Page 29 of My Inherited House Might be Haunted

It was a little disconcerting when two witches asked you that in the span of twenty-four hours. Just putting that out there now. “Um, your son thinks I’m a technomage?”

Her head snapped back up, jaw dropping somewhere around the equator, and she spluttered out syllables.

“Yeah.” Calix slung an arm around my waist in support, which I appreciated, as my head was still spinning with all of these revelations. “Kinda my reaction. But I’m pretty sure of that. He, um, accidentally overloaded the light fixture in his bedroom and it exploded.”

“That’s a good indication,” she managed, still staring at me like I’d turned fluorescent pink without warning. “Rhett, I understand you run a fix-it shop for electronics?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Likely why your energy hasn’t gotten out of hand before this point. It was being used in very controlled ways. Holy…I need to sit down.”

“Kitchen,” Calix stated, switching to get an arm around his mother and steer her toward the room. “I’ve got tea on the stove.”

“Tea. God yes, I need tea.”

I didn’t know what else to do but follow, so follow I did. We ended up at the island, on the barstools, with Calix making us all a cup of tea. Chamomile. Which I guess made sense, as his mother and I both could use something calming.

She promptly drank half a cup, took a deep breath, then gave a decisive nod. “Good call, Calix. All right. First, Rhett, let me explain more about your aunt, as you seem to be rather in the dark. She created and ran the coven in this town for a good fifty years. She was a very gifted witch and medium, one who guided all of us at one point or another, and we often held meetings here in this very house. Young witches who were shunned by family were even allowed to stay here until they got their feet underthem. There’s not a witch within a hundred miles who doesn’t know Ruth Fairchild’s name.”

I kept waiting for these words to make sense. “I didn’t know about any of that.”

“I know most of Ruth’s family didn’t appreciate her talents. She likely didn’t say much to you because of it. But if she gave you this house, and no one else, it’s because she saw the potential in you.” Loretta’s eyes narrowed. “I can see why she hesitated to say anything. It’s hard to know when a child is young how their magic will develop. Speaking prematurely often does more damage than good. Technomages are very rare. Your aura has a definite spark to it, but it’s hard to look at someone and sayoh, you’re a such-and-such. Generally speaking, it’s their actions that shows what type of magician they are.”

“Makes sense.” And it did. It also eased some of the doubts I’d been harboring. “She did write me a journal of sorts, explaining a lot of things. But not much about magic. I guess because she didn’t know how to explain it and she wasn’t sure what type of magician I am.”

“That’s my guess. I’m sure she knew that we—by we I mean the magical community—would meet you eventually, see your potential, and guide you. Much as she guided all of us. It’s definitely our turn to return the favor.”

My head still spun with information but emotionally, I was just relieved. I didn’t know it when I took over this house, but I had a strong network of support already in place, one created and fostered by Aunt Ruth. Actually, the word relieved didn’t convey the depth of the emotion. I really, truly did not want to figure everything out on my own.

“Um, that said, where do I start…?”

“Let me see you in action.” Loretta handed over her phone. “My phone’s battery has been draining faster than usual. Work on that.”

Oh, that was usually an easy fix. I accepted the unlocked phone, doing my usual checks—background apps being too demanding, software update doing hinky things, etc.—and found the culprit pretty quickly. I cleared it out, then looked up. “Should be fixed.”

“Fascinating,” Loretta murmured, her eyes roving all over my torso, but especially my hands. “Calix, you seeing this?”

Calix had both forearms planted against the top of the island, eyes fixed on me, like I was a whole show going on. “Oh, I see it. Dayum.”

Hi, it’s me. The lost one. “Someone want to fill me in?”

“I have no doubt that whatever you just did is standard practice for fixing the problem,” Loretta assured me. “But the second you started working, your magic kicked right in. I bet when you fix something, itstaysfixed. Am I right?”

“Er…yeah, usually. Unless something’s really bad with the hardware, but that’s also usually pretty obvious.” Her real point kicked in and I blurted out, “Are you telling me my magic is literallymendingthis phone?”

“Oh, it likely mends any electronic you turn your attention to. No wonder you’ve got a good business going.” Loretta slapped the countertop, grinning from ear to ear. “You’re a fucking natural. If anything, we only need to work on you recognizing when your magic is active so it doesn’t go haywire on you accidentally. I bet you blew the light bulbs while you were having sex.”

My face went beet red immediately. I could feel the heat of the blush.

Loretta cackled again. “Don’t be shy. It happens a lot with magic. Heightened emotions and all that. We’ll definitely get some safeguards up so you don’t need to worry about it.”

I absolutely did not want to have a sex talk with the mother of the man I was sleeping with, but… “Thanks. It is a worry.”

“Shouldn’t be anything to it. Part of it is just recognizing when your magic has come online and redirecting it.” She leaned in and lifted a hand to shield her mouth while whispering, “Sex altar. Just saying.”

Calix sighed noisily. “I’ll take care of it, thank you.”

Loretta cackled again. This woman clearly had no shame.

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