Rich Boy: Awakening - 24. Chapter 24

“They want you to come over for dinner.” Jeremy finished what he was saying with a heavy exhalation, and Worthington stared at him in surprise. He’d gotten back from dealing with Curtis Parks and Gerald Norman, and taking care of the ‘misunderstanding’ with Detective Kendrick and the city officials downtown. When he’d gotten home, he’d found Jeremy waiting for him in his bedroom, pacing up a storm.

“You’re kidding.” Worthington said in disbelief. “What possessed you to tell them now?”

“I thought you’d be happy they took it so well.” Jeremy said with an expression of hurt on his face. He was wearing a pair of camouflage cargo shorts that Worthington had bought him from Niemen-Marcus, and a tight fitting black tank top that showed off his torso very well, including the tufts of hair that covered his chest. He hadn’t shaved it off since it wasn’t wrestling season.

“I am.” Worthington said with a sigh and shook his head as he finished taking off his jacket and threw it on the bed. “Sorry, it’s just been a day of surprises for me, and it’s almost nine p.m. and I’ve still got a lot to do. I didn’t expect this right now.”

“So you’re so busy with your mage stuff you don’t have time to deal with my ‘normal’ little problems?” Jeremy said in a very angry tone.

“No, it’s not that.” Worthington countered quickly as a bit of fear knotted itself in his gut. With all the other problems he had going on, he didn’t need his relationship with Jeremy to sour.

“Then what is it?” Jeremy countered. There was nothing to do but to fill him in on what had happened with his visit to the morgue, and his encounter with the real government agents, who just happened to be mages. It took him fifteen minutes to give Jeremy the basics of the encounter, glossing over some of the sexual aspects just a bit.

“So, Kendrick is fine, and the two agents are heading out in the morning to return to their bosses with their tails between their legs and a clear message not to mess with the mages of Phoenix.” Worthington summed up the ending. “Their whole approach to magic is just plain odd. It’s like they view it as just another science, and expect it to obey the laws of physics or something equally stupid. They don’t understand magic is as much about willpower, and thought as any rules. If you expect it to follow certain rules, your magic will follow those rules because that is what you expect. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy, so when they encounter magic that doesn’t fit into those rules, they don’t understand it, and it looks like they try to pretend it doesn’t exist.”

“Or maybe they try to pretend it’s just following some rules they haven’t figured out yet.” Jeremy offered.

“Maybe.” Worthington said with a shrug. “My reaction wasn’t about you, Jeremy. It was more about… having to deal with something else that I wasn’t expecting.”

“Great.” Jeremy said with a sigh. “Just give me something else to feel guilty about.”

“No, really, it’s okay.” Worthington said as he inched closer to Jeremy and ran a hand along one of those well-muscled arms. “I’m glad they took it so well, and naturally I will be happy to go to dinner with your family, as your boyfriend.”

“Thanks.” Jeremy said as his shoulders relaxed a bit. “Although the whole boyfriend thing might be moot anyway.”

“You want to break up with me?” Worthington asked with some pain.

“No.” Jeremy said with a rueful chuckle, and he reached out a hand, looping a finger in the belt loop of his leather pants and pulling Worthington close enough for a kiss. “No, I don’t want to break up with you. Or with Jamie, really, although I didn’t even bother trying to explain our complicated fucking three-way relationship we’ve got going on. It’s going to be bad enough when you get married to some girl and I’m just one of your boy-toys on the side.”

“You’ll never be just my boy-toy.” Worthington said with a smile.

“I know, and I don’t feel like that.” Jeremy replied.

“Then what’s wrong?” Worthington asked.

“I fucked Rob this afternoon while I was waiting for you to get back.” Jeremy said all in a single breath that left Worthington feeling stunned.

“But you hate Rob.” Was all he could think to say after a few breaths.

“Yeah, but he’s cleaned up some, and he’s not that bad looking anymore.” Jeremy said with a shrug, and then he frowned. “You’re not going to get pissed at me because I cheated on you?”

“Um, since when would I have room to get mad at you for doing something I’ve done?” Worthington asked. “You had to know I fucked him a few times.”

“Yeah, I figured that.” Jeremy admitted. “He is a good fuck though. Likes it rough, and it felt good to get some of the aggression I was feeling out of me.”

