Rich Boy: Awakening - 8. Chapter 8

“I’ll be honest, I don’t like having him here.” Stacy said with a grimace on Sunday morning as Michael sat with her in her workroom. “He’s a constant reminder of just how different a path you walk from us.”

“I’m trying to find my own way.” Michael reminded her and she nodded.

“At least that cage is still holding.” She remarked, having just finished examining it inside his mind. Stacy had been surprised at the appearance of it, remarking how a Light Mage could have made it. “Also, what you did with Tom seems to be working. Now there’s an interesting spell. I almost wish I dared try to learn it.”

“I would teach you…” Michael offered but she shook her head.

“In the end, I don’t want to learn any Dark Magic.” She stated. “Are you ready for school, tomorrow?”

“It is going to be different, but I will survive.” He said with a shrug. “Did the paperwork on Brandon…”

“Everything came through.” Stacy grimaced again. “Elizabeth says everything is in order, and since she’s so adamant about him staying here, I will defer to her on these things.”

“Thank you.” Michael said. He had been surprised that it had been Elizabeth who welcomed Brandon to their home without hesitation and Stacy who had balked. Jamie had taken one look at Brandon and all but adopted him as a little brother, despite the fact they were all the same age.

“Thank Elizabeth and Jamie.” Stacy remarked. “Richie says the boy’s in good health at least.”

“That’s good.” Michael said, unsure what else to comment to that. “You know, that’s something I don’t understand. You say he’s a healer, and that’s obvious, but how is his gift different? What makes him a healer?”

“His own interests more than anything.” Stacy responded, and she seemed glad of the question and the change in topic. “Mage Gift is Mage Gift. Either you have it or you don’t. What you can do with it depends on a variety of factors. First off is the strength of your gift. Very strong, or very weak, gifts are very rare. Most people have a moderate level somewhere between. I’ve already explained Low and High magic to you. Low being the purely mental disciplines and high being true magic like those bolts you were flinging around, and that memory spell you used on Tom.”

“But entering Tom’s mind and seeing what he’s thinking is pure Low magic.” Michael nodded. Yes, he understood that.

“Well, you should understand by now that everyone’s brain works differently.” Stacy continued in her teaching tone. “Even identical twins think differently. Certainly, if you look at the mind of newborn twins, you won’t find much difference between them. Look again at age five, and you’ll see some minor differences. Come back to them at age twenty and you’ll find them no more similar than extremely close siblings, or a married couple who have been together for fifty years.”

“I’d never thought of that.” Michael stated. “What does this have to do with how we perform magic, and what makes Richie a Healer, and you an Earth Mage, and Elizabeth mostly works with Low Magic? What makes Brandon a Channel and me whatever the hell I am?”

“You would fit into what most people think of as Adept.” She said with a shake of her head. “I know there are very few in that category, mostly because it requires a great deal of strength, and it requires an ability to be able to work in a wide variety of disciplines. Adepts often work healing spells as easily as a healer, even the more powerful cellular healing if they study the field enough. I’ve heard of an Adept who even is very capable at Healing of the Mind, which is one of the most difficult disciplines to study.”

“So any Mage can study any of the disciplines?” He asked with a little confusion.

“Technically yes, just like any mundane could study to be a doctor.” Stacy said with a little laugh. “They may not make a good doctor, or even be able to diagnose the common cold, but there is nothing stopping them from studying the field. So it is with Mages. Whatever it is that makes a person have the potential to be a good doctor helps them with the potential to be a good Healer.”

“So Healers are also Doctors?” Michael asked and she shook her head.

“Many times that is the case, but not always.” She clarified. “Quite a few Healers don’t want to learn all the extra things necessary to be a Doctor, so they are Nurses or other forms of medical practitioners. Others do anything they feel like, but Heal whenever the needs arise. A few specialize in animal medicine, Healing animals rather than humans.”

“What about Brandon?” He asked. “What makes him a channel?”

