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

promised—”
    “You know ,” I said to the Squamish woman, staring at her. I was totally knocked off guard. “You know about my people?”
    Her grip on my arm loosened and she bowed her head, a faint curving of her lips the first hint of the break in her stormy expression. “Yes. And I would ask you to speak with my father,” she said, her English flawless. “He can explain much better.” She leaned in close, her gaze flicking to Tex. “You are in danger. I concealed my words because I did not wish to frighten you, but whatever he promised you—it is a lie.” She met my eyes, hers holding even more warning than her words. “The Collector is looking for a female Netjer-At. It is said he has been waiting for her for many lifetimes, searching this place, where the flow of time is disturbed.” Her eyes never left mine. “Her name is Alexandra. Are you she?”
    I stared at her, stunned. “How—how do you know my name?”
    “Others are looking for you as well.” She pulled back and glared at Tex. “Others who know you . . . who would help you, not deliver you to the Collector, however handsome the payment may be.”
    I looked at Tex, blindsided. “You were going to—to what? Sell me? But you were kind to me.” I looked from him to the Squamish woman and back. “Why? Why didn’t you just bash me over the head and drag me to this—this . . .” Dread replaced the hurt, and the blood drained from my face.
    I knew who the Collector was. It had to be him —Set, my father, possessed by Apep’s twisted, power-starved soul.
    Tex mumbled something about honey and vinegar, then kicked a rock the size of a golf ball with the toe of his boot.
    I barely heard him. “It’s Set. That’s the Collector’s name, isn’t it?”
    “Please.” The Squamish woman tugged on my arm. “Come into D’Suq’Wub, where you will be safe.”
    “But I won’t be.” The sun was already dipping back down toward the horizon; I’d spent valuable hours to get here, to Port Madison with Tex and his deceptive promises, and I only had so much time until the withdrawals kicked in. If Apep-Set found me before I found Marcus, the twins’ sheuts would kick in again, and I’d be dragged further back in time. I’d have to start my hunt for Marcus all over again.
    “He can sense me,” I told the Squamish woman. “He already knows I’m here.” I placed my hand over my stomach, hoping the sudden spike of terror didn’t alert the twins that it was already time for another time jump. “He’s coming for me. I have to go.” I tried to pull my arm free. “Let me go, I have to—”
    “Not yet.” The Squamish woman’s expression remained compassionate, but her voice was laced with a hard vein of determination. “You must speak with my father, the chief of our people. He knows more of this than I do. He will help you. You will see.”
    “No, but—” Hope blossomed in my chest. What if she was right? What if her father, the chief, was Marcus? Or even Nik? Nik had never mentioned having fathered any children, but the guy had been alive for thousands and thousands of years; plus, he’d all but vanished for millennia, only reemerging with his mother a few months ago, my time. I didn’t know why he and Aset had vanished, only that they had. I felt a surge of hope. If this chief was Marcus or Nik . . .
    “Alright,” I said, nodding once. “Take me to him.”
    A grin spread across the Squamish woman’s face. It faded when her hawkish gaze slid to Tex. “You. Come. My father would have words with you, as well.”
    Tex’s eyes widened and he spun on his heel, making a run for it. He made it all of five steps before the other two women in the salmon-cleaning circle caught him in a fishing net with a single, well-timed toss. Tex struggled against the hand-tied netting until he felt the pointy end of a fishing spear jabbing into his lower back. I stared at the woman holding the spear, blown away by how fast it had all