“How did this happen?” Worthington asked with a real interest.

“He was here when I came over looking for you.” Jeremy shrugged. “When he saw I was nervous, he asked if I wanted to wrestle, you know, to work out some of the tension. Since I didn’t have any gear here, we just stripped down to our underwear and started wrestling. He’s not really all that good, and I pinned him rather easily twice. After the second time though, he was hard as a rock, and well that got me going. Next thing I know, he’s got his lips wrapped around my dick, my underwear on the other side of the room and two fingers up his hole getting it ready for me. He didn’t even want me to use lube, just a little spit.”

“He does like it rough.” Worthington said with a shake of his head.

“So you’re really not pissed at me?” Jeremy asked.

“Do you love me any less afterwards?” Worthington asked.

“No.” Jeremy stated flatly. “I mean, it was nice, but I don’t think I’ll be doing it again anytime soon. It’s not like when you and I do it, or when Jamie joins us, or it’s just Jamie and me.”

“Then don’t worry about it.” Worthington said. “You fucking Rob and getting your aggression out while waiting for me isn’t something I’m going to worry about. This isn’t some fairy tale where we get to live happily ever after in each other’s arms. My life’s too fucking complicated for that simple an ending. It always has been. There are times I wish it was that easy, that I could just grab you, run away from it all and we’d be happy together forever, but it isn’t going to end that way. I’m just glad you’re willing to stick by me despite all that.”

“What about Jamie?” Jeremy asked. “You’d want to run away with him too, right?”

“If I had to choose between you and him, just one of you, I’d pick you.” Worthington said, and was rewarded with a passionate kiss. Jeremy’s arms were wrapped around him, hugging him tightly as their tongues wrestled.

“Oh fuck.” Jeremy moaned as he broke the kiss and buried his head against Worthington’s shoulder. “You know just what to say to me, don’t you? Get those fucking pants off. I want you to make love to me, fucking split me in two so I have problems walking tomorrow and Coach asks me what crawled up my butt so I can tell him you did.”

“You wouldn’t dare say that to Coach.” Worthington laughed, but his hands were busy trying to get rid of the tight pants.

“Just watch me.” Jeremy growled as he bent down to start getting Worthington’s boots off of him.

“Don’t worry.” Jeremy said an hour later as he got up from the bed. Worthington was too exhausted to get up. The bed was a mess, they were both covered in sweat, and Jeremy was walking a bit funny as he went to retrieve his clothes. “I’ll have Brandon take me home.”

“Are you sure?” Worthington asked, but he was glad for the offer. He really was tired, and there were things he had to do tonight. Damn, he wouldn’t be able to find time to finish that English essay that was due tomorrow. Maybe he could finish it up before school started.

“I’m sure.” Jeremy said as he finished getting dressed and came back to the bed for a final kiss. Almost it was enough to stir Worthington’s flagging energy, but he really was tired. “Give Jamie a kiss for me.”

“I will.” Worthington promised as Jeremy turned and left the room. He lay there for another fifteen minutes before getting up, and finding a pair of cargo shorts and a t-shirt to put on. Then he slipped into a pair of flip-flops and headed over to his computer. When he checked his e-mail, he found the message he was hoping to find, and then cursed. The time he was given was nearly a half-hour ago!

“Sorry, this was the first chance I had to call.” Worthington said into the phone when his call was answered.

“It is late here, Worthington.” Byron Jones’s voice was less than happy, but at least he had answered the phone in his office.

“I am sorry about that, but I wanted to ask you a few questions.” Worthington replied. “Since you won’t come out here, this is the only way to ask them without you having to actually put something down in writing.”

“So, it deals with magic.” Jones sounded tired, but he was still on the phone.

“What can you tell me about Ferdun?” Worthington asked. He’d been wrong, or seemed to be wrong, about his Uncle using mages to summon the demons as an attack against him. That’s what he’d thought the Demon Lord had been implying by his comments. It irritated him, being wrong, but that was just because being wrong in this case meant the answers he was seeking would not be found so easily. Everyone was wrong on occasion. All he had to do was look at one of the tests he’d taken at school and not received a perfect score. He wasn’t wrong often, but it did happen once in a while.

