The Magic of a Touch Ch. 05

The pre-Formal party at the Dragonfist estate was the fete of the century. Angel's family was loaded and openly flaunted it all. Jeremy knew it was going to be some occasion, but when they were pulling up to the mansion that was in the normal city of Leipzig, Germany his jaw just slowly fell. It was almost the size of the student dorms back at the college! The east gardens alone were bigger than his entire house. His eyes fell to his feet. Angel came from money...Jeremy didn't know he did and felt inferior. How could he ever want someone as poor as him?

"It is rather showy," said his mother, "but not all that classy. Mortichai is an ass to flaunt all this." She smiled over at her son. "This cleric you like...he won't care that we live in something smaller than his bedroom."

Jeremy looked up with a small smile.

"Not that one. He's too damned nice," Haggath said and shuddered. She liked Angel, but he was still struggling with being a git to the hag. It went against his nature. "I hope old Mortichai is put out by having us come uninvited." Her crooked tooth grin was so vile that Jeremy chuckled. "Stay out of the east wing toilets. I plan on bombing it."

"You have not changed all that much, Haggath."

"Girl, I changed a lot. I'm doing this to get back at the man for treating his son like trash." Jeremy reached over and gave her a hug.

The car pulled up and was opened by a valet. He just stared openly at the Sorceress as she extended an impossibly long leg and then was assisted out of the car wearing a very low cut strapless gown of crimson that had slits up to her hips. "Madame," the valet whispered and just melted when she smiled over at him.

"Mum...seduce the help later." Jeremy got out of the car and nearly shut the door on Haggath, stopping it just short of hitting her. She grinned and slapped his hand away as he tried to be a gentleman and help her out. Haggath felt odd in a dress not made of wool and vines. This one was made of simple cotton and did nothing to hide the fact that she was a bent over old crone even though it covered nearly all over her skin.

"I can get out myself, you little git."

"I know, which is why I almost slammed the door on you, you old bat." They smiled at each other fondly.

Jeremy adjusted his tie and handed the doorman his invitation. Jeremy had on a silver leather long coat that reached mid thigh and was securely fastened to the neck. He had spent more than a few hours making this suit for one reason. He wanted to impress all of the Dragonfist family without having to resort to money being the issue...but he also wanted to show Angel that he could look good for him. His shoes were shined to a high gloss, his slacks were creased perfectly and his long silver hair was, for the first time in a long time, cut. It was short on the sides and back but a bit long on top and had some very delicate curls which frustrated him when he tried to brush them flat. Nope, it was curly.

Archie popped up from the car. His fur was washed and brushed and glistened. He submitted to a collar for the first time -- Jeremy thinks it was because the diamond studs caught the cat's fancy.

"I am sorry, but animals are not allowed," said the doorman.

"I cannot bring my familiar," Jeremy asked, his eyes flashing a bit darker.

"Your familiar is welcome. I meant that," he gestured to Haggath. The hag just laughed and patted his cheek. "I hope your gout is worse, Haggath."

So he knew her. "Not nearly as bad as seeing you again," she sent back with a cackle. They all went inside. "Such an ill mannered brat," she said fondly.

"How many generations of student do you know, Haggath? You don't look a day under two hundred."

"I have been in that swamp for a very long time, thank you very much."

The entry foyer was brightly lit and carpeted in the deepest red Jeremy had ever seen. Then he realized the carpet was actual red dragon hairs woven together. It must have cost a fortune! The wall hangings were also dragon hairs from other types, woven so expertly that they formed pictures, scenes from nature and even one of the entire Dragonfist family...all seventeen children and the parents. Ten boys, seven girls, and Jeremy actually shuddered at the haughty look on all of their faces, even Angel's. That was not the Angel he knew, not even close.

"Well look who's here," came a voice from one of the many side halls. Jeremy looked over at a man near thirty years old. Since he was in the portrait, he was one of Angel's brothers. He was big and brawny and if he was the standard build of the Dragonfist men, Jeremy could see why Angel felt so inferior. His muscles had muscles. "Welcome back, Sorceress."

