Rich Boy: Awakening - 3. Chapter 3

“If you think your showing off is going to convince me to let Jamie get on there with you, you’re crazy.” Stacy’s voice was shaking as Worthington pulled to a stop in front of her and lifted the mirrored visor of his helmet. His bike had arrived two weeks ago, and he’d spent a great deal of that time on the bike, learning it and how to do all the things he had imagined with that motorcycle rider years ago.

His name had been Steph, he could remember that clearly. He’d met the young man who was riding a dirt bike out in the land behind the estate. The sound of the bike had drawn him, and he had known as soon as he saw the lean, powerful frame in its riding gear that he wanted the guy. It hadn’t taken much work, to get the guy into a horny state, and they’d done it right out there. Steph had never taken off the protective chest gear, just fished his cock out of his riding pants. Feeling the material on his butt as the man entered him had been enticing, and that time his imagining had been stronger than normal.

While the man had fucked him for nearly an hour, Worthington had imagined living a life where his father had put him on a bike from a very early age. A father who had been a professional motorcycle racer, and who had taught his son everything he knew. By the time he was fourteen he could do anything he wanted on a bike. At eighteen he started racing bikes professionally, and that day he’d been out doing one of his favorite things, breaking new trail with a new bike.

The fact that he was married and his wife was pregnant didn’t matter when he saw the handsome teenager watching him. Sure, he’d never had sex with a guy before, wasn’t normally attracted to men, much less a fourteen-year-old boy, but this time was an exception. As soon as he saw the kid, he knew he’d wanted him.

After Steph was done, and his shriveled cock pulled out of Worthington’s butt, the imagining had ended, and so had whatever had entranced the young man. Steph had murmured several things to himself with a sound of horror in his voice as he stuffed his dick back in his pants. He’d never even taken off his helmet, but Worthington’s imagination had told him what the handsome man looked like. Long after that bike and its rider had sped away, never to be seen again, Worthington had cherished the dream he’d imagined, the feeling of freedom riding the motorcycle must have been.

That was why at fifteen he convinced his father that if a fast car was acceptable for a young man of means, so too could a motorcycle of the right type be acceptable. He’d managed to convince his father enough to get the required safety course approved, and he’d found as soon as he had sat on that small-engine bike that his imagined memories from Steph had been surprisingly accurate. Now, with his custom-built Ducati, he knew he could make the bike sing and dance just like he had imagined.

Of course, some things he just didn’t have the upper body strength for yet. If he wanted that badly enough, he could change that though. He’d imagined more than enough times what some of the men he slept with did at gyms to make their bodies so well-shaped. He could put on just enough muscle to do some of the tricks he imagined without changing his appearance too much.

“Aw, c’mon Mom!” Jamie groaned with a grin on his face. “He only does that when he’s on there by himself. Billie’s ridden with him, and he didn’t even do one trick even though Billie was begging him to do a wheelie!”

“If it is just me, that is one thing.” Worthington said carefully, his voice barely muffled by the helmet. It was the same yellow and black color with the flaring pattern that was painted on the bike. His leather riding pants were snug fitting, and mostly black with yellow flares at key points, like his knees. The leather jacket was snug as well, and yellow with black patterns. Everything was custom made, custom ordered. The clothing was tailored just for him and had arrived with the bike. “A passenger though means I have to be more responsible.”

“Fine, but he’s to wear all the safety gear you can find!” Stacy said with a stubborn growl before she turned and headed back into the house. She was off this summer, and spent a great deal of time in her basement ‘workshop’. Worthington had no idea what she did down there, but once a day she would have Richie and Jamie there, well individually, for at least an hour each. They only mentioned she was ‘training’ them, but wouldn’t talk about what exactly they were learning. It was just one of several small mysteries Worthington had discovered.

“I told you she’d give in.” Jamie was all smiles now, and Worthington returned the smile a lot easier than he had ever believed possible.

