by Jen Greyson
STORM FRONT
Jen Greyson
Family. Lies. Lightning.
There are some things Evy can count on. Her lightning has never failed her. But she never asked why. She never asked where it came from or why it's been so faithful.
Before now… She never asked who is she without it.
~~~ Storm Front ~~~
Tesla Time Travelers Series
Book 3
With the people she can trust dwindling to a handful, Evy must again head into danger. This time, she’ll have Constantine at her side, and she’ll need him.
But guiding a Roman warrior through his future brings a host of complications she didn’t plan for and with her sister missing, Evy can’t risk more danger. At least, not without another trip back to see her friend Nikola Tesla to uncover the real story of the Lightning Riders and the history of her mentors.
With Penya on the loose and Ilif’s lies too tangled with the truth, Evy must balance the knife’s edge of asking for help and believing people who want her power.
The same ones willing to kill to get what they want.
CHAPTER 1
YOU SHOULD NOT be seeing this note. If you are seeing this note, the file didn’t update like it was supposed to. Email me at [email protected] and I’ll shoot you the right one immediately. DO NOT read this version. It’s a draft.
*Shakes fist at Zon’s preorder team*
IMPORTANT:
I never felt good about the third book of the series when it was Night Storm. Not when I finished, not when it went to print, not any time I saw I’d sold another copy. I sat with that uncomfortable feeling for over a year. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and pulled it.
This book is the reimagined version, the story the way it should have been told the first time, rebranded and retitled as STORM FRONT. If you’re taking a chance on it the second time around, thank you. If this is your first experience with the third book in the Tesla Time Traveler series, welcome. Either way, I’m grateful.
Subscribe to new release alerts for updates on upcoming Tesla Time Traveler books—this series isn’t going away anytime soon. Feel free to come on over to the Facebook group where we chat about all things books, both mine and my favorites.
CHAPTER 2
TIANA NEVER MADE it home.
Ilif’s words reverberate off the walls of the ancient tattoo parlor, crashing against my ears but I refuse to accept them. He’s wrong. Or lying. Or part of a horrible nightmare that I need to wake from immediately.
I twist in the chair and from this angle, the upside-down vantage amplifies the pompous angularity of his body language. Morning light filters through the air, washing out the color of his standard-issue suit—beige pinstripe today—and illuminating both dust motes and the shine on his pristine coffee-colored oxfords. “You’re wrong.” My voice wavers and I fight to stay calm, willing my heart not to take the bait. I sent my little sister home myself; I was there when she left and there when Penya told me that she’d come from Papi’s and their first training session. All that happened after Ilif left my kitchen. I’d have known before now if something had gone wrong.
I squirm in the chair and a hard lump forms in my stomach. Never mind that the last time I saw Penya she was diving into my booby-trapped spare bedroom and blowing up half my condo.
The tattoo artist pauses, lifting the inky needle from my side where he’s barely started. I sit up and an aftershock wracks my body. I don’t want to trust Ilif; I can’t trust Penya. It didn’t occur to me that she might have done something to jeopardize Tiana’s arc. “You’ll say whatever you need to manipulate me. You always have.”
Ilif smooths the front of his spotless suit in his trademark tell and I wonder at all the times he’s done it before. Does he use his left hand like that when he’s telling the truth? Right for a lie? When he tugs his sleeve like he’s about to do now is it because he’s trying to remember all the lies he’s told me, or the truths? I don’t know anymore. And I’m not sure I care, either.
Between he and Penya, there’s nothing left to believe.
“Why did you really come?” I say angrily and stand, laying a hand on the tattooer’s shoulder. “I’ll be back.” He responds with a toothy grin and tosses the needle pack on a crowded table of crusted inkpots, picked-over brambles, and hand-carved mixing sticks, infusing the air with a flourish of ink and the dried berries that have become colors for my newest tattoo.
I brush past Ilif, purposefully leaving a smudge of ink on his sleeve. Unfortunately, he’s only a hologram today, so the insult was only in my mind. He turns, squinting in the sunlight. I lean to the left to deprive him of my shadow.
“I thought you’d like to know about your sister.”
“Ha!” He’s such a liar. I grind my teeth together, biting back most of my anger. But none of my sarcasm. “And you thought, what? That I’d believe you and race away with you to save her only to find out that, whoops, she was only using the bathroom and you were mistaken but now that I’m here could I please do you a favor and arc to Timbuktu or Alaska or seven hundred years in the future to get you something you need to finish your work?”
“This hostility is unpleasant.” He sniffs and rubs the button of his sleeve—the left one.
“You’re unpleasant.” I cross my arms and flare my lightning, making tendrils lace along the tops and undersides of my arms. The outline of his image flickers. His method of travel and the nearly holographic quality is one more lie in a pack of too few truths. I should flare a bigger ball and make him lose his grip on this place and time so I don’t have to deal with him. But he’s said too much to me lately about his own past with Penya that I almost—almost—think he might be telling the truth. “You have ten seconds to tell me why you’re here.”
