The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga by Taliesin Govannon (important books to read .txt) 📕

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                The afternoon was sunny, so Vincent and I went outside to do our battle training.  Knowing magick is one thing, but being able to defend myself physically was something I had never learned how to do, and my experiences in the last year told me that it was something I needed.

                Of course, it was difficult to concentrate at times due to the fact that Vincent always insisted on doing our exercises shirtless.  I dressed differently as well, ditching my normal dresses for stretch pants, loose top, and sports bra.  It was just hard to focus on anything other than my boyfriend's rippling pecs.  I was doing okay that day, however, and listened intently to his directions.

                "Feel all of your muscles, be aware of everything." he said.  "When you're balanced without and within, it's that much more difficult to knock you off-center."

                My eyes were closed, and I took a deep breath.  I could feel the energy, that was always there since my transformation, rippling along my muscles.  It came together at several junctions on my anatomy, combined, and got stronger.

                This was new.  We had spent all of our previous sessions concentrating on mental and physical balance, poise, and stamina.

                Basically, we'd done a lot of yoga.  This felt more operative.

                “Okay, now I'm going to grab you in a moment, and I want you to see if you can keep your center.  I'll hold back, but you'll probably be overwhelmed quite easily.  Don't sweat it... we'll develop defensive movements next.”

                I felt the energy stop moving, choosing instead to pulse in place.  I was ready.

                “I'll count it in this time.  One... two... three!”

                I felt Vincent's arms on me, and I moved reflexively.  My hands went up in between us, and with a whoosh! of energy Vincent was propelled almost thirty feet across the yard.

                “Oh my Gods, are you okay?” I said as I rushed to his side.  He may have been laying on his side, but those sides were shaking with laughter.

                "Damn, Angelique told me that the energy flowing through you could act on its own, but whooo!"

                I was smiling, but in wonder.  “What the hell?  I never learned to...”

                “You don't need to.” he said, getting up.  “The energy within you will eventually form into a... well, it's like the subconscious mind, only it's for magick.  It can act on it's own.”

                “So I'm what, possessed?” This was also new.

                “No, not like that.” He took my hand.  “The energy spirit that forms is a part of you.  It's from you... you imprint your personality on it.  It would never do anything that you, yourself, didn't want to.  It can, however, have much better reflexes than your conscious mind will ever have.”

                I liked the sound of that.  However, another 'will' that lived within me responded to his touch, and it wasn't defensive.

                “You know,” I said, my grin growing lusty, “it's really difficult to focus with you shirtless.”

                “Well, you know,” he said, grinning, “I just like to be loose and unencumbered when I work out.”

                “Okay.” I said with a shrug.  I dropped his hand and quickly stripped off my shirt and sports bra, standing in front of him in just my stretch pants.

                “Ready to go again?”

                “That, uh...” he stammered, pointing at my semi-naked form, “that's... kind of distracting.”

                I laughed and launched myself into his arms.  He carried me over to some privacy behind the bushes, and we finished our session in my favorite way.

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                Raina and I decided to join Jack in his playroom to eat dinner that night.  We had no idea who was coming the next day, but we guessed that we'd all be tasked with helping to play host for the duration of their stay, so we chose each other's company.  We ordered Chinese takeout, and the cartons were spread out over the desk in front of us.

                “I love me some moo shoo pork!” Jack said, digging into his food with gusto.

                “You love you some 'everything on the menu'.” Raina retorted, eyeing the stack of empty cartons stacked in front of him.  “You do know that all of that's going to catch up with you some day, right?  Just don't call me when you're six hundred pounds and they have to cut a hole in the wall to get your ass to the hospital.”

                “I have a backup plan.” he said proudly.

                "Oh Gods, this again?" I groaned, eyes-rolling.

                “Say what?” Raina asked, eyeing the two of us suspiciously.

                “I'm going to find a Pishtaco.”

                Raina looked right at him, an eyebrow raised.  "A fish taco what?"

                I laughed.  Hard.

                “No, a Pishtaco.” Jack protested.  “It's a creature that lives on human body fat.  You can find them in Peru.”

                “Uh, I'm the one who loaned you that book, remember?” Raina said.  “If I remember right, those things kill you and then eat your fat.  It would be less painful to let the coronary take you.”

                “Well, there are spells one can do to control beasts like this, so...” He stopped talking and looked at me.  “Are you okay?  Do you need oxygen?”

                I was still laughing so much that talking took effort.  "I'm sorry," I gasped, "but that's the dumbest fucking thing I've heard come out of your mouth since you laid out your master plan to get Kendall Jenner to marry you in the eleventh grade!"

                Raina had, unfortunately, chosen that particular time to take a drink of her soda, which was then sprayed all over Jack as she erupted in her own laughter.

                “Hey!” he said, jumping back.

                Which, of course, made me laugh harder.  Which made Raina laugh more.  Eventually, even Jack had to join in.

                After we caught our breath, I grabbed a carton of Kung Pao shrimp.  “Damn,” I said as I dug in, “all that laughing