"Dozens." Eli tried to think back. "At least half the people in this square are dead."

Alstair glanced around the area. "How many people do you see right now?"

Eli did a quick head count. "Thirty-seven."

He watched the necromancer spin around and do a calculation of his own. "I only see twenty. That means seventeen people are strong enough to hide from a regular necromancer or faint enough to only be shown to the strongest."

"What does that mean for me?" Eli kept trying to connect the dots with a broken pencil and he couldn't form a picture.

"It means where usually I have to train necromancers to see ghosts. I have to train you not to see them, or at least to understand what you're seeing." Alstair paused as if trying to regroup. "Okay, I want you to concentrate on me. Try to find my life force and see what makes me different from the others. What they don't tell you in your limited training is if you can't find a spark then you are facing a ghost. Ready?"

"Yeah," Eli said. He wouldn't become any more ready by stalling.

"Try now."

Eli closed his eyes and focused. He could hear the hum of electricity tangling through the air. The heartbeat of those who lived and the quiet pockets of silence among those who'd died. He could hear a thousand whispers mixed in a hundred conversations across campus and he wondered if this was what werekin experienced all the time. Like him, did they have to learn to shut their senses off?

He opened his eyes and everyone still stood there except the ones who'd vanished before now remained. A light glow floated around the ones lacking heart and blood. "They shimmer now."

"What?"

"Instead of vanishing, they have a slight shine to them. I can tell which ones are ghosts because they glimmer." A sigh went through Eli. His biggest concern had been identifying ghosts. He should've known he'd be considered strange even for a necromancer. The ghosts before him flickered a bit. It took effort to keep the flashing sight-after a moment a headache threatened the edges of his mind. Eli relaxed and everything went back to solid.

"What happened?"

"It hurts to hold it. I was going to get a headache."

Alstair tilted his head as he considered Eli. "I can't tell you how fascinating I find it that you have to work at not having vision while others spend hours trying to see ghosts in the first place."

"It's just one of the ways I'm screwed up," Eli said. He glanced away from the necromancer. He hoped his tutor's other tests were easier because he didn't seem to understand Eli at all. What Alstair thought an easy exercise, Eli found incredibly challenging.

"I want you to practice not seeing ghosts. After you get the hang of it, you might not get a headache from the strain. We can meet up again tomorrow afternoon and work on our next lesson. I'm not going to give you too much information because I don't want you to be overwhelmed. We have thirty days for me to show you techniques. Do you have an avatar?"

"No." He'd thought he'd get one in his class, but he hadn't had any luck when he tried the first time.

Alstair tapped his fingers against his leg. "Don't take it too hard if you don't get one. A lot of necromancers never get a companion. Avatars are picky about dealing with people who communicate with the dead. I never had one."

"Thanks for telling me. I look forward to our next lesson." He meant that. Alstair might be a strange man, but Eli knew he could learn a lot from him. Eli said his goodbyes and left Alstair in the middle of the field. It seemed necromancers couldn't do a lot of things regular wizards could. Trust him to finally get a defective magical power.

The next few days Eli learned that he could turn on and off his sight, but ghosts only dimmed-they didn't completely vanish from his vision unless he concentrated very hard and it almost always resulted in a headache.

"I'm never going to learn not to see ghosts."

"Don't take it too hard, Eli, at least you have a hot date tonight," Porter soothed.

"Yeah, are you going to come with? Devin is bringing his brothers, I'm sure he wouldn't mind another body," Eli said.

"Uh, no. You know I don't like crowds." Porter didn't look up from his book.

Eli caught a glimpse of the cover. "Why are you reading that book again? I thought you finished it last week?"

"I like this book," Porter said defensively.

"Okay, okay, sorry." Eli didn't know why his friend would rather stay in and read the same book over and over, but it wasn't his business. Porter was one of the few people who had come forward and really made Eli welcome when he first came to campus. Eli didn't want to make him feel bad. It wasn't Porter's fault he had a phobia about crowds.

A knock on the door surprised them. Eli opened it to find Devin on the other side.

"Hey, Devin, I thought I was going to meet you there." Had they changed the location and Eli had forgotten?

"Yeah, but I didn't want you to get lost." Devin's sweet smile had Eli's mouth curving in an identical grin.

He could easily fall for Devin. His heart clenched at the thought. Love was a big emotion, one he didn't know if he was ready for.

"You should come in and meet Porter." Eli stepped back to allow Devin into the dorm.

He turned to find Porter's bed empty.

"Who's Porter?" Devin asked, walking inside.

"My roommate." Eli looked around but didn't see where Porter could've gone. There weren't exactly a lot of corners to hide in. "That's weird."

"Oh, I thought you had the room to yourself." Devin looked around with him.

Eli took a slow breath and pulled up his other sight. Porter popped into view, curled up on his bed and trying to be invisible.

"You're a ghost." Eli couldn't help staring. Now everything made sense. Why Porter never talked to anyone else, how he escaped the teacher's notice. "Why didn't you say something?"

Porter shrugged his shoulders. "Because you were so happy to make a friend and I like having you with me. I never really got along with anyone so well before. You're not going to banish me, are you?"

"Why do you want to stay here on campus?" Eli had learned in his ghost class that all spirits had a purpose. Even if sometimes they didn't know it.

"Because I died in a freak accident my first day and I never got to experience college. I'd been wandering around school haunting my old dorm until you came. With you I get to attend classes and see what I was missing out on."