He closes his eyes and draws a deep breath without fixing a single piece of clothing. When he opens his eyes, there’s a watery sheen to the corners. “I care for your family though I’ll admit I’ve done a poor job of expressing that in a manner to which you comprehend.”
I’m not about to interrupt him. Not about to believe him either.
“After I left you, I went to sort things out, to study the books and pamphlets, to write out the truth of what happened with Penya, the truth of what I needed Tesla’s patents for, the truth of what I needed to do next now that Penya was involved and had manipulated me once again.” He shifts awkwardly and I’m a little stunned that he’s revealing these sorts of personal details. We’re on seriously new territory here and I want all the details on those truths that he’s been uncovering. I don’t understand why he’s telling me this, but I’m damn sure not falling for any of it. My bullshit meter is pegged.
But I’m listening.
“We owe each other answers. I’m concerned about what you told me about the alteration with Nikola—details I’m afraid I overlooked in the relief of your success. Details I wanted to discuss. There may be dangers lurking if we don’t address the truth of Nikola’s death, the men that are supposedly after you, the whereabouts of Tesla’s documents. Nonetheless, all that can wait in light of what I learned after I went to your father’s to find you.”
He links his fingers in front of him and a flock of birds lifts into the sky on the far edge of camp, probably from the trees along the training field. “He said you’d taken Tiana to your home. There, I found a troubled neighbor.” My heart lurches at the mention of Mr. Steinaman. I owe him apologies and answers. “After much persuading that I could be trusted, he told me Tiana was supposed to be with him, but hadn’t shown up. We searched your reside
nce.” He pauses and waits for me to fill in details about the explosion. We haven’t talked about the colored lightning and he’ll find it soon enough in the books. I already knew Tiana wasn’t with Steinaman when she showed up at the warehouse. So far, he’s not telling me anything new, only expecting me to reveal information—Per usual. “Concerned for your safety, I returned to your father.”
“Worrying him. Great. Thanks.”
“What choice did you leave me? I must forever chase you down instead of you offering data in a forthcoming manner—” He snaps his mouth shut and takes another big breath. Maybe he’s doing yoga or something these days and trying to get a handle on his anger. He needs it, that’s for sure. I wish he’d just get to the point, anger and all.
“So now you’re here to tell me that you’ve misplaced another rider.”
“I came to ask for your help. I cannot locate her without you.”
I shake my head, adamant that he’s wrong. “Tiana made it home. Probably after all your bumbling about and worrying Papi. I know she did. I watched her leave. Penya said that she wouldn’t trigger her own alteration. I saw her residue. You’re wrong.”
Unless he’s not.
CHAPTER 3
“OH MY GOSH. Penya! I’m so glad to see you!” Relief washed over Tiana at the sight of a familiar face in this forgotten land of nothing. (Setting, wearing, blocking, etc. Also, what’s the point of this scene? What are you revealing about Penya in this scene to freak readers the fuck out.)
“Yes.” Penya smiled kindly. “Yes, I would imagine.”
“What the heck happened?" Tiana had been standing there with Evy and now she was here. “Where is here? What’s going on?”
“This is an alteration, niña. Your very first. Instead of returning home, you became a little lightning rider.”
“Really?” Tiana couldn’t believe it actually worked! First, practicing in the back yard, then, zing! right to her own alteration. She wished Evy could see this. “That is so awesome. Where am I? Is this how they always work? How do I know what to do next? This is so exciting!”
“Now, now.” She walked around Tiana. “Settle, nina. You have much to learn and it is best if it happens correctly and not in the wild and loose manner your sister prefers.”
“Yeah, Evy’s crazy like that.” Tiana defended Evy out of habit, wishing people saw past Evy’s standoffishness and brash actions to how brilliant she was. Tiana was surprised Penya hadn’t seen it as much as they’d worked together.
“She is also talented, which is why we afforded her a certain amount of grace. Your training begins now and will avoid those problems. You will learn how to complete an alteration properly from the beginning.”
“Sweet!” Tiana rocked up on her tiptoes and clasped her hands together. “Let’s do it!”
“First, you have to understand the beauty of this power. We cannot rush. Rushing into anything causes mistakes. You’re a time traveler; you have all the time you need.”
“Oh.” Tiana tipped her head and popped a head from a tall blade of grass. “I guess that makes sense. This is so neat!”
“Everyone thinks there’s a magical universal power guides the lightning riders.”
“There isn’t?”
“No.”
“Oh. Yeah, we totally thought was how it worked.” She felt dumb. She hated feeling like that and had better stop blurting stuff out like a moron.
“See? This is why it’s helpful I’m guiding you from the start.”
“Yeah, it really is. This is fantastic. Where are we again?”
“Where you are is of no importance. What matters is where you’re going.”
“Wow,” Tiana sighed. “That’s deep. This is gonna be great.”
