Halo by Viola Grace Page B

difficulties.”
    Yeerin looked taken aback, and Avina had to stifle a laugh. Her hair was currently a lovely deep lavender and her eyes a bright leaf green behind the silvery lenses. On many worlds that would make her a freak, but in her line of work, it spoke only of debatable taste.
    Avina poured a cup of tea and held it out to her. “Please. I would like to help you if I can.”
    It would be extremely impolite to refuse to take the cup, so Yeerin came forward and took it.
    Avina removed the lenses that filtered her vision so that the auras of the un-bodied didn’t blind her.
    The moment that the lenses were off, Avina could see the problem. It was simple. Yeerin wasn’t haunted. Her jewellery was.
    Keeping to protocol, Avina began a round of routine questions to pinpoint the nature of the haunting. After a few minutes of back and forth, Avina asked, “How long have you been wearing that necklace?”
    The necklace wasn’t visible outside the student robes, but it burned with energy right through her clothing.
    Yeerin blinked and backed away. “How do you know…”
    “It glows with a bio-signature that isn’t yours. That signature is the woman who has been following you around. Your grandmother was very strong.” Avina sipped at her tea.
    “Should I take it off?”
    “No, but pull it out of your robes and hold it in your hand. She is riding on your own energy. It is why you can only occasionally see her. Your own signature flows and flickers past her frequency and that is when you see her.”
    Yeerin looked nervous. “How will my holding the pendant help?”
    “It will guarantee contact while I tune you. May I touch your arm?”
    “Sure.”
    Tuning the living was trickier than simply speaking to the detached aura, but it was part of her job. Avina gently put her fingertips on Yeerin’s forearm and tuned her.
    A moment later, a woman with Nyal and Enjel features was standing in the room and looking around curiously.
    Avina smiled and spoke out loud. “Greetings, lady.”
    I thank you for the opportunity to speak, Aura Speaker.
    “You are most welcome. I understand the frustrations that can accompany your state.”
    My granddaughter needs to cease her flagrant disregard for tradition. I wish her to cease pursuing men and to embrace the power of her mind. It got her this far; she needs to keep going.
    “I see. Would you like me to pass this along to her?”
    Please, Speaker. I don’t have the energy to do it for myself.
    Avina turned her eyes to Yeerin. The shock in the student’s eyes confirmed two things, one, she could see her grandmother, two, Avina’s eyes were glowing.
    “Yeerin, your grandmother has a message for you.”
    “Please, let me hear it.”
    “She wishes you to concentrate on improving the talents that earned you a place here. Her worry is that your pursuit of the opposite sex is going to destroy your potential.”
    Yeerin gasped. “How could she know?”
    The grandmother crossed her arms and looked at her granddaughter. I am with her all day, every day. I see her when she strives; I see her when she fails.
    Avina went into translation mode. She repeated the grandmother’s words and then waited for Yeerin to speak. They went on this way for half an hour. Yeerin would focus on her studies if her grandmother agreed to become a teaching tool for Aura Speakers.
    Avina wasn’t sure how that last one came about, but it was a good trade. If grandmother was going to put her clout down, she was going to work for it. Yeerin was vindictive, but the program benefited, so Avina passed along her demands.
    Yes, I will agree to be trotted out for new Aura Speakers; if Yeerin holds up her end, I will as well.
    “Your grandmother says that she will only hold up her responsibility as long as you do.”
    Yeerin grinned then paused. “What does she look like?”
    Avina blinked. “You can’t…”
    “I see light, nothing else.”
    With a kind smile, Avina looked over the spectral woman. “She is