Storm: The Empire Chronicles

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

Vera stilled beside me.

  “Hi, Jared.” Tiffany smiled, letting me know she wasn’t surprised that I knew her. That could only mean one thing. She knew we were in the veil.

  “You two know each other?” Levi looked between us. “Why am I not surprised?”

  “Jared and I go way back. We know each other extremely well.” Tiffany laughed.

  “Too much information,” Owen muttered. He’d been so silent I’d nearly forgotten he was there.

  “The girls asked for a tour of the quarter. You want to help me give it?” Levi was speaking to me, but his eyes were on Vera.

  “We’re meeting someone else here first.” Vera looked panicked. I felt exactly the same way. Not only was Allie nowhere in sight, but Tiffany was here? Things had gone from bad to worse. Way worse.

  “Oh, why don’t you call and let them know your plans changed?” Tiffany’s voice was sugar sweet. It was fake like the rest of her. Even her appearance was borrowed from someone else.

  Vera’s hand was fisted at her side. “I don’t have her number.”

  Levi smiled. “Her number? I guess we could wait a few minutes.” He definitely hadn’t met Allie yet with the way he was checking Vera out.

  “I’m in a bit of a rush.” Tiffany stepped toward me. “You don’t want to leave me waiting, do you, Jared?”

  My skin crawled. “We can wait.”

  “Or we can leave Vera here by herself. She’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself. And who knows, maybe she’ll find her friend here after all.” Tiffany grinned wickedly.

  Levi didn’t seem to notice the smile, but he did hear her words. “You know Vera too?” His forehead furrowed. “When did you all hang out?”

  “Vera, Jared, and I have had a lot of time to get to know each other.” Tiffany ran her hand down my arm. I pulled it away.

  “Vera?” Levi looked at her with new eyes. “Really?”

  “Ugh.” Vera shook her head. “I have no idea what she’s talking about.”

  “You don’t?” Tiffany’s lips twisted into another smile. “Are you sure? Should I detail exactly how I know you guys then? When we first met?”

  “No. That’s fine.” Even if I was forced to explain to Levi about the time travel thing, I wasn’t doing it in the middle of a crowded club. “No reason to be embarrassed, Vera.”

  “I’m not an idiot. Something is going on here, and one of you is going to spill.” Levi’s expression darkened. He was annoyed, and that was also a bad thing.

  “Not here.” And not in the present company.

  “That’s a great idea.” Tiffany nodded. “Why don’t we go back to my hotel room?”

  “Where are you staying?” Levi asked.

  “The Crescent City Hotel. Have you ever been there? I have a suite.”

  I was seized by panic. Allie was in danger. I knew it. I could almost guarantee what room she’d be taking us to. Not only had Allie missed meeting Levi, but now she was in harm’s way. “Let’s go.”

  Levi grinned, completely misinterpreting my urgency. “What he means is we’ve been there many times.”

  “Great. I’ve had a lovely visit so far.” Tiffany twirled a strand of her blond hair around her finger.

  The other girl who’d been quiet before turned to Owen. “Want to do something else? It seems stupid to go back to the hotel already.”

  He shook his head. “I think I’m going to go home anyway.”

  She seemed unmoved by his response, which begged the question of why she asked him to hang out in the first place? There had to be a reason. There was always a reason. “Oh ok.”

  Owen shrugged. “But have fun.”

  “Sure.” She half waved. And that was it. She wanted to get rid of him.

  Owen walked off. I wanted to scream at him not to. We could use all the help possible, but I couldn’t do that. I needed to get Levi alone.

  I didn’t recognize the other girl, but I assumed she was also a witch. There was nothing innocent about her. She knew exactly what she was involved in. I couldn’t worry about her yet. There were so many other things to worry about first.

  I'd started to accept we were back in time. I was close to accepting that I might not be able to erase the veil for a while and would have to fix things while I was there. What I couldn't accept yet was that Tiffany was here, and she knew what was happening. That changed things. What If I hadn't made the veil? What if she had made it and pulled me back, and I'd pulled Vera back? What if things were even worse than I thought?