Penya is VERY interested in the colors and how Evy made things explode. Wants Tiana to start with those before they work on arcing. Tiana almost tells Penya about the books but doesn’t want to offend her. Surely she already knows about the books.
“There was a bad man in Evy’s house. He attacked me while Evy was distracted talking to her neighbor. I escaped his clutches, but there was so much commotion. I accidentally ran into Evy as she was racing up the stairs. I didn’t have time to warn her to run. There was a terrible explosion that sent both she and I to opposite places.”
I landed xxx
She ended up back in Spain with her Constantine.
CHAPTER 4
MY HEART LURCHES at the possibility. I’ve successfully sent Auralia, and Constantine, and Papi through time; they’ve all arrived at their destinations. He doesn’t know about any of those, so his confusion makes sense. I exhale in relief. “You are wrong. Tiana didn’t arc. She just went home.”
“Under her own power?”
“Yeah, but—” I refuse to believe him, but my lightning is stirring and I want to take off and check on Ti, but I also need answers from him—answers he owes me—to figure out my next steps.
“While I have been wrong in the past, this time I am certain.”
I snort and curl the ends of my braid around my index finger. Maybe if he wasn’t so certainly wrong all the time I’d have an easier time buying his certainty.
“That she traveled under her own power cements my theory. Your initial appearance showed as merely a disturbance. To track you with any precision forced me to adjust the software. The lack of other female riders to test my calculations left me without a way to dial in the sensitivity. Tiana’s disturbance showed up with a new, unique signature. Without knowing it was her, I quickly made notation and adjustments, but before I could enter the coordinates,” He looks away and runs a finger down the edge of his lapel, then meets my gaze. There’s a strain around the corners of his eyes. “She disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” I take a step backward and breathe, trying not to lose it.
His voice is strained. “I’d promised your father I could track Tiana. And I did. But,” He rubs the line of his jaw with his thumb like there’s an ache there from clenching his teeth. “Penya must have known I could. That’s not possible, but—” He coughs and looks around uneasily, then leans in and lowers his voice. “I have no other explanation for the way the software dropped Tiana. Those formulas are only accessible in the lab. I don’t know when Penya could have done that.”
I do.
This is unraveling too fast. Faster than I can keep track. “She said you wanted Telsa’s patents for something sinister. She said you’d kidnapped her. She said you’d taken her to the lab after the fight in the glen.”
He shuts his eyes and a tremble wracks his body. “Was she in my lab while she spun these lies?”
“I’d watched you take her. It made sense.”
“I told you she escaped!” His words echo off the buildings, sending another flock of birds escaping to the air.
I drag my hands down my face. He’s not listening and again his hatred for Penya is clouding what’s important. He never keeps his priorities straight, not where my family’s concerned. “Not until after I’d agreed to help her. Not until after you’d misled me. Not until after you used me to get what you wanted! I’ve been nothing more than a pawn to you. To Penya.”
“That’s untrue.”
“Bullshit! You’ve lied to me at every turn, you’ve withheld information as it suited you and now Tiana’s paying for your screw-up. Everyone always pays for your screw-up. Everyone but you!”
“I have never failed until you started riding.”
“You lost my grandfather!”
He flinches.
“You’re are still the worst motherfucking mentor I’ve met!” I stomp away, then back, unable to stand still. I want to leave right now and go try and find Tiana. I have no idea how, but it’s better than standing here listening to how he screwed up. “You should have been in your lab. Where the hell were you? I’m so tired of you yelling at me for my stupidity in overlooking really important details when you’re doing the same damn thing!”
“She was at my lab. Years ago.
I told you that. You should have known this was different. It would have been obvious to a man who doesn’t let emotions cloud his perception like you continually allow.”
“Bullshit. She came to me right after you’d left the glen with her. She said she was in her lab. Maybe she lied, but it made sense.”
“Time is circular. What seemed like moments to you was clearly decades.”
“I don’t understand how time works!” I kick a clump of dirt against the wall and it shatters in a cloud of dust. “I’ve never understood it and you’ve never thought me worthy of an explanation!” I’m shaking and tendrils of lighting are fracturing from my fingertips. I want to hurt him with it. I want to wrap my fingers around his throat and squeeze the truth from him. “It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters now. Your stupid lab doesn’t matter. When Penya did her meddling doesn’t matter. She made it so you can’t track Tiana.”
I’m nearly violently ill at the thought.
“You’re sure?”
“She’s gone.”
CHAPTER 5
GONE.
MY BABY sister is gone. Lost in the universe as a time traveler. I was supposed to train her, guide her, not leave her with no idea how to control her ability. Fear and anger flare, manifesting in a writing ball of lightning in my belly. I glare at Ilif. This is his fault. Once again he’s failed my family because he wasn’t where he was supposed to be. He was conveniently missing during most of my last arc working on so consumed with classified projects. I hate him.
I grab the lapels of his pristine suit jacket and stiff-arm him, shoving him against the side of the building. “How did this happen!” I scream. “We were supposed to keep my family safe.”
