HeartoftheOracle by Viola Grace Page B

that kept running through her thoughts, she couldn't say, but when she saw his cloaked form sitting at one of the street cafes, she immediately stood behind him, moving her invisible form as close to him as she could manage.
    He was giving off waves of power and from what she knew, that was not a common thing. When the hostess at the café came to him and flirted, Lara wanted to slap the woman on her made-up face. She moved closer to her territory and bristled at the woman.
    The server rubbed her arms. "Did it just get cold?"
    The deep voice of Lara's obsession said, "I was noticing a slight chill. Perhaps it is not a good day to stay outside after all."
    He paid his bill and left the table. Lara stayed right behind him, using his body to block the foot traffic on the street.
    She followed him right into the small hotel room he was staying in.
    The moment he closed the door, he looked around him. "Is that you, Lara? Or should I address you as Oracle?"
    Shocked, she almost returned to her body, but getting control of herself, she managed to stay in place near his bed, staring at him as he flipped the hood he was wearing back so that she could see him completely.
    He had thick black wavy hair with a solid shock of white running from a spot over his left eye. His eyes were a brilliant green, his skin a golden tan and he had a jaw that spoke of a stubborn demeanour.
    She watched him remove his cloak and move around the room, getting a drink and sitting on one of the chairs in the corner. "Well, I have never been followed home by a woman before and certainly not one without a body. How are you doing that, Lara?"
    She jolted. He was staring directly at her. She waved and tried to speak, but in this form, she had no voice.
    He smiled as if feeling her frustration. "I can't see you, I can feel you."
    She walked to him and without thinking about it, swept a hand through his chest.
    He hissed and arched toward her touch. "You just touched me, Lara." He shuddered. "Your touch is cold, but I think I could warm you up."
    She smiled. It was the best offer she had heard in a century. Too bad she was far older than he was. She just wanted to know why she felt warmth whenever he was in contact.
    Focussing on his question, she ran her hand through his forehead. He stiffened and arched toward her, but as she withdrew her spectral hand, he groaned.
    "I didn't know you could communicate like that."
    She was impatient. She could feel a tug back to her body, but she wanted the answer to her question. What are you? She wanted to yell it, scream it, but she had to wait. Another sharp tug to her body lessened her presence in his room. She didn't want to leave until she had her answer.
    Begging him for the information, she pressed her fingers to his temples a moment before she faded away. She heard his shout but was back in her body in the temple.
    One of the attendants was tapping her arm, whispering harshly. "Oracle!"
    Groaning internally at how close she had been to an answer to the one question that she had, Lara opened her mind to the young woman. "What do you wish to ask?"
    The woman sobbed and whispered, "My lover is married and I have just found out that I am with child. What shall I do?"
    Lara's heart went out to her and she quickly examined the possibilities before her talent kicked in. "Go on a pilgrimage to Archilal. Walk the entire way. Your child will prove its own will to live during the trek and you will find a future you could never have imagined, but you must leave now or the path will be unclear to you and you will lose your way. Take what you need from the coffers near my head and run. I swear that no one will pursue you."
    The woman sobbed and Lara left her body to watch the young woman kiss her hands frantically and then do as she was told. Lara wasn't sure if it was her talent as an Oracle or just being told what to do, but most who came to visit the Oracle of Miska took the information to heart.
    Lacking the energy to venture any