Free March Forth (The Woodford Chronicles Book 1) by Deirdre S. Hopton

paused, glanced over at her.  “How are you feeling now?”
                  She took stock of herself, and realized she was absolutely fine.  Better than fine, she felt great.  Her heart was beating normally, her breathing was fine… come to think of it, she had more energy than she had had in a while.  That feeling of wanting to hibernate that plagued her all winter, and the sleepy effects of whatever the doctor had given her, were gone.
                  “I feel great,” she said, and he nodded, turning back to his not-phone.  “What did you do?”
                  “I told you, I’m just changing a couple of things.”
                  “What is that thing?” Deanna nodded toward the not-phone.
                  “Long story.  Where do you live?”
                  Deanna told him her address and he said, “Got it.”  He continued typing for a few minutes, then pulled another device out of his pocket.  It was a little round black thing.  She stared at it, wondering what it was, while he pushed a button and…
                  They were sitting on the couch in her living room.
                  “What the hell?” she said, looking around.  She did not feel nearly as disoriented as she felt she should after experiencing such a sudden change.  Had she not been holding on to the memory of being in the hospital, she would have thought they’d been on the couch the entire time they were having this discussion.  It felt very natural.
                  “It’s just molecular changes and stuff….” Steven said vaguely, waving a hand slightly.  She continued staring at him, so he added, “More magic.”
                  She nodded.  That seemed obvious, at least. “I didn’t even notice we were moving or anything.”
                  “It was a relatively short distance.  Longer distances cause a slight feeling of vertigo.”
                  She nodded again, amazed. “So…..how’d you do that?”
                  “Years of training,” he said shortly, successfully avoiding the question.  “So, who are you, Deanna?  Why can you see me?”
                  She shrugged, shaking her head.  “I’m nobody.  I’m a waitress… actually, I’m not even that anymore.  I don’t know…” She thought for a bit.  “I’ve always wanted magic to be real.  I always hoped it was real.  Could that be it?”
                  He stared at her.  “Maybe,” he assented.  “I don’t really see how, but the energy is definitely very reactive to belief.  There’s got to be more than that, though.”
                  “The energy?”
                  “Magic,” he said.  “I think we’re going to have to do some tests.”
                  Her eyebrows furrowed.  “Like, magic tests?”
                  “I guess you could say that.”
                  “How?  What kind of tests?”
                  “Well, I’ve already scanned you with everything I’ve got and come up blank.  I think I’m gonna have to bring you in,” Steven said casually, apparently not realizing how ominous this sounded to her.
                  “Bring me in WHERE?”
                  “To my… to my boss.  I’ve never experienced anything like this before.  We’re going to need some help figuring it out.”
                  “Your boss?  Who’s your boss?”
                  Steven smiled.  “He’s going to like you, actually.  He likes when people ask questions.” He started tapping away on his not-phone again, saying, “I’m just briefing him now.”
                  “You said that thing wasn’t a phone.”
                  “It’s not,” he said, with that satisfied little half-smile