The Magician: An Epic Dark Fantasy Novel: Book One of the Rogue Portal Series Read Online Free Page A

leaving room to work in the middle.
                  "So tell me more about your mom's necklace." Connor looked at Stuart.
                  "Oh, it's a locket. It has a picture of the family in it. My mom and dad on one side, my sister and I on the other."
                  "Sister?"
                  Stuart nodded with the rapidity of a cartoon character.
                  "Yes, yes I had a sister. She was just two years younger than me, but, she..."
                  "Passed away?" Connor offered, knowing how difficult it could be to admit such a thing out loud.
                  "That's just it. We don't know."
                  "What do you mean?"
                  "She disappeared. Went missing from our home. She walked out the door to school and somehow never made it there. Never even made it to the bus stop from what we were able to gather from the students and others. But...they never found a body. The search went on for three weeks, but they finally had to call it off. We had a memorial service for her, but I never believed she was gone. She never...felt gone."
                  Stuart looked at Connor with a crinkled brow that begged him to say that he wasn't crazy. That it made sense. And it did.
                  "I can understand that." Stuart relaxed, the burden of forthcoming rejection or ridicule having been lifted. "How old was she when she went missing?"
                  "About ten, I'd say. I was eleven, just turned, so she must have been ten or about to turn ten."
                  "Wow."
                  "Yeah. I'm twenty-three now and it just never goes away, you know?"
                  "I don't think it ever does," Connor replied, then added "I'm twenty-three, too! So many people coming in as freshman seem to be eighteen and nineteen. I never thought I'd feel old at twenty-three."
                  They laughed, both of them welcoming the change of pace in the conversation.
                  "I know. I worked in a data lab for awhile after high school to get some experience. I wanted to know for sure if computer science was what I wanted to do."
                  "And was it?"
                  "Yes, I think so. That or mathematics. But you get beat up less if you can fix people's computers."
                  Connor burst out laughing. It felt good. He couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed. Laughter was a rare commodity at his home, and life hadn't given him much to be happy about.
                  Stuart looked pleased that Connor found him funny.
                  "What about you, Connor? What's your major?"
                  He sighed, running a hand over the back of his neck in thought.
                  "I don't really know yet. I haven't declared one. I haven't had a lot of time to think about it, really. I've been dealing with some family stuff for awhile and had to work to get the funds for college since there wasn't a lot saved up after my dad died. My mom did what she could, but I had to kick in my share. Which I didn't mind doing. I wasn't ready for college three years ago. But now I feel like I haven't been more ready for anything in my life."
                  "That I understand."
                  They sat in mutual silence for the span of several breaths before Connor finally spoke again.
                  "I'd considered psychology."
                  Stuart lit up like a Christmas tree.
                  "That's a great idea! You could help so many people. Given your experiences, you could even work with people suffering from depression. Or help people recover after losing loved ones. It could be a great opportunity for you to turn your tragedy into a really positive thing. You