Ricochet Through Time (Echo Trilogy Book 3) by Lindsey Fairleigh Read Free Book Online

Ivanov.” Marcus planted himself behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders. We were in our suite’s sitting room. I’d been staring out the tall window for some time, watching dusk fall over the forest and the Puget Sound beyond, stewing in a mess of hurt feelings.
    I gave his hands the slip and sidestepped to the next window over. Usually, I would go for a walk by myself to clear my head, but that was out of the question now. A bald eagle soared over the treetops outside. I envied it for its freedom.
    “Lex . . .” Thankfully, Marcus stayed where he was. A good thing, because I’d have slapped him if he tried to touch me again right now.
    I crossed my arms over my chest. “Is it just chemicals? Is that all we are—a pair of perfectly matched pheromone producers?” When Marcus didn’t say anything, my head drooped. “How long have you known I would be traveling back in time again?” How long have you been lying to me?
    “Since you came back from Kemet,” he said, using the ancient name for Egypt . “When you unblocked my memories, you unblocked all of them . . . not just the ones you’ve been a part of so far.”
    I laughed under my breath and shook my head. “I feel like I’ve been the butt of some sick joke between you, Aset, Nik, and Re.”
    “Nobody is laughing at you.”
    “No, you’re just whispering about me in dark corners, planning my future—”
    “What need do I have to plan your future, Lex, when it is my past?”
    I looked at Marcus, drawn by the heat in his voice.
    He moved to stand in front of me, his perfect face a thundercloud staring down at me, threatening a storm. “I live in fear every second of every day that each moment will be the last I share with you. And at the same time, I worry I’ll slip up and reveal something to you that will change things. Your future is my past, Little Ivanov. That’s all I’ve known since you returned to me. Your future is my past, and anything I tell you about what’s to come—any way I try to prepare you—might change how you act in that future. In my past. The very same past that has led us here to this moment. It is a loop that cannot be broken. This timeline— our timeline—must be protected.”
    I sucked in a halting breath, then gave in and leaned against him. “I understand.”
    His arms wrapped around me, encasing me in a false sense of security.
    “I’m still mad at you,” I said against his shirt.
    He chuckled, resting his chin atop my head. “I would expect nothing less.”

5
Fool & Foil
     
    I’d never felt less safe in Marcus’s home. It was the knowing, I supposed. The sense of dreadful inevitability. The sun shining brightly through the living room’s broad picture window mocked me with its cheerful light. Usually I found Marcus’s taste in furnishings and decor too modern and cold with all of its sleek, clean lines and wide array of gray tones. But not this morning. At present, gray and cold fit my mood perfectly.
    I sat on the end of the couch furthest from the snickering sunshine, one leg tucked under me, the foot of the other ticking the passing seconds just above the ashen hardwood floor. Thora, my brown tabby, and Rus, my ancient fluff ball of a kitten, basked in a rectangle of sunlight a few feet from my toes.
    Kat, my half-sister, sighed, and I cast her a sideways glance. She was sitting on the far end of the couch, elbow on the squared-off sofa arm, cheek resting on her palm, and one slipper sitting on its side, forgotten on the floor. She looked even more miserable than me. Poor thing. Her mom was upstairs, locked away in the conference room with Dominic. In the days since Genevieve and Carson arrived, Dominic had taken to interrogating Genevieve in the house, far away from Carson’s prying Nejeret ears.
    I was a wreck, constantly worrying about what would happen tomorrow . . . later today . . . in five minutes. At some point, I would be yanked away from this time and place; that much was all but