“Get your gear.” He told his friend and cousin. As long as the bike was moving, he was fine, but all the leather was stifling if he sat in the heat too long. While Jamie ran into the house to get the gear that had arrived for him two days ago, again special ordered from the same company that had made Worthington’s gear, Worthington moved the bike into the shade provided by the garage and took his helmet off. The sweat matting his hair down didn’t bother him, although it should.

A lot of things didn’t bother him, since he’d come to live here with his Aunt.

“Here, drink this before you go.” Richie said with a smile as he came out of the house and handed Worthington a bottle of Gatorade. Gratefully he took it and drank it down more quickly than he ever would have before moving to Arizona.

“Thank you.” Worthington said carefully. For the last week he’d felt odd around Jamie’s older brother. Well, the two weren’t even really related by blood, but their mothers were a lesbian couple raising them together, and that made them brothers in each other’s eyes. Worthington’s parents may have once scoffed at such sentiments, but presented with seeing it every day, he had been forced to accept the feelings were real, and in the end that was what mattered.

“Relax, I’m not upset.” Richie said as Worthington continued drinking in silence. He stopped when he heard that. Sometimes lately he’d wondered if these people were mind-readers or something with the way they always seemed to know what he was thinking.

“What do you mean?” Worthington asked carefully.

“You and Jamie.” Richie said with a grin. “Him spending every waking minute with you. The shopping trips, that outfit you bought him, the way you two keep working on the Moms to get permission for him to go riding with you. All that stuff. I’m not jealous. He’s my brother, but he’s been missing something for a while. He’s found it with you, and I hope you’ve found it with him because I think you’ve needed it as much as he did.”

“What’s that?” Worthington asked cautiously.

“A best friend.” Richie sounded satisfied at that. “You guys have fun on your ride.”

“You and Billie have fun on your double date tonight.” Worthington replied without blushing for once. Richie waved at him as Jamie came out of the house fully dressed. His pants were yellow and black, his jacket and helmet black and yellow, matching but opposite of Worthington’s ensemble. Even his gloves were yellow and black instead of black and yellow.

“People see us they’re going to think we’re a couple.” Jamie joked for the fourth time, but he was smiling.

“More likely twins or something.” Worthington retorted. As his skin had tanned over the last few weeks, and his hair lightened, more and more of Jamie and Richie’s friends had commented that they looked almost like twins. Certainly they looked more like brothers than Jamie and Richie did. “You ready?”

“Yeah.” Jamie smiled before putting his helmet on. Worthington put his own helmet on, and together they got on the bike. As happened whenever they touched like this, something seemed to click, and Worthington knew he would never have an accident with Jamie as a rider. They moved as one, knowing instinctually what the other was feeling, or thinking, and so they rode as one person instead of a rider and passenger.

No imagined experience as Steph, the motorcycle rider had a similar sensation with a passenger. Steph hated passengers, their movements slightly out of sync with his, never quite right. It was always a challenge carrying someone on the bike with him. Billie had been like that, although closer to the better imagined passengers of Steph. With Jamie, though, it was like they were one person.

Seventy-three minutes later they were a hundred miles north of Phoenix, nearly a hundred and twenty from the house. There was a convenience store here that they had pulled over at, and gotten something to drink. Their leathers were soaked, but both of them were grinning from ear to ear.

“You know, I just don’t get it sometimes.” Jamie said with a shake of his head. “Mom tries to get me to perfect linking but I just can’t seem to do it right. But with you, it’s like bam! We just link automatically.”

“Uh…” Worthington was about to admit that he had no idea what Jamie was talking about when Jamie’s cell phone rang. He pulled it out of the jacket pocket and grimaced at it.

“Hi Mom.” Jamie said with chagrin. “Um, we’re north of Phoenix getting something to drink. Yes, we’re staying hydrated. No, he didn’t even pop one wheelie. Okay, we’ll head back as soon as we finish the drinks.”

“She is pulling the leash.” Worthington teased Jamie who grimaced at the phone before putting it back up.

