Page 7 of Omega Sanctuary

I dropped off a fresh batch of scones in the baker's case, but had to stop. The dining room was filled with people arriving for the Festival. Energy prickled my skin, like I was sitting too close to a fire. Sweat and yeast mingling together until I gagged and fled for the kitchen.

I stepped on Missy as I raced to the window. "Sorry," I panted, taking in gulps of air.

"It's okay. You want Nan?" She was used to my weirdness by now.

"Not right now."

Missy nodded and took the rest of the scones out for me. I thought I'd escaped attention, until Nan came into the kitchen with a grimace.

"Priestess Sabine is here."

"She can't know," I said. It was too personal. Whatever this was, it was intimate. Like discovering I had my monthly bleeding for the first time. I wouldn't just tell everyone on the street, and this was worse somehow. Most women experienced their moon flow, but whatever was going on with me was out of the norm.

It was probably some odd illness we didn't have a name for yet, like how Widow Bhinti fainted for no good reason, but what if it wasn't?

"Come out and see her." Nan approached me.

I retreated into the pantry. "I'm getting better."

Nan huffed, and left the kitchen.

I let out a sigh of relief. While I was here, I could pull some berries out, make some more fruit tarts. I reached up to the shelf, and my hands shook.

I stifled a scream. My stupid body was betraying me. Again. I glared at the bushel of berries, focusing everything I had on picking them up.

Dizziness washed over me. I grabbed the shelf, taking in small breaths. Black spots danced in my vision. Don't pass out here, Nan would have a fit. It would be off to see Priestess Sabine for sure.

"Why haven't you bonded an alpha?"

The male voice was back. This time, in the confines of the pantry, his presence was a comforting warmth. Like someone stood just behind me.

I leaned my forehead on the shelf. Maybe the room would stop spinning if I closed my eyes. "Who are you?"

"Me?" He was surprised. "Can you actually hear me?"

I tried to nod, but my head was spinning. "I've heard you off and on for weeks."

"Your change is sooner than you think if you can hear me. You need to bond an alpha."

"Can't," I panted. I was just a beta. "Name?"

"Kivai. Can you see the smaller spirits?"

"The cute little mice and moles?" I opened my eyes. A walnut raisin loaf stared back at me, and I had the irrational urge to offer Kivai some food. "They look like fireflies?"

"Yes," Kivai said, his voice a mixture of concern and relief. "Ask the Priestess if there is anyone with spirit magic to train you."

"Spirit magic." I looked over my shoulder.

A faint outline of a man behind me. He was taller than me, blond, or maybe that was the warm golden glow around him.

Energy moved inside me. I reached out for him, and stumbled.

He stepped away. "It's too soon, too much. I shouldn't even be here, but I'm worried."

Footsteps, impossibly loud on the tile floor, rang in my ears.

"Zara?" Nan's voice, part plea, part command. "Are you alright?"

---