Eleos (Book two in The Empaths series)

Chapter Seven

She opened her eyes and watched as Elijah practically danced across the room to collect her grace glass.

"Well, I never," he proclaimed, hands over his mouth when he reached the spot where her glass was sitting.

"Is something wrong?" Cora asked, crossing the room.

"Not at all," Elijah replied. "This is just... unusual." In his gloved hands, he held up a figurine of a woman dancing. Her colours caught the light, shimmering and glittering brightly. It was very similar to Cora's glass, only her arms were held high in the air above her.

Lucy stared at it from across the room, feeling a sudden urge to take it in her hands.

Elijah placed it down on the counter under Cora's instruction, and she moved her hand slowly toward it. The figure shifted away.

"Well, I'll be," Cora whispered.

"Is something wrong?" Lucy asked, still fighting the urge to run over and snatch up the little figure.

Cora looked up, and Lucy could almost see the shock in her eyes, slowly melting away to resolve. "It appears that you are far more powerful than we first thought."

"Why do you say that?" Lucy asked, slowly moving across the room.

Cora turned to face Lucy and her friends, folding her hands in front of her. "When young Empaths come in to choose their first piece of Grace Glass, they usually identify strongly with one element in particular. Earth, Air, Fire, Water, or if they're particularly special, Spirit." She looked back over her shoulder at Lucy's glass. "Sometimes, an Empath may be strong enough to identify with two elements at once, which may cause two pieces of glass to merge together into one." She smiled over at Lucy and moved ever so slightly so that they could see the little figurine sitting on the counter. "This particular piece, and pieces like it are rare indeed, and usually reserved for someone like me, an Elder, who is able to tap into, and identify with all five of the elements at once." She placed a hand on Lucy's shoulder, stopping her from edging closer to the glass. "You can feel its pull, can't you?"

Lucy nodded.

"Then it definitely does belong to you," Cora said, stepping out of the way, but she still did not take her hand from Lucy's shoulder. "I must caution you not to touch it with your bare skin right now, not until I have taught you how to use it. Grace glass is strong when it contains a link to just one element. This one contains all five and it could be highly dangerous if you do not learn to use it correctly before touching it. Do you understand me?"

She waited until Lucy pulled her eyes from the little dancing woman on the counter and looked directly at her. "Do you?" she repeated.

Once again, Lucy nodded.

"Good," Cora said with a smile. "Congratulations, Lucy, on receiving your very first piece of Grace Glass."

Elijah clapped happily from behind the counter before he took out a little silk bag and carefully placed the dancing woman into it. He passed it to Lucy, bowing his head as he did.

"Thank you," Lucy replied, feeling suddenly overwhelmed. Warmth spread from the little bag in her hands, right through her entire body, making her hair blow back from her face.

Cora chuckled. "Yes, there's absolutely no doubt it's your glass." She turned to the others. "Well, who would like to go next?"

They all surged forward, eager to choose.

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