Page 91 of Extra Witchy

“Understood,” said the male agent.

They left as swiftly as they had arrived, with absolutely no explanation. Leanne closed the door behind them and slowly turned to face him. Trev thought she was nervous, judging by the way she fluttered her hands as she moved toward him.

“I wanted it to happen,” she said slowly. “But…I wasn’t sure it would. In a way, it’s probably good that it came on like a tsunami. We had to go on gut reactions rather than letting everyone mull it over and maybe second-guess. As it was, it was close. Two votes, our favor. I’m a persuasive speaker.”

“You realize I havenoidea what you’re talking about.”

“You will soon. I’m sure you’ve already worked out that those clowns set off a protective spell.”

Spell. There it is.

He tried not to let on how unsettled he was byallof this because it would probably upset her, but damn. This was a lot. “I did figure out that much, yeah.”

“Let’s start there. Witches are real. I am one. For hundreds of years, we weren’t allowed to disclose that to anyone outside our community.”

“By that, you mean…?”

“Other witches,” she confirmed.

“Gotcha. But that’s changed now?”

She beamed at him with such incandescent joy that he smiled back despite all the uncertainty and doubt roiling inside him. “It did, just now. I pushed hard for that resolution and barely accomplished it. That’s what I was waiting for, by the way, why I couldn’t have a proper relationship talk with you until I had permission to let you in all the way. I don’t want to hide anything from you. I want you to know everything before you decide…”

“Decide what?”

“Whether you can live with a witch.”

“I have so many questions that I don’t even know where to start,” Trev admitted.

“Just ask what comes to mind.”

The first thing that popped into his head was, “Is Junie a witch?”

Leanne nodded. “She’s a vivimancer. That’s not as weird as it sounds, by the way. All witches are born with a strong attunement, and they can usually work within their minor attunement as well.”

Trev listened with dawning amazement and wonder.My wife is a witch. I’m not hallucinating.“I feel like I just found out that Magic the Gathering is real, but the rules in the manual are wrong.”

Laughing softly, she said, “Do you want me to go on?”

“Please.”

“The next thing you should know, the book club is my coven. Talking about novels has been our cover for years, but that’s where we confer, support each other, and assist with complicated spells. Your charm is so potent because I put everyone to work on it.”

Silently amazed, Trevor touched the necklace he had on. “You made this because you were worried about what I overheard the night you won the election.”

It wasn’t a question.

“Exactly. Anyway, back to attunements. There are six types—technomancy, vivimancy, divining, necromancy, enchantments, and neuromancy.”

“I never thought video games would help me this much, but I think I can figure out some of those. Can I offer my guesses?”

“Go ahead.”

“Technomancers deal with technology, impact or control it. Diviners can probably get information. Necromancy likely relates to death. Enchanters, I think they create magical items. Not positive about vivimancers or neuromancers. The root of those words are ‘life’ and ‘brain,’ but…” He shook his head. “I’m not sure, beyond that. How did I do?”

Leanne took his hand, watching his face as if she expected him to recoil.Does she really think this would change anything?It’s like finding out he’d won the lottery when he’d forgotten he even bought a ticket. For someone like him, this was a bonus prize, not a horrible secret.

“You’re pretty close on most of those. Neuromancy does impact the mind, and it extends to illusions and glamours as well. Vivimancers can change living things with magic. That includes healing and creating new plants and animals. It’s powerful, but it can also be…dangerous. Necromancy is a rare affinity, and good witches don’t meddle with it. I’m unusual in that I don’t have a major attunement, but I can dabble in everything. To get powerful results, I need help from the coven.”

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