Free Dissonance: An Echo Trilogy Novella (Echo Trilogy, #2.5) by Lindsey Fairleigh Page A

before he could wrap his arms around me in a full
embrace, I slipped past him through the door and started across the entryway to
the grand staircase. “I’m beat.” I paused to glance at him over my shoulder,
hoping my expression contained more come-hither than holy-shit . “Warm bath?”
    His features were unreadable, his golden eyes equal parts black
pupil and brilliant iris. In other words, he looked normal, for him. So far, so
good. “Where are Dom and Nik?”
    I forced a carefree smile. “Parking in the garage. Kat’s with
them, too.” I shrugged. “Dom said something about a lesson .  . .”
    Marcus blinked, his face still expressionless. “I see.” His focus
shifted to his daughter, who had almost successfully made it across the
entryway to the door leading down to her lab in the basement. “How did it go
today, Neffe?”
    “Fine.”
    His eyes narrowed minutely. If I hadn’t been watching for it, I
wouldn’t have noticed. It was the first sign that he knew something was up.
    Get out of here, Neffe! I did my best to
relay the mental shout with my eyes, but one look at Neffe told me she was
already on the same page. The last thing I wanted was for her to get caught up
in the shitstorm that I was about to hurtle into
headlong. After all, she’d only been following my orders—and I’d had to remind
her of her oath to me to get her to agree.
    “What did you discover?” Marcus asked his daughter as he shut the
front door.
    “I think I’ve identified the poison, but it’s too soon to tell for
sure,” Neffe said, patting her insulated tote and once again heading for the
door to the underground lab. “I’ve got a few time-sensitive samples, though, so .  . .” She opened the door and paused in
the doorway, looking back at her father. “If I’m right, Father, I should have
the antidote ready in a day or two. I’ll let you know as soon as I know
anything.” It didn’t sound like a question, but it was one.
    Marcus nodded, just once, and his eyes remained on the doorway
even after Neffe had shut the door.
    “Marcus?”
    “Tell me,” he said without looking at me.
    I opened my mouth, then blew out a breath and shut it again. In
several steps, I was standing before him, my fingertips touching the
barely-there stubble on his defined jawline. I turned his face to me. “Promise
to let me finish before you say or do anything.”
    I felt his jaw tense. His eyes locked on mine, black-rimmed gold
and blazing with intensity.
    “Promise me.”
    He gave me the same stiff, single nod he’d given his daughter, and
I didn’t push him for more. In his present mood, doing so would be an exercise
in futility.
    I took hold of his hand, lacing my fingers through his. “Come
here, sit down,” I said as I led him across the entryway toward the foot of the
stairs. He had an annoying habit of staring out of windows when we argued, and
I was determined not to try to reason with his backside this time. I
sat, pulling him down with me, and set my shoulder bag on one of the stairs a
few steps up.
    “Remember when I said I didn’t sleep well last night?”
    Again, Marcus gave that lone nod.
    I sighed, searching his eyes. I hoped I’d made the right call by
not alerting him earlier, but the danger had already passed. I told myself that
several more times before continuing. The danger had already passed, hadn’t it? “Well, it all started with this
dream I’ve been having .  . .” And then
I told him. Everything.
    To Marcus’s credit, he kept his promise. He didn’t say a single
thing while I spoke. Hell, he didn’t move beyond the steady rise and fall of
his chest, the intermittent blink, or the slow tensing of his whole body.
    As I neared the end of my recap, I reached into my bag and pulled
out the box containing the pocket watch. “And here it is,” I said, handing it
to Marcus. “The watch is harmless now, so feel free to examine it to your
heart’s content.”
    I watched his face, his eyes,