“Allie!” Mallory shouted. “Can you hear me?”
“The whole county can hear you,” I groaned. My abs clenched as I tried to sit up, but my chest still felt like a Saint Bernard, or possibly an elephant, had taken up residence on my ribcage. The pressure hurt like a mother. “Ugh, I can’t move. Can you give me a hand?” With tremendous effort, I raised my arm just enough to clasp Mallory’s palm. Her face blurred in and out of focus as she helped me sit up. When I was finally upright, I released my roommate’s hand and pressed my fingers to my temples, praying the pressure would ebb the throbbing ache. Ouch. I’d been in some bad energy situations, but I’d never blacked out before. It was scary. “What happened?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing.” Mallory’s voice shook. “Should we call an ambulance?”
“No, I’m fine.” I shushed her. The last thing I wanted was to go to a hospital. The emotions in those places, not to mention the amount of dis-ease in everyone’s energy signatures, always wore me out. Besides, my fingertip pushing thing was working. The headache had given way to a slight buzz, and I didn’t feel terrible anymore. I actually felt pretty good—borderline amazing. What the hell?
“You are not fine. You’re sweating.” Mallory pressed the back of her fingers to my forehead. “And you’re burning up. If you won’t go to a hospital, then we need to get you home and get this fever down. Can you stand?”
“I think so.” With Mallory’s help, I tottered unsteadily to my feet, placing my palms on the counter to steady myself. A wave of energy pulsed at my throat, making me sway. “Whoa.”
“Whoa is right. But dang, girl, your new necklace is gorgeous. How many carats is that thing? Five? Eight?” Mallory reached up to touch my neck. “I’ve never seen a diamond that big outside of LA.”
Mallory must have been out of it, too. I hadn’t bought a necklace. “I don’t have a diamond. I don’t know what you’re . . . oh!” My pre-pass out moments flashed through my mind The necklace. I reached up and felt the stone hanging from my neck. How had it gotten there? I remembered touching the necklace, but I hadn’t put it on. And I could have sworn the crystal had been bluish, not clear. My palm closed around the stone, my hand absorbing its energy. Every gem had a different vibration, and this crystal had a much higher resonance than the diamond in the ring my Gran used to wear. And while this stone had looked like a quartz when I’d seen it behind the counter, I sensed it was way more powerful than the one I had in my crystal kit back in the dorm. It pulsed a clear, healing energy that felt completely foreign. Where did the lady say it was from? Trondheim?
“Seriously.” Mallory let out a whistle. “That thing is beautiful. Are there two of them? Because if it’s costume jewelry, I will so totally get one. We can be twinsies.”
“It’s not a diamond, but I don’t know what it is,” I admitted. “And I haven’t paid for it, so I should just—”
“Oh, goodness. Customers.” A surprised man hurried from the front door to the counter. “I thought I locked the door. I’m so sorry I had to step out, ladies. How can I help you?” As the man took his place behind the display, his wrinkled face studied me with concern. “Oh, dear, you don’t look well. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I just, uh, wanted to buy this necklace. Please.” I touched the piece at my neck so he would know to what I was referring. “Your co-worker said it cost forty dollars?”
“I don’t have a co-worker.” The man shook his head. “It’s just me, except on the days my granddaughter comes in after school to help out.”
“But the lady . . .” I looked around. “She went through the back door. She was, maybe, seventy? About five-foot-two? Silver hair?”
The man’s mouth turned down in a frown. “Are you sure you feel well, dear?”
“No,” I said honestly, “but I really would like to buy this.”
The man stepped closer to me, eyeing the necklace at my throat. I stroked my fingers over the crystal as it sent waves of energy down my arm. Whatever connection I had to this thing was intense.
“I’ve never seen this before,” the man said. “Someone must have left it here by mistake.”
“Your co-worker said it had just come in on a shipment from Trondheim,” I offered. If I jarred his memory, this transaction would go faster. My headache had returned, and I just wanted to go home and nurse what was quickly becoming a migraine.
“Trondheim?” The man’s eyes widened. “We haven’t gotten a shipment from Trondheim in years. Hold on.” He leaned forward. “Did you say a silver-haired woman quoted you the price?”
“Yes.” Thank God he remembered her. If I didn’t get out of here and lay down soon, my head might actually explode.
“Ah.” Recognition lit up his light blue eyes. “Well, then take it. If she wanted you to have it, it’s yours.”
“Thank you so much.” I pulled out my wallet and dug out two twenties, but the man waved his hand.
“No charge,” he said.
My fourth center warmed around my heart. “That is really kind, but I couldn’t just take it without paying.” Whatever was going on with this necklace, it was way too valuable to be free. I didn’t want to cheat a sweet little old shopkeeper. “Please, let me pay you for it.”
“Absolutely not. Shipments from Trondheim have a way of finding the owners who are meant to have them. And if my, erm, co-worker offered this to you, then I want you to have it free of charge.” He patted my shoulder. My entire body warmed at his kind gesture, and when I brought my fingers up to touch the crystal again, my almost-migraine dropped to a regulation headache. Whoa.
“Wow, that’s incredibly . . . thank you. Thank you so much.” I grinned up at the kind man.
“We need to get you home,” Mallory said gently. “You’re really pale.”
“Thank you,” I repeated earnestly to the shopkeeper. “I’ll take good care of this.”
“I know you will.” The skin around his eyes crinkled as he smiled. “God dag, ladies. And good luck to you.”
“Thanks,” Mallory called over her shoulder as she pulled me out of the shop and toward the street. “Come on, Allie, we have to get you home. No more skipping lunch. I can’t have my roommate fainting every time we go shopping.” I sensed anxiety beneath the tease—she wanted to lighten the mood. Bless.
My headache was still there, and my skin tingled as heat prickled across my limbs. What is going on? I held my hand to my neck. Mallory was right—I felt like I was on fire. “I’m really hot,” I admitted. “And I have a killer headache.”