"Yeah." Devin ran his fingers through his hair. "I warned her about coming on too strong, but I don't think she got the message." She definitely hadn't if her behavior was anything to go by. She'd fluttered her lashes as if she were trying to take off.

"She got the message-she just ignored it." Farren scowled. "That type of woman thinks if she's pretty enough she can get whatever she wants. I don't think Dean's interested in that sort of girl."

Farren's protective manner toward Dean endeared him to Devin more. The djinn fit perfectly into their family unit.

"No." Devin shook his head. "It was my mistake encouraging her. I just wanted him to start dating again."

"I think you might have put him off pizza instead," Dan teased. "Listen, he'll find someone. He's just had a hard time of it."

"I know. But it's been months since Lisa was killed and they hadn't dated that long. He doesn't have to marry anyone, but he needs to get out. All he does is study and eat pizza. Not a healthy combination."

"True." Dan bit his lip as he thought. "We should make sure to drag him to the next werewolf mixer. There are always tons of people there. Maybe one of them will attract him. He's always liked the shifters."

"That's a good idea." Farren rubbed his lover's back. "We'll get him out of his rut in no time. Now let's discuss Devin's problem."

Devin froze as the two men stared at him as if he'd transformed into a particularly interesting bug. "No, no. I'm fine. I just need to figure out how to deal with Eli. He's got a lot on his plate right now with finding out he's a necromancer and all."

"That's a seriously cool skill," Farren said. "I'd love to talk to the dead."

Dan shuddered. "No thank you."

"Maybe Jay will have some advice. He might know something about necromancers."

"No, I called him earlier. He says it's a specialty he barely knows anything about." Devin couldn't hide his disappointment. Jay had always been his go-to guy when it came to magical knowledge. To hear his powerful friend had no clue about necromancers had shaken Devin a bit.

"Why don't you just invite him to pizza on Friday? He can hang with all of us and there will be no stress. Then if he decides you're a psycho, he can easily escape," Dan said, nodding as if he were making perfect sense.

Farren smacked his lover on the back of the head.

"Ouch, what's that for?"

"You are supposed to be encouraging him."

"I was. Didn't I come up with a good idea?" Dan rubbed his head. "He needs to ask Eli out before some other guy decides to snatch up the cute necromancer. He's quite the catch now that he's found his skill."

Devin winced. It hadn't occurred to him that Eli would have an increase in interested men over his magic. The school was filled with ambitious wizards, some of whom were gay. Having a mate who could talk to ghosts would be highly sought after.

The image in Devin's head of Eli smiling and laughing with another guy wasn't acceptable. "Okay, I'll ask him to pizza."

"It's the right thing to do." Dan nodded.

Devin scowled at the pair. "Smartasses."

They giggled. Fucking giggled.

"Laugh it up. I remember all the angsting over Farren, Dan. It wasn't pretty."

"Aww, did you go all angsty over me? That's so sweet." Farren grabbed Dan's wrist and dragged him to their bedroom. The door slammed shut behind them. Apparently sweet translated to extremely fuckable, if the noises emitting from the closed door were any indication.

Deciding he didn't need to be around to hear them going at it, Devin grabbed his backpack and left. He could always accidentally bump into Eli walking around the building, especially if he happened to be on Eli's floor.

He found Eli standing on the steps of their building. "What's up?"

Eli gave him a long look as if debating whether to walk away or not. "Where's your girlfriend?"

Devin groaned. "She's not my girlfriend. She's interested in Dean. I was trying to give her the chance to hook up with him. I don't think he's interested, though."

"Really?" Eli raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"She's too pushy."

"Huh."

"Now tell me what's wrong." The defeated expression on Eli's face tugged at Devin's heart.

Eli sighed. "I wasn't able to call my avatar in my Magical Theory class."

"That's not a big deal. It took me three tries. You'll do it in time."

Eli glanced at Devin through his lashes. "Thanks for the support. I'm having my doubts. I was hoping to have an avatar before my tutor arrives tomorrow."

"Do you know what kind of avatar you're looking for?"

"No." Eli shook his head. "There are a limited number of animals that can help a necromancer."

"I never thought of that before." Devin had more general magic so he could barely call anything. He and his brothers believed their magic had split between the three of them at birth, resulting in a weaker magic unless they worked together.

"What's your avatar?" Eli asked.

"A gecko."

"Seriously?"

Devin nodded. "He's bigger than an average gecko, but he still does the climb on walls thing. I'm not really sure why I have a gecko, but there you have it."

"Geckos are guardian spirits. Maybe you're the guardian of your brothers."

"I always think of Dean as being more in charge." Devin thought over his words and nodded. Dean had always been the one he and Dan followed.

"Leading and watching over don't always mean the same thing," Eli said.

"Maybe. I wanted to find you and tell you Mary Sue isn't my girlfriend. I was hanging around her because I was hoping she'd pull my brother out of his depression."

"I believe you."

Devin smiled as he met Eli's gaze. The necromancer did indeed appear to believe him. He let out relieved sigh. He decided to press his luck.

