Rich Boy: Growing Pains - 24. Chapter 24

"A guy could get spoiled traveling like this," Kyle said with an appreciative smile at the insides of the limousine as Worthington climbed in after him. They sat next to each other in the back seat while a flight attendant from the business jet put their luggage away in the vehicle's trunk. "Do you own that jet?"

"Not directly," Worthington answered with a smile of his own. He did enjoy traveling on the smaller business jets like that one. They were so much nicer than even first class on a commercial airliner. "My family's investments include seats on the Board of Directors of several corporations. Most of those corporations offer limited personal use of their corporate jets to seat holders on their boards."

"At least they won't miss their Thanksgiving dinner because of us," Kyle said with a smile as the driver got into the limousine.

"Welcome aboard, Mr. Sinclair, Mr. Norton." The driver said over the intercom and Worthington nodded even though the partition was still up, blocking their view of the driver. "Rush hour traffic is still slightly heavy since tomorrow is the holiday, so it will take us about a half-hour to reach our destination. I am sorry for the delay."

"It's no problem driver," Worthington said into the intercom and closed the circuit as the limo moved smoothly into motion.

"So where are we going?" Kyle asked for the fifth time that day, and Worthington sighed while leaning back in the plush seat. They were both wearing regular slacks and button-down dress shirts. Outside it was dark, since this was the tail end of fall, and he enjoyed the twinkling lights of Southern California. "The pilot said we were landing in Orange County, which is California, but that's all I know."

"Can't you guess yet?" Worthington asked with a slight smile and Kyle gave him a look with narrowed eyes before shaking his head.

"You wouldn't go to any of the places here I can think of," Kyle said with a sigh as he leaned back. "I've always wanted to go to Disneyland, but my parents wouldn't because of their support for homosexuals, and I don't see you being the kind of guy to like places like that."

"It's nice to hear how well you think you know me." Worthington laughed and got a suspicious look.

"It's probably some golf resort or something like that spa you took me to in the Biltmore," Kyle said with a shudder. "How the hell you can just sit there while they do all those things to you I don't know. If I want my toenails trimmed. I'm going to do them myself, not have some pansy do it for me."

"He was a cute pansy." Worthington protested with another laugh as Kyle scowled at him.

"I thought you liked guys," Kyle said with a grimace. "I mean, if you're going to like guys at least, you could like real guys, not ones whose asses swish every time they take a step."

"You're letting your cowboy roots show, Kyle." Worthington teased the other guy who scowled a bit more and then chuckled.

"Ah guess Ah am." He said in a thicker-than-normal version of his Texas drawl that was always there to some degree but fluctuated based on his emotions, or if he was trying to be funny, like now. "You can take the boy out of Texas, but Texas don't ever leave the boy."

"I'm gettin' that," Worthington said in a mock drawl that had Kyle grimacing.

"Boy, you're better off stickin' to y'alls normal way of talkin'," Kyle said with a chuckle that was infectious. They didn't talk for several minutes as the limo inched onto the freeway, eventually getting over to the carpool lane that was slightly better than the stalled traffic in the main lanes. "Sweet Louise, how can people stand living like this day after day?"

"It wouldn't be a problem on my bike, although the little sportster would be stuck like everyone else," Worthington said with a shrug as a motorcycle zoomed past them, slipping between stalled cars with practiced ease.

"Hell, I'd be on the bike with you, or on my own." Kyle laughed.

"You'd have to learn to ride first." Worthington retorted.

"Hellfire, I already know how to ride." Kyle snorted, and Worthington stared at him with surprise. "What, you thought you knew me that well, huh? Yup, I know how to ride. I learned on dirt bikes back home, and four-wheelers you know. Street bikes like your little crotch rockets ain't that big a deal."

"Damn, you mean you could have been riding with us all this time?" Worthington asked with a shake of his head. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I like the car better, and I don't want you buying a bike for me." Kyle shrugged. "When I get a job and can buy it myself, I'll get me one."

"Don't you know I pay the MR for riding patrols around town?" Worthington asked with a frown. "They make two grand a month for riding one or two patrols a week depending on the rotation. If they can't get a bike on their own, they can buy one through me and pay me back out of their salary. With you being able to ride, it doesn't matter if you're fully trained in magic or not; you can ride your own patrols just like any of the other MR and make good money. It's a real job, not just a give-me."

"You serious?" Kyle asked with disbelief.

