“I see,” I said, frowning. “But you don’t have a problem with me seeing it, do you?”
Shaking his head, Marcus took hold of my hand and pulled me back into motion. His mood instantly shifted to that of a little boy approaching the shimmering, present-strewn tree on Christmas morning. He led me down the passageway, the curve growing increasingly severe the further we walked. My mental blueprints of the temple were developing into an exciting, familiar shape.
“Does this corridor meet up with the other?” I asked eagerly.
“Yes.”
So it’s shaped like an ankh! “Then where’s the …” On the outer wall a short way ahead, a spot of light brighter than that of the LED ropes came into view. It was oddly shaped, reaching from floor to ceiling, and symmetrical with irregular waves and points on either side. And it was warmer than the harsh white luminescence of the LEDs. After a brief moment, I realized it was the reflection of light through a doorway into a more brightly lit area. My pace slowed as I savored the delicious anticipation.
Six steps nearer, huge carved shapes took form on the inner wall. At first I thought it was a column, one of two framing the doorway, with its relatively featureless length and jutting protrusion a foot from the ceiling.
Four more steps and the base of the column started to look less like a base and more like a huge paw with finger-length claws. Another step and my eyes traveled up a five-foot-long foreleg to a strong, canine shoulder, sinuous neck, and long, downward curving muzzle.
After five final steps, I was standing before the monstrous statue, horrified. It was an enormous Set-animal, like the tattoo on the backs of the necks of Set’s human followers. One of a pair, it was seated, looking like a gigantic greyhound with the snout of an anteater. With its partner five feet beyond, it seemed to hold sentry over the doorway—or what was beyond.
I briefly glanced through the doorway. At least, the glance was intended to be brief. “Oh my God,” I whispered, stepping between the statues and into a breathtaking chamber.
Vibrant, almost violent swirls of color covered the walls and ceiling of the cavernous space. As I traced the line of the nearest wall all the way around the room and then overhead, I realized it was one continuous surface. The chamber was, in fact, a dome. With a floor that looked to be around forty meters in diameter, and curved proportions that I would’ve wagered measured into a flawless, geometric half-sphere, it was the least Egyptian and most architecturally astounding site I’d ever seen. How Senenmut had hollowed out a twenty-meter-high dome in the heart of the limestone cliffs with Middle Kingdom technology was beyond me. Maybe he cheated by peeking into the future for help.
“Eat your heart out, Brunelleschi,” I whispered as I drew closer to the wall near the entrance. “And Michelangelo,” I added, observing the fine detail of the seamless mural. Inlayed into the millennia-old paint, adding delightful chaos to the decoration, were colored stones, gems, and glass beads. Each matched the color in which it was set, but stood out by shimmering in the warm glow of the modern bulbs that had been placed evenly around the chamber. I was actually a little surprised that the floor wasn’t decorated as well, though the highly polished limestone did a good job of reflecting the dizzying colors.
“It’s just like in the At.” My reverent words drew Marcus into the chamber.
“Yes,” he whispered, stopping close behind me. “Senenmut was far beyond his time, even for a Nejeret. Set did our kind a great disservice by killing him.” A little louder, he said, “Neffe, you may join us now.”
I reached out my hand, but before my fingers could brush what looked like a very large, irregularly wispy strip of gold inlay in the brightly colored wall, Marcus caught my wrist. “I wouldn’t,” he said softly. His breath tickled the back of my neck, and I shivered. “It’s quite fragile. The only reason it didn’t crumble off a thousand years ago is that there was no air flow and no real temperature or moisture fluctuation. But now—”
“I really hate that, you know. We’re destroying it just by being here,” I said, sounding wistful and a little despondent.
“You wanted to be an archaeologist, Little Ivanov. You have to take the good with the bad.” Marcus’s voice changed as he moved away, toward the center of the floor. “Would you rather beautiful, ancient things remain hidden, or share their glory with the world? Or would you prefer to just see them in the At? You must remember that nothing lasts forever—not even us.”