"But you don't go to all my classes," Eli pointed out.

A sad smile crossed Porter's face. "I can only attend the ones I had signed up for as a student when I first came here. A lot of them aren't offered anymore."

"Do you want me to send you on?"

Porter shook his head. "I'm not ready yet. Are you mad at me?"

"Who are you talking to?" Devin asked.

Eli turned to see his date frowning at him.

"I just found out my roommate is a ghost." Eli ran his fingers through his hair. Trust him to screw up a simple outing. "If you want to call off tonight, I'll understand."

"Hell no, I want to hear all about your ghost roommate."

"Hey, I'm still here," Porter's annoyed tone returned Eli's attention to the ghost.

"Sorry."

"I hate to interrupt your conversation but I would like to know if you're going to banish me."

Eli thought it over. Porter wasn't harming anyone and it was kind of nice to have the company. "No. It's not your fault you're a ghost, though you could've told me once I discovered I was a necromancer. If you are happy here, it isn't for me to try to send you over."

If Porter was suffering or causing problems, Eli would've considered it, but all Porter had ever done was to be his friend.

"I was going to tell you. I just didn't know how to break the news."

Eli nodded. He could understand Porter's reasoning.

"Are we leaving or are you going to talk to your invisible friend all night?" Devin asked.

Eli jabbed Devin in the ribs. "Don't be rude. Porter, this is Devin. Devin, this is Porter." He waved a hand to where the ghost sat.

Devin squinted his eyes as if he was trying to see Porter through sheer will. "I can't see anything."

Eli wrapped his fingers through Devin's and concentrated.

"Oh, hi!" Devin said. He straightened his back as if experiencing a jolt of shock.

"Hello," replied Porter. "I encouraged him to go out with you, so don't break his heart. I might be a ghost, but I can still make you suffer."

"Um, I'll try not to."

"Let's go." Eli pulled Devin after him and left the dorm.

"So you've been rooming with a ghost?"

"Don't start. I don't want to talk about it." He still felt like an idiot for not knowing Porter was dead.

"Hey," Devin pulled him to a halt. "I know it must be confusing to not know who's a ghost and who's not, but you're doing great."

A warm glow filled Eli at Devin's praise. He had worried Devin might consider him a freak and back out of their date. Pleasure filled him at Devin's continued insistence on them going out. "Thanks." He kissed Devin's mouth, a quick brush of lips to convey his gratitude.

"Any time." Devin cupped Eli's cheek with his hand. "Any time at all."

Eli let Devin drag him to the pizza parlor. They met Dan and Dean in front of the restaurant. Dan had a gorgeous man beside him who smelled of ash and heat.

"Eli, these are my brothers Dan and Dean and my brother Dan's mate Farren."

"Nice to meet you."

Dean's eyes went wide. "What's it like to be a necromancer?"

Devin nudged his brother. "Don't ask him that-it's rude."

Eli laughed. There were a lot of ruder questions Dean could've asked. "No, that's all right. So far I've found it more confusing than anything else." Eli didn't like being the center of attention, but he didn't have the social skills to turn things around. That was what happened when you were raised unwanted in a big mansion with tutors. Eli had never learned how to handle social situations well. Only for Devin would he even try. If he planned to start a relationship with the triplet, Eli would have to get to know Devin's brothers.

Devin wrapped his arm around Eli as if sensing his need for emotional support. Eli blushed beneath the interested gaze of Devin's brothers.

They entered the restaurant-luckily a large, curved booth in the corner had opened up and a gnome waitress motioned them toward it. Eli smiled when Dan and Farren cuddled together on one side of the booth. He took a seat beside Dean. Devin shoved in close beside him.

"Dude, give me some room," Dean complained.

Devin scowled but moved onto one of the chairs, shooting daggers at his brother.

A gnome appeared before their table. "Hey, guys." She looked around. "Is Jay coming?"

"No. He's got something at the pack house. Barking night or something," Dan said.

"Don't be a dick," Dean snapped. "It's a full moon ceremony. Is there something you don't like on your pizza, Eli?"

"I'm not a big fan of mushrooms." He'd eat just about anything else but he hated mushrooms.

"Good." Dean closed his menu and spoke to the hovering waitress. "We'll take the usual then."

"I'll have it up in a few minutes." The gnome walked off to take care of the next table. Eli set his menu down.

He was about to open his mouth and ask about their usual when a familiar perky brunette plopped down beside him. "Hey, guys."

She propped her hands on the table and leaned over exposing the tops of her breasts to the table's occupants.

"Mary Sue." Devin's scowled. "What are you doing here?"

"It's a pizza place. What do you think I'm doing?"

"Are you with someone?"

"I thought I'd join you!" Mary Sue's wistful gaze landed on Dean, who seemed to find his fingernails completely attention absorbing.

Eli felt a twinge of pity for the girl. Apparently Devin hadn't lied about her interest in his brother.

"I don't think that will work tonight." Devin gave her an apologetic smile. "We are kind of full right now."

"That's all right. I can pull up a table right here."

"Sorry fire codes," their gnome waitress showed up to deliver their drinks. "We can't put any seating in the aisles."

"Come with me, Mary Sue. We have room at our table." A pretty girl with light brown hair and wide brown eyes approached the table.

"Daniella." Dean cleared his throat before he spoke her name. His eyes warmed with interest as he watched the new girl.

Eli hid his grin. The slight tremor in Dean's voice told Eli that Devin should pin his ambition on this girl instead of Mary Sue.