“Why do you want to know about those dogs?” Jones asked with irritation. “I swear, if you’re calling me this late at night just to ask me about the denizens of the lower plains, I will not take your phone calls again. You’re not planning to use a Portal are you? Why would you need to do that?”

“No, portals are being used against me.” Worthington said, and that was as far as he was willing to go with his explanation. Jones taught him yes, and occasionally helped him, but Jones was a Dark mage, and Worthington should never forget that. They were allies, teacher and student, but they were not friends. Jones would owe him no loyalty beyond that of the moment, so long as their interests coincided. Having genuine friends, people who cared about him had spoiled Worthington, but he did not forget his old life, or the rules it operated by.

“Why?” Jones asked, but when he didn’t receive a reply he let out a sigh. “Ferdun are, as you know, or should know, the creatures that actually transport those who use a portal. Normally they take the life of a child as payment, but sometimes require greater prey. For that, they prefer the great cats, any of them. Some mages during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries were said to have made deals with the Ferdun, creating gateways to this dimension from theirs, allowing them to hunt lions and tigers in Africa. Apparently the Ferdun can survive for a short time, hours, maybe days, in our plane before they have to go back to their own.”

“What did the mages get in return?” Worthington asked.

“No one knows.” Jones said. “All the mages were killed in the Darmon Rebellion.”

“Oh.” Worthington said with a grimace Jones could not see.

“Is that all?” Jones asked.

“Yes, thank you for your help.” Worthington said and waited for the man to hang up. It would not do to be the first to hang up when he’d asked for this phone conversation. Damn he wished he had more time. If he did, he’d try to summon a Ferdun, but that took time, preparation, and he had neither right now.

“I thought you’d be asleep right now.” Jamie’s voice from the doorway interrupted his train of thoughts, and Worthington turned to look at his brother with a smile. It was like looking into a mirror, almost, and he was sorely tempted to offer the joining spell again. He loved the feeling of being one with Jamie, of being one person in those moments. They’d promised to not do it again without real need though. Deep down they both knew there was something wrong with how often they did it, and as with all magic, there was always a price to pay.

“Just got off the phone with Jones.” Worthington sighed as Jamie came over and began to massage his neck muscles.

“And?” Jamie asked with his mind tugging at the barriers of Worthington’s mind. With a sigh of pleasure from the massage, he lowered his shields and felt Jamie slip into a tight rapport with him. This was much faster than talking, and Jamie was right, morning would be here all too soon, and he needed his rest since tomorrow was going to be a very long day.

It seemed Jamie had an interesting day as well, and there was much to share with each other. While Jamie looked over what had happened with Worthington during the day, Worthington explored Jamie’s day, and chuckled to himself. His brother really was a horndog.

Jamie had seemed to be able to find every nook and cranny, or broom closet in the school that could be used from a quick assignation with another student. At lunch, while Worthington was eating with the gang, Jamie had been in a janitor’s closet with one of his girlfriends, enjoying his own version of lunch. After school, Jamie had gone to watch the baseball players practice. His brother enjoyed watching in-shape guys running, stretching, and doing anything else in relatively tight-fitting clothes.

When his friend, the pitcher, was done with practice, they’d disappeared into a shed that was used to store field equipment for the football team, and had another round of sex. This was where things had gotten more interesting than just watching his brother’s escapades from his memories. After Jamie was done ravishing the athlete, they’d laid there for a few minutes, resting against each other on the ground, catching their breath, and the pitcher had struck up a conversation.

“You and Michael, you’re sure you’re just cousins?” The guy had asked. “I mean, you two look a lot alike, like you were brothers. I’ve never seen cousins look so much alike before.”

“We both resemble our mother’s side of the family.” Jamie explained. “They were sisters.”

“Oh.” The guy had said. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” Jamie had said while he enjoyed the post-coital bliss. This was why he enjoyed sex so much. The actual act was good, usually, and this guy had a way of clenching his butt that was just so nice, but it was afterwards, when he was relaxing, spent, that he really enjoyed himself. If he could capture this feeling and bottle it, he’d be the world’s biggest drug addict for the stuff. As much as he enjoyed quickies here and there, it was being able to relax afterwards and enjoy the moment that he really sought.

