To Love A Witch

Chapter 12

  

Firebolts from Romy’s hands crashed into the rubble strewn on Tabletop Rock. Maybe if she fired enough of them, whatever magical well that existed inside her would run dry.
She’d run out of tears long ago, but the magic showed no signs of weakening.
A lifetime of fighting for control had taught her a lot about what set off her freaky powers. Fear and anger were the two worst, or so she’d managed to convince herself. Twenty years of distance from the birthday bounce house had allowed her to forget the most potent trigger of all.
Joy.
Throwing her hands high, she raged at the sky.
“That’s a pretty impressive temper tantrum, cara mia.”
Romy spun around. “Go away, Carla. I didn’t climb up to the top of this rock to have company.”
Carla raised an eyebrow. “I’m not company. I told you once that most can learn to work with their magic in an hour or two. Seems like you need that second hour. You let me know when you’re ready to start. I’ll just sit here and read a book until you’re ready.”
Romy felt some of her temper drain into sheer confusion. “You came to give me a magic lesson?”
“You don’t think you could use one?”
“He kissed me and I sparked. I burned him. I don’t think there’s much you can do to help me fix that.”
Carla tossed over a bottle of water. “Already did. I put a little aloe on, and he’ll be good as new. Franco’s done worse to himself making tomato sauce. As for the rest, we’re not going to have ourselves some kissing practice, but I’m pretty sure I know a thing or two that can help you.”
“No.” Just thinking about the marks on Jake’s face made Romy’s stomach slick with guilt.
“He loves you.”
Apparently her tears weren’t done after all. “He’s going to have to love me from a distance. I won’t touch him again.”
Carla snickered. “Good luck with that.”
And now panic was seeping in through the guilt. “You don’t understand. I didn’t just lose control. I lost it without any warning. I won’t put either of us in that position ever again.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Romy.”
Like hell it wasn’t. “What, he shouldn’t have kissed me? I’m a grown up, not a kid who needs some pretty lies. He kissed me, and my circuits blew with no warning. I could have done a lot worse than I did to him.”
Carla grinned. “Yup. He’s pretty glad your hands weren’t in his pockets.”
The humor hit Romy like a Mack truck. Even as she told herself it wasn’t remotely funny, the giggles would simply not stop. She collapsed against a rock, held her aching sides, and felt utterly drained.
“That’s better,” Carla said. “Now I want you to listen to me. We’re about to have ourselves a conversation about the birds and the bees.”
And that, thought Romy, would truly be the cherry on the worst day of her adult life. “You hiked all the way up here to tell me about sex? I spent three years in juvie; I don’t think there’s much you could add.”
Carla’s smile was awfully smug. “Fine. Then you tell me what Jake did wrong when he kissed you.”
What Jake did wrong?
“Never even occurred to you, did it? What do you think happens to a witch when his or her hormones get all stirred up?”
Romy tried to connect enough brain neurons to speak. “The magic gets stirred up, too?”
Apparently that wasn’t a terrible answer. “Exactly. Same thing happens if you stir up emotions, and double whammy if you’ve got both going on.”
So far, none of this was news. Romy could feel her frustration heating up again.
“Uh uh.” Carla cut her off before she could say anything. “This is the part where you just listen. So our boy Jake got you all juiced up—“
“I know, that, dammit! It’s not his fault—”
“Basta. Enough. Listen!” Romy knew better than to argue with a sparking witch.
“The problem is not the stirring up of things. Dio mio, my Franco has stirred me up plenty over the years.”
Carla reached for Romy’s hands. “You have to have someplace to put the magic, cara mia. The more it stirs inside you, the bigger the need to give it a place to go. I think that’s what you did. I think you pointed your magic at Jake.”
Romy spoke very quietly. “That’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? I burned his face.”
“That’s not what I mean. My Franco isn’t a witch, so I speak now of something I’ve never experienced. Power calls to power, mia cara. In your joy, and those first moments of realizing that you loved, I think your power reached for his.”
The tears were back. “And I hurt him. Why is my magic so awful, Carla?”
“Oh, child. It isn’t you that hurt him; it was his own fear. You offered him everything you were, and he ducked, just a little. Poor boy, he’s never been in love before. He faltered for just a moment, and your magic couldn’t quite reach his.”
Carla reached out and touched her cheek very gently. “And then you ran and broke his heart.”
“I threw fire at him.”
“No, my sweet girl. You offered him magic, and what flows in you is very strong. He will need to be strong to match it, and for just a moment, he wasn’t what you needed.”
It was hard to blame Jake for that. “So he can’t be human? He can’t hesitate at all?” Romy barely got her last words out. “Who would want that?”
Carla’s smile was slow and sweet. “Franco did. He’s not a witch, so it wasn’t quite the same, but it took some time for me to get a grip on what he stirred in me, too.”
“I bet you never left burn marks on his face.”
“No. But I did singe a couple of other pretty interesting places.” She grinned. “He still has the shirt with my hands imprinted on the back.”
Carla sobered. “You and Jake will need to find your own way. Just remember that your magic calls out to his as much as your heart does.”
“That seems like a good reason to stay far away.”
“If I thought you were that kind of coward, I wouldn’t have walked all the way up here to give you this little lecture. You’ve let your magic be the boss of you for far too long. It’s part of you, but it’s not in charge.”
Romy took a shaky breath and reached inside. The lines of magic wobbled, but they held for her as she sent power to her fingers. The ball of light was a little wimpy, but it would do.
Carla nodded in approval. “Now go find that boy of mine. He’s hurting, cara mia.”
They both turned at the rumbling in the sky. Jake was riding in at high speed. He landed in a slide of rubber that nearly knocked Romy off her feet.
“Molly called. Jolie is insisting there’s a little girl who is about to start a really big fire. She says you’ll be the one to find her, Romy. I need you to help me look.”
Carla grabbed her things. “I’ll go to your house and monitor the Sentinel system. I’ll call you if there’s an alert.”
“Does Jolie know anything else?” Romy took Jake’s hand and climbed on behind him.
“I don’t know. That’s our first stop. Hang on.”
She didn’t have much choice.