“I have no idea.” Stacy admitted with a shrug. “Until him, I’ve never heard of something like this before. Oh sure, I’ve heard about people in the role he plays, but I’ve never understood exactly what they meant by ‘Channel’. I thought it was just a different way of training his gift, but it actually feels different.”

“Feels different?” He asked.

“Surely by now you’ve been able to feel the ability in others around you.” She said with surprise. “As strong as you are, you will probably be able to tell those whose Gifts are latent, not active, and tell the difference in strength at five hundred feet, if they aren’t hiding their ability.”

“I… wait.” Michael thought about it and nodded after a while. “Josh, he’s a latent isn’t he?”

“Latent, yes.” She said with a smile. “If it was wakened, he’d be a very weak mage, but he’d have the Gift. If he marries someone with the right genes, his children will probably be active mages. That’s why we’ll keep an eye on him.”

“I see.” Michael said with a half-smile. As much as the Light Mages might pretend they were so totally different than Dark Mages, he was beginning to see a lot of similarities. They always kept on eye out for new Gifted, and once they had their hands on someone, they were very reluctant to let them go.

“Don’t try to waken his Gift either.” She warned him. “I know Dark Mages sometimes do that for their own purposes, and it may have been taught to you. It’s not worth it, what they have to go through in order to activate the Gift, especially for someone as weak as Josh would be afterwards.”

“I won’t.” Michael shuddered. He didn’t know how, but if it had been taught to Worthington, he would know as he progressed with integration. Another thought occurred to him. “My Uncle.”

“What about him?” She asked.

“If the school had people here watching me, does he?” Michael asked.

“Probably.” Stacy replied. “We’ve felt the attempts to scry, but that was expected. The wards on the house keep that from happening. More than likely, he will try to keep on eye on what you do outside of the house, so be careful.”

“Can he attack me outside the house?” Michael asked. “With lightning, the way he killed the family?”

“The kind of strength it took him to do that will take him years to recover.” Stacy said with a rueful shake of her head. “Even your personal shields will protect you from any long-range attacks, and he has to know you’re a good enough mage already to fend them off. He might strike out at people close to you, but all the most important ones are shielded or set with warning wards. If you make more friends, you might want to set wards in them too. Dark Mages sometimes like to use others for their dirty deeds, set compulsions on them. He could set compulsions on a friend of yours, and have that person shoot you, or something similar.”

“Yes, I can see that.” Michael said sourly as her words brought back memories that he had already integrated from the geas. There was more there, so much more that he wanted to know, but he wasn’t quite ready yet to proceed with that. After each integration, he felt so much darker, and he didn’t want that. He felt that he had to have something to counter that darkness, and only time and experiences would provide that.

“In all honesty, you are proving to be an enigma for me.” Stacy said softly. “I didn’t expect this situation at all when I learned the conditions of your parents’ will. I thought Elizabeth was insane at first for bringing you here. Still, she was right. You are not quite Dark, but neither are you Light. Maybe you will walk a path between. I have heard it is very hard, but you have enough potential that you might manage that.”

“I think I’m going to try.” Michael said firmly.

“That is all for today.” She smiled. “Go, enjoy your last day of freedom before school starts.”

“Thank you for the lessons.” He replied as he stood up.

“You are welcome.” She replied.

There were guests over, all of them out in the pool. Jamie was there, with Richie and Billie, as well as Josh and Tom. Brandon and Tom were talking quietly in a corner of the pool, while Jamie and Richie were talking to two girls. Josh and Billie were in the middle of the pool, engaged in a wrestling match. Michael slipped off his cargo shorts and his t-shirt, and went into the pool wearing his Speedos. He knew the house well enough now that he’d put them on instead of underwear, certain he’d find everyone at the pool by the time he was done with Stacy.

“Yo, bro, over here.” Jamie called as soon as he was in the pool, and he glided over to where Jamie and Richie were entertaining the two girls. One was blond, and the other a brunette, and both cut fine figures in their two-piece bathing suits. “This here is Sarah and Leanne. Ladies, this is our cousin, Mike.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you.” Michael said, not the least embarrassed to be meeting strange girls in a swimming pool anymore.