I pondered his words but said nothing.
“It’s beautiful, is it not?” Neffe remarked as she entered the domed chamber. “Josh has come up with a very interesting preservation idea. He plans to use a specially prepared spray adhesive to glaze and protect the dome.”
“Aren’t we just sealing the entrance back up?” I asked, turning to her.
She nodded. “But the damage, I fear, is done.”
Frowning, I turned toward the center of the chamber … toward Marcus and what I’d been ignoring. A three-foot-high circular dais had been left by the workers when they carved the chamber into the solid limestone. Resting on the raised platform was the object that could be nothing other than the chest containing the ankh-At.
The thing was a study of opposites—ancient Egyptian and modern, clear and opaque, moving and still, always and a single moment. It looked like somebody had taken a beautifully carved Old Kingdom chest, set it on fire, and then frozen time and transformed the entire jumble into crystal. It was hypnotizing and disturbing and the single most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. In its presence, I completely forgot the stunning dome overhead.
“Oh … oh, wow.” My voice was hushed, awed.
Marcus turned away from the chest and watched me, his expression expectant. Because he was looking at me, he couldn’t see what happened to the chest as I moved closer.
It began to glow.
“Oh …” I said, but lost the capacity for words as the chest’s internal light shone brighter, extending to the upward-reaching tendrils. It called to me, almost hummed, sending a hair-raising tingling sensation all over my body.
Seeing the glow reflected on my skin, Marcus murmured, “What the—”
“It’s never—” Neffe said at the same time that Alexander exclaimed, “Deus! It’s glowing!”
Marcus grabbed my forearm. “Lex? I don’t think you should do that.”
Faintly, I heard him, and the hand I’d been reaching out to touch the glorious monstrosity paused inches from its surface. I felt like I was locked in a bubble of frozen time. I could hear and see everything going on around me, but I couldn’t join. I was set apart … but I’d always been separate, apart from the rest of the world. I just hadn’t known. I just hadn’t remembered. And at the moment, I just couldn’t speak.
A long moment of silence was broken by a muffled crack, and then another. Marcus released my wrist and turned away, probably to look for the source of the noise, but he didn’t account for the freedom letting go would give me, and I didn’t have the self-restraint to stop myself. My fingers inched forward and brushed the surface of the iridescent, glowing chest.
Instantly, the temple disappeared from my muted awareness, and the unbearably beautiful glow became everything. It was everywhere … everywhen. Nothing existed outside of it. I was it, and it was me.
Encapsulated in its warmth and comfort, I never wanted to leave. Finally, for the first time in my life, I was at peace.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Once & Again
“My dear Alexandra,” the richest, most melodious voice said in a language I only understood because Nuin had taken the effort to teach me years ago. “I see it is time. But then, it has always been time. Always and never.”
“Nuin?” I asked, and though my voice was hushed, it echoed all around me. I spun in place, taking in the crystalline beauty of everything. It was as though I was in a small cavern fashioned entirely from quartz, the barely opaque walls resembling the frozen stream of a waterfall. Stepping toward the nearest surface, I watched in awe as e
verything within the chamber shifted with me, like it was an exoskeleton.
“Nuin? Where are you?” I asked in his language. Glancing up at the ceiling, I was almost surprised not to find any stalactites. I added, “Where am I? The At?”
“Why, dear Alexandra, you are in a time of my own creation. While only your ba can enter the At, your entire being is here.”
I spun again, facing the direction his voice had come from, but Nuin was nowhere in sight. “How did I get here?” I asked into empty space.
“By my power, of course,” Nuin’s disembodied voice answered. “I left the tiniest sliver buried deep within you the first time I visited you, when I solidified your role as the Meswett. It awakened when you touched the chest.”
To my complete and utter shock, Nuin stepped out of the wall. He didn’t step through the wall, as if it were composed of nothing more substantial than smoke, but seemed to emerge from it. It was almost like he was made from the wall, his shape taking on form and color as he broke free from its hold.
