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have dropped it. For a moment she thought it shone silver in the sunlight.
    “Thank you,” she said toward the now distant woman and her children.
    The woman turned and waved, startling Jennifer, it was as though she had heard her, Jennifer waved back then got up to leave.
    " Winte r never fails to turn to spring," s he thought and was glad for the first time in a long time. She would have a great future, she had to.
     

Chapter 5
    Having babies was a big decision, seducing a mortal woman didn’t worry Owen, finding the right woman did.
    One baby, he had decided. One baby who would be number Thirteen , someone else would have to worry about the other twelve .
    The easiest way to make a mage baby was for a mage to have a baby. Most mage were born of mortals, it was a quantum leap in evolution, suddenly the genetic soup would be just right to create a being who was not only conscious of the world around them but also the other worlds around it. The Astral, Ethereal, Old Ones and Light dimensions and their inhabitants, invisible to most people. These were the realms where the knowledge of immortality and the manipulation of the matter and space resided, once introduced into these realms the once mortal person would become a witch or an elder. At least that was the theory. N o elder really knew how it came to be. But if a mage mated a mortal, the baby would definitely be a mage. T he evolutionary jump was one hundred percent inheritable.
    His mortal woman would have to be very evolved, after all it wasn’t just about a roll in the hay, this had to do with his legacy in the universe, his seed. His child would be streaks ahead of the rest.
    He had spent an entire week in the Astral dimension, it was unprecedented. He’d met several Council members who’d arrived snooping around to see what he was up to. As much as they were clumsy in the material dimension, they were skilled in the Astral, but Owen was one of the best there too.
    He came back to the material dimension thinking this was not his idea of a good time, and wondered why he had wanted to get into the Council at all. But there again when he was young he was keen and quickly learned that spending time in the Astral was essential for Council membership, and that was all that mattered after all. He could glide from one dimension to another with barely any energy displacement . But there was enough to be detected, not even a Keeper could stop that happening, not that they ever tried to.
    The Astral dimension showed evolved mortals best, they travel ed within its confines completely unaware of where they were. When they did become aware of where they were they thought they were having a religious experience and wasted their time exploring their already known material world. Which just showed how limited human mind could be.
    He went into the kitchen to get something to eat, and found that there was nothing there except a thick layer of dust and spider webs. He’d forgotten to get food before going into the Astral, now his body needed nourishment and there wasn’t any.
    He put on his coat and went out to find a restaurant, it was three in the afternoon in London and to his utter dismay he found all the restaurants and pub kitchens were closed.
    He walked down an empty street, freezing cold, wet and hungry and wished he could be back in Santorcaz, where food could be found at any time of day at the local bar, where the sun came out every day, at least for a few hours, and where it stopped raining for most of the year.
    “That’ll be four pounds twenty pence,” said the barman handing him his drink and various packets of crisps and nuts.
    He sat by the radiator and ate until there was nothing left but empty bags. He decided he needed to get someone to take care of the house and food for him.
    He could have used magic to teletransport some food to himself, but magic in the material world was not a recommended pastime for a mage who didn’t want to be located. Apart from