"Yes," Worthington said with exasperation. "Officially they don't even get paid directly by me, but rather by the VoS Mage Council. Most of the money for that comes from me though."

"Well, shit." Kyle murmured as he sat back and looked out the window. "Here I been thinking about making money at Mickey D's and I could have been making money all this time. You're serious though; it's a legitimate job, right?"

"Yes, and you'll have to talk to Josh about joining," Worthington said. "They'll make an exception to the normal routine, because you're a mage, and you already know how to ride, but he's the one who will tell you yes or no, not me. I also know that Andy's father just found out he's being transferred at the end of the year, so Josh is going to be looking at replacing Andy around January. If you talk to him when we get back, you'll be able to start in December and be ready to go on your own by the time Andy leaves."

"Now that would be sweet," Kyle said. "No offense, but I don't like living off of you or the ladies either. A man's supposed to be able to make his own way in the world."

"I understand," Worthington said with a smile. "Believe me; I'd prefer you to be earning your own money. It's not that I don't mind supporting you, but I know you'll be happier with your own income, your own money. Now, someone like Carl's a different story. He's still young enough that he shouldn't have to worry about supporting himself, but it's better for you if you can make your own way."

"That's one thing we can agree on, all right," Kyle said with a nod of his brown hair and smiled.

Before he'd met Kyle, Worthington had always thought of his father as an evil control-freak and little more than that. Since they had met though, Kyle had forced him to reexamine his memories, and he could now recall several important lessons the man had taught him in dealing with people. One of those lessons had been about people and money.

'You can give someone as much as you want, but it won't do them any good in the long run.' His father had said. 'Make them earn the money, though, and they learn how to stand on their own two feet, and that makes them better allies when you need assistance. A gift may make a person happy, but making them earn what they get makes them better allies when you need to use them.'

Worthington thought about it a little differently of course, but the message was still the same. It went back to the old saying of 'give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day, teach him to fish, and you've fed him for life.' That was why, growing up, he'd had a big allowance, but had to pay for his own bills out of that allowance. It taught him money management, and he'd wisely invested much of that money so that he could do things like this trip without having to use the family fortunes and getting approval from people like Elizabeth or Randall Smythe.

"I heard that Gerald Norman and you got into a rather loud argument yesterday," Worthington said as he noticed a key street sign coming up and pulled Kyle's attention away from the sign. Kyle sighed and frowned before turning back to Worthington, not even noticing they were taking this exit.

"The man is an asshole," Kyle said. "May God forgive me for thinking that, but he is, and there's no use lying about the fact. Once he figured out that I wouldn't take the 'long lost Uncle, three times removed' shtick just because he has my mother's maiden name, he tried to get all bullying about how I should be in a government program instead of with you directly. Said it was my 'duty' to the country that had raised me to serve it with my abilities so I told him where he could shove his duty and obligation."

"I wish I had been there to see that." Worthington smiled. "What else did you tell him?"

"I told him I got accepted to Arizona State on a baseball scholarship, even though they haven't seen me play this year and I'm going there with you," Kyle answered with a smile of his own. "He wasn't too happy about that. At least Arizona State has a decent baseball program. Are you sure about that? I mean, I heard you were all set for Yale."

"I was, but my agreement with the government means it would be best for me to stick around in the area." Worthington sighed. "Sometimes we all have to make sacrifices, Kyle, and this is part of it for me. Jamie's still going to Yale, though."

"That must be tough for y'all," Kyle said with a sigh. "Y'all being on different parts of the nation after being so close and all."

"It's not like we didn't live the first fifteen years of our life separated," Worthington said with a sigh.

"Huh," Kyle grunted. "I didn't even think about that. You two are like twins, always knowing what the other's doing and that shit, it's hard to imagine you grew up separated."

"Yeah, well we did." Worthington sighed. "It will be difficult though. The last year and a half we have been close. In fact, this is the furthest apart we've been since I moved out to Arizona."

"You really don't mind doing this with me?" Kyle asked. "I know you would have probably arranged it for me to go on my own, but I didn't want to be alone, and I don't really know anyone else all that well except for Jamie, and it's his family out there, and Richie's coming back and all."

"No, I don't mind." Worthington smiled as the limo came to a halt. "I just hope you like what I picked out for us to enjoy."

"I'm sure I will." Kyle smiled as the driver buzzed the intercom.

"Mr. Sinclair, we've reached our destination." The driver said. "I hope you enjoy your vacation, and if you need us before the scheduled departure date, please call."