  From Vera's expression, she was as freaked out as I was.

  I wanted to get as far away from Tiffany as possible, but that didn't mean I was ok leaving Levi with her. He was the strongest Pteron I knew, but Tiffany was powerful too. If he let his guard down he might step into one of her traps. There was no way I was going to let that happen.

  When we reached the hotel Tiffany walked right toward the elevators. “We’re on the top floor.” She pressed the button and the door opened. I stepped in with her and the still unnamed friend. Levi was about to join us, but Vera suddenly pulled him back as the door closed.

  I sent a silent thanks to Vera. She’d gotten him away from Tiffany. Hopefully she could use his attraction to her to get him to listen.

  “Damn it.” Tiffany hit the door open button, but it was too late. We were already heading up. The elevator stopped at the next floor. Tiffany pushed through an oncoming crowd. I followed, squeezing off just as the door slammed shut. The other witch didn’t make it.

  There was still a crowd waiting for the next elevator, so Tiffany trudged through and started down the hall, stopping in her tracks when a wide room service cart came to rest in front of her. She moved around it and hurried toward the glowing exit sign at the end of the hall. She was going for the stairs.

  “Why such a hurry?” I taunted as I hurried down the hall after her. Pissing her off might not be advisable, but if it slowed her down it was completely worth it. There were too many people around to take the risk of doing anything more drastic.

  “You know exactly why.” She wrenched open the doors to the stairwell and started down. I followed close on her heels.

  Satisfied no one else was with us, I grabbed hold of her wrist and stopped her.

  She spun around toward me. “If I scream right now you’ll be arrested.”

  “You’re not going to scream, because then you’ll have to go through questioning. That will slow whatever plan or mission you’re on right now.”

  “I have all the time I need.” She grinned. “Thanks to you.”

  Footsteps on the stairs announced we had company, and I released her. She continued down stairs and burst through the door and into the lobby. I was one step behind her.

  A cursory glance sent a wave of relief through me. Levi and Vera were nowhere to be seen. Maybe my short lived stalling had worked.

  Her nostrils flared. “I’m going to kill that stupid bear.”

  “No you’re not.” My blood boiled. No one was touching Vera.

  “Like you can stop me?” Her face reddened.

  “I can.” And I would.

  “Are you sure? Do you really know what impact your magic will have? Do you know how to protect your mind?” She grinned. She was enjoying herself despite having missed Levi and Vera.

  “I haven’t had the magic awakened in this veil. Nothing’s changed.” Even if it would have simplified things, at least I didn’t have to worry about another potential weakness.

  “You going to play that game?” She smiled again and seemed to be focusing on me.

  “Are you going to do anything?” Taunting her came second nature.

  Her face tensed, but then it softened. She smiled. “You’re stuck. That’s what this is. You can’t figure out how to erase the veil. This is perfect.”

  The elevators opened and a crowd spilled out into the lobby. This crowd included the other witch. She hurried over to us.

  “Find them.” Tiffany seethed.

  The
witch nodded. “I will.” She hurried off across the lobby.

  “It means you’re stuck too.” I wasn’t 100% sure about that, but it was likely.

  “I can escape a veil.” Her eyes twinkled.

  “Glad you’re so confident.”

  “I’m always confident. One of these days you’re going to understand nothing and no one can hurt me.”

  “Many things can hurt you. You just don’t know it yet.” I glanced around for the other witch. Hopefully Vera had gotten Levi far away.

  Tiffany’s eyes were searching the lobby as well. “Not nearly as many as can hurt you.”

  “Pterons are stronger.”

  “Physically yes, but you have a weakness I don’t.” She started a slow walk around the bar. I stayed by her side.

  “And what’s that?” There was a time when I didn’t believe I had any weaknesses, but I wasn’t that naïve anymore. Underestimating an enemy’s strength was bad, underestimating your own weaknesses could be far worse.