Hundreds of questions whirled in my mind, but Nuin’s presence made them impossible to grasp. He stood several steps away, resplendent in exotic, ancient robes of white, gold, and teal. He was naked of jewelry, but then, beside the brilliant colors swirling around in his eyes, any precious metals or gemstones would lose their splendor. As he moved closer to me, I couldn’t help but notice that, unlike me, he wasn’t anchored to the chamber. He moved, and the walls stayed put.
“I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again,” I said, sounding teary. My God, I forgot how much he looks like Marcus!
Nuin reached out and cupped the side of my face with his hand. “I didn’t know until a few moments ago … I just left you in the At, watching yourself play as a child. It was never certain you would make it this far. Indeed, it was not the most likely outcome.”
Leaning into his hand, I frowned. “But the prophecy—your prophecy—it said I would get into the chest.”
“No, dear Alexandra; it says that you, and only you, could get into the chest, not that you would.” As I lost myself in his luminous, multicolored eyes, he continued, “There were other routes I could have taken, other bloodlines I could have pursued that would have produced a Meswett with slightly higher odds of making it this far.”
“What?” I asked, pulling away from his hand. Suddenly, I felt cold and alone. “So it didn’t have to be me? You could have chosen to dump all of this torture and pain and danger on someone else?”
Nuin watched and, smiling, nodded. “Yes. That is precisely what I’m telling you. And though I gave you a life with pain and danger, I also led you down a path toward the purest, strongest connection possible between two sentient beings. Very few have experienced such intense, beautiful emotions. Most would tear the world apart just to feel such a thing for a few moments. You and Heru may have it for eternity.”
“May,” I repeated. “Set will kill him if I don’t hand over your power. And then what? Then I have nothing … then I die too.”
“Ah—but that is precisely why I chose you over all the other possible Meswetts. There may have been others who were more likely to make it this far, but few had any real chance of successfully navigating what comes next,” he explained cryptically.
“This doesn’t make any sense. I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Yes,” he said calmly. “You have some idea.”
I fidgeted, shifting from foot to foot, and watched the cavern move with me. “You mean the choice from the prophecy—to obey Set or to defy him. Is that what you’re talking about?”
Nuin nodded. “That’s part of it.”
Wrapping my arms around my middle, I turned away from him and hung my head. “If you’re counting on me to reject Set’s demands at all costs, you bet on the wrong horse,” I said softly.
“I did not make an unwise wager. Everything that has happened between my time and yours has happened to bring you and Heru together. You had to be created—his perfect match—to ensure the strongest bonding possible. The two of you are essential to the past, present, and future. Of all the possible Nejeret–Nejerette pairings, only the two of you have a chance at succeeding.” He paused his confounding explanation and rested a hand on my shoulder. “I know what you fear, Alexandra.”
I turned my head to look into his kaleidoscope eyes, and he squeezed my shoulder. “You are not afraid that Set will threaten Heru’s life. You expect it. What you fear is that you may lose him, no matter your choice.”
Breathing in a slow, deep breath, I bowed my head. How did he know? Even if I agreed to hand the ankh-At to Set, there was no reason to believe my father wouldn’t just kill Marcus anyway. Once he had Nuin’s power, he could travel to any time and take out anybody he pleased by simply ensuring that person was never born. What would prevent him from doing that to Marcus? And then there was the actual power transfer to think about. Was the ankh-At something physical, a talisman of sorts, that contained the power? Or was it the power itself? Would Nuin give me a power-containing object, or would he imbue me with it directly? How would I pass it on to Set? Would he have to kill me to take the power, thus killing Marcus, too?
“What’s going to happen?” I asked, my voice small and childlike.
“I only know all possible futures, not which one will truly come to pass.” Nuin’s resignation and hints of sadness worried me.