"Thank you, driver and happy Thanksgiving," Worthington replied as a valet opened the door. He almost spoiled the moment by laughing at the attire of the young man, almost like an 18^th Century dandy, but managed to keep his face to a smile as Kyle got out and looked around with wide eyes.

"Welcome sirs, to the Grand Californian Hotel and Spa in Disneyland." The handsome valet, whose nametag said Rick, and that he was from Anaheim, California, said in a happy voice.

"You've got to be kidding me," Kyle exclaimed in disbelief as he looked around at the dark wooden building and the people milling around. There was the distant sound of people screaming in excitement, or at least Worthington hoped they were happy and excited, and there was the press of thousands of minds on his shields. To Worthington's great surprise, Kyle spun around and gave Worthington a tight hug. "I can't believe this; you really brought me to Disneyland. I can't believe this!"

"It was a surprise," Worthington said to the smiling and blushing valet who was trying to look elsewhere. All of a sudden Kyle remembered he was hugging a guy in the middle of the parking lot, and broke the tight hug, blushing as he stepped away from Worthington.

"Ah, uh, Ah've always wanted to come here." He told the valet with a blush and a smile.

"I'm sure you're going to have a good time, sir," Rick said. "Right now's a great time to visit. It's actually the slowest of the holiday season. If you came over Christmas, we'd be busier than you could believe. A lot of couples without children like to come here, or even bring the whole family as a holiday treat, and the weather's usually pretty good. If you'll follow me, we'll get you checked in right away."

"I can't believe this." Kyle breathed as they walked side-by-side and Worthington hoped his semi-erection wasn't showing too badly. The hug had been quite tight. "Ah thought you'd have hated a place like this."

"I won't lie and say I've secretly wanted to come here," Worthington said as they walked through the sliding glass doors while a porter loaded their luggage on a nice-looking luggage cart. When he saw the inside of the hotel, he stopped. "Oh my."

"The hotel was designed after the Awhani Lodge in Yosemite," Rick said with a smug sounding voice. It was all dark wood, with some type of bright design on the floor, and a large fireplace around which a group of children were gathered listening to a Disney employee telling stories. Elsewhere in the large lobby, a woman was playing at a grand piano while nearly a dozen people were sitting on plush chairs or couches in small groups, talking and looking quite happy. Above them, the hotel soared in a dizzying display of grandeur that impressed Worthington. Certainly, he hadn't expected something like this even after looking at their website.

"Impressive," Worthington said with a slightly awed tone.

"It is." Kyle agreed.

"If you'll follow me this way, sirs, we have some paperwork you'll need to sign," Rick said, leading them to the expansive wood counter that was the registration desk. Kyle seemed impressed that there was no waiting in line for them, and that it was the hotel manager that met them personally. She was a bright woman in her early thirties and dressed in period costume that included voluminous skirts. Long used to being met personally by people like her, it was no big deal to Worthington as he signed the three papers that she held out to him after giving him effusive greetings, and he handed over the packets of information to Kyle who tore right into them.

"Rick here will show you up to your rooms, and be available for any needs you might have this evening." The hotel manager said with a smile. "Your park guide will be here in about an hour, as you asked, and take you over to the park itself."

"Thank you," Worthington said and turned to follow Rick who was happy to show Kyle how the carpet was designed to mesh perfectly with the designs on the marble floor, and then some more history of the hotel. That kind of stuff didn't really interest Worthington, but he loved seeing the happy look on Kyle's face as he soaked in the information.

There was no denying that he was still attracted to Kyle in a very strong way, but for some reason, it didn't bother him quite as much as he had expected. He was sexually attracted to Kyle more than he could ever remember being attracted to anyone before, but quite astonishingly, not having that sexual desire fulfilled was not driving him to insanity. Instead, he was finding himself taking pleasure in simply being in Kyle's company, and in seeing him happy, like he was right now. It was odd, something he wasn't used to dealing with, but he let the feelings flow.

It wasn't like he didn't know love. He'd loved Jeremy, while the handsome mundane had been alive, and he still loved Jamie, although the sexual desire between them was pretty much completely gone. Worthington knew those feelings as love, and while there were very similar elements to what he felt for Kyle, there were also enough differences that he knew what he felt for Kyle was completely different. Part of him thought that maybe what he felt for Kyle was closer to what Jamie felt for Carl than anything else.

