Read Online Dissonance: An Echo Trilogy Novella (Echo Trilogy, #2.5) by Lindsey Fairleigh - Free Book Online

literally, everything.
    “But ma’at is visible in a much more mundane way—everywhere and in
everything,” Re-Nik continued. “You are familiar with At ,
but less so with its counterpart: the in-between, the substance linking this
moment to the next, interweaving threads of the At. There is no word for it in
a human tongue, for none was ever needed, but it is the very glue holding time
and space together.”
    Upon seeing what no doubt had to be a flabbergasted expression on
my face, he leaned closer and said, “The fabric of the At alone could not sustain this.” He raised his hands slightly and cast a quick
glance around the room. “It would be chaos, constant change and perpetual
motion that has no meaning or form or purpose. Its balancing force provides
stability, opposing the At in every way. And as such, At is drawn to it, anchored by it, and the two forces combine
in perfect concert.” He breathed in and out slowly, studying each of our faces.
“And with their marriage comes creation.”
    “Like matter and antimatter?” Kat asked quietly.
    Ever so slowly, like a trio of unoiled marionettes, Dominic,
Re-Nik, and I looked at Kat.
    “You know .  . . like how when
an antimatter particle gets together with its matching matter twin and they,
like, annihilate each other or whatever and release a bunch of energy and, um,
stuff.” She looked at each of us, her cheeks reddening. “What? I got a five on
the AP Physics test, okay? I know stuff.” Mumbling, she added, “Some stuff .  . .”
    “Katarina is very astute in her comparison,” Re-Nik said with a
conciliatory bow of his head. “In fact, I would say that the concepts of matter
and antimatter are quite likely the closest modern science has yet to come to
explaining ma’at.”
    I licked my lips and cleared my throat. “ Okay .  . .
so this in-between antimatter stuff—is that what the watch is made of?”
    Re-Nik nodded.
    “And that’s why it feels so .  . .”
I shivered melodramatically.
    “Yes and no,” he said. “Much like solidified At can be imbued with certain properties, such as the Hathor statuette that pulled
you back to ancient times, its counterpart can be anchored to an aspect of
creation, like a specific object or person. It’s an aberration of ma’at, which
is probably why it’s disturbing the twins so much, Alexandra, that you’re
picking up on their discomfort.”
    “ Hmm .  . .” So my weird
feeling all day really had been linked to the pregnancy, just not in the way
I’d suspected. “So, what happens after this ‘anchoring’?” I asked, sucking in a
breath and holding it while I waited for Re-Nik to respond. Because I was
fairly certain he was implying that the watch made of this in-between, anti- At stuff was anchored to Dr. Ramirez, and I was terrified to
find out what that meant for the kindly old professor.
    “Annihilation?” Kat said in a small voice.
    “For an object or a being without a ba ,
no,” Re-Nik said, glancing at Kat, but once again retraining his eyes on me.
“Your Dr. Ramirez will be completely erased from the At ,
in time, but it will not affect him on this plane of existence. But—” He raised
his eyebrows. “For a being with a ba —for any
Nejeret—it is a different matter entirely. The link created by the individual’s ba between the physical body on this plane and their
reflection in the At would mean that once their
existence was erased from the At, the same would happen to their body, here.”
    I swallowed roughly. “But why would someone do that to Dr.
Ramirez? Why go through all the trouble to anchor this thing to him just to
erase him from the At ?”
    “Ah, but that’s just it,” Re-Nik said, his voice soft, cautious .  . . dangerous. “This watch wasn’t
created with the specific purpose of binding to your Dr. Ramirez—the desire to
bond with elements of At is a basic principle of its
nature. Once given solid form, it will affect anyone who touches it until