“Well, look at the two queers pretending to be tough bikers.” A sneering voice from behind sent Worthington’s stomach into a queasy roll. The voice came from a young man, just a few years older than them, but who looked like he belonged in the backwoods of West Virginia. His family had probably been inbreeding for the last ten generations from the look of his buckteeth, square face, and buzz cut. His buddy behind him was no better. Both of them wore tattered sleeveless shirts that looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in days, and jeans that could stand on their own. Behind them was a truck that looked like it was lucky to have any bailing wire left holding it together.

“Damn, you were right, Jamie.” Worthington sneered as a strange feeling washed over him. It was… belligerence, and a genuine anger at the world. “That wasn’t a broken sewer main. It was the smell coming off these two piles of trash.”

“Well whaddya know.” First trash heap said angrily. “He thinks his fancy words are gonna scare us away.”

“What do we do with them now?” Jamie asked with a little laugh a few minutes later. Both of their opponents were flat out on the pavement. Worthington had never even been in a school yard scuffle before, but found he’d taken the first trash heap out without a problem. Jamie had managed the other in a surprising flurry of kicks and punches without even breaking a sweat.

“Leave them.” Worthington shrugged. “We better head home.”

“Okay.” Jamie shrugged before laughing again. They went back to the bike and started to put their helmets on, oblivious to the people watching them. When they roared out of the parking lot, Worthington could feel Jamie taking one last look behind them. He laughed against Worthington’s back as he held on tightly.

They were home in slightly more time than it had taken them to get to the convenience store north of Phoenix. The surge of adrenalin was still keeping them both as taut as harp strings, and Worthington felt like his hands were still vibrating as they put the bike away in the garage and went into the house. Stacy was waiting for them and wrinkled her nose at them.

“You boys better take a shower before dinner.” She said with a laugh and shook her head as they passed her in the halls. Both of them were smiling, though, and she seemed happy to see that.

Worthington took a shower in his room and was relaxing on his bed, wearing a pair of red boxer-briefs Jamie had talked him into buying. The plasma television on the wall was tuned to one of the music stations offered by the cable company, instead of the financial news, and his mind was wandering, reflecting on all the changes in him over the past few weeks.

Part of him wondered why he was changing so much. Was it because of some type of reaction to the death of his parents? Was it because of how different this house, this home was from all that he’d known in his life. Part of him felt like a stranger to what he had been before. Was he becoming someone different, like he’d imagined all those times when he was in the arms of another man?

“Whatcha doing?” Jamie’s voice was quiet from the doorway and Worthington shifted over slightly on the bed. His friend, his cousin, came in after shutting the door behind him and laid down on the bed next to him. All the other boy was wearing was a pair of blue boxer-briefs, and their skin was warm where they touched.

“Just thinking.” Worthington answered.

“Now that’s dangerous stuff.” Jamie laughed, and Worthington chuckled.

“I feel like a different person than I use to be.” Worthington admitted. “I was wondering what it will be like when I go back to school? Will I go back to being the same old boring person I was before? Will I be… forced to seek my adventure in silly little imaginings while I’m having sex with some guy?”

“Whoa, that’s some heavy shit.” Jamie said with surprise. “We’ve never talked about that kind of stuff before.”

“I’m sorry if it’s too much, Jamie.” Worthington said sadly, realizing he’d probably stepped over some line. “I’ve never even really talked like this before.”

“No, it’s okay.” Jamie said, reaching with the hand between them to pat Worthington’s thigh in a reassuring way. There was nothing sexual about their contact. Nothing had happened between them since that first day here, but in some ways the contact between them had been even better than the most passionate sex Worthington could remember. “I’ve never had anyone to talk about stuff with before, either. I mean, sure, I could talk about just about anything with my moms, or with Richie, but it’s not the same. It’s like they’re always going to judge me in some way, because they’re family and have known me all my life. With you, it’s like we’re close, but there’s not all that family crap. Sure, we’re cousins, but it’s not the same. It’s both not as close and even closer in a way.”