The bellboy, a man in his mid-twenties really, was already at their suite, waiting for them. Rick swiped one of their room cards and opened the door to the suite, standing aside for them to enter. While Kyle crossed immediately to the coffee table and sat on the couch while spreading out the packet the manager had given them, Worthington looked around the room. It certainly wasn't the most opulent room he'd ever seen, but it was large, comfortable, and resembled a lodge in the mountains more than a hotel room in the middle of a busy amusement park. There was a fire already roaring in the room's fireplace and the bellboy whose nametag said "Will" spent a few minutes showing him the two bedrooms and bathrooms in the suite before asking which luggage went in which room. Worthington explained it to him, and after the man had unloaded the luggage carts, handed him a fifty-dollar bill. Will's face brightened at that, and he left with a big smile on his face as Worthington went to sit down next to Kyle on the couch.

"This here's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me," Kyle said excitedly, and much more rapidly than he normally spoke. "There's so many things to do!"

"I hope you don't mind that we've made some preliminary plans, at least for tonight," Worthington said.

"Your guide will be up here in about an hour," Rick said as he stood up. "I really should be getting back to my station."

"Thank you, Rick," Worthington said, handing him the same amount as he had the bellboy. Rick hesitated but took it at a direct look from Worthington.

"It was my pleasure, Mr. Sinclair," Rick said and left after nodding to Kyle. As soon as the door was closed, Worthington let out a small sigh.

"Is something wrong?" Kyle asked.

"No, but before we get started having fun, there are a few things I need to do here," Worthington said as he prepared to cast some spells. "Remember what I said about always warding where you sleep, even if it's nothing more than a sleeping bag in the woods?"

"Oh, yeah, that." Kyle frowned. "I haven't been able to do anything other than the most basic of stuff yet."

"I know." Worthington smiled.

"I wish you could just show me in my mind instead of trying to explain it." Kyle sighed.

"I could, but are you sure that you would want that?" Worthington said with a sigh as he turned to face Kyle. They'd had this discussion before. "I told you, it's awful hard to hide things from each other when we're in rapport like that."

"You worried about me finding out you get hard every time I touch you?" Kyle asked boldly. "Sorry bud, Ah already know about that. Your piece is might too big to hide that."

"Oh." Worthington actually blushed.

"It doesn't bother me much anymore." Kyle shrugged. "Truth, it freaked me out for a few weeks, but then you've always been a proper gentleman where I'm concerned, even that time you used your mojo to make me kiss you. It was to show me how easy it was to do something like that, and how I had to protect myself, so it was all good. If you haven't figured it out yet, I ain't bothered by that as much anymore, and well, I trust you, so me knowing you like me ain't gonna bother me none."

"But are you willing to say the same about your thoughts?" Worthington asked and saw Kyle swallow hard.

"I'd be willing to take the risk." He said a lot slower and with a heavier drawl. "I feel like such a dunce on this magic stuff at times, like I should be learning more, faster."

"You're coming late to your training," Worthington said in an attempt to console him on that subject. "Most people start learning this when the ability first appears, and they're able to adjust as their gift grows stronger. You have to learn the basics from scratch, and at the same time learn how to control a greater amount of power than most people will ever possess. That's a lot to handle at one time."

"I still want to learn faster," Kyle said. "I'm not like Colin, you know, greedy for all the power I can get my hands on, but I do want to learn. That little kiss you made me do taught me just how bad it can be if I'm not ready to protect myself. I'd hate to find myself facing someone who didn't care about me like you do. Gerald Norman is one of those. If he could get his hands on me, he wouldn't hesitate to make me do what he wants, and those Adepts you met with the other week, I know they'd just love to be able to make me do what they want."

"Okay." Worthington sighed, giving in to Kyle's reasoning. He softened his shields and didn't wince at Kyle's overeager attempt to drop into a rapport with him. Rather, he took Kyle in a firm, steady mental grip and brought him into a light rapport. Excitement flooded into him, along with a nagging sense of unease about something that he didn't look into at all. Unless Kyle's mind flashed something at him, he wasn't going to pry. Somehow that felt wrong when it was associated with Kyle.

There was no snap as they moved into a deeper link, and the rapport became deeper between them. He could feel Kyle's eagerness now, to learn more magic, and oddly enough for spending a long weekend with Worthington. What was behind that eagerness surprised him even more. Kyle tried to stop the memory, but it flashed into Worthington's view.

