Somebody to Die For

by Kris T. Bethke

  Jameson understood why she was excited, but Jameson couldn’t feel the same. He didn’t have someone to care for. He was just the extra.

  No. He was going to observe and learn all he could. He was going to take the opportunity to better himself. He knew he had a lot of work ahead of him, and if he wanted to be the best anchor he could be, it had to start right then.

  Resolve in place, he headed into the room.

  Chapter Five

  THE DESK in the middle of the sixth-floor lobby was empty, so Avery bypassed it entirely and walked straight to the big oak doors. He knocked, and Michael called for him to enter. He found Michael and his partner, Sam Jones, engrossed in conversation.

  “I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Avery took a step back.

  “You’re not.” Michael waved him inside. “What’s up?”

  “Did you get my text?”

  Michael nodded. “It was rather ranty too.”

  Avery scowled and refused to rise to the bait. “I don’t think Jameson misinterpreted what he was being told in his training. If the Pensacola branch is actually teaching—”

  Michael raised a hand and cut him off. “I agree. I’ve already put out some feelers to see if I can find out what’s going on down there. I don’t know the director in charge of the program or any of the instructors, but I know a couple of anchors assigned there. I’ll find out what’s going on and move it up the chain if I need to.”

  Avery nodded as relief surged through him. He couldn’t believe what Jameson had told him, and he wanted to make sure they were training operatives the best they could. If they were convincing anchors they were nothing more than a prop to care for a ghostwalker’s physical needs, they were doing everyone a disservice. That rhetoric was more than twenty years old. Their understanding of the connection between ghostwalker and anchor had evolved dramatically since then.

  “Okay. Thank you. I’ll leave you both to it.” Without waiting for a response, Avery turned and left the room. He had a lecture to prepare for, and he didn’t want to keep Michael and Sam from any conversation they needed to have.

  “Hey, Avery. Wait up.”

  Avery paused in the middle of the lobby and turned back as Sam jogged to catch up.

  “Hi, Sam. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  “You didn’t. I wanted to talk to you about something.” Sam chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “First ghostwalk is in a few minutes. I haven’t done the group thing since I was in training.”

  Avery nodded. He remembered his own training sessions and how nervous he’d been as a trainee. Though he’d led one-on-one sessions in the intervening years, he’d never led a group ghostwalk.

  “You’ll be fine.” Avery tried his best to sound encouraging. “From what I hear, you’re great at helping ghostwalkers. I’m sure this will be no different.”

  Sam grimaced. “Maybe not. But… are you busy?”

  Avery looked pointedly down at the binder he was carrying and then back up at Sam. He cocked an eyebrow. “A bit, yes.”

  With a chuckle Sam gestured to the binder. “Too busy to come help?”

  “Help how?” Avery asked warily.

  “Just be there.” Sam blew out a breath and straightened his shoulders. “I know I can do this. But it’s my first one, and I’m nervous. And I’d feel better if you’d just, you know, be in the room as backup. Maybe interject if I forget anything, and help Dom while I’m gone.”

  Avery considered what Sam was saying. On the surface it wasn’t too much to ask. But Avery steered clear of ghostwalking when he could. Lecturing about it was one thing. Being in the room while six or so ghostwalkers died seemed like more than he could handle. Avery looked up to tell Sam, but he stopped short when he saw the anxiety in Sam’s eyes.

  “Just observing?”

  Sam nodded fervently. “Yes. Just to be there.”

  Glancing down at the binder again, Avery gave a barely there sigh. He’d given his talk dozens of times already, and he wasn’t even scheduled to speak until the day after tomorrow. In fact, he could have left the building and worked on it at Derek and Blake’s house. But he felt weird about being in their home when they weren’t there, so he’d intended to find a quiet place to work instead.

  “Sure.” Avery set the binder on Julie’s desk, scribbled a quick note to let Julie know why he’d left it, and placed it on top. “Did you clear it with Renata first?”

  Sam nodded. “She says she’s fine with it. Even offered to come help herself, but I thought it was better to leave her available in case someone else needs her. She’ll hang out for a bit once she sends us all in, but….” Sam glanced at the far wall and blew out a breath. “I’d just feel better if you were there. Dom would too.”

  Avery gestured toward the stairs. “I’m happy to help.”

  It wasn’t even a complete lie. He felt strongly about ghostwalking. That’s why he hadn’t left Requiem Inc. after Luke died. He could have walked away completely and found a mundane job to support himself. But after the all-consuming grief abated, he saw the wisdom of Requiem’s offer. So he lectured instead and provided consultation—as long as he didn’t have to ghostwalk himself.

  The one exception with Blake aside, Avery couldn’t stomach the thought of going into the spirit plane without Luke to anchor him.

  Avery followed Sam into the training room. Ghostwalker and anchor pairs were already settling in. There were six stations, one situated to face the other five. Dom was standing by the chair that was front and center, and Avery walked over to shake his hand.

  Avery turned and surveyed the room. His gaze almost immediately landed on Jameson. He checked a groan. Of course this was Jameson’s group. Jameson gave him a smile and a tiny wave, and Avery returned it automatically even as he realized Jameson was standing alone.

  “Okay.” Dom clapped his hands, and immediately the quiet buzz of conversation ceased. The trainees turned and gave Dom and Sam all their attention. “Let’s get started. Wait. Why are there an uneven number of you?”

  Jameson raised his hand. “That’s me. I don’t have a ghostwalker partner yet. They’re still working on it.”

  Dom turned to Sam, and the two exchanged a conversational look.

  “Get settled everyone. We’ll start in a minute,” Dom told the room at large. Everyone did as he instructed, but Avery’s entire focus was taken up by Sam and Dom as they stepped closer to him.

  “He’s not going to get much practice if he doesn’t have anyone to anchor,” Dom murmured.

  Sam’s gaze landed on Avery, and Avery immediately scowled. “Don’t look at me.”

  Sam shook his head. “No. I wouldn’t… I would never ask you to do that. But what do you think about….” Sam pursed his lips, and his eyes unfocused for a long moment. Then he came back to himself with a little head shake. “Tyler?”

  Avery shrugged. “I don’t know him. He might be one of Michael’s ghostwalkers, but I’ve never met him.”

  “He still doesn’t have an anchor after that bi—Annika left. Michael has been anchoring him sometimes, but he hasn’t been working a lot lately.” Sam rubbed his chin.

  Avery glanced at Jameson, who was in discussion with two women, then back at the pair before him. “Then why doesn’t Requiem pair them together?”

  Dom shrugged. Sam squinted. Avery sighed.

  “Jameson, come here for a second, will you?” Avery called.

  It only took Jameson three strides to get to them. God, he had long legs. Really long and, from the look of them in the tight denim, muscular legs. Avery pushed that thought aside.

  “I’ll help. I won’t be a burden,” Jameson said before anyone could speak. “I’ll learn as much as I can—”

  Sam held up a hand to stem the flow of words. “Did you know we have an unpaired ghostwalker at this branch?”

  Jameson nodded. “When I first got here, they told me. But we only have a 63 percent compatibility match, and there’s a new class of trainees in Albuquerque. They
’re waiting to see if someone better suited comes along first for him and for me.”

  Dom nodded. “Okay. That makes sense.”

  “Would you be opposed to anchoring him today anyway?” Sam looked up in earnest, and Avery felt his mouth tug into a smile. “You could get some practical experience, and I would be grateful for his help on the spirit plane.”

  Jameson’s eyes lit up. “I wouldn’t mind at all. If he’s willing. I don’t want… I mean, if he’s comfortable with it, then that would be great.”

  Sam nodded and turned to Dom. “You give everyone the spiel, and I’ll go talk to Tyler and Michael.”

  Sam didn’t wait for a response before he strode out of the room. Dom chuckled.

  “You better get ready,” Dom told Jameson. “What Sam wants, Sam gets. Especially where those two are concerned.”

  Jameson turned an inquisitive look on Avery, but Avery just smirked.

  “He’s right. Get ready.”

  Jameson hurried over to his station, and Avery made his way to the wall by the door. He leaned against it and shoved his hands into his pockets. He was there to help, to observe, and he didn’t want to be in the way.

  “All right, guys. Listen up.” Dom waited until he had everyone’s attention. “In a few minutes, you’ll be going on your first ghostwalk. Sam will give you the details about what’s going to happen then. But before he does, there are some other things you need to know.”

  Dom moved to the chair that faced the five others. “These recliners are made to do double duty. They’re extra wide for a reason. They convert from the chair in which a ghostwalker does their job, into a bed.”

  With a push of a button, Dom demonstrated how the chair became a flat surface. Then he flipped up panels on the side and locked them into place so that it was slightly bigger than a twin mattress. From underneath he produced a pillow and a blanket.

  “Anchors, please take a few minutes to make sure you can convert the chair easily. Once your ghostwalker has stopped bleeding all over the place, you’ll need to transform the chair without disrupting them. It might help if you practice with your ghostwalker lying in the chair.”

  With a flurry of activity, the trainees moved to do that. Avery’s glance was drawn to Jameson as he worked out the mechanism to convert the chair. Throwing caution to the wind, Avery walked over.

  “Want me to sit so you can try with a person?”

  Jameson beamed. “Would you?”

  Avery sat and leaned back. He had to make a concerted effort to push away the unease that tried to curl in his stomach. He wasn’t ghostwalking. He was just sitting. There was no need to get twitchy.

  “Just keep in mind, Tyler is quite a bit bigger than me.”

  Jameson nodded, but his attention was on the chair. Avery leaned against the back, and in a few moments, Jameson had the chair in the bed position. Avery smiled at Jameson’s anxious look.

  “Perfect. Smooth and easy. That’s the key. And you did it exactly right.”

  Jameson’s grin was blinding. Christ, if just that much praise could make Jameson smile like that, Avery thought he needed to hear good things more often. But not from him. Avery liked the kid, but there was no sense in getting attached.

  “Sit me back up.”

  The moment Jameson had the chair in the upright position, Avery hopped up. He gave Jameson what he hoped was an encouraging smile and crossed the room quickly. Then he took up his post against the wall. Avery needed the distance.

  “Good job, everyone.” Dom’s pleased voice echoed through the room. “Now, in the cupboard next to the chair, you’ll find all your supplies. Absorbent pads, gauze, saline-based cleaner, water, cold compresses—they become cold when you smash them—and cloths. Do all the ghostwalkers have their med kits?”

  There was a resounding affirmative, and Dom smiled.

  “Great. When you have your assignments and move into your offices, you’ll have all that stuff stocked by the cleaning and medical crews. For now, ghostwalkers, make sure you have your kit with you whenever you ghostwalk.

  “Now. I’m going to be here throughout the whole thing, so if any of you anchors have questions, you can ask. I assume, with the exception of Jameson, you’ve all had your required sequesters?”

  Everyone nodded except Cody and his anchor, Ezra.

  “We got paired together just before training. We didn’t meet until we got here,” Ezra said quietly. He was a soft-spoken young man, and Avery thought he looked intimidated by his much bigger and gruffer-looking ghostwalker.

  “Did you have a chance to get to know each other at all?” Dom asked, concern coloring his expression.

  “Some,” Cody bit out. He took a deep breath and made a visible effort to relax. Avery vaguely wondered what his issue was. “But we didn’t get the time to sequester together as protocol dictates. We got about three hours instead of the three days required.”

  Dom nodded and ran a finger over his lips. “Are you comfortable doing this today? Or do you feel like you need more time?”

  “We’ll be fine,” Cody responded tersely.

  Ezra jumped a little, but he nodded his agreement quickly. Avery frowned and wanted to question the pair further. If they weren’t really ready, there would be trouble when Cody came back to life.

  “Take some time now,” Dom instructed, and his tone made it clear it wasn’t a suggestion. “Sometimes just jumping in is a good way to get a feel for each other. I know a pair who did that, but the anchor had already gone through training, and the ghostwalker was an accomplished operative when they were paired. You both need to be sure of what to expect from each other before, during, and after the ghostwalk.”

  Cody’s expression went hard, but then, just as fast, it smoothed out, and he nodded. He turned to Ezra, who gave him a tremulous smile, and Avery relaxed too. He kept one eye on the pair, even as he let some of his attention wander to everyone else.

  The door opened, and Sam walked in with Tyler in tow. Tyler looked nervous but resolute, and he followed Sam over to Jameson.

  “Jameson, this is Tyler. He’s been ghostwalking for five years, so he knows what he’s doing, and he’ll make it easy on you. All you have to do is listen to him, remember what he needs, and you’ll both be fine.”

  “Hi, Tyler. Thank you for agreeing to help.”

  Tyler shrugged one big shoulder and gave a half smile. “No problem.”

  “You guys take a few minutes. Ty, just let Jameson know what you need when you go in and come back. Okay?”

  Tyler nodded, sat in the chair, and turned to Jameson. Jameson sat in his own chair and pulled it closer. Avery watched as Jameson gave Tyler all his attention. His heart warmed at the careful way Jameson listened, and he smiled at the little line that appeared between Jameson’s brows as he concentrated. When Jameson smiled and reached out to squeeze Tyler’s arm, Avery knew they’d be okay.

  “Listen up,” Sam said after a few more minutes. “This is how we’re going to do this. I want you all to take time right now to center yourselves. Some of you have already died and come back to life. Those of you who haven’t have learned all the necessary steps. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. But I have full confidence that you can do this.

  “Director Johnson will come in and send us all into the spirit plane. I’ll go first. I’ll be waiting in the lobby of this building. You are all to meet me there. It may take you a bit, but we’ll wait. Then, after everyone is together, we’ll come back. It won’t be long here on the mortal plane, but time moves differently on the spirit plane. But this is your first trip, and all we’re focusing on now is for you to be able to direct yourself to the place you need to go. All right? Any questions?”

  There weren’t any, and Sam had them all get situated and focused. Shirts and shoes were removed as the ghostwalkers got comfortable. Avery felt like he should say something to help, but he didn’t know what. Instead he let his gaze wander back to Jameson. His dark head was bent as he listened to Tyler an
d nodded along with whatever Tyler was saying. Avery had the strange urge to go over there and reassure Jameson that he’d be fine.

  When Renata came in with a cart full of swords, Avery stepped back farther into the corner. She looked around and spent a few seconds focusing on each person. As a Guardian, she had telepathic abilities that allowed her to read people’s thoughts. And Avery knew she was making sure each trainee was ready.

  Apparently they were, because without any fanfare, she lifted a sword, held it high, and rammed it straight through Sam’s chest.

  Dom was quick to show exactly what an anchor should do, and the anchor trainees followed suit. Avery knew he didn’t have to stay. Dom and Sam had handled themselves well, and when the ghostwalkers came back to life, they’d continue to do so. But Avery couldn’t make himself leave. His attention was riveted to Jameson and the gentle way he cared for Tyler.

  Avery knew Jameson would be fine, just from the short conversation he’d had with him. But watching him in action was a sight to see. If Avery didn’t already know Jameson didn’t have the gene, he would have assumed he did. After only conversing with Tyler for a few minutes, Jameson’s care was exceptional.

  Of course, the real test would be when Renata pulled them all back.

  It didn’t take long. The ghostwalkers had only been gone for a little over an hour when the director came strolling back into the room. Dom looked up when she entered, and she nodded at him and then addressed the anchors.

  “They’re ready. I’m going to start pulling them back. Be prepared.”

  As the anchors moved into action, Renata crossed to the far side of the room. She pulled the sword from Cody’s chest, set it on the cart, and only waited long enough to make sure Ezra was doing what he should to stem the blood before she moved on to the next pair. Slowly, she made her way down the line, until she reached Tyler and Jameson.

  With a nod at Jameson, Renata pulled the sword free, and Jameson sprang into action. He held on to Tyler and made sure the absorbent pads were in place. When Tyler’s entire body jerked as he sucked in his first breath, Jameson was right there with soothing words. Tyler shuddered, and his face went white as tears leaked out of his eyes. But Jameson handled it well. After an initial fumbling, he hit his stride and cleaned Tyler up. Then he adjusted the chair into a bed and administered pain meds.