"I was hoping you could come and have pizza with us on Friday."

"You guys eat a lot of pizza, don't you?"

"Yeah, is that a problem? Do you not like pizza?" Devin couldn't imagine someone not liking tomato-cheesy goodness, but some people were weird.

Eli smiled. "No. I like pizza. I'd love to go with you."

"Great. It'll be me, my brothers and Farren, my brother's boyfriend."

"Okay." Eli brushed a kiss across Devin's cheek. "I look forward to it."

Before Devin could do more than touch the spot on his cheek that Eli had kissed, a tall, thin, blond man approached. He had a long scar along each of his cheekbones and his eyes were a dark brown. Power crackled around him like a live electrical wire. Devin stepped in front of Eli, blocking him from view.

"Is there something I can help you with?" He wouldn't let this stranger closer to his man. The logical part of him wondered how one kiss had claimed Devin's soul, but his mind wasn't in charge-his heart had taken over.

"I'm looking for Eli Trenton." The dark eyes skimmed over Devin as if trying to see through him.

"I don't know him," Devin growled.

Eli shoved Devin aside then stepped closer to the stranger. "I'm Eli. You must be the necromancer my father hired."

Devin clenched his fists to resist the urge to snatch Eli back. He thought the stranger looked more like a demon trainer and nothing at all like anyone who should be near his sweet Eli. What if he hurt Eli? Devin's protective instincts screamed that the man before him could be dangerous.

The necromancer's mouth tilted up at one corner. "You guessed right. I'm Alstair Gorman, your tutor for the next thirty days."

Devin glared at Alstair before asking Eli, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Eli flashed his innocent gaze toward Devin.

A million reasons why he should keep Eli away from the cold-eyed stranger passed through Devin's mind but not a single fact could he dredge up before Eli's clear green eyes.

"I-I'm sure he's fine." Devin narrowed his eyes at Alstair, who smirked in return.

"I'm more than fine," Alstair purred. "I'm the best necromancer in the country."

"Soon to be second best," Devin taunted.

Alstair raised a blond eyebrow at him. "That remains to be seen."

"I have a long way to go before I can even be called a necromancer," Eli said. He stood and nudged his shoe into the soft dirt. "I'm ready to learn whatever you can teach me-"

"About necromancy," Devin interrupted. He didn't want Alstair to think he could try to teach Eli anything else.

"I have no interest in seduction." Alstair's mouth tightened into a ruler-straight line. "I am, however, extremely interested in your skills, Eli. If you have time, I'd love to have a chat to determine your power level."

"Yeah, I-I've got time." Eli tossed Devin a slight smile before following Alstair.

"See you later," Devin called after him.

Eli waved back.

Devin would hunt him down and rescue him from Alstair if necessary.

Chapter Four.

Eli followed Alstair across campus until they were in the middle of the square. Alstair stopped.

"I want you to stand here and pull up your magical sight."

Eli looked around, trying to determine what might be special about this spot above any others.

"What do you mean?" Eli frowned, trying to decipher Alstair's words.

Alstair turned to face Eli. His cool gaze flickered across Eli an almost physical touch of disapproval. "You know there are two types of sight. Your usual one, and the one where you see magic."

Eli scratched his chin but after a moment of retrospection he shook his head. "No, I still don't know what you mean. I only have one sight."

"You mean you see ghosts all the time?"

Eli shook his head. "Didn't Father tell you? I don't know when I'm seeing ghosts and when I'm not. They look like everyone else to me."

For the first time, interest lit up Alstair's eyes. "This could be an interesting assignment after all. Okay, we are going to start with the basics. Close your eyes."

Obediently, Eli let his eyelids slide shut. Shivers triggered through his body, but he clenched his jaw to stop his teeth from chattering from nerves. He had to be strong. What kind of person found ghosts less intimidating than people?

"I want you to visualize the area around us. Try to picture the people-focus on their life forces."

Behind Eli's eyelids, an image grew. People formed red glowing shapes and he could see them moving.

"Now open your eyes, fast."

Eli snapped open his eyelids. For a moment the world shifted and half the people on campus vanished. Alstair blinked out along with the others only to jump back into focus.

"What happened?" Eli stepped back.

Alstair grinned. "I didn't think it possible. You can actually see not only ghosts but wayfarers. That's amazing."

"What's a wayfarer and why did you vanish?" Shouldn't the necromancer have remained solid? "You're not a ghost, are you? I mean, Devin saw you and everything." Eli winced and pressed his lips closed. He couldn't stop babbling.

"I vanished because I am both ghost and human. I died, but an old lover brought me back. Unfortunately, she was only a witch and couldn't bring me all the way. I'm solid enough that others can see me, but other necromancers know the truth. Wayfarers are ghosts who are stuck in between. Something prevented them from finding their path to the afterlife. Unlike ghosts, who chose to stay on this plane, wayfarers are lost. As necromancers, it is our job to help them on their way."

"But there were so many of them."

"How many did you see?"