It was the week before when Kyle was talking with Jamie over dinner at the house in Scottsdale. Worthington had driven up the mountain right after school to spend a few hours training the government mages, and they were commenting on how hard Worthington was driving himself, and both of them worried that he was not spending enough time relaxing. That was when they'd hatched the plot to get Worthington out of town, Jamie insisting that only Kyle could get Worthington to leave everything behind for a few days.

You devils. Worthington said mentally, and Kyle was filled with worry until he felt Worthington's amused agreement. It was the only way to get me out of there and to relax, and I'm glad you did it now that we're here.

Good. Relief flooded into Kyle as their link cemented into a firm rapport. Worthington cleared all their thoughts away as he began to shape the form he wanted the wards to take, layering them one atop the other before releasing them in bursts.

Warding a hotel room was far different than warding a home. First of all, the wards could not prevent strangers from entering the room. Hotel staff, maids, and others would be in and out of the room legitimately. Wards that monitored their every action took a lot of power, and the mage would spend hours looking at maids going about and cleaning or dusting, replacing towels and stuff like that. You could track everything taken out of or placed in the suite, but that took power and resulted in mostly towels and bed linen being tracked magically. These wards were subtler, and would let them check how many people had gone in and out, and whether any had bad intentions towards them. Other wards tracked magical signatures, and tracked those diligently, whether it was an object or a person. The final wards were set on two dressers, one in each bedroom that would not open no matter what unless it was for them. That way they would have at least one drawer each to put valuables inside that would not be easily stolen.

"Ah don't think I'll be managing that anytime soon," Kyle said breathlessly as Worthington finished the last wards and let their rapport drop.

"Why don't you try the first set, the monitoring of who goes in and out?" Worthington suggested. He had been casting for a good thirty-five minutes, so they had plenty of time to do this.

"Okay," Kyle said hesitantly, but then grew still and concentrated as he began to call up his power and weave the magic into the design he wanted. There were a few fumbles along the way, but fifteen minutes later he was done, and Worthington inspected the set of spells that Kyle was holding in his hand before releasing them.

"That'll work just fine," Worthington said with a smile as he finished the inspection and let Kyle release the magic slowly, unwinding the spells as he did so that they didn't actually get set into the room. They would have worked just fine.

"I fumbled it a bit," Kyle complained, but then he smiled. "It was easier though, and I don't mind knowing that you looking at my ass the other day made you horny. I wear it that way knowing people are going to think I look good. It's vain, and I know it's a sin, but it's the way Ah am."

"You planned it that way too," Worthington said suspiciously. "You figured you'd get me all hot and distracted and I'd do whatever you wanted. That's why you sat in the chair that way, wasn't it?"

"Guilty as charged." Kyle grinned devilishly.

"You sneaky bastard," Worthington said and punched Kyle lightly on the arm. Kyle reacted by grabbing his arm and trying to twist it when Worthington's foot snaked out and tried to take Kyle to the floor. They wrestled for fifteen minutes, knocking furniture aside and nearly breaking two lamps before collapsing breathless on the couch in a heap, laughing hard.

"Damn, you got me good," Kyle said as he rubbed the top of his head where Worthington had given him a noogie after getting him into a headlock. "I gotta remember to not try and wrestle with the state champion."

"You didn't do too bad this year," Worthington said as he tried to recover his breath. "If you stuck with it you'd be good."

"It was just the one last year I wanted to do it." Kyle shrugged as he leaned against Worthington. "I'm really looking forward to baseball this year, you know. It'll be nice playing for a college team, too. I do like baseball you know, it wasn't just because my dad wanted me to play."

"I know," Worthington said with a sigh. Kyle's mind brushed against his, much more gently than before, and he let Kyle draw him into a very light rapport, so he could share his feelings with Worthington. The rapport dropped after a few seconds, and Worthington was surprised at how smoothly Kyle had managed that.

"It is easier to just share it that way." Kyle sighed and patted Worthington's hand. "Ah better let you get to your room and freshen up. Y'all stink."

"I ain't the only one." Worthington laughed. "It is easier, but as you learned just a bit ago, it's kind of hard to keep secrets that way. Most mages don't like the idea of their students knowing all that much about them, so it's rarely used."

"You mean like with that teacher at your old school?" Kyle said with a slight grin on his face. "I don't know that I'd like that man poking around in my head either. What about like Stacy though? Jamie was her son, right? I mean, sure she didn't give birth to him, but she loves him the same as Richie. Even I can see that. Why wouldn't she teach Jamie that way?"

"Would you want your mother in your head, knowing things about you like that?" Worthington asked, and Kyle blushed.

"No, I wouldn't." Kyle murmured. "There's things a mom just doesn't need to know, especially when you're twelve or thirteen and lusting after anything that moves and has two legs."

"Are you sure your pubescent attractions were confined to two-legged creatures?" Worthington asked in a teasing tone. "I've heard about you Texans and your sheep."

"I'll get you for that you damn city boy!" Kyle yelled as he turned and tried to get Worthington into a headlock. This time one of the table lights was knocked over as they wrestled, and the coffee table tipped over, scattering its papers all across the room. Luckily the lamp didn't break, but Worthington's shirt was torn in two places, and Kyle's had a rip that ran straight down his back.

"You tired yet?" Worthington asked as they leaned against each other and lay on the floor with Worthington's head resting on Kyle's chest. At some point in their wrestling, they had gone into a light rapport, and he could feel Kyle's happiness at the moment, and barely noticed that Kyle's hand was rubbing his short hair.

"Y'all should let your hair grow out some more," Kyle said softly. "It's so nice and soft and so blond. I bet you could grow it out like those surfers on T.V."

"I don't know," Worthington answered. "It pretty much is all straight and limpy when I grow it out. Everyone seems to think it looks better cut short."

"You can't go to a hair stylist and get them to fix it up for you?" Kyle snorted. "I mean, you spend money having some guy cut your toenails for you and don't spend a dime on a hair stylist?"

"I've never thought about it." Worthington sighed as he wondered at Kyle's behavior, the way he was stroking Worthington's head, all the wrestling, and the feeling of contentment through the rapport.

"This rapport thing is better than you think," Kyle said softly, and Worthington noted the slight hitch in his voice and the feeling of nervousness that swept through Kyle before a door opened between them.

"You've hidden that pretty damn well." Worthington murmured as he looked up into those soft brown eyes of Kyle.

"You know how my parents raised me." Kyle murmured softly as shame swept through him. "Ah'm trying, Ah really am, but they raised me a certain way and it ain't easy to turn your back on it all in one day, or even over a few months. Ah just haven't thought about it before, tried to pretend it didn't exist and it didn't for a long time."

"It is far easier for a mage to lie to themselves than it is for mundanes," Worthington said with sympathy that he knew Kyle could feel as well as hear in his voice. "Purposely casting magic on yourself is difficult, but the subconscious mind of a mage can do it and make it as real as possible. You understand the magic doesn't really change that, it just hides it for a while."

"I figured that part out," Kyle said gently as he grew nervous again. "It's just… well, the feelings are damn strong, and they make me all confused. Looking at you, and Jamie, and his mothers, I know it ain't like my parents or the preachers all say, but still, it's hard for me to…"

"I understand," Worthington said gently and made sure that the rapport was showing Kyle that he did understand. "Let's just take things slowly, right? You're a good friend, and I'm going to help you through this, okay?"

"I was hoping you'd say that." Kyle grinned, but they were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"That's probably our 'guide' for the night." Worthington sighed. "Whoever it is has perfect timing."

"Ah'll go and start getting ready," Kyle said as he looked around the nearly demolished room. "Oh, uh, maybe I'll pick up in here first. You distract them, okay?"

"Okay." Worthington agreed as there was a knock again and a slight tingling in the wards. He got up and let the rapport between them fade as he reached the door and opened it, gasping softly when his eyes fell on the slender, well-tanned young man standing in front of him. He was wearing a pair of dark blue slacks, a light blue and white dress shirt with vertical stripes and a Disney nametag. It wasn't his attire, or his refined features, or wavy brown hair, dark eyelashes and bright blue eyes that caused Worthington to stare in surprise. "Mark," as his nametag proclaimed him was a mage, albeit a weak one.

"I couldn't believe you'd come this quickly, Mr. Sinclair," Mark said in a rush as he held out his hand. "I just talked to the doctor yesterday, and he wasn't even sure he could reach you until today, but then I saw your name down on the holiday VIP list and jumped at the chance. Thank the Light you've shown up so quickly. I really hope you didn't get too put out rushing out here like this, but I do appreciate it a lot. Thank you so much for coming!"

"Huh?" Worthington asked in surprise after the man had finished rambling. He had the sneaking suspicion that his vacation was 'over' before it had really begun. Jamie and Kyle were going to be so disappointed their plan didn't work.