“He’s with that motorcycle gang a lot, and they all seem to hang out a lot more than they did last year.” The pitcher had asked in a cautious voice. “I used to be good friends with Chad, but now it’s like he doesn’t have time. He’s always out riding his bike, doing something, and when I ask him about it he just tells me to mind my own business. It’s getting me worried. They’re not doing anything illegal, right? I mean my folks are freaking about this whole terrorist thing going on, wondering if we’re going to die in an explosion or something. The cops have to be keeping a closer eye on things, and if Chad’s doing something illegal, he could get caught.”

“Nothing illegal is going on with them.” Jamie had reassured him. “Trust me, Chad’s fine.”

“Oh, okay.” The guy had said. “So, do you think they really caught the main terrorists the other night?”

“I don’t think so.” Jamie had replied. “But, I think things are probably coming to a head with that, so we won’t have to worry about it much longer.”

“That’s good.” The guy said as he let out a sigh and reached out for his pants that were lying nearby. “I’ve got to get going. My parents freak out if I’m late from practice these days. I swear, before all this shit started they never came home from work until after dinner, and could care less what I was doing. Now they’re always home early and freaking out if I’m not there with all the doors locked before they get home.”

“No problem.” Jamie smiled, reaching for his own pair of shorts as he admired the player getting dressed. He really had a nice body, although it was not quite as built, or cut, as the guys Worthington preferred. Jamie’s brother liked guys well defined, with that hourglass shape, wide shoulders and skinny hips and built legs. For his own taste, he liked them a little more natural looking.

“Well, see ya.” His friend said before leaving the equipment shed. Jamie idly wondered if he’d go back home still wearing his practice uniform or shower and change, but it was just idle curiosity. Once he was dressed, he too left the shed and headed for his bike that was still in the parking lot.

He had things to do, but he rode his bike through downtown Scottsdale and looked at the people around him as they hurried about their business. There were fewer people out than usual, and even the mall seemed nearly abandoned. It seemed like every police officer available was on the road too, and looking at everyone with suspicion. Opening his barriers just a bit, Jamie found the people who were out were scared, worried that an explosion would take them, and terrorists would kill them at any moment. Instead of thinking about enjoyable things, they were imagining horrible deaths, and rushing home to be with their loved ones.

9/11 had happened when Jamie was just a kid, but he remembered those days quite vividly. Everyone had been scared, wondering where the next attack would happen, wondering if they would go to work that day only to find a plane slamming into their building. Kids at school had been terrified, and Jamie wondered how obsessed he must have been with their mage problems to not see the effect they were having on the people around them.

Jamie no longer followed the path of the Light as a mage. He’d given that up, sacrificed it along with his virginity to save his brother, and bring about the integration of his brother’s two personalities in a way that preserved the best of what he was. Not once had he yet regretted that, although what he’d had to do with Carl had come close. At least he had found a solution that satisfied his sensibilities.

Coming up with how he was going to live his life, what was right or wrong for him occupied a lot of Jamie’s time and thoughts. Even knowing how big of an impact his sacrifice would have on his life would not have deterred him from making that decision. It had changed him, fundamentally, in ways he was still learning, but it had been the right one. Doing it had been the culmination of the first part of Jamie’s life, everything he’d been taught by his moms, everything they had hoped for him.

Most Light mages who made similar sacrifices as Jamie went in one of two directions. Mom Stacy had sat him down after that night of his sacrifice and explained to him about what he had to face in his future. She had told him how most Light mages in his situation had been seduced by someone of the Dark path. Most of those ended up dedicating themselves completely to the Dark, and to the Dark mage that had seduced them. They had ended up becoming some of the most evil mages in known history, but they had by and large been little more than tools in the hands of the Dark mage who had taken them from the Light.

Some, like Jamie, had willingly given themselves in exchange for some greater good. Those normally tried to live their life as if they still walked the path of the Light, like nothing had ever happened. She had known two of those, and both of them had been unhappy at their core. No matter how hard they tried to pretend they were still part of the Light, they were not, and they knew that, as did everyone around them. Jamie could walk that path, but he felt it to be a sham, and knew it would not make him happy in the end.

Instead he had put his feet on a different path, one that he would walk on his own, although it was a path similar to the one that Worthington was trying to walk. They actually were approaching it from two different ends. Worthington had been raised in the Dark, but did not fully embrace that path. Certainly he used the Dark when it suited his purposes, but he did not cleave to it like a true Dark mage. He included ethics of the Light in his magic, and his life, but at the same time did not turn his back on useful aspects of the Dark.