“I know what you mean.” Worthington said softly, and put his own hand on top of Jamie’s. Jamie moved his a bit so they were actually holding each other’s hand now, but not like lovers did. “I’d never even think about telling someone this stuff before. You know I’m not a virgin, right?”

“Yeah, I got that loud and clear.” Jamie laughed.

“Whenever I was with someone, and it was usually guys – although I did it with a girl twice to make sure I could for when I get married – I’d always imagine what it was like to lead their life instead of my own.” Worthington said softly, feeling like he was flaying his skin open, revealing that which should never have been revealed. “I think I got addicted to it, because it was all I craved, being able to imagine a life other than my own. I have no idea why.”

“Maybe it’s because you weren’t happy?” Jamie said at once and Worthington bit back the immediate protest. Jamie’s words had the ring of truth to them.

“I didn’t have to be happy.” Worthington admitted at last. He had no idea how long he’d been silent while mulling over Jamie’s words. “Happiness never entered into it. It’s about duty, responsibility, obligation and all those kinds of things. Everything in life was about that.”

“Now you know what it means to be happy.” Jamie said with satisfaction.

“But is it a good thing?” Worthington asked as he got to the root of the problem. “I can’t be like your mom, choosing my own happiness over my duty to my family. There’s just too much at stake, but can I live going back to the way I was before?”

“Why do you have to go back to the way you were before?” Jamie asked quietly.

“If I don’t, how will I stand the life I’m going to lead?” Worthington asked. “I won’t be happy. I’ll marry some strumpet for her connections and family history, have children with her, a guy or two on the side because I really do prefer guys over girls, and I’ll spend all my days worrying about business instead of just enjoying life.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way.” Jamie persisted. “There’s middle ground. There has to be!”

“I wish.” Worthington said with a sigh.

“Look, well, there’s things I know already about my life.” Jamie countered. “You know, I’m gifted like you in a lot of ways, even more so than Richie. So, I’ll be doing stuff with that, helping people. Unlike you, I think girls are much better than guys, although I have no problem helping a buddy out every now and then, you know?”

“I remember.” Worthington said with a smile and a stirring down in his groin. Jamie must have seen it, because he chuckled. What exactly he meant by ‘gifted’, Worthington wasn’t sure, but he chalked it up to just another one of those mysterious comments and ignored it for the most part.

“Someone else remembers that too.” He teased Worthington.

“Yeah, well except for that little bit of fun, I’ve been celibate since the day the lightning hit.” Worthington said flatly.

“I figured that.” Jaime laughed. “That’s why I made it a point to invite Andy over here. The cute guy with that bubble butt. You remember him?”

“Yes, I remember him.” Worthington sighed. “Nice butt, and he’s definitely into guys.”

“I thought he might be.” Jaime laughed. “So, why didn’t you ever call him? He gave you his number.”

“He… there was something not right there.” Worthington said with a shrug. “Usually, there’s something to guys I go after, something more. He just felt… bland.”

“Ah, I see.” Jaime said with a rueful sound chuckle. “Most of the girls I meet are like that. None of them ever have that special oomph that Mom talks about when she talks about meeting Mom.”

“You know, that is freaky.” Worthington laughed. “I know you were just talking about Elizabeth meeting Stacy, just from how you said those words, but they’re the same word, really.”

“It is.” Jamie agreed with a laugh. “So…”

“Boys, you in there?” Elizabeth’s voice called as she knocked on the door.

“Shit, talk about the devil and she shows up!” Jamie whispered. “Quick, get some shorts on!”

“Just a second, Aunt.” Worthington responded while rushing over to the dresser and pulling out two pairs of cargo shorts he hadn’t owned a few weeks ago. These were not just off-the-rack shorts, so the pair he threw to Jamie was a little tight on him. His waist was just a little bigger than Worthington’s and the tailored shorts didn’t quite fit his cousin right. Within a minute though, they were more properly dressed and his Aunt was entering the room.

