ROTU: Chapter Twenty-Four

Jalena threw her SUV in park after she came to a screeching halt in front of her gallery. The door chimes clanged loudly as she burst through the door and exclaimed, "Nadia are you here? I need to see the list of our purchases over the past four years!"

Nadia rushed down the stairs. "Well, hello to you too! I thought you were gone!"

Jalena hugged her briefly. "Not yet. I can't explain everything just now, but we have quick access to that information, right?"

"Yes, we do. I'll pull up the data."

Lyons's voice projected from the band on her wrist. "Jalena, there is something you need to know."

"Who's Jalena?" Nadia asked as she looked at the band.

"It's just a nickname I went by in my childhood," said Jalena, thinking quickly.

"You have remembered some of your past?" asked Nadia excitedly. "Maybe it's your birth name!"

"You might be right," Jalena replied. "Just excuse me for a bit, Nadia."

"Sure." Nadia started humming as she headed upstairs to the gallery office.

"What is it, Lyons?"

"The grid I told you about is starting to light up more in specific places. It looks like you just released a surge of energy. If so, knock it off! But, since the return of your memory and whatever you just did, the energy within people is becoming more active across the globe. I don't think it is a coincidence."

"There are no coincidences," Jalena responded as an idea came to her. "Lyons, I'm going to send you a list of people I have a record of. See if you can match any of the addresses to where you are seeing heightened activity on the grid."

"Right on, Captain Warrior Princess. What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to Ireland, so if I am off-grid at certain times, know that it is because I have entered the realm I am looking for. After that, I'm going to go find my team."

"Warrior Princess Shamira! Good. She is mean, but she always gave me more attention than you," Lyons said. "I need someone to pay attention to me. It gives me energy to work harder and I can't let my charm die—"

"Lyons."

He chuckled. "I'll send you updates as they appear once you send it to me."

Jalena signed off with Lyons as Nadia descended the stairs.

"I've downloaded everything on here," Nadia said, holding a flash drive out to Jalena. She looked beyond Jalena at the front door. "So, tell me what you've been up to. It's been a bit since we've talked."

Jalena gave her a strange look as Nadia glanced at the door again. "I saw you yesterday."

"I know, but we didn't get to talk like we normally do. You wanna go get some coffee before you go?"

"I'm short on time, Nadia. Sorry."

"You just got back, and I have things to tell you!"

"It'll have to wait, sweets."

"He came back, Jess!" Nadia burst out so loudly that Jalena knew she had been dying to tell her the news. "He wanted to—"

"—give you something," Kaelon's deep voice finished as he burst through the door—the chimes clanging.

Nadia gasped.

Jalena froze as her heart started pounding loudly in her ears.

"I got your text, Nadia," Kaelon said as he moved further into the gallery.

Nadia feigned an innocent look and seemed to be very interested in the state of her fingernails when Jalena gave her a wide-eyed stare.

Jalena turned to face Kaelon, who seemed to be closer to her than he actually was. Heat immediately began to rise within her.

Nadia smiled and crept backward up the stairs.

Jalena tugged at her coat and cleared her throat. "Kaelon I—"

"I know you feel it," he whispered as he stepped closer.

"It doesn't matter," she replied quietly. "I cannot stay. There are some things that I cannot delay in taking care of." She willed her light to stay under control so that her face remained masked. She could feel the momentum of energy swirling beneath the boundary of the bracelet.

"I understand," he said as he searched her face. "Just take this with you in the meantime…"

Her eyes followed his gaze, which shifted downward to his outstretched palm. A shimmering silver-blue crystal charm with a white spiral marking on its front sat in his hand.

"A Christmas gift. I wanted to give it to you before New Year's..."

Jalena's eyes widened as her heart seemed to stop. "How did you—where did you get this?"

She grabbed the pendant by its silver chain and studied it closely. It was an exact replica of the one Kesól had given to Gyan to help him control his Shanlo episodes. The only difference was that it held none of the light from Malik's magic that Gyan's had.

"So, you like it?"

She looked up at Kaelon's eager expression, too astonished in the moment to contain her emotional response. Several tears leaked from the corner of her eye as she nodded. "More than you know."

He studied her face. "I guess following your instinct leads to the right choice."

She wiped her eyes and smiled as she exhaled. "Always."

"The woman at the apothecary showed me different gifts, and I thought of you immediately when I saw this. Do you know the shop?"

"Yes," Jalena smiled again, thinking of Malik's recent words and all the synchronicity that had just fallen into her lap.

Ignoring all caution, she grabbed Kaelon to her in a tight embrace. He relaxed against her as the light within her heightened even more.

"I will see you as soon as I can," she said quietly.

"I will wait," his voice dropped to a whisper, "for as long as it takes."