“Hi.” Sarah, the blond said with a smile. “Richie was just saying that you’re going to our school this year.”

“Yes.” Michael replied. “If all the girls there look as good as you two, I think it’ll be a lot better than my last school.”

“Flirt.” Leanne said with a smile. “You wish they all looked as good as us. Did your last school have a lot of dogs?”

“There were no females there, not even the teaching staff.” Michael smiled at them with his most charming smile. It never hurt to flirt with females. Remembering what Stacy said about feeling gifted, he realized that he was feeling the same thing in Sarah, but not in Leanne. So, Sarah had the gift. Maybe that was why Jamie was interested in her. She was weak though, almost as weak as Brandon. “It was an all-boys school.”

“Oh that’s gotta suck.” Leanne laughed.

“Yes, it did.” Michael agreed. Then he winced as a wave of water hit all of them from Josh having just managed to pick up Billie and throw him back in the water.

“Hey!” Richie called out angrily as the girls squealed. Why did girls have to squeal like that?

“Sorry!” Josh called out, but he was smiling. As Billie surfaced, spluttering and calling for a truce. “Hey, Mike! You’re here! Come on over and see if you can beat me.”

“Forget about it, Josh.” Michael called back to him. “I don’t want to embarrass you in front of the ladies.”

“Wuss!” Josh teased but he went over to where Tom and Brandon were still chatting quietly in their corner while Billie came over to join Michael and the others.

“I can’t believe he got me like that.” Billie grumbled, but he was smiling. “Hope these guys were being nice to you, Leanne.”

“They were.” She assured him, and the body language between the two of them was telling. Michael had thought Richie was interested in Leanne, but maybe he’d been mistaken.

“Yo! Mikie!” Josh called out. “Get over here.”

“Please, excuse me, ladies.” Michael said with his charming smile in place. “The barbarian calls.”

“Don’t get mauled!” Leanne called out with a laugh as Michael swam to where Josh and the others were talking.

“Hey, think you might be up for riding tonight?” Josh asked as soon as he got close enough.

“Why?” Michael asked.

“I thought we’d get all the guys who can and ride around town for a bit.” Tom suggested with a shrug. “You know, ‘last night of freedom before school starts’ kind of thing.”

“Sure, sounds good.” Michael agreed with a nod.

“Can I ride with you?” Brandon asked with a smile. “Or do you have to have your own bike?”

“You can ride with me.” Michael promised. “We’ll go get you a helmet at the dealership, and some other stuff.”

“Okay.” Brandon smiled happily.

“So what time are we going to do this?” Michael asked. “Stacy and Elizabeth say we have to follow an eleven p.m. curfew on school nights.”

“We’ll meet up at seven, and be back by ten-thirty.” Josh said. “If we’re going to do this, I might as well start making calls. I’ll see you then.”

“Okay.” Michael said with a smile.

“See ya, bro.” Tom said with a nod to his friend. Michael couldn’t help admiring Josh’s rear end as he got out of the pool. He really did have a fine physique. Tom’s voice distracted him though, and he looked over at Tom, who also had a fine body. “Weird.”

“What’s weird?” Brandon asked. He was looking at Josh though, and shaking his head ever so slightly.

“As soon as he left, I remembered everything.” Tom said in a weak voice.

“You okay?” Michael asked with concern. “It’s not too late if you want me to just…”

“No.” Tom said firmly. He didn’t sound panicked though. “I just said it was weird. I’m getting used to it, and I don’t know… I kind of like this. It’s like I got this secret no one else knows, and now I know I’ve got a few friends who can do some really neat things, and it’s like cool. I actually feel safer since you told me you put those… wards in me. I mean, before, people like those assholes from your old school could do anything they wanted to me, and I’d never have known. Now, even if I don’t know, you will, and you’ll fuck them over, right?”