The Light taught that magic was given to the world to be used in making the world a better place. It was a gift to be used to enhance the lives of ordinary people, without their necessarily knowing about it. Light mages used their powers to do this in different ways. In a sense, they dedicated themselves to everyone, mundane and mage alike.

Healers, like Richie was becoming, used their abilities to heal things that would not normally be able to be healed. Even magic could not heal everything, but it did a lot that science and medicine could not yet achieve. They could heal a broken bone so that it was like new in a matter of minutes, but they didn’t in most cases because bones would heal on their own, and medical science had long since mastered that process. Besides, magical healing of a mundane’s broken bone would imperil the usefulness of magic for other purposes.

Some cases of cancer were too invasive, too far progressed for even the most powerful of magic to heal. Still, there were other cases that science might not be able to heal, but magic could provide that little extra bit that would enable medical science to take care of the cancer. Many times patients that would have died despite the best of chemotherapy procedures received a powerful healing that enabled their body and medical science to do the rest. Patients whose bodies were too weak for the strenuous medical procedures might find their body growing stronger, strong enough to survive the process.

These ‘little’ miracles were what the doctors, nurses, and others who studied healing practiced. Yes, they could use their gifts to miraculously cure patients without the patient having to endure chemotherapy, but that would have used more power and made what they could do known. By casting smaller spells, giving just enough to make a person strong enough to survive the process, or to make it possible for the process to work at all, they were saving lives and they could do it more often, helping more people because they did not use as much power each time.

Light mages who were not healers all helped in their own ways to make the world a better place as well. People like Detective Kendrick used their abilities to solve mysteries, and bring people to justice who might have otherwise escaped. She used her magic in her detective work and solved cases that not even the best of science could have solved.

Others, like Mom Elizabeth used other methods. She used her abilities to help go after the truth in her cases. When she found someone who was truly innocent of the crimes for which they were accused, she used her powers to make that known to the jury, and she did know for certain if the person was guilty or innocent. In other cases, where the defendant was guilty, she did her best to convince them to plead guilty, and accept punishment. Even then, she respected their free will to make the decision, and would honor her oath as a lawyer to defend her client, but she would not use her abilities to help their cases.

There were hundreds of ways Light mages used their abilities to enhance the lives, and serve, mundanes. Like with all magic, the biggest limitation was the strength of their gift, and their imagination in its uses. While most mages below the level of Adept had a difficult time making new spells, they could and often did when necessary. Light Adepts used their powers in even more ways.

As he drove around town before heading home, Jamie wondered how in their facing a threat from demons, the Light mages of the area had forgotten their duties to the mundane people of the area. Worthington, with his heritage of Dark magic couldn’t be expected to necessarily worry about how their cover story of terrorists was effecting the general population, but even the Light mages were taking no notice of that. They were too interested in preserving their own lives to worry about mundanes, and as Jamie saw it, that was a problem.

If he ever had to choose between saving a mundane and a mage, there were few times Jamie would choose a mundane. He felt an obligation to a mage that was stronger than that to a mundane. Certainly, if the mage was someone like Rob, or Byron Jones, or any of those boys he sometimes brought from his boarding school when he visited, and the mundane was Jeremy, or his brothers, he’d choose the mundane. Faced with a choice of saving Byron Jones or saving a mundane child, he’d choose Byron Jones, even though he’d try to save both just to salve his conscience.

Whatever Worthington was planning, he had to take into consideration the lives of mundanes, and Jamie had to make sure he understood that. What was just as important, they needed to remind the Light mages of this area of the obligation they had as well. It wasn’t up to Jamie and Worthington to actually meet that obligation. They didn’t walk the path of Light, and while Jamie honored that path, and many of its principles, he knew his feet were on a different path.

No, the Light mages would have to be reminded of their obligation, and set in the right direction. After that, Jamie’s obligation to the mundanes was over as far as that was concerned. He was something different, neither Light nor Dark. The path he walked was his own – well his and Worthington’s. They would walk it together, starting from different beginning points, but nonetheless heading in the same direction.

