Kevin's face burned with embarrassment. He had planned to do more research on gargoyles, he really had, but his new relationship with James dulled the immediacy of looking into his avatar's skills.

"You have an avatar now?" Dean asked. The triplets knew of his avatar failures in the past.

He nodded. "Jay helped me find him." Patting his 57 *

pockets, a wave of helplessness hit him. "I don't have a focus stone on me."

Jay reached into his pocket and handed one over.

"Try not to travel without one."

The rebuke, no matter how gentle, still hurt. He wanted to earn his friend's respect. Elementary mistakes impressed no one. Shaking off the self-recrimination, he gripped the focus stone tightly in one hand.

Concentrating with his eyes open, he imagined the avatar.

"Come to me, Crag."

A whoosh of air followed by a solid thud heralded the arrival of the gargoyle or, rather, the boulder that would soon be a gargoyle.

"Good boy." He still didn't know if the creature was a boy, but then did it really matter with gargoyles?

The head popped out, and the creature chirped.

Yellow eyes glowed up at him.

"Do we have anything that belongs to Lisa?"

"I do." Dean pulled a scarf out of his pocket. "I was going to return this to her when I saw her tonight. It fell out of her pocket at the coffeehouse the other day when she rushed off to class."

"Hold it out to the gargoyle," Jay recommended.

"Shouldn't I give it to him?" Kevin's chest twinged 58 *

at the thought of someone else using his avatar.

"No. You don't want to add any more scents than you have to. Some gargoyles can determine everyone who's ever touched something, but we don't know Crag's ability yet. He looks pretty young."

"Gargoyles are so cool." Dan admired the gargoyle as it approached Dean to sniff the scarf.

Kevin looked over at James.

"What?"

"I thought you would want to hunt her down."

James shook his head. "I've only got a fraction of the skill of a gargoyle. I'll step in if you need me."

"Oh, okay." Kevin wasn't sure why the alpha had come.

A large hand gripped his shoulder. James answered as if he could read Kevin's mind. "I came because you needed some moral support."

"Oh." He couldn't stop the smile spreading across his cheeks. The gargoyle made a loud chirping noise, snapping his attention back to the avatar. "What did he find?"

Dean looked at the creature hopping up and down.

"I don't know; he's your avatar."

"Show us what you found, Crag." He tried to sound commanding. The gargoyle stopped hopping, and its 59 *

yellow glowing eyes flashed in his direction. "Find the girl."

Sniffing the ground like a bloodhound, he headed away from the group.

"Where's he going?" Dean whispered, as if afraid to break the gargoyle's concentration.

"Let's follow and find out."

The creature headed straight away from campus and onto the strip that abutted the university, the street where students hung out at the coffee shops, bars and clubs, and the sole movie theater.

"Looks like she meant to meet you." Kevin's eyes scanned the area, hoping to see Lisa sitting outside with a dead phone battery, searching for Dean in the crowd. The triplets moved closer together as if trying to gain comfort from each other.

The gargoyle scattered more than one couple as he charged through the busy sidewalk unmindful of others in his way. He didn't bother to go around when he could just go through them.

Kevin tried to keep up. He could feel the pull of his avatar as he rushed after him. When Crag ducked into an alley, Kevin slid to a stop. The corridor between the two buildings was dark and had the usual alley smell of rotting food and urine. The others crowded around him, trying to 60 *

peer into the dark corridor.

Large hands set him aside as James and Thomas brushed past the wizards and entered the alley. "Stay here,"

the alpha demanded.

Jay and Kevin exchanged looks before shrugging and walking into the alley. They weren't little girls to hide in the corner while their buff boyfriends fought the big bad beasties.

A minute later Kevin wished he still stood several feet away. Next to the dumpster, Lisa lay still and bloodless, her skin a papery white, all life drained from her body, and her spirit long fled.

"Someone drained all her magic away then took her life," Jay said, looking at the body.

"How do you know?" Kevin barely heard Dean's voice, soft and broken, even in the silence of the alley.

"That's how my father looked after he gave me the last symbol." The heart-breaking sadness in Jay's voice brought tears to Kevin's eyes as he looked down at the remains of the vibrant girl who used to bounce into class on a wave of energy.