“Yes.” Michael agreed.

“So, you see, I know now I’m safer, and I know I don’t have to worry about fucking things up for you by blabbing my mouth.” Tom continued. “When Josh was around, I couldn’t remember it for shit, but as soon as he was gone, they slid right back in and it’s like it didn’t even freak me out. I can get used to this. I mean, if I can’t do the shit you do, I might as well live vicariously!”

“Damn, he knows a big word.” Brandon teased and Tom slapped him lightly. His hand lingered on Brandon a little longer than necessary, and they exchanged a look. Michael decided to just ignore that for now. “So, Michael, want me to go with you guys to get shrimp here a helmet and some gear?”

“Sure.” Michael shrugged. “He can wear Jamie’s helmet on the way over there.”

“I heard Jamie talking about getting a bike himself and learning to ride.” Tom added.

“That would be interesting.” Michael laughed. “Can you imagine the fit Stacy would throw?”

“When do I get my own bike?” Brandon asked with a wistful expression.

“You don’t.” Michael said firmly, and Brandon nodded, but not without a pout.

“Cruel.” Tom laughed.

They lazed around in the pool for another hour until Stacy appeared with lunch for everyone. While they ate, Richie announced that he and Jamie were going out with the girls, and Billie for the afternoon. Tom looked over at Michael, and accepted an invitation to hang around for the afternoon.

After they ate, Michael and Tom went into the game room on the same level of the house as the bedrooms. There was a large pool table in there, and Michael took the opportunity to introduce Tom to the game of 8-ball. They played, and talked, for hours. Michael found himself relating part of his life story to Tom, and was surprised at how good it felt to just talk about his experiences growing up, both those he could naturally remember, and those that had been hidden by the geas.

“You know, my friend, I wouldn’t have your life for all the money you have.” Tom said with a shake of his head after their last game. He’d come close to winning. “I’ll take cold, distant parents and overbearing sisters any day of the week over the shit you put up with. Before I met you, I’d always thought rich boys like you had it all made, but you just have different problems.”

“I think everyone has their own problems,” Michael said as they put up their cue sticks. “and we each have to deal with them.”

“Yep, and I wouldn’t want yours.” Tom said, but he was smiling. “I am glad we’re friends though.”

“So am I.” Michael said with a real smile, and they bumped fists in a gesture that was now becoming second-nature to Michael.

“Well, I better head back home if I’m going to ride with you tonight.” Tom said. He’d put his cargo shorts on over the trunks he’d worn in the pool, and grabbed his t-shirt on the way out. Michael walked him to the door before returning to his bedroom. Poor Brandon had waved off the offer to join them in the game room because he was tired. His skin was also pink with a low-grade sunburn. He hadn’t put on enough sun block that morning, and was paying the price for it. Still, Michael was surprised to find Brandon at the computer desk in Michael’s room, going through a large stack of envelopes. He’d already put most of them into three separate piles, and had a notepad of legal-size yellow paper on which he was taking notes. Michael’s desktop was open, and he could see that some sort of accounting program was open.

“What are you doing?” Michael asked as he shut the door behind him. Brandon had been muttering to himself and didn’t even look up.

“I’m doing your damn paperwork, boss.” Brandon half-growled. “I found a whole stack of unopened correspondence on your desk. You haven’t opened a single one of them since you’ve been here! I thought they taught you better at school, or were you so busy rejecting everything they taught that you forget the useful stuff?”

“What are you talking about?” Michael was taken aback by the boy’s vehemence, and the commanding tone. Brandon was soul-bound to him, but apparently that didn’t mean there wasn’t some fire left inside of him. He found that thought very, very comforting.