“I’ll trust you boys were just lounging in your underwear.” She teased them with a smile. Worthington was certain she didn’t think he was breaking his word to her.

“No, I was letting hornball here seduce me.” Jamie teased his mother. “It’s about damn time I lose my virginity after all!”

“Get out of here you scamp.” Elizabeth said in a mock-harsh tone. Jamie kissed her on the cheek before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.

“What’s wrong?” Worthington asked as the smile slipped off of her face as soon as the door was shut.

“Your damn Uncle is what is wrong.” Elizabeth fumed. In the blink of an eye, Worthington could feel himself change back into the person he had been before. Gone was the carefree guy who laughed. Sure, he was still standing in front of his Aunt wearing well-tailored cargo shorts and nothing else but the underwear beneath, but he might as well have been dressed in a suit. His shoulders straightened and he looked at her with a calculating expression.

“What has he done now?” He asked her in his old voice. She noticed the change in him, but gave only the barest of nods.

“The Estate is in probate, as you know.” She said in a calmer voice. Jamie had once called it her ‘lawyer’ voice. “Things were proceeding smoothly until this afternoon. Your uncle has challenged certain provisions of the Sinclair will. He has filed claim that I am an unfit guardian for you because I am not married, and am cohabitating with another woman.”

“My parents specifically mentioned you in their will as guardian, and disallowed him.” Worthington stated coldly.

“Yes, well he’s challenging my legal standing as your Aunt based on the fact that I was disowned by my parents.” She said with a shake of her head. “He is claiming that because my family disowned me, he is your last living relative. Based on that, he is attempting to claim I have no more standing than any other ‘friend of the family’ would have. Most judges would not spend more than a few minutes laughing him out of court, but he filed in court with a judge that ran on a conservative platform. The man is as big a homophobe that could be found on the bench in Ohio.”

“Damn that man.” Worthington allowed the curse to escape his lips. “Still, we can get a change of venue, right? Get a different judge?”

“Smythe is working on that right now.” Elizabeth informed him. “The only problem is that the judge has also frozen all of the Estates’ accounts. Until he unfreezes them, or we get the venue changed and another judge to free up the accounts, no money can move out of any of the accounts. This includes your allowance.”

“I have my own money to live off of until you take care of the legal issues.” Worthington assured her and she frowned.

“No, you don’t.” She told him grimly.

“What do you mean I don’t?” Worthington snapped at her. “Those accounts are mine! They are not part of the Estate.”

“Unfortunately your Uncle knows about them.” She said with a hint of sympathy. “Since he has challenged my ability to act as your guardian, those accounts were also frozen by the judge’s order. Now, Stacy and I have already talked this over. As soon as I was briefed by Smythe, I came home and talked to her. We will be able to cover your insurance payments on the vehicles no problem, and we can give you an allowance just like the boys get. That’s eight hundred a month.”

“What about my tuition for school?” He asked her as he pushed away a small tendril of panic.

“We could cover that no problem if there were not other issues to consider in this situation.” She answered.

“The groundskeepers and caretakers you hired for the house back there.” He said automatically without more than a moment of thought.

“That is part of it.” She agreed. “Your financial accountants have committed to continue their work without charging fees until the issues are handled in court. Smythe will represent the Estate, and you, without any fees.”

“He’s a good man.” Worthington stated flatly.

“He was, and is, very dedicated to your father.” Elizabeth agreed. “We could afford to keep the Estate running for a year or more, if necessary, but we cannot afford those expenses and your tuition at that school. I’m afraid you are going to have to decide which direction we take.”

“You are the guardian here.” He stated without emotion.

“Worthington, you’re old enough to be involved in this process.” She informed him. “I will make the decision alone if I have to, but I would prefer it if you would inform me of your opinions on how to proceed.”

“Do what is necessary to keep the estate maintained.” He said after thinking things through, and then he had another thought. “Have you contacted the school yet? They might take me without payment up front.”

