Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8) - Shannon Messenger Page 0,213

before their fingers connected. “My enhancing’s extra strong with Empaths,” she warned, “so I don’t know if that’ll be too distracting.”

Oralie frowned. “Only with Empaths?”

“Also with Telepaths,” Sophie corrected. “Any idea why?”

“Not necessarily…” Which wasn’t really an answer, but Sophie decided not to point that out either. “I’m sure I can handle your enhancing—but maybe it’s better if we hold each other’s wrists. That way our palms and fingertips don’t directly connect, since that’s where both of our abilities are the most sensitive.”

Oralie stretched her arms out a little farther, and Sophie held her breath as she grabbed onto Oralie’s wrists at the same time that Oralie grabbed onto hers—and both of them jolted from the shock of sparks that zinged up their arms.

“Sorry,” Sophie mumbled, trying to pull her hands free.

Oralie tightened her grip. “It’s fine, Sophie. Actually… I think this might be helpful. It’s a whole other world of clarity.” She tilted her head, studying Sophie like she was seeing her for the first time. “You are so brave. So determined. I can feel that now more than ever. But I feel your nerves—and while I understand them, I want you to acknowledge your nervousness, and then let it go. As I said, this is simply an exercise. Try not to overthink it.”

“I’ll try.” Sophie took a slow, deep breath. Then another. And another. “I should warn you: I’m not very good at clearing my head.”

Oralie smiled. “I know the feeling. But the good news is, the point of this exercise is to become more aware—not less. And I’ll be guiding you to the proper kind of focus. Are you ready to begin?”

“I guess,” Sophie hedged, taking another deep breath before closing her eyes. “What do I do?”

Oralie cleared her throat. “I’m going to walk you through a countdown of sorts, that focuses on each of your abilities—starting with your telepathy, then your inflicting, then your teleporting, then your talent as a Polyglot, and finally your enhancing. So to begin, I want you to think about how it feels to be a Telepath—and I don’t mean to use the ability now. That would make it too difficult for you to focus. Fortunately, you have a photographic memory, so you should be able to recall the experience vividly. So remember the last time you opened your mind to someone else and searched their thoughts. And as you visualize that, I want you to give me five words—five sensations—that define the way your telepathy works. What is it like to open your mind to someone else’s consciousness? And not what you hear or see or learn. How does that feel?”

“Um…”

Sophie had a hunch she was going to be very bad at this, but she squeezed her eyes tighter and tried to do as Oralie instructed.

Technically, the last mind she’d searched was Lord Cassius’s—and she did not feel like reliving that wonderful experience. So she pictured the mental conversation she’d had with Keefe afterward, which still hadn’t been pleasant, since she’d had to show Keefe those horrible memories. But… there was always something so natural about using her telepathy with Keefe. She barely had to try to let her consciousness reach for him and…

“I guess there’s usually a stretching sensation,” Sophie said quietly, “as I reach for the other person’s thoughts. Is that the kind of feeling you’re looking for?”

“It’s a wonderful start,” Oralie assured her. “But I think for the purposes of this exercise, it might be better to focus on a more emotional sensation, rather than such a physical one.”

“Okay, but… I don’t know what that would be,” Sophie mumbled.

“All right. Well. I’m not a Telepath, but would you say that you’re forming connections when you use the ability?”

Sophie nodded.

“Perfect. So let’s make the first word ‘unifying.’ Does that help you see what kind of sensations we’re looking for?”

“Maybe?” Sophie said.

Oralie smiled. “You’ll get it, I promise. Just try to really visualize the experience.”

Sophie sighed. “Well… telepathy usually makes me a little tired by the end.”

“Okay—and why does it make you tired?” Oralie asked.

“Uh… I guess it’s that the whole process is kind of draining? Like, I can feel my mental power pouring out of me the longer I stay connected.”

“Good,” Oralie told her. “So ‘unifying,’ ‘draining’—what else? We need three more.”

Ugh, she might as well have asked for a million.

And they still had to do this with four more abilities?

“Really think,” Oralie told her. “Embrace your memories of the experience without trying to edit them into the answers