“If you’d open these damn things you’d have known what I meant.” Brandon scoffed. “Sorry, it’s just that I never expected I’d be doing this stuff for you already, even though I’ve been preparing for it. You know, we’re supposed to learn skills that will help you in your business career. Some of us go into corporate law, handle your legal affairs and stuff like that. The Masters at school don’t think I quite have what it takes to be a lawyer, so they focused my courses on being a good accountant, which I am already. By the time I get done with college, I’ll be one of the best in the nation, which you ought to be damn glad for.”

“I am.” Michael assured him, walking across the room to stand and look over his shoulder. “I also appreciate you looking into all this stuff. To be honest, since the court’s ordered all my family’s assets frozen, I haven’t had the heart to look at that stuff. It’s not like there’s much I can do about it all.”

“That’s why you should have looked through this stuff.” Brandon said with his eyes nearly blazing. He pointed to the stack on his right. “That stuff is all personal correspondence. Letters from people at school, friends of the family and all that junk. Most of them are just condolences on your recent loss and other similar platitudes. I’ll type up responses for you and you can sign them over the next week. If you want to change any of the letters, let me know. This stack in the middle is mostly junk mail and stuff like that. You can look through it or not, but if you don’t want to keep any of it, I’ll be tossing it all. The last stack is your financial stuff.”

“Why am I getting financial stuff?” Michael asked. “Elizabeth said all my accounts were frozen.”

“Most of them are frozen.” Brandon agreed. “Damn that judge, anyway. Your regular, certified accountant, however was able to wiggle through some legal loopholes with the help of a Randall Smythe, your family’s attorney.”

“He was soul-bonded to my father.” Michael said and Brandon winced.

“Wow, he must be going through a lot right now.” Brandon said, but clamped his mouth shut, and Michael knew he would not willingly say more on that topic. “Anyway, the accounts that were frozen include all the family accounts, but your Aunt is providing funds for covering most of those expenses. There’s a detailed accounting of what she’s paying, and what will have to be repaid to her when the court case is won. Most of your personal funds have also been frozen, but this letter from your CPA informs you that the court has agreed that some of your funds cannot be legitimately frozen.”

“How much?” Michael asked with some relief.

“About two hundred thousand in total in your main account.” Brandon said with a smile. “That’s enough to cover all your normal personal expenses for the next two years, but we have to file a report with the court of all your expenditures from this account as it is being ‘monitored’. I’m in the middle of arranging a draft budget for you to look at.”

“Are you including a motorcycle purchase for yourself in there?” Michael asked and Brandon laughed.

“Yes, as a matter of fact I am.” Brandon replied. “It’s part of my benefits package along with my salary. I’m your personal assistant for now, you know.”

“Oh really?” Michael asked with a grin.

“Yes, you hired me yesterday, so my salary starts there.” Brandon informed him with a wide grin of his own. “Since I’m still in school, you’re getting a damn good bargain, but I’m your biggest expense right now. A $2,000 signing bonus, $3,500 a month in salary, plus health benefits and certain side benefits. Oh, here is your new Debit card for the account. Keep any receipts when you use the card, and give them to me, or better yet, put them in this box here on the desk. I’ll keep them and fill out your monthly reports for you to send to the accountant.”

“It looks like you’ll be earning your salary, and not in my bed, either.” Michael smiled as Brandon snorted.

“You want me in your bed, I’ll be there.” Brandon said with a grin. “I won’t mind in the least bit, but I’m not your physical type, I know. You determine our relationship, you know, and I’ll be happy however you want it, but I think you’ll be happiest without keeping me in your bed.”

“I agree.” Michael said. “Not that I don’t think you’re cute, but I’d rather…”

“No need to explain, boss man.” Brandon grinned. “Besides Tom is really cute, and I think he may be thinking to play around with guys on the side. If he does, I’ll take it. You’re my first concern, so long-term relationships really don’t work for guys like me. Still, it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy myself, right?”

