Chapter 2: Chapter 2
He navigated down the mountain—the twisty road required all his attention—breathed out a heavy sigh, and hit the buttons on his steering wheel to call Michael.
“You on the road yet?”
Avery chuckled at his oldest friend’s greeting. “I’m okay. Thanks for asking. How are you?”
Michael blew out a breath, and there was a little humor in his tone when he responded. “I worry. I expected your call an hour ago.” He paused, cleared his throat, and then continued. “And I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”
Avery smiled and dug his sunglasses out of the center console. He slipped them on and answered. “And, yes, I’m on the road now. Should be there in a little over four hours, depending on when or if I need to stop.”
“And you’re going straight to Blake’s?”
“I was planning on it.”
“Good. Derek has been cooking up a storm. He’s invited me and Sam for dinner. But I wanted to check with you to see if that’s okay.”
Avery rolled his eyes. “If I said no, you’d be waiting in the driveway when I got there, worried out of your head.”
Michael’s warm chuckle soothed something inside Avery. “Probably, yes. I’m hardwired that way.”
“You’re overbearing is what you are.” He tempered the jab with a smile. Even though Michael couldn’t see him, Avery knew it would come through in his words. “I’m okay, Michael. Really.”
“You don’t have to do this if you’re not ready.”
“I’m on their payroll. I do what they tell me.” Even as Avery said it, he knew that wasn’t entirely true. Requiem had been more than accommodating when Luke died, and had kept Avery on staff even though he wouldn’t actively ghostwalk anymore. The ability to die and come back to life and to be aware while in the spirit plane was rare. They didn’t want to lose Avery or his expertise just because he couldn’t ghostwalk.
“I would have talked to them,” Michael insisted, his words little more than a growl. Michael was one of his closest friends. They had trained together at the same time, but more than that, Michael had the anchor gene. In Michael, it went a step further, as he developed telepathic abilities and had the capacity to concentrate his care on multiple operatives at a time. Michael wasn’t just an anchor, he was a Guardian.
“And maybe you would have gotten them to listen.” Avery doubted it, though. The board was dead set on starting the training program at the Duncan Moor branch and was just as determined that Avery work with the program. Since he was comfortable there, and it was just lecturing and sharing his knowledge, Avery hadn’t fought too hard. Once they took ghostwalking off the table, that is. At least that way, he was in a place he didn’t hate with people he liked. And hopefully, as long as he cooperated, they wouldn’t try to get more out of him.
As understanding as they had been about his bonded’s death and the aftermath it wreaked on Avery, he didn’t know how long that would last.
“Damn straight, I would have. Avery, I can still talk to them if you’re not—”
“I’m fine,” Avery interrupted. It was better to cut Michael off before he built up a head of steam. It was also the truth. He was in a better place than he’d been even six months earlier. He would never fully recover from Luke’s death, but he was healing. “Really, Michael. I’ll come, I’ll lecture, I’ll visit, and I’ll go home again. Rinse and repeat. It’s better than the alternative.”
Michael was silent for a long time. Finally he sighed. “All right. I’ll stop pushing.”
Avery snorted out a laugh. “No, you won’t.”
“Can’t help it,” Michael said flippantly. “I care about you, and that means you have to deal with me being, well…me.”
“Yeah, I know.” Avery smiled slightly. “Thanks.”
“Anytime. I’ll see you soon.”
“See you.” Avery tapped the button to disconnect the call before Michael could think of something else to say. He needed silence, and he liked to make long drives. It gave him time to think.
Tomorrow, he’d be standing in front of a group of trainees on the last leg of their journey—ghostwalkers and anchors all but ready to start their career. They’d had all the theoretical training they could get, and they’d made it that far. The last three to six months were about actually putting that training to use. Ghostwalkers would die, their anchors would care for them, and they’d all learn how to navigate the process. Avery’s lectures would be about walking on the spirit plane and how to help lost souls cross over. His one-on-one sessions would address individual concerns.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone