“Can I come with you? I only had morning classes today.” I don’t know why I’m so eager to tag along, but I’m quite literally itching to get out of Locklear and do something productive.
It’s not because I don’t want to break up with Rafe for his own good. Nope. Not in the slightest.
“No, sorry. Not only do you not have the training, but there’s no way Mr. Qureshi would agree to that.”
“But you’re just going to scout things out, right? I think I can handle a fact-finding mission. Besides, the reason you’re not taking Rafe with you is because he can’t protect himself against the Xers. I can, so I won’t be a liability.” I clasp my hands together. “Please? I have to get out of here for a few hours.”
One of Kaz’ brows lifts and he rubs his jaw with a forefinger and thumb. Finally, he sighs. “I’ll talk to Mr. Qureshi. But don’t get your hopes up. Even though you can create shields and perform counterspells, you’re still a student and he might not go for it.”
I clap a little, then hop up again. “Thank you. Now I’ll leave you to your solitude. Unless, of course, you want to come join us.”
It might not be the best idea to invite him without talking to the others — especially Landon — but I can’t stand to see him alone. Whatever he did before he died, he’s helping us now and that counts for something, counts for a lot.
Kaz shoots his gaze to our table, then looks quickly back to me and huffs a laugh. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m okay here. Better not to disrupt the status quo.”
I purse my lips. Though I decide not to push him, I definitely don’t plan to ultimately let this go. If I’ve read him right, guilt is what’s keeping him on the outside, stopping him from making connections with anyone else at Locklear. Other Ghost Guides sit together at a table across the room, and I wonder if Kaz has exiled himself or if his colleagues have contributed to the problem.
It’s possible he really does like being alone, but I kind of doubt it, at least not all the time. All of us are made for connection.
As I head back to our table, I make it one of my afterlife’s missions to help Kaz find his own peace, even if that means encroaching on his bubble just a little. Everyone deserves to have their people, and not much is unforgivable. After all, I can’t let it be, not when I still don’t know what kind of person I was when I was alive.
I may need a lot of grace when my memories decide to come back.
That afternoon, Mr. Qureshi calls me into his office. If I still had a heart beat it would definitely be racing forward with every step down the hallway. Anticipation has my hand shaking a little when I knock on his door and he calls me inside. Kaz sits in one of the chairs across from his desk, and as I flop down next to him, the headmaster smiles.
Since I overhead his conversation with Ms. Alvarez, I’ve been itching to ask him a million questions. However, this would probably get in the way of my current goal — getting permission to go with Kaz to Blacksburg — so I put a cork on my curiosity.
“Kazuya tells me you’d like to go with him to try and find Mr. Warren’s burial plot.” He steeples his fingers. “Under normal circumstances, I would say ‘no’ outright, but in this case I’m willing to consider it. Your actions in Blacksburg as well as your ability to protect yourself from that Twisted Ghost on campus have proven your skills. All of this combined with your current training program, both private and assigned, assures me not only that you will likely be safe on this mission, but also a possible asset.”
I sit on my hands to keep from fist bumping the air. “Thank you, Mr. Qureshi.”
“That being said.” Mr. Qureshi rests his elbows on the desk. “I do have some stipulations.”
I glance at Kaz, then nod. “Shoot.”
“You will treat this as a school assignment. If Kazuya tells you to do something, you will follow instructions immediately. Within reason, of course.”
With a smirk, I nudge Kaz in the shoulder. “Hear that? No hazing.”
Kaz snaps his fingers. “Darn.”
I giggle as Mr. Qureshi continues. “I also ask that you keep your involvement in all of this as private as possible. There are other students who desire to become Ghost Guides, but because they don’t share your particular powers, we are unable to send them on missions of this nature so soon.”
“No unnecessary drama. Got it.”
I think of Haya and how she wants to follow in Kaz’s footsteps too. Can she even do that without magic? Non-supes can perform certain spells, but they’re always limited. I hope for Haya’s sake that supes without magic can learn them just as well as anyone else. Really though, I can’t imagine Locklear allowing them to become Ghost Guides if it would only put them in danger.
“And finally, promise you will be careful,” Mr. Qureshi says, his dark brows wrinkling a little. “You are very talented, but even the most skilled Ghost Guides can get hurt when dealing with the Xers.”
I almost give him my signature mock salute, but think better of it. “No reckless behavior. Sounds like a reasonable set of stipulations I can absolutely agree to.”
And the more I prove myself, maybe the more likely Mr. Qureshi will be to agree to let me go see the Twisted Ghosts contained somewhere in Locklear. Rafe’s grave is far more pressing than they are at the moment, but a bunch of birds with a single stone and all of that. If I can protect him before anything happens to his body we won’t have a new mess to deal with.
I