She didn't smile or even flirt in the slightest. She just gave him an absolute frosty look and the man stopped in his tracks. "Thank you. Since you are first of the family to greet us, you shall go fetch Angel and then find your father for me. Run along like a good boy." He did and fast. "That child needs someone to bring him down a peg everyday until his ego is smaller than his IQ. I do hope your cleric is a much nicer young man."

"He is, mum. He's...wow." Jeremy sighed out the last word as he saw Angel come down the big sweeping staircase that led to the second and third floors.

Angel was dressed in a sleeveless shirt of dark green that almost matched Jeremy's eyes, showing off his large arms, and a pale cream vest over it, the vest buttons made of dragon fangs inlaid with golden fists. His dark hair was braided against his scalp in twelve rows and then the braids were bound together in the back to form another tight braid that was tied off with dragon leather thongs and dragon bone beads. He had shaved and sculpted a chin strap style beard which Jeremy was instantly enthralled with as it brought out the deep brown eyes. His face seemed a bit tense but so manly that Jeremy wanted to put a smile back on it. The pants he wore seemed painted on and were the same pale cream as the vest with ribbons tied down the outside of the legs in green. They hugged his thick legs and butt in such a way that Jeremy knew he would have to use a lot of self control tonight.

"Hey. Welcome to the family showpiece." Angel bounded down the stairs and gave Jeremy a hug. The sorcerer could feel the tension in his arms and shoulders and decided to play it cool and not just seduce him in front of his family.

"Wow. You look...I like the beard." Jeremy could not even form a very strong thought as his mind was addled.

"Thanks. Something told me you would like it." Angel turned to the ladies. "Who invited you, you old crow? Fly back to your swamp and play with your bones." His tone was a bit harsh, but his face was flushing from saying something so rude.

"Awww...that was the rudest thing you have ever said to me," Haggath grinned. "I invited myself, you little brat."

"Oh well. Father will be livid...good." He turned to the Sorceress. "Welcome. I hope these two have not been making me out to be some charming prince."

She smiled and extended a hand, which he bowed over and kissed. "No, but I am glad to see you are as much of a gentleman as they said. Far better then the rest of the men in your clan."

Angel stood and shook his head. "You have them pegged. Well, except Staven my youngest brother. He's a bit of a pushover even by my standards. Doesn't fight back at all." Angel seemed to think this was either the best or worse thing. "And here comes Father." Angel's posture became perfectly straight and his face hardened.

Mortichai Dragonfist was a huge man and Jeremy felt his anger bubble up. This was the ass that pretty much disowned his son for liking a guy. The only problem is Jeremy saw he was very handsome. It would have been too much for him to be an ugly toad to go with his personality. "Madame, you once again grace my home with your radiance." His tone was courtly, his words smothered in honey, his eyes so damned scared he was about to wet himself.

"Mortichai, you charmer. You remember my old school friend Haggath."

"Yes...quite." At this his fear shone obviously through. He was terrified of the swamp hag.

"And this is my son, my cherished youngest, Jeremy. He's on the team with Angel. I hear they have become very close friends."

There was the momentary flash of anger when Jeremy was introduced, but it was pushed down when Mortichai saw that Jeremy's eyes darkened to a full black. "Yes, I have heard quite a lot about you. Rather unorthodox style at the game, but it works. Come, all of you. The gala is just starting." He swept away a bit faster than most would. The four of them shared a look and laughed, Haggath's cackle cutting through the air and making Mortichai flinch.

"You must remain calm, Jeremy. While the man is odious, you are not ready to take him on." Jeremy took a deep breath and let it out. His mother was right.

"Did you face down my father just now?" Angel asked and Jeremy looked away before nodding. He hadn't meant to. He didn't want to make a scene at all, but when he saw the look in his eyes, Jeremy couldn't help himself. The anger he felt at how Angel had been treated would not stay buried.

"He just makes me so angry."

"Me too. C'mon. Lets go have some fun with the rest of the team at my father's expense." That little thought cheered him up quite a bit.

They entered the hall and Jeremy had to shake his head. All of this...was too much. The decorations were amazing, showing off the team's colors in every way imaginable. The food was plentiful and Jeremy wondered how much of this was made by magic and how much was made by money. A live band was here playing some song Jeremy had never heard. "A bit much?" he asked Angel.

