I gaze out at the river, turning her words around in my head, realizing how they mirror everything I just learned. We spend our lives getting caught up in all the wrong things—led astray by our minds, our egos, seeing ourselves as separate from each other, rather than listening to the truth that lies within our own hearts, the truth that we are all connected, we are all in it together.

“The universe is patient,” she says. “Providing multiple opportunities for us to learn, to get it right, which is why we reincarnate.”

“So, it’s true then. Damen and I lived before as Adelina and Alrik.” I glance at her, seeing her nod in confirmation. “And I’m assuming he died in that life—a mortal death?” My eyes graze over her silver hair, down to the long white tunic stitched with gold, all the way down to her surprisingly bare feet, though it’s a moment before I notice that the cane she used the last time I saw her is gone. She is able to stand on her own.

“Oh yes,” she says. “He is caught in it now. Reliving the moment. Though it should be over soon.”

I press my lips together and fiddle with the hem of my T-shirt, thinking it over. Having no reason not to believe her, but still, there’s something that doesn’t make any sense, something she needs to explain.

“But if that’s all true, then why is it that neither of us saw that life when we died and went to the Shadowland? And why didn’t Jude see it on any of his trips to the Great Halls of Learning? I’m sorry, Lotus, but despite how real it all seemed, it just doesn’t make any sense.”

But despite my voice rising at the end, despite my getting more than a little caught up in my own argument, Lotus remains calm, serene, completely unruffled when she says, “You are familiar with the saying, ‘When the student is ready the teacher appears’?”

I nod, remembering how Jude once said it to me.

“It is the same with knowledge. The truth is revealed when you are ready to receive it, when you need it in order to move forward, to take the next step in your journey, to move on toward your destiny. You were not in need of that knowledge before, nor were you ready for it. And thus you saw only that which you needed to know and not a single thing more. But now that you are ready the knowledge was revealed. Each step leads us to the next. It is as simple as that. And the same goes for Damen and Jude.”

“And what about Jude? Is he still stuck in that lifetime too?”

Lotus nods. Her gaze faraway when she says, “Jude has his own journey. You may not see him for a while. Though you will see him again. Not to worry.”

My gaze lands on the river, noticing it’s grown darker, murkier, and glad to be standing safely on its banks rather than closer to its shore. “So is this it then?” I turn to face her. “Is this the journey? Is it over—have I completed what you’ve asked me to do?”

Lotus shakes her head, those rheumy old eyes meeting mine. “That was merely the beginning, the first test of many. Much lies ahead.

You have more to discover.”

And before I can ask what that means, before I can ask her to clarify for me, the ground begins to shake, the river begins to slosh and bulge, as the earth beneath my feet begins to shift and separate in a way that reminds me of my first California earthquake.

I fight to locate my voice, fight to free the scream that sticks at the back of my throat, when Lotus disappears—just simply evaporates—as a swell of red tulips sprout up all around me, taking her place.

A sign that can only mean one thing—Damen has joined me.

Hundreds of tulips sent fluttering, their soft petals whispering against him, as he rushes over them, rushes toward me—grasping me into his arms, he picks me up off my feet, twirls me all around, and presses his lips to my face, my hair, my lips, my cheeks, then starts the procession al over again. Desperately reassuring himself that I’m here, that it really is me—Adelina/Evaline/Abigail/Chloe/Fleur/Emala/Ever—his love of so many lifetimes, bearing so many names, but being of only one soul all the same. Finally made aware of the truth, that I never really left him despite what he may have convinced himself of.

“Adelina!” He pauses, smoothing my hair from my face, his eyes hungrily roaming over me, drinking me in, as he laughs, shakes his head, realizes he’s still caught up in the past, and says, “Ever!” He kisses me again, holds me tightly to him. “You were right. You were right all along. There was a life before—an entire lifetime I never could’ve imagined.” His eyes pore over me, still a bit overcome by what just transpired. “But now that we know, what do you suppose it all means?” he asks, almost as though musing to himself.

I thread my fingers through his hair, aware that his question was meant to be serious, but eager to erase any trace of his lingering grief in favor of a much sweeter memory.

“Well, for one thing, it means I wasn’t always a virgin.” I smile, remembering the beautiful night we spent together as Alrik and Adelina, and the wonderful part of the morning that followed.

Watching as he throws his head back and laughs, his hands clasping tighter around my waist as he says, “Now that’s a moment I wouldn’t mind reliving in the pavilion.”

He finds my lips again, warm, deep, then he pulls away and says, “And Jude?”

“Jude or Heath?” I lift a brow. “You do know they are one and the same?”

He nods, having figured that out.

And not sure exactly which part he wants me to explain, I say, “He insisted on joining me, and for some reason, Lotus allowed it. Said the answers he sought would be found there.”