The gargoyle yipped around her body, excited at its find. It had done his job.

"Here, give him a sugar cube to thank him."

Jay gave him another of his seemingly endless 61 *

collection of sugar cubes.

He didn't know how thankful he felt at the sight before him, but the little gargoyle had done what he asked of it. Tilting his hand down, he gave the gargoyle the sugar cube.

Mission completed, the creature vanished.

"Who could do this? Why?" The words tumbled out of his mouth as his mind tried to understand the atrocity before him.

"Dark magic." Jay pulled out his phone and called the headmaster's office.

Kevin shook his head. Only Jaynell would have the school's dean on speed dial.

"How are we going to get her back to campus?"

Devin asked, looking around as if a magical taxi was going to appear at any moment.

A loud pop echoed in the alley, heralding the arrival of five gnomes. With eerie efficiency, they picked up the body and left again with another popping sound echoing in their wake.

Devin's wide eyes turned to Jaynell. "That's just freaky, dude."

Jay shrugged. "I didn't do it."

Kevin hid his smile. Jay had no concept of how impressive it was to have the headmaster at your beck and 62 *

call. Jay had grown up rich with almost unlimited power. It amazed Kevin that his friend didn't have an ego the size of Jupiter.

"The headmaster wants us back at school to tell him what we know."

Since they didn't know much, Kevin didn't imagine the meeting would run long.

As a group, they trudged back to school. For the first time Kevin thought wistfully of the wolves' never-ending supply of limos. The return trip didn't take long, but if this wasn't the longest day of his life, it was a contender.

The white-haired headmaster sat quietly as he scanned the group. Kevin didn't know what the older wizard saw when he examined each of them, but eventually the man nodded. "I'm glad to see none of you are murderers."

Kevin rolled his eyes at his own stupidity. Of course. Headmaster Vreel had scanned their auras to see if any of them committed murder. The man's eyes narrowed on Jaynell.

"I am surprised to see Dragonspawn's demise didn't color your aura, Jaynell."

63.

Jay shrugged. "I don't feel remorse over my actions.

He deserved to die. Lisa, however, didn't."

Kevin admired how easily his friend returned the focus back to the matter at hand.

"The question is who did it and what was their purpose? There are easier ways to build up magical power than killing someone. It takes a lot of expertise and skill to pull it from another person or put it into someone else."

The white-haired wizard nodded to Jay. "Your father was especially skilled, but as we know, he is no longer with us."

Vreel shifted in his seat and looked over the group once again. "As this is wizard business, I'm going to have to ask you pack members to leave."

James crossed his arms over his chest, and Kevin saw Thomas unconsciously mimic his brother's stance.

"No. If Kevin stays, so do I."

Kevin almost agreed to leave. For someone other than Lisa, he would have turned it over to the headmaster and bid him farewell, but his conscience twitched at abandoning his friend.

"I'm staying." Looking over at the triplets, he saw relief cross Dean's face and knew he'd said the right thing.

He didn't want to abandon Dean when he needed his friends around him, and even though Lisa was dead, he still felt a commitment to find out how she'd died and punish 64 *

those responsible.

The headmaster rolled his eyes like an eighteen year old. "What I have to say doesn't go past these doors, understand?"

Everyone nodded or said yes beneath the headmaster's piercing gaze.

"Lisa isn't the first incident."

"There are others?" Kevin didn't know how there could be others. Rumors flew like wildfire across campus.

He would've bet good money word would've reached him.

"Not on campus, but in the neighborhood. I thought the kids were protected enough here." The headmaster shook his head as if ashamed at his own pride. However, Kevin didn't get a sense of sorrow from the man. It was as if he were playing a part: 'The troubled headmaster who did his best' or something. Maybe when you reached a certain age, you pretended emotions rather than felt them.

"She went to meet me at the movies," Dean confessed.

The headmaster gave him a sad smile, once again lacking in sincerity. "Our kids should be safe on the streets.

Lisa's magical ability was off the charts. In a situation with an attacker, she would've been able to protect herself. I'm having her body tested to see if someone drugged her first.

I've alerted the paranormal police."

65.