“Smythe is worried about your attending the school because of another reason as well.” She admitted with a grimace that worried him.

“What reason?” He asked her.

“What state is the school in?” She asked him.

“Virginia.” He answered, and realized she must know that. No, she was asking him for a reason. Damn he had slowed down mentally with all this caring about emotions and that silly crap.

“He is worried, and I concur, that your Uncle may use that to his legal advantage.” She stated after he didn’t say more. “Virginia has recently had several cases that are worrisome. Your uncle owns a home in Virginia, and with you in the state, attending school, he might seek to use that to his legal advantage.”

“How?” He asked. “Ohio will just order that they have jurisdiction since the Estate is there, and that is where my parents died.”

“Virginia has in recent years shown some disturbing trends when one or more parents involved in a custody fight are gay or lesbian.” She told him. “In one of those cases, the lower Virginia court flat-out ignored a ruling of a New England state because it was in favor of an openly lesbian woman. It took over a year before the Virginia Appeals court reversed that ruling. Do you want your Uncle to gain access to you for a year?”

“No.” Worthington almost shivered. “I’ll stay here. Is there a reason I can’t go to the same school as Richie and Jamie?”

“It’s a public school.” She warned him. “Now granted, it’s brand new, only been open for four years, and is already one of the best in the state, but it won’t compare to what you are used to having. It is not a boarding school.”

“I’ll survive.” He assured her, feeling an odd sense of relief.

“I am sorry about this, Worthington.” She said softly. “If there is a way to fix this before school starts, we will do that, but you know the courts. I’m sure we will win, but it will take time.”

“Just win, Aunt.” He said firmly.

“We will.” She assured him. “Now, Stacy is telling Richie and Jamie right now. I know my son, and he’ll want to come in here and comfort you. Is that okay?”

“It… it’ll be nice.” He told her as his shoulders slumped slightly, and the old Worthington popped like a balloon. When she wrapped her arms around him, he almost cried. Instead he simply returned her hug.

“You’re a good boy.” She told him with a smile before heading out the door. No sooner had she stepped out than Jamie came in and nearly drove Worthington to the floor with the way he slammed into him.

“That bastard!” Jamie snarled. “I wish I could get my hands on him! I’d make him pay for what he’s doing to you! It’s not fair.”

“Life is rarely fair.” Worthington quoted and Jamie actually laughed.

“So what are you going to do about school?” Jamie asked. “You know you can always go with me, right? I mean, it’s not a boarding school full of hot guys all horny for each other, but there are hot guys there as well as hot girls and you can…”

“I’ve already decided I’d rather go to school with my best friend.” Worthington said and the smile on Jamie’s face was worth it.

“Oh!” He nearly squealed. “I can’t wait to start telling everyone!”

“You go do that.” Worthington laughed as Jamie was opening the door already. The guy blushed before heading out of the room. It didn’t bother Worthington to be left alone so soon again. In a way, it was a relief. This latest news only added to the conflict he was feeling before. It was like he was being torn between two worlds, and he didn’t know which he preferred.

“Jamie is a very excited young man.” Stacy’s voice from the doorway surprised him. The woman had never come to his room before. In fact, most of the time it seemed like she made it a point to stay away from him. The entire family had dinner together almost every night, and she had never been less than friendly, but of all the people in this house, she had always seemed the most distant from him.

“He is easily excited.” Worthington said as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. The old Worthington would have stood upon an adult entering his room, but he merely raised an eyebrow at her in imitation of Elizabeth while she looked around the room.

“You’ve made this a very comfortable room.” Stacy complimented him. Today she was wearing a red and gold caftan. “Much warmer and inviting than I would have expected from a Sinclair.”

“My parents would be horrified if they could see me now.” He meant it as a joke, but there was more than a little bit of truth to the statement. She laughed aloud for a moment.

