"Make a circle."

"What?"

"You heard me. We are going to find your avatar. I can't believe, won't believe, you don't have one. You have a strong magical aura. Strong enough to support an avatar."

Jay's firm tone left no room for argument.

"You think?" Kevin trusted Jay more than the teachers at the college. If his friend said he was strong enough, he believed him.

"Grab the focus stone on the table."

Kevin picked up the small round stone off the 35 *

coffee table.

"This one?"

"Perfect," Jay said.

Kevin obediently stood beside his friend and waited to see what was next.

"Show me how you tried to raise your avatar before."

Taking a deep breath, Kevin took a long slow inhale before letting it out again. Closing his eyes, he focused on his inner eye.

"Keep your eyes open."

"What?" His eyes snapped open as he looked at Jay.

"Learn to focus with your eyes open when you call your avatar. You've never called it before so you don't know what might appear. If it's dangerous, you want to be able to meet its eyes, let it know you can control it. If the avatar doubts your power, it could attack."

Kevin swallowed as remembered stories of avatar catastrophes flashed through his mind.

"Now take a deep breath and clear your thoughts.

All you need is a focus stone and your will in order to call an avatar. Forget any chants or spells, or anything else you might have been taught. Hold the stone and concentrate on your calling. I want you to imagine you desperately need help. Imagine a situation where you would need something 36 *

to come to your aid."

Kevin focused his energy on the stone in his hand until it warmed with his magic. Following Jay's quiet instructions, he imagined a situation where he'd need help.

A childhood scene flared in his mind's eyes. One night where he'd accidentally wandered away from his parents during a summer camping trip. Although he'd visited the place many times, he'd become horribly lost and terrified by the shadows in the woods. He'd quickly been found but he'd had nightmares for weeks after. It only happened once, but he'd never trusted those woods again.

A glow grew in the middle of the room. As Kevin focused, it flared and flashed.

"Concentrate. Hold your image," Jay urged.

Taking a deep breath, Kevin brought forth more sensations: alone, cold and dark. All the emotions he'd experienced as a child brought back to crisp, startling reality.

A boom shook the floor, a flare of light blinding with its sudden brilliance.

A square boulder tumbled in the circle with a bang.

Startled, Kevin dropped his stone and started to walk towards the object. Jay grabbed him before he broke the circle. "You must bind it to you."

Kevin flushed. He knew better. In his excitement at 37 *

raising an avatar, he'd forgotten basic protocol.

"Here." Jay pressed something into his palm.

Opening his fingers, Kevin found a lump of sugar.

What the hell?

"Give it to him." Jay gave him a little push towards the boulder.

The rock wiggled, and a head popped out of the boulder, then four feet, then a tail. Wings unfurled from its sides, threatening to unbalance the creature as the baby gargoyle made a soft chirp. The small avatar scurried over towards Kevin, its stone tail threatening to overset the creature with its rapid wiggles.

Kevin held out his hand, palm flat, until the creature came close. He lowered the sugar to the beast. The dry sweep of the gargoyle's stony tongue made him laugh.

"Hello there, little fellow." He guessed it was a boy.

He wasn't about to lean down and check.

"Name him." Jay put another piece of sugar in his hand.

Shit. What was he going to name a stone animal?

Rocky was too trite. "I name you Crag. Do you accept?"

Finally, he remembered something about avatar technique.

The little gargoyle rumbled over, accepting the new piece of sugar from Kevin's hand. Rubbing its cheek against Kevin's fingers, it let out a low gravelly purr.

38.

"I think he likes you."

"He's not very big." The gargoyle was about the size of a large dog, nothing close to the size of Jay's dragon.

"Haven't you heard it's not the size that matters, but how you use it?"

Kevin laughed. "I have heard that, but I somehow doubt that applies to anything in your life."

Jay snickered. "I don't kiss and tell or anything else."

A moment later, the gargoyle vanished. Kevin let out a shout.

"Don't worry, it just takes practice."

"How do you keep Gideon around?" Kevin already missed the little gargoyle.

"Gideon feeds off my magic so it's more a matter of banishing him than keeping him around. Crag will appear when you call him. You need to practice calling him once a day so you can build up your bond. Each time he'll stay a little longer as your connection builds.

Kevin tried to think of what he knew about gargoyles. It wasn't much, but he didn't care. He'd hit the wizard library later for some books. Excitement coursed through him as he thought about Crag. He had an avatar!

He walked over and hugged Jaynell tight. "Thanks for helping. I never would've gotten my avatar without 39 *

you."

A low growl had him stepping back. An enormous grey wolf with brilliant yellow eyes snarled at him.

"He was just thanking me, James." Jay's voice was low and even as if a giant snarling wolf held little danger.

"Why is he upset?"

"I brushed my scent on you. Go over to him."

Trusting Jay to protect him if the wolf attacked, Kevin walked over to the angry beast. "There's no reason to be growling at Jay," he scolded.

The wolf sat on its haunches and tilted its head, listening.

"That's right, be a good wolf. I'll see you later, Jay."

He needed to get the wolf away from his friend before James's bestial side decided to attack. Although he doubted Jay would be too injured, he didn't want the wolf to get fried in a wizard blast. He doubted it would help Jay's in-law relations.

"See you later, Kevin. You did well."

Jay's praise followed Kevin down the stairs, giving him a warm spot in his chest. It meant a lot to get praise from his talented friend.

He followed the wolf into the alpha's bedroom, kicking the door closed behind them.

"Shift," he demanded.

40.

A glow filled the room as his lover changed from wolf to man.

"He hugged you." James's eyes glowed like mini suns.

"He's a friend who hugged me with congratulations.

Thanks to Jay, I have an avatar now, and you repaid him by accusing him of cheating on his mate when we both know he adores your brother."

James flushed, looking away. "I'm sorry, but we aren't mated, and my wolf doesn't know you as well as my human half does. I don't like another man's scent on you."

Kevin thought it over. "Fair enough." He couldn't argue against James's instincts. "Try not to insult your brother-in-law though. I don't want for you to have a war with your brother."

James gave a visible shiver. "Trust me, that's not something I want either."

"Good."

Kevin set down his book bag and stripped off his shirt.

The alpha smiled. "What are you doing?"

"It seems a shame to waste a perfectly good naked man. I thought I'd enjoy you before I returned to school.

They've moved us back into the new dorms."

41.

James's breath caught in his throat when he heard of Kevin's plan to move back into the dorms. His wolf wanted to insist the man stay at the pack house and never return to his dorm room again, but he wasn't a wily alpha for nothing. Persuasion was the key to getting a commitment from his nervous lover. Jay warned him before about Kevin's need to be free. The other wizard didn't know the reason behind it, but he wisely passed on the warning.

Some days he really loved his brother-in-law; as long as he kept his hands off James's mate.

Although James didn't mind giving his mate some space, he hated to sleep alone. His mind raced with ideas of how to lure the adorable man to his bed and keep him there.

Naked was an excellent first step.

He forced himself to go over to the bed and wait.