Worthington came out of the rapport feeling as his eyes had been opened a bit by the deepness and introspective nature of Jamie’s thoughts. His brother was a thinker, a deep thinker. Some day he might be a philosopher with the way he thought about things, and he had to admire that quality. Worthington was more of an action person, knowing what to do, and doing it was his thing, his familiar turf. Still, he found little he could argue with in Jamie’s thoughts. He looked at his brother’s face, and could tell his brother was thinking about the memories Worthington had shared with him.

That was fine.

Worthington could think, and plan, and he did. Just because he was oriented more towards action did not mean he could not plan, and plan well. That was a part of him too, although his thoughts tended to be more practical than philosophical. In many ways, that was even better, because it meant they worked well together as a team. His brother would handle the deep philosophical issues, and he would handle the practical matters. Together they would be a nearly unstoppable force.

Things began to coalesce for Worthington in that moment, and while he’d had thoughts about how to handle things, they’d been to resolve a specific problem. He had ideas about what he’d do tomorrow when he confronted the Demon Lord. Those thoughts though had been short-term thinking, looking at resolving the demon attacks and stopping them. What happened afterwards, or their long-range implications he hadn’t really thought about before.

“You better sit down, Jamie.” Worthington said.

“What bombshell are you going to drop on me now?” Jamie asked with a laugh as he grabbed a chair and brought it over so he was sitting next to Worthington.

“Let’s talk.” Worthington said with a grin.

“Wow, that is a bombshell.” Jamie laughed. “We share thoughts, memories, and stuff, but we don’t normally just talk.”

“I know.” Worthington smiled. “But this is a little serious. You’re right, we’re both on the same path, walking between Light and Dark, but we haven’t really thought about where we’re going, and maybe we should.”

“Yes, we should.” Jamie agreed and the smile slipped a little from his face. “This government thing is troubling, although I think you handled it well. It’s going to be a problem eventually though, one that will have to be dealt with.”

“But are we the ones to deal with it?” Worthington asked.

“That’s the way things have always worked, at least for the last couple hundred years.” Jamie shrugged. “Mages don’t have a government. This isn’t Harry Potter with its Ministry of Magic and all that crap.”

“No it’s not.” Worthington agreed. “Light mages wouldn’t trust something run by Dark mages, and Dark wouldn’t trust anything run by Light. What’s more, the two paths sometimes work against each other. You know it wasn’t always like it is now. Light and Dark used to get along better.”

“You mean before the last set of Demon Wars and the fall of your ancestor, Sinclair.” Jamie said with a little smile. “Mom has repeatedly said the Sinclairs have always been touchy about that, acting like they were still Mage Lords at times. That was one reason she couldn’t believe her sister married one.”

“The Sinclairs have always dreamed about a return to power, that’s true.” Worthington admitted and he smiled a bit. “Don’t forget, you’re a Sinclair too.”

“But I wasn’t raised as a Sinclair.” Jamie laughed.

“True.” Worthington agreed. “The problem is that Sinclairs have always fought against each other as much as they have anyone else. That’s why it was unusual that our grandparents had two sons, and that Dad actually engineered your birth. After what happened between him and our Uncle, I’d have thought he wouldn’t want me to have a brother.”

“Maybe that’s why he didn’t do anything after making sure I was born with his sperm.” Jamie said with a frown. “He probably didn’t want to risk a fight between us like he had with his brother, but he wanted another heir just in case something happened to you. That would make sense.”

“Yes, it would.” Worthington agreed. “He couldn’t have imagined what did happen though, or that we’d meet like we did, and be as close as we are. I can’t imagine anything that would tear us apart.”

“I don’t even want to imagine that.” Jamie said with a shudder and he grabbed Worthington’s hand in a tight clasp. “Promise me that before we let something come between us, we’ll always talk about it, or share our minds with each other so we know what’s really going on!”

“I promise.” Worthington said softly with a gentle smile on his face. “Us becoming enemies is the last thing on the face of this planet I want to imagine happening.”

“Blood promise.” Jamie insisted, freeing one hand to rummage in the drawer of Worthington’s desk. He came up with a letter opener and stabbed it into his hand, drawing up a single drop of blood. Worthington sighed, not thinking it was necessary, but took the letter opener and cut himself enough to bring up blood. Then they joined hands and whispered the spell, releasing their power and sealing themselves to the promise they had made. Jamie, who was better at healing used his power to heal their hands.

