Eleos (Book two in The Empaths series)

Chapter Two

He quickly disappeared into his cottage, emerging only minutes later with a pack, several lanterns and some food for everyone to share.

"It's not much," he said as he handed over two loaves of bread, "but it will do for now."

Jared's eyes lit up. He took the piece that Scarlett offered him and chomped on it. He looked over at Luke, his expression euphoric. "You made this yourself?" he asked, his mouth full.

Luke chuckled. "Yes. I did."

"It's good," Jared replied, patting Luke on the back before walking away to talk to Riley.

Luke smiled at Jared and then down at Scarlett, who stood beside him. "He's just like his father," he said.

Scarlett nodded. "In so many ways."

Luke's gaze drifted to Lucy, who was standing with Tristan, talking quietly. "Lucy looks like her father, but I get the impression there is quite a lot of Liz in there."

"You have no idea," Scarlett replied with a laugh. "Lucy has so much of Elizabeth's strength, although sometimes she does need reminding of that fact. She has a heart of gold, and she worries, all of the time."

"Poor kid," Luke replied.

"They've both been through so much," Scarlett said, biting her lip.

Luke wrapped a comforting arm around her. "You all have."

"We all have," Scarlett replied, looking up at him and touching the side of his face. "Some more than others," she whispered.

Luke smiled warmly at her and kissed the top of her head. "I'm just happy you're here now."

"Guys, maybe we should consider going back to get some of the things we left at the campsite, on the other side of the gates?" Caleb suggested, bringing Luke and Scarlett's attention back to the group.

Noah nodded. "You're right. We'll probably need most of it tonight at least." He turned to Luke with a resigned half-smile. "I guess we were a little over-excited to come home."

Luke laughed. "I can only imagine."

"Right then," Noah continued, "how about I take a smaller group back and we'll pick up our things, and meet the rest of you at the village centre?"

All of the men left with Noah, including Luke, to go back and pick up their belongings.

"I'm curious to see what it looks like over there now," Luke said as he quickly kissed Scarlett goodbye and followed the others. Noah clapped him on the back as Luke walked up beside him. The girls could just hear Noah chuckling as they walked away.

"Well, we should make our way back to the village and wait, I guess," Scarlett said as she quickly turned to go and close up Luke's cottage.

The girls slowly began walking across the meadow, and Lucy waited behind for Scarlett.

"There's something I wanted to ask you about," Lucy said when Scarlett finally emerged, holding what looked like one of Luke's coats.

"Sure," Scarlett replied, looking at Lucy with a worried expression. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh, yes, everything is fine," Lucy said quickly. "I just wanted to ask you about what happened with the gates, before they exploded."

Scarlett nodded. "Of course," she said, "I know exactly what you want to know."

Lucy frowned.

"We didn't see it until it was too late," Scarlett continued. "When we realised that the gates were being held closed with something much stronger than the other four elements combined, we ran to try and stop you, but..."