“Right.” Michael agreed. “Brandon, are you sure you’re okay with this? Being here I mean. If you really would rather be back…”

“Boss, I’d rather be wherever you are, period.” Brandon said as the smile slipped off his face and he looked very serious. “I know part of it is the soul-bonding, but you have to remember, this is what I wanted even before I went to that school. I want someone who will take care of me, give me a place in life with him. I like knowing exactly where I fit into things, and I absolutely love knowing you’ll be there for me, protecting me. The fact that you’re so much kinder than I ever expected, and you really do care about me, not just what I can do for you, well that’s all like icing on a birthday cake. Remember, I chose you over that other thing in your head, and the fact that you are so determined to keep me around only makes it even better. There can be nothing better than this as far as I am concerned.”

“I am glad to have you around Brandon.” Michael said. “I do wish I could take the soul-bonding back, though.”

“You mean you don’t want me?” Brandon said with a panicked expression, and Michael could feel the boy’s panic in his mind.

“No.” Michael said firmly, and he sent waves of calm at the boy. It seemed to work because Brandon calmed a bit and relaxed the fist that he’d clenched, crushing one of the papers.

“Then why do you want to get rid of the bond?” Brandon asked. “You don’t know how much it means. Here, let me show you.”

Brandon lowered his shields at that, and drew Michael into a rapport with him. It was weak, and Michael could have broken it with a thought, but he let it happen. Brandon wanted to show him, and he felt he owed it to him to at least look at what he wanted to show.

The memory of his rape of the boy, Carl at school was still fresh and raw in Michael’s mind. No matter that it had not been ‘him’ that had done it, it was still his body, and he bore some responsibility for what had happened. The first thing that Brandon showed him was what it was like to be raped, to be penetrated forcefully. The pain was bad, in part because the person doing the rape was a full-sized adult while Brandon was only six years old. The fact that it was his own father, and he didn’t understand what was happening made the whole experience even worse.

Then came the memories of the first time his father sold him, or rented him, to another man. That was even worse in its way, because with his father, at least it had been his father. This was some stranger, who knew Brandon only as a piece of ass. Even worse was the realization that to his father, this was all he was good for.

By the time he was eight, he’d given up caring, turning his butt upwards without hesitation when some man demanded what he’d paid for. As long as he kept the men happy, his father wasn’t too bad. If a man was dissatisfied for whatever reason, though, his father became mean. The money he earned from selling Brandon kept him and his wife in a good supply of liquor, something Brandon knew better than to touch. It made his mother mean, and she’d slap him around, although she was always careful to never bruise him.

School was awful. He always had ratty clothes, and no one wanted to be seen even talking to him. Brandon was even more alone at school than he was at home. At least at home, they knew he existed, made sure he ate enough food to keep him from looking too skinny, and of course made sure he took a shower before a customer came over. They didn’t feed him a whole lot though. His father believed that if they kept him slightly underfed all the time, it’d stunt his growth and keep him looking younger.

Brandon knew better than to try and sneak food either, no matter how hungry he might get. The one time he tried, he got caught and his father had whooped his butt hard. It’d been two days before the bruises went down enough for him to have a customer, and he got punished again for that. That was the first time they’d locked him in the closet for two whole days, and quickly learned there was no need to beat him. All they had to do was point to the closet and he’d start crying.

Brandon still hated small, dark spaces.

By the time he was eleven, Brandon had enough. Last year he’d seen the movie Pretty Woman, and realized his parents were making a lot of money from selling his ass. They had moved out of the trailer park and now had a real house. He was going to run away, go to the big city, any big city, and keep the money he made from selling his own ass. Maybe if he was lucky, he’d meet a man like Richard Gere and live happily ever after.

Then Kevin Corman had run away from home. Kevin was fourteen, and Brandon didn’t know him, but he saw him on the news and heard about the searchers finding his dead body. There was a lot of statistics on runaways in that news broadcast that he got to watch while his parents were out partying for the night. His dream of running away died right then and there.

His one saving grace was that while he was a loner at school, he was a good student. He always got good grades, even if he didn’t turn in every homework assignment. Still, his parents were obsessive about not appearing to be abusing him, so they made sure he did his homework every night he wasn’t busy with some man.