“Happy now?” Worthington asked.

“Yes.” Jamie sighed. “So, what else? Do you want to plot the rise to power of the Sinclair brothers?”

“Maybe.” Worthington smiled. “Well, in a way, yes, that is what I want.”

“You’re serious.” Jamie said with surprise. “I mean, why would you want that? Isn’t having the Sinclair fortune and businesses enough? Why would you want to deal with every squabble between mages? If you want to be a prince and have a court and all that, we can turn the motorcycle gang into that for you.”

“That’s not what I want.” Worthington frowned. “It’s not what I was talking about, either. Can’t you feel it?”

“Feel what?” Jamie asked with a frown. “The call to destiny? I told you, I wasn’t raised a Sinclair.”

“It’s not that.” Worthington frowned. “Something’s in the air, something different. It’s like, I don’t know how to put it into words. Things are changing, the world is changing, and I think magic is changing. There’s something on the horizon, something big, and I feel like if things don’t change, if things don’t happen differently than they have in the past, then we’re all screwed.”

“Are you sure you haven’t been doing drugs?” Jamie asked with wide eyes. “Maybe you’re just externalizing all the crap you’ve been through. You’ve been through some major changes since last summer, when you lost your family. Couldn’t you just be taking all that change and putting it into how you’re looking at the world?”

“I could be, yes.” Worthington admitted with a grunt. That hurt. He hadn’t expected it from Jamie, but it was the truth.

“Let’s say you’re right though.” Jamie said after he nodded at Worthington’s admission. “I mean, you could be externalizing, or you could be sensing something. Oracles and seers do exist, even if they are very rare.”

“I’m not either of those.” Worthington said flatly.

“No, but you’ve been trained almost from birth to analyze things and see opportunities.” Jamie countered. “Maybe that’s what you’re doing. You’re seeing all the stuff happening, and your subconscious is trying to tell you something.”

“What is it trying to tell me?” Worthington’s question was rhetorical more than anything, but Jamie’s mind was turning it over.

“When was the last time the world really changed for mages?” Jamie asked, also rhetorically.

“The Demon Wars.” Worthington answered anyway. “There’s always been conflict between Light and Dark, but for a long time up to that point, Light and Dark would still work together, and even lived together in relative peace. Certainly it wasn’t like today when Light and Dark mages don’t normally even speak to each other unless it’s to start a mage duel.”

“Right.” Jamie said. “So now we have demons again in the world.”

“Not for long, hopefully.” Worthington said grimly.

“But your plan to deal with them and make them leave, want to leave at least, is for Light and Dark mages to work together, right?” Jamie asked. “That’s what the meeting before dawn is about. So maybe what you’re feeling has to do with that.”

“Probably.” Worthington admitted. “I just can’t shake the feeling that it’s bigger than this though, bigger than what’s happening here. To me it feels like it’s going to have a bigger impact, and I worry about that. Also, I think you and me, we’re important to it all. Like, we have to work together to make things turn out okay.”

“Well, if that’s what’s necessary we’re in good luck there.” Jamie said. “Now, how about we get to bed? Morning is going to come awful early.”

“Okay.” Worthington said with a sigh, standing up and heading towards the bed they shared more times than not. The house being built for them was about half done now. They’d set some of the foundations for the wards a few weeks ago, and it was going to be a good house, a good home for them, he was sure of that. They’d only needed a little bit of magic to speed it through the approval process from the city’s Planning and Development Department, even though it was on a very visible hill. Certainly the whole process would have been tied up for years without magic, but for now they continued to live under the roof Jamie had grown up with.

Later, after they were both relaxed and enjoying that post-coital glow that Jamie so loved, Worthington fought off sleep as he struggled to figure out what he was so worried about. The conversation with Jamie hadn’t really covered what he wanted, but had instead gone off in another direction. Well, there was always tomorrow to talk to Jamie about what he was thinking, and if they survived the encounter with the Demon Lord, there’d be the day after that as well.

Whatever it was that Worthington was feeling, he knew it would not arrive tomorrow, and there would be time to think, and to plan. He snuggled up to Jamie’s side, enjoying the feel of Jamie’s arm around him, and let his brother shelter him for the night. They took turns doing this, like so many other things, and Worthington enjoyed it as much as anything else in his life.