Eleos (Book two in The Empaths series)

Chapter Eighteen

It had been several weeks since Pa's arrival and Lucy was seeing less and less of her brother on account of the fact that he was enjoying having someone so similar to their father to bond with.

To Lucy, it seemed that Pa filled a void in Jared's heart, and Jared was doing the same for Pa. It was showing not only in Jared's consistent good mood, but also in Pa's health.

Each and every day, Pa grew stronger. His sadness had slowly ebbed away, and while Lucy could tell that he missed his son terribly, it was a comfort to him to have both her and Jared in his life.

It was mid-September now – almost exactly a month since they had returned to Eleos, and things had settled into an easy pace.

Life was quiet here. No-one seemed to be anxious or in a hurry. People went about their day without a care in the world. And while it was such a wonderful change from their old life, once again, Lucy couldn't help but feel that they should be doing more.

When they first arrived, it seemed as though Lucy and her friends were going to be a part of something so much bigger than themselves, but it had been over a week since she last saw or spoke with Cora, and nothing had been mentioned about them heading to the city to learn more about their powers or how they could assist in or contribute to rebuilding Eleos.

"What are you worrying about?"

Lucy gave a start when Tristan walked into the kitchen – almost spilling her tea down her front.

"Nothing, why?" she replied, putting her cup down to wash the tea off her hand.

"Because the sun hasn't even risen yet and you're awake." He leant against the kitchen bench with sleepy eyes, scratching his head and yawning.

She smiled up at him. "I'm fine, honestly."

Tristan raised his eyebrows. "Liar."

She sighed and rested her head against his bare chest, wrapping her arms gently around his waist. "It's nothing, really. I just feel like..."

"We should be doing more," Tristan finished for her.

"Exactly," she replied. "I just want to... I don't know, maybe learn something new or help fix something, or..." she trailed off and pulled away to look up at him, silently willing him to hear what she was trying to say.

"I get it," He responded, brushing one of her stray curls out of her face. "I've been feeling that nervous energy pent up inside you for days now, which is why I can't sleep." He finished his sentence with comically wide eyes – making fun of her, but only gently, because Lucy was well aware of the fact that he could feel her worry.

"I'd like to go and see Cora in the city today," she said, taking a deep breath at the end of her sentence. "It's not that I don't love living this incredible, peaceful life, but I just want to do... something."

Tristan kissed her gently on the forehead. "Of course," he replied. "I'll come with you." He stepped around her then and grabbed himself a cup out of the cupboard. "We can take Storm and Lady if you like?"

Lucy smiled. Lady was Tristan's horse from back in Montana.

Lady wasn't particularly thrilled that Tristan rode Storm now, and she let him know that regularly. Thankfully though, she had taken a liking to Lucy, and had therefore, and with quiet joy, become Lucy's horse.

Lady would protest loudly if Lucy came to visit Noah and Eden's without at least stopping by to see her.

"I'd like that," Lucy said as she watched Tristan make himself a cup of tea. "I think lady would too."