Witches on Parole Unlocked - By Debora Geary Page 0,2

was either knew her darkroom habits very well, or had terrible manners - the doorbell had been ringing incessantly for over a minute now. Good thing her husband slept like the dead.

She yanked open the door. "Hush now, I'm not deaf." And stopped in surprise. A total stranger at 2 a.m.?

"You Jenvieve?"

A lot of years of surviving in less-than-hospitable environments had taught Jennie the value of flexible mind-witch ethics. Normally she stayed out of the minds of strangers, but she made exceptions for feisty ones who showed up at her door in the middle of the night.

A quick scan of the outer mind of the young woman in front of her said there was nothing to fear. A thick layer of pugnacious disdain lay over top of a solid dose of insecurity. That matched the girl's looks - tattoos and piercings could only make you look so tough when you were five-foot-nothing of blonde fairy.

Then the blonde fairy surprised her. Two things happened together: a last stray thought - "pugnacious, cool word" - and slammed-down mental barriers.

Well, well. The new arrival was a mind witch - and good enough to have picked up thoughts from Jennie's outer mind.

"Come in, my dear. Do you like chocolate cake? I was just about to have a bedtime snack."

Her stranger stood frozen on the doorstep, a mix of caution and surprise on her face.

"I'm Jenvieve, although most call me Jennie. I assume you've come to find me. You've also got enough talent to have read that I mean you no harm." She waited a beat, just long enough for the girl to acknowledge her meaning.

Then she turned and began heading toward the kitchen. "Stand there all night if you wish, but the cake is exceptional, if I do say so myself." She smiled at the sound of footsteps entering her hallway. Chocolate. Worked every time.

Turning on the hanging lights over her kitchen's island, her eyes fell on the box from WitchLight. Ah, she should have figured that one out faster. The skittish new arrival must be her first student.

She puttered in the cupboards and fridge, assembling a late-night snack. "So, do you have a name?"

A long silence. "Lizard."

Jennie was grateful her head was in the fridge. She was fairly certain such a pronouncement wasn't meant to be met with laughter. When her sense of humor was under control, she pulled her leftover birthday cake out of the fridge, set it on the counter, and carved off a couple of slices. "And how did you come by such an unusual name?"

An even longer silence. "It's what I choose to be called."

Ah. "Did your parents saddle you with a fluffy name like Jenvieve too?" Good. She'd surprised the girl.

Maybe she could take it just a little further. While she'd made peace with her name decades ago, she vividly remembered punching six-year-old Jimmy O'Connor in the nose for having the audacity to suggest that only girly girls had girly names. With careful precision, Jennie packaged that thought and sent it toward her new charge, being very careful to leave it sounding like a casual leak.

Audacity. I like that one.

The unguarded response caught Jennie by surprise. The girl clearly had a fondness for big words. Fascinating, and possibly useful. Before she could be of any use to her student, however, she needed to know more about why the girl was here.

She passed Lizard - that was going to take some practice to use with a straight face - another slice of cake. The first had evaporated. "I assume Veronica sent you, but what brings you to my door at this hour of the night?"

The feisty look was back. The girl dug a crumpled mess out of her pocket and threw it on the table. "It said to arrive on or before July 9th. I did."

Jennie ignored the paper and raised an eyebrow. "So you did. Does your letter perhaps say what it is that I'm supposed to do with you?"

A spurt of fear, covered by a snicker and more attitude. "Didn't they tell you to expect me?"

"Nope." Jennie grinned. "I'm assuming WitchLight expected you to pick a later arrival time."

Another long silence. The girl clearly didn't babble just to fill space. Lizard