I bet. She avoided saying that out loud.

Searching through the bag, she pulled out a foil-wrapped biscuit. The food was still hot, and she rolled the top of the bag down over the rest to hold in the warmth.

Then she crumbled her biscuit and sipped at her beer while Josiah ate in silence. When he finished his first piece, he fished out another. He seemed to be in no hurry to break the silence, but she had an agenda.

“What do people call you?” she asked. “Are you a witch or a warlock?”

He shrugged, finished his beer, and took a second bottle. “Either or both. Sometimes sorcerer. Occasionally asshole. Personally, I’m not in love with labels.”

Lingering warmth from the sunlight touched her face and hands, but the evening chill was setting in. “I don’t want to become a major force on the Eastern Seaboard. The thought never occurred to me, not even in my wildest daydreams.”

He grinned. “That was where I lost you, wasn’t it?”

She nodded. “One of the places. I could tell you want it though.”

“Oh yes,” he said, his voice deepening. “I’m going to be governor of Georgia within the next two election cycles.”

Looking at his hard, determined profile, she believed him. “But when you say become a major force, you don’t really mean by using the human political system. Do you?”

“No, although it will help to gain political power as well.” He glanced at her, a quick, calculating look, and then back over the clearing. “Most witches are territorial, especially in the witches demesne, which is run by a very old, well-established council. Outside Louisville, you might find areas held by either solitary witches or full covens. They don’t much like other people of significant Power moving in on their turf. Wars have been fought over who gets to hold which city. You might as well know I intend to claim Atlanta for my own.”

Wars.

Abruptly certain she shouldn’t be drinking alcohol while talking to him, she set aside her beer. “The Atlanta area isn’t pro-magic.”

“Give me enough time and I can flip it.”

His confidence was so rock-solid she believed him. “Why don’t you make your move? If there isn’t any other mature, practicing witch here, the city is wide open for the taking, right?”