"Too much. This money could have been spent in better ways," said the cleric. Jeremy glanced at his mother who smiled slightly, approving of Angel's observation. She was coming to like this cleric more and more.

Erich came over with a grin. "Angel, I think I just saw your father run out of the room." Jeremy and Angel grinned. The captain of the team turned to Jeremy's mother. "There is only one sorceress rumored to ever be as lovely as you are, madame, which I why I will stay as far away from you as possible. While it would be the most educational night of several lives, I wish to keep my sanity and not pine away." He kissed her hand.

She chortled. "Smart and charming."

"And who is this nightmarish thing?" Erich asked looking at Haggath. He obviously knew a hag by sight, and he was savvy enough to know what to say.

"This old crone is my extra studies teacher." Jeremy grinned as Erich nodded.

"Thank you for knowing as much necromancy and dead things. Will you be joining them soon, or must we be cursed with your presence for a while longer?"

"I like you...I kill you last." Haggath cackled as Erich's face paled a bit. "Just stay out of my swamp, and you won't bother me enough for me to notice." Erich bowed and left. "A silvery tongue, that one."

"My Lady, old bat, enjoy yourselves."Angel took Jeremy's hand and led him over to the punch bowls. At least five flavors, if not more. "So, you have gotten just about the nicest reception you will from my family."

"Except him." Jeremy pointed to a young blonde hiding in the shadows of the stairs. He wore a robe of simple red. No ornaments or jewels. Even his hair was just combed and not styled. "Your brother Staven?"

"Good eye. Father would go ballistic if he knew Staven was here." Jeremy raised a brow. "He's on restriction until he gives up his druidic ways, beds some girl, and takes up the family mentality." Jeremy shook his head.

"Was he forbidden from attending?" Angel shrugged. "He's the only brother you like?" Angel nodded. "Introduce me. Then, if your father gets upset, he'll have to face me, Mum, and Haggath."

"Brilliant." Angel filled an extra cup of punch, and they walked over to Staven. "Stav, were you told to specifically stay away?" Angel gave his brother the extra cup of punch.

"Father said I could not join, but I may watch. 'To see what being a true Dragonfist man brings you' were his words. If he means lavish parties with far too much spent on even simple punch, then I am content to simply watch." He did drink the punch though.

"Staven, this is Jeremy. He's..."

"The reason Father wants to kick you out of the family." Staven held out his hand. "No matter what my Father says, if you want to date my brother, then do it. Having lived here, there is no pleasing him if you have a soul."

"I think I will like you, Staven. I hear you're a druid." Staven looked a bit shocked and nodded. "May I ask what you specialize in? Animal, plant, weather..."

"Animal. I'm guessing the blink cat I yours."

"More like I'm his, but yeah. He likes Angel more than me half the time. Where is Archie, anyway?" Jeremy heard a soft merrow from behind Staven. Archie sat there looking content to be in the druid's presence. "Ah. Keeping Staven company, Arch?"

His simple tail twitch was confirmation enough.

"Contrary to what he does, he says he loves you."

"He does?" Jeremy was shocked. He never felt like the cat liked him, but loved him? Unthinkable. "He's talked to you?"

"Yeah. I'm guessing he doesn't talk to you." Jeremy shook his head. "It's just as well. He has a potty mouth. All I get, other than he loves you, adores Angel, thinks Fred is silly, and that Graeboe tastes like cookies, is that he despises someone named Ivan. Mind you, he won't tell me why, or even who the other people are, they are his thoughts."

"Ivan is my older brother. He's calmed down in the last few years but used to make my life hell."

Archie hissed.

"I am not repeating all of that," Staven said with an eye roll. "Simply put, Ivan is a liar. Again, won't say why. I...will say goodbye. Sasha is hungry. Nice to meet you, Jeremy. Archibald, keep your language to a minimum and I'll let you meet her." Staven handed the empty cup to Angel and whisked out of sight.

"He's...not what I expected. I thought he would be more...sedate."

"Staven can be a down right bore, or he can be fun incarnate. He's sulking." They went over to the refreshments that were set out before the feast.

"Sasha is his familiar?"

"Well, he's her caretaker. Sasha is a dragon. Was my great-great-grandfather's familiar." Jeremy went wide eyed. He didn't think any dragons lived in the area any more. "When grandfather died, Sasha reverted back to being a feral and stayed that way until the moment Staven was born. Then she started to come back to being sociable. He's the only one who can get close enough to feed and care for her, although she did let me help heal a wound once."