He came home from school one day, and there were two men in suits sitting in his living room, talking to his parents. Brandon tried to back out, but his father gruffly ordered him to come into the living room. At that point, he wondered if the two men were going to be new customers.

“Here’s the boy.” His father said. “He ain’t nuttin but a runt. You sure you want him?”

“He will have a full scholarship at our school, and you will receive a grant of $20,000 per year as recompense.” One of the suits said in clipped tones. He smiled when he looked at Brandon though. “We represent a very exclusive private school, young Mr. Meyers. You have qualified for a scholarship there.”

“What’s the catch?” Brandon asked. He may have been only eleven, but he knew there was nothing for free in the world. “You don’t just let me go there for free. What do I have to do?”

“You won’t be a prostitute.” The man said with a chuckle, and Brandon’s father actually turned pale. “Oh yes, we know about your enterprising business with your son as your main asset. That will stop, by the way. At once.”

“Why?” Brandon asked, wanting to know what the catch was.

“Show me your room, Brandon.” The second man said in a quiet way that was still full of command. Brandon looked at him for a moment before nodding.

“It’s this way.” Brandon said. His bed was his one big luxury given to him by his parents. When they fucked him in his room, the men liked having a bigger bed, so he had a queen sized bed, and he actually got to sleep in it when he wasn’t turning tricks. As soon as the man closed the door behind him, Brandon waited for the man to touch him, to start what usually happened.

“I do not want you for sex, young man.” The man said and Brandon jumped in surprise, half-turning to actually look at the man. He had a stern expression on his face, but he lifted his hand and a ball of green light appeared in it.

“How do you do that?” Brandon demanded.

“Magic.” The man said.

“Like Harry Potter?” Brandon asked sharply. He’d managed to catch the first two movies on television, when his parents were out. Daydreaming of Hagrid coming to whisk him away to Hogwarts had been one of his few dreams.

“No, not like Harry Potter.” The man chuckled. “This is real magic.”

“Am I a wizard?” Brandon asked in a hoarse voice.

“No, but you do have a very weak Mage gift.” The man answered as he let the ball disappear. Brandon was disappointed. He wanted to see more. “You are what we call a Channel. You do have some weak ability to do low and high magic, but you also have the ability to bond with a person, and to feed them all the power they need. Our school teaches all the usual things you might expect from a school, but we also teach magic to those of our students able to do it. We are not Hogwarts, or anything like that. Not all of our students can do magic.”

“So you want me to be this Channel thing?” Brandon asked.

“Yes, but there will be a price to pay, and a reward.” The man insisted. “You will have to be soul-bonded to one of our students. He is the son of a very rich family, and it will be his duty to take care of you for all of your life. You will never want for money, at the least. Most soul-bonded become friends, good friends. He will be able to do very powerful things with your help. His father is the one paying for your scholarship, and the money to keep your parents satisfied. Right now my partner, who is my own soul-bonded by the way, is telling them that if they do not agree, the FBI will receive all the information it needs to throw them in jail, and our lawyers will make sure you attend our school.”

“You’ve been with that guy since you went to school together?” Brandon asked with narrowed eyes.

“We have been friends since then, and he has helped me from our school days.” The man said and then he winked. “We haven’t had sex since we finished college, though, and I married my wife.”

“So, getting fucked is a part of this deal?” Brandon asked.

“Not necessarily.” The man shrugged. “That will be between you and Worthington.”

“I’ll do it.” Brandon said. Even if sex was a part of this, it’d be better than he had now, and whatever money he got would be his. Plus, there was magic, and that was neat.

“Oh.” Michael said as the memory and rapport ended. Brandon was grinning at him.

“That’s why I’m here.” Brandon said. “I haven’t regretted it at all. Anything is better than where I came from.”

“Don’t worry, Brandon.” Michael said. “I will be there for you, no matter what.”

“Unless your Uncle kills you.” Brandon countered and Michael winced. That was a valid point.