“At least … can you tell me …” I began, but had to take several heaving breaths before I could finish the thought. “Is there a chance that everything will work out okay? That the good guys will win and we’ll all live happily ever after?”
Nuin said nothing for a while, and I thought I had my answer. Finally, he spoke. “If you weren’t the best possible chance for everything to work out the way I need it to, I would not have chosen you.”
“You mean—”
“I mean exactly what I said,” Nuin interrupted. “In truth, I wish I could tell you more. I’m sorry, Alexandra, but doing so ruins your chances of succeeding. Here.” He pulled an object out from the neck of his robes and held it up before me.
About the size and shape of a sand dollar, a brilliantly glowing pendant hung from a long, silver chain. It shone with wispy, ever-changing swirls of every color, just like Nuin’s eyes always had. I quickly glanced up into his eyes, and though they were a remarkably luminous shade of amber, they were now just normal eyes.
“I thought silver fitting for your coloring,” he said with uncommon reserve.
Letting my hands drop to my sides, I breathed, “Is that—”
“The ankh-At? My power? Yes. You must take it and return to your time. The medallion is fashioned from the essence of the At. It will feel odd when you touch it,” he warned, draping the power-filled amulet around my neck.
“What do you mean—oh!” I said as soon as he tucked the dangling disk into the neck of my tank top. I was suddenly overwhelmed by a rush of softly tingling electricity. “What … what … ?”
“It’s the power. It’s entering you,” he explained.
“But what if I don’t want it?” I screeched, frantic and uncomfortable.
“Irrelevant. You need it. Are you ready to return to Heru?” he asked.
“I don’t know how,” I told him, fearing I would be stuck in the quartz prison for eternity.
“Just walk into the wall.”
“I can’t … it won’t let me,” I said, remembering the way the chamber had moved with me.
“It will now,” Nuin said, giving me a gentle push toward the wall. To my utter amazement, the cavern stayed in place as I moved.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing. You must return to Heru now, my Alexandra. You’re still anchored to your own timeline, and events there are reaching a critical point.” He moved me even closer to the wall and I noticed that it glowed with a soft iridescence.
“Will I see you again?” I asked as my fingers pressed into the warm, comforting substance.
Distantly, I heard Nuin say, “When you return to your time, you must give the amulet to Heru so he can absorb the male half of my power.”
***
I floated in a state of baffled calm for what felt like eternity. And then, suddenly, everything changed. The peaceful, iridescent glow gave way to artificially lit, bright colors. The gentle warmth gave way to cool, dry air. The soft hum gave way to angry voices … to yelling.
“WHERE DID SHE TAKE IT?” shouted the man nearest me. Set. He stood on the other side of the now-blackened chest, his back to me. He was pointing two pistols … at two different people.
A young woman was huddled on the ground near his feet. She was shaking with silent sobs, her face frozen in terror as she stared down the barrel of one gun. Oh my God, Jenny!
Several paces beyond Set, Marcus stood with his hands outstretched, placating my enraged father. The second gun was aimed at his forehead. Nejerets could recover from many things, but a gunshot to the head wasn’t one of them.
Neffe, Alexander, Dominic, and Kat were all being restrained by black-clad men. Knowing that few humans could match a Nejeret in speed, strength, and skill, I assumed the men were Nejerets as well. This is just swell …
Miraculously, nobody had noticed my abrupt arrival. I removed my hands from the chest’s apparently charred surface, and for the first time in all the chaos, noticed that the tingling had stopped. Is the power transfer complete? Shouldn’t I feel different? Did it even work?
I yanked the amulet out of my tank top by its chain and stared. It still swirled with luminous colors, but lacked the reds, yellows, and oranges it had once contained. Interesting …
“If you don’t tell me where she went, I’ll kill her sister. And if you still refuse to answer, I’ll kill your daughter,” Set said, boiling with raging hysteria.
Echo in Time: A Time Travel Romance (Echo Trilogy, #1) Page 35