As soon as she was settled, another chair floated off of the floor and drifted much closer before lowering gently back down.

“Does my telekinesis surprise you?” Oralie asked as she took the seat that was now right across from Sophie, sitting with the kind of regal posture that made Sophie feel like a gorgodon.

Sophie sat up straighter, folding her gloved hands and resting them neatly in her lap. “I know it shouldn’t. I just don’t see people use it very often.”

She often forgot about it herself—which was silly, since it would make a ton of stuff so much easier.

Oralie smoothed the sleeves of her gown. “I’ll confess, I find myself wondering more and more what price we pay for emphasizing ability over skill. How much stronger would our world be if we embraced the powers that unite us instead of narrowing our focus to that which sets us apart?”

“I… don’t know,” Sophie mumbled when she realized that Oralie was waiting for an answer.

“Sorry,” Oralie told her, “I’ve gotten off topic, haven’t I? I brought you here to walk you through a countdown exercise.”

“Countdown?” Sophie repeated as her brain started picturing a whole lot of things that went boom!

“It’s painless, I promise,” Oralie assured her. “Think of it as a way of guiding your mind to a different sort of awareness—one without pressure or judgment. A method of acknowledging what you’re experiencing and allowing yourself to feel it. These types of exercises are essential in empathy training, since Empaths must learn to separate our own emotions from those we’re reading—and not judge, condemn, or interfere with either feeling. But as I said earlier, I think, with a few tweaks, this kind of exercise could also be very useful for helping you isolate how each of your abilities functions and learn to better control them—especially your enhancing, since that’s another touch-based power. Did you know Empaths have to train ourselves not to automatically read the emotions of everyone our hands come in contact with?”

Sophie shook her head. “I always thought it was like my telepathy, and you had to concentrate in order to take a reading—at least around elves.”

Human thoughts broadcast straight into her brain like radio transmissions unless she shielded her mind, and Keefe had made it sound like human emotions were equally bombarding.

“We have to concentrate if we want to translate what we’re feeling,” Oralie corrected, “but the basic act of sensing emotions is somewhat second nature, and it takes practice and training to teach ourselves to leave the feelings where they are and not pick them up.”

“Pick them up?” Sophie echoed.

“That’s part of the visualization technique we use. It’s like”—she reached for her forehead, running her fingers across several of the pink tourmalines—“I’m touching this circlet right now—but that doesn’t mean I have to do this.” She lifted the circlet off of her head and set it on a jewel-inlaid table beside her.

“And picking up an emotion is different than translating it?” Sophie asked.

“It is. We can feel without understanding. But it’s far better to leave the feelings where they are—particularly if they’re intense or negative. Empaths need to set limits to save ourselves from the emotional overload we’d suffer if we had to feel all things from all people at all times—but I’ve sidetracked us again, haven’t I?” she asked, her cheeks flushing even pinker than her gown. “Sorry, I just want you to see that there is a method to all of this—and proven success—since as we work through this there may be moments when you’ll wonder what the point of it all is.”

“It’s fine,” Sophie assured her. “I trust you.”

Oralie’s lips pulled into a smile, and her blush shifted to more of a rosy glow as she murmured, “I’m glad to hear it.”

“And wait—does that mean Keefe might be able to stop himself from picking up my emotions through the air?” Sophie wondered.

“That I don’t know,” Oralie admitted. “Especially given what we now know about the rather unique origins of Keefe’s abilities. My gut tells me there is a way for him to take control—but that may be because I prefer to believe that nothing is beyond our grasp. Which is why I’m excited to try this exercise on you. It’s honestly always bothered me that enhancing is viewed as such an unruly, automatic thing. I’d love to disprove that notion.”

“So would I,” Sophie admitted, holding up her hands and wiggling her fingers, which looked especially marshmallowy thanks to all the layers of gloves.

“You should take those off before we begin,” Oralie told her. “And remove the gadgets that Dex designed for you as well. You can set them here so they’re not in contact with you at all—just in case they have any latent effect.”

She flicked her wrist, making the jewel-inlaid table float to a spot right beside Sophie, and as Sophie piled her gloves and fingernail gadgets there, she noticed that Oralie hadn’t bothered to put her circlet back on.

“I want you to feel comfortable as we work through this,” Oralie explained before Sophie could ask about it, “and I thought it might help if I didn’t look so much like a Councillor.”

“But you are a Councillor,” Sophie felt the need to remind her.

“I am,” Oralie conceded. “But for this moment, just think of me as a Mentor. And try to see this as nothing more than another one of your many Foxfire ability sessions.”

“I guess I can do that,” Sophie agreed, deciding not to point out how often her ability sessions were stressful disasters—particularly the one that was also mentored by a Councillor.

“Try to relax,” Oralie said, holding out her hands.

Sophie leaned forward to take them—then pulled her arms back 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.”