her voice. “What’s up? We train witches all the time.” He mused. “Might be a good project for Elsie.”
“Beth’s different,” said Nell carefully. “She’s got a kind of high-functioning autism called Asperger’s.”
Jamie knew what that was. Geek syndrome. “We have a lot of people like that here in California.” His quiet investing activities brought him into contact with plenty of geeks.
“Maybe.” Nell fiddled with a stray thread on the couch. “But most of them don’t have magic.”
Something was up. Jamie waited for the shoe to drop.
Nell looked up. “I don’t get her, Jamie. She came over this morning for a training session, and it was a disaster.”
He listened as she filled him in on the tale of the witch who needed slow, quiet, and controlled and had somehow landed in the middle of a Walker-house morning instead. And heard what she didn’t say. His tough, charge-at-life sister was confused, oddly wary, and hurting.
Her mind wasn’t anywhere near Fort Knox anymore.
He got up and moved to join her on the
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