Let Me Find Your Omega - Ashe Moon Page 0,22

and felt the slightest flutter in my stomach. I exhaled the last bit of air in my lungs and sat up from the water. The candles flickered around the perimeter of my tub as they were touched by the chilly breeze flowing lightly across my loft’s rooftop patio. I flicked water onto them to put them out, and then rose from the bath and walked over to the balcony. It was cold, but coming from the heat of the bath felt perfect and refreshing. My roof was my favorite place, my space where I could best align my energies. Shaded with thick foliage from my garden of potted plants, it was private yet still had a lovely view of my neighborhood and, most importantly, the open sky. The moon and stars were a source of my powers, and I had to be able to bask under them to keep my senses sharp.

I wrapped myself up in a robe and went inside. My body tingled with nervous energy, and I immediately went to the kitchen to make myself a cup of soothing herbal tea. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was getting myself into something I shouldn’t.

No, I was fine. This wouldn’t interfere with my abilities and the vow that I’d made. I wasn’t in love with him or anything. I wasn’t pursuing anything. This was simply a friendly dinner with a friendly alpha.

The following afternoon, I was getting the divination chamber ready for my next client when there was a knock on the back door. Exactly on time, Elise was here for her very first official day as my assistant.

“Good afternoon,” I said, trying my hardest to take on the strict, formal tone my professors used with me. I couldn’t make it last very long. “Are you ready?”

“I’m so ready!” she said, hurrying inside. Elise had already developed a bit of a routine from all the times she’d come to help—she pulled back the wall drapery and opened up my hidden storage locker to put her backpack away. I sat down by my desk and instructed her to gather several things from the ingredients drawers to prepare an incense bundle. Her eyes lit up excitedly. She’d always helped me with cleaning the place before shutting down for the day, but this was the first time I’d tasked her with something involving divination.

“I did it, by the way,” she said as she carefully selected some sprigs of silver pine and wolf’s tail. “I gave Lupin a present.”

“Elise, that’s great! So, are you friends now? What did he think?”

“Umm… I kinda put it in his desk during lunch break.”

“You didn’t give it to him personally?”

“I wanted to!” she exclaimed, squeezing the botanicals tightly in her hand. “I tried! But I couldn’t find the right time, so I just put it in his desk.”

“But he knows it’s from you?”

Her face went red with embarrassment. I held out the open incense container for her to put the ingredients into.

“Elise,” I said, “I believe the point was for you to become friends with this boy. Right? You didn’t leave any kind of note that it was from you?”

“I messed up,” she mumbled. “But he liked it. It was a book on diggerball champions over the past fifty years. I saw him reading it in class. Kole, what should I do? How will I get him to notice me?”

“Well, maybe you ought to go up and introduce yourself,” I suggested. “Let him know you were the one who got him the book.”

“There’s gotta be another way,” she mused.

“You could write him a letter,” I said, remembering back to the academy. Kids would drop love notes into their crushes’ letterboxes confessing their feelings and asking them out. Most of my friends had received notes at some point, and though I’d already committed to my vow of chastity, I did feel pretty sad when I never received any letters myself.

“A letter,” she said. “You’re right! I could do that. And if he doesn't like me, I can just say someone was playing a prank on me…”

“No,” I said. “If you like him, then you have to commit to whatever you decide. Don’t shy away.” I climbed up onto a stepladder to reach a high drawer and pulled out two large divination crystals that were the color of a tropical sea. They sparkled inside when I touched them, and I handed one to Elise. It immediately went dim.

“The art of divination takes commitment,” I went on. “It takes