"What type is she?"

"Can't you guess?"

"Red." Angel nodded. All of the family colors, the items made from dragon scales, hair...all of it was from her. "Maybe he will bond with her, if she lets him."

"Probably will, which is why Father doesn't wan to really upset Staven. If they bond, they will leave, and Father will lose face. Being the only one to boast a captive dragon has made him very rich and very influential. I..."

"Shouldn't be flapping your yap about family business, Angel."

Judging by Angel's suddenly tensed shoulders, the speaker was one of his many brothers. "It's not family business, Boris, just fairly common knowledge. Is there anything you wanted, other than to ruin the party by you being here?"

"Nope, that's about it. I'll leave you and your boyfriend alone for now." He went off laughing.

Jeremy just whispered a slight incantation, and Boris tripped over an unseen object, landing face first in the punch. Angel stopped himself from laughing outright, but he was grinning. Boris went to get up but stopped when he heard a very deep growl and hiss.

Archie had popped over to shit on his head. Which he then mashed into his hair after urinating on him.

"Aww...Archie likes you," said Jeremy as if it were the sweetest thing in the world.

"Get your cat off me, or I will kill it." Boris was livid.

Yet his eyes widened in terror when he saw the look in Jeremy's eyes. "If you ever threaten my familiar again, I will rip your soul out to watch while your body is filleted and fed to Sasha. Then I shall trap your soul within a crystal ball. That ball, when touched, will transfer all the pain your body felt to you. Every time. I would make a habit of touching it every day, and then make a tradition of it that it's lucky to touch the ball. Then, as each new batch of students enter the school, you would feel that pain over and over." Jeremy grabbed him by the collar of the shirt and pulled him bodily to his feet. "Then I will stop playing nice." Boris's shirt began to fall apart and decay from Jeremy's touch.

Boris ripped free and ran.

When Jeremy looked back at everyone, no one made a sound. No one moved. They were utterly stunned. Even Mortichai Dragonfist was shocked to his toes. "And that is why you must remain calm when using black magic, Jeremy. I've seen you do better," snarked Haggath.

"True," said Jeremy who smiled, "but then if I actually had the power to do all that, I would not need to be at the school." Haggath cackled. "Still...I could remove his soul and do the filleting. Angel and Erich could enchant the ball. Even better! Make it a wizard ball!"

That made them wince but laugh. The team knew what Archie meant to Jeremy, and now they knew what could happen to anyone who threatened the blink cat.

"Might I ask what started this?" asked Mortichai.

"He made a disparaging remark about Angel and me. We are friends and team mates. Anything more is no one's business. To make it their business would not make Archie happy. He happens to like Angel. Something about saving his life and healing his injuries and doing what a powerful cleric should do."

Archie jumped to Angel's broad shoulder and purred while rubbing his head against Angel's. Then he gave Mortichai a flat look.

"I see. I believe I have underestimated your abilities, Jeremy, and made assumptions. Your siblings were not as powerful or ruthless as you. You are truly your mother's child...and Haggath's." Mortichai looked at Angel. "Did you even stand a chance against his charms?"

Before Angel could answer, Erich spoke. "Sir, with all due respect, I fell prey easily to one of his simplest spells. That was when he hadn't even gone through his change. You know my abilities." Jeremy felt a bit of gratitude for Erich.

"He also bespelled my son, and you know what defenses hags have against charms." Haggath put in her two cents. "Being so charming naturally."

"Naturally," said Mortichai flatly.

Angel saw what the group was trying to do. Help Angel save face in his father's eyes. It was a move of friendship, and one Angel treasured more than they knew, but he would rather lose face than be dishonest. "Father, I stood no chance against him. Jeremy's charms are powerful, yes, but they don't effect you without a foundation." Mortichai's eyes narrowed slightly. "Even when we were vile to him, he was kind. So, Father, because of his kindness, I stood no chance."

Mortichai was no fool. He knew there was more to this, but Jeremy was powerful. He could feel it. "I see. Well, then. There is a party going on." Mortichai waved and the band began to play once more.