He shook his head. “That’s not a yes-or-no answer. Atlanta may not be claimed by a resident witch, but it’s a place of special interest to a certain dangerous Power, which brings me to an important point. This Power likes to operate under the radar, out of public sight. I know you think I spelled your cell phone when we talked in the bar, but I didn’t. I could tell you were under some distress last night, and that’s why I cast a spell to contact you. The communication spell uses the nearest and best available way to reach out. At the time, that happened to be your cell phone, but it could also have been your television screen or computer monitor.”

“I see.” She took a slow breath. Looking at him sidelong, she asked, “How did you know I was distressed?”

“I could feel it. You were spewing Power like a geyser.” He tilted back his head and finished his beer. “More importantly, any creature with sensitivity and Power would have been able to feel it, and Molly—if you don’t trust me on anything else, trust me on this one thing—you don’t want to come to anyone else’s attention like that. It shows you’re out of control and makes you a mark to predators. There are creatures in this world that would love to sink their teeth into you and suck all the magic out of your bones like sucking the juice from a ripe peach.”

She could feel the blood drain from her face. “That’s a pretty grim image.”

“It’s pretty grim when it happens.” His narrowed gaze met hers. “But here’s the good news. You can avoid that, and you can avoid hurting anyone by accident, with a few simple techniques.”

“Such as?”

“Meditation, for one. Start for ten minutes at a time, three times a day, and build up from there. That will help to keep your Power under better control until you acquire the training you need. A daily yoga practice also helps. And you need to develop a technique for stressful situations. Practice that one like your life depends upon it, because it might.” He wiped his mouth and hands with a paper napkin, then helped himself to another beer.

She’d never been drawn to meditation, but ten minutes at a time sounded doable, and she would gladly take up yoga again. “What kind of technique?”

“It can be anything that calms you down in a stressful situation and allows you to maintain self-control. You could try the four-seven-eight breathing technique. Breathe in to the count of four, hold it and count to seven, and breathe out to the count of eight.” One corner of his mouth notched up. “If nothing else, all that counting should ground you. And if a situation is too stressful to count in, you have worse things to worry about than fluctuating Power.”