“Don’t worry, child, you’re still enough of the same man that they won’t be too horribly disappointed.” She stated. “You’re changing yes, more than I expected. There’s more depth to you, more vitality than I had thought possible. I always thought your people managed to strangle it out of their young by the time they reached your age. When I met Elizabeth it was nothing but the palest of tiny flickers of light left inside her.”

“Grandmother Bradwell always claimed it was you who seduced Elizabeth away from everything right and proper in life.” Worthington was surprised at the words that flowed out of his mouth.

“I’m sure she did, but it was Elizabeth who carefully nurtured those last flickers of life and sought my help.” Stacy said calmly from where she stood in the middle of the room. “I did little more than help her along the way, and accept her love when she wanted to give it to me.”

“I believe you.” Worthington said, and was surprised that he meant it completely. What he had seen of Stacy so far said that what she was doing now was very abnormal. She waited for people to come to her, not the other way around.

“Your plans for the future have been changed.” Stacy said in a voice that was clearly saying she was getting right to the heart of why she was here. “I would like to know what you are thinking now about your future. The ways of the Sinclair and Bradwell families are not totally unfamiliar to me. Your family has long had your future mapped out for you, and I would be surprised if you had ever thought to challenge their plans for you.”

“I… no, I hadn’t.” Worthington admitted after several possible answers flitted through his mind.

“What about now?” She asked him with a tilt of her head.

“I’m still a Sinclair.” That was the first answer that popped into his mind. “There is so much more to life than I had imagined, though. It’s like there are two worlds, the one I knew before that accident happened, and this one. This life, here with you and my Aunt, and Jamie and Richie, it’s good. I like it. Having friends is nice. Is there a reason I can’t have both?”

“Such a road would not be easy to walk.” Stacy said thoughtfully. “The world of families like the Sinclair and Bradwell require a distance from personal contact. Emotional attachments can be used against you, and any relationship can have its ups and downs. The down times can leave you very vulnerable. You haven’t experienced one of those yet.”

“Nothing easy is ever worth having.” Worthington stated flatly and she laughed.

“That is very true, young man.” She said with the brightest smile he had yet to see on her. She crossed the room to the computer desk and sat down at the chair there, swiveling it around so she could face him. “You are a very strong young man, though, and if anyone can manage to keep a foot in each world, you would be my first choice. It won’t surprise you to hear that I believe you have changed tremendously since coming here, but we have changed as well, especially Jamie.”

“He has?” Worthington asked with a little surprise.

“Yes.” She stated firmly. “He has grown more thoughtful, more poised, and more confident in himself. In the past he has spent much of his time following Richie around, basing his friends on his brother’s, but you and he have grown close, and some of your best qualities are rubbing off on him. Instead of transferring his dependence on Richie to you, he has grown more independent, which is a very good thing for one with his gifts. I have been training him up until now, but he has reached the point where he will need a trainer with different skills than I possess. It has taken me several months, but I have finally located one that is willing to come here and work with him.”

“That’s good.” Worthington finally settled on saying, because she wasn’t making much sense to him.

“Yes, and I have spoken with him about you as well.” She said cautiously and he frowned at her a bit. What was she talking about? “I’ve always assumed your Trainer was at your boarding school. That is where you have been learning to use your abilities, right?”

“I… uh…” Worthington stammered, unable to figure an answer that was noncommittal enough to satisfy here. Well, if he couldn’t prevaricate, the truth would have to do. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“I am talking about your magical abilities, of course.” She said with a snort and his eyes couldn’t help widen. God help him, was she one of those crazy Wiccans? “You are very powerful, more powerful than Jamie, potentially, and he has some of the strongest potential I have ever heard of before. I know you have good shields, and are properly balanced, or we would have spoken of this before now. It is not proper for a Trainer to interfere with another’s students.”

“Did Jamie put you up to this?” Worthington asked. “Is this some kind of family joke.”

“Oh dear.” She said with a frown. “You really have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

“No.” He said immediately. Maybe his uncle would be safer than this bunch after all.