  She stopped short in front of me. “You care.”

  “And that’s a weakness?” It was. A big one, but that didn’t mean I was going to admit it.

  “You’d put others before you. You’d give up an advantage. That makes you weak.” She scrunched up her face.

  “It’s also a strength. It’s why I never give up.” And I never would.

  “I never give up either, and it has nothing to with caring.” She walked toward the desk.

  “Then what is it? Power?” I knew what power could do to someone. I’d seen it with my own family.

  “Revenge.” Her eyes seemed to have an iridescent glow to it I’d never noticed before.

  “Still can’t get over Robert?” I couldn’t resist another rib. The sight of Tiffany made me sick to my stomach.

  “The Laurents will pay.” She walked toward the courtyard.

  “No they won’t.” I wasn’t going to let that happen.

  “They will. And you’ve made it so much easier for me. I appreciate it.”

  “Were you behind this?” She acted as though she hadn’t helped create the veil, but I didn’t believe her. I didn’t believe anything that came out of her mouth.

  “Behind what?” She stopped again.

  “This veil.”

  “You know who was behind it.” She ran her tongue over her teeth.

  “No I don’t.”

  “Yes you do. We all know you’ve got brains to go with that brawn.” She pushed my arm.

  “That doesn’t mean I know the answer to this.”

  “I thought you knew…” She seemed pensive.

  “I know who my mom is.” I wasn’t going to let her hold that over my head.

  “Then you do know the answer.” She ran a hand down my arm. “Mother dearest.”

  “Why would she have created this veil?”

  “I don’t know. She wouldn’t tell us no matter how hard I tried to get it out of her.”

  My chest clenched. “What did you do to her?” I hadn’t seen my mother in years, but the protectiveness was there.

  “She’ll survive. I followed you, and much to my surprise I found myself back here.”

  “Where’s Allie?” Tiffany was being talkative, and I hoped she’d spill.

  “She’s fine.” Tiffany headed toward the front doors of the hotel and glanced outside.

  “Where is she?” I gritted my teeth.

  “On her way back home.”

  “Why would she be doing that?” I was afraid to hear the answer.

  “She realized she’d made a big mistake. She’s going to fix it.”

  “Toby?” I heard a pounding in my ears. This wasn’t happening.

  “I always did like those Blackwells.”

  “Allie belongs with Levi.” My heartrate accelerated. I was getting angrier by the second, and I needed to stay in control. I couldn’t shift in the middle of the hotel lobby. I’d make things even worse.

  “Yes… they do look happy together, but I prefer Toby as the king.” She smiled.

  “You’re a bitch.”

  “I’ve been called worse.”

  “There’s nothing worse than you.” I didn’t want to leave Tiffany to meddle, but there was little I could do. I needed to talk to Levi, and I couldn’t do it with Tiffany on my tail. “I’m out of here.”

  “You expect me to believe you’re going to walk away and leave your friend and little bear in danger?” She laughed dryly. “I know you better than that, Jared. I know you so much better than you even know yourself.”

  “I’m getting Allie back here.” I would, but not yet. Just like I couldn’t do anything to stop Tiffany without making the situation a whole lot worse.

  “Good luck with that one.” She laughed and headed for the main doors of the hotel.

  I watched until she disappeared through the doors before pulling out my phone and calling Levi.

  He picked up right away. “Either this girl is insane or you have a lot of explaining to do.”

  “I have a lot of explaining to do.”

  “Meet me downstairs.” He hung up.

  Downstairs was good. The Society chambers was the safest place to be. If there was even such a thing as safe anymore.

  8

  Vera

  Levi thought I was insane. I didn’t only know it from his expression or his body language, although it was clear there too, but he outright said it no less than three times before he finally listened to me.

  “I understand you think I’m crazy, but I’m not. And even if I was, what would it hurt to go downstairs? You’d be safe, and you could kill me easier there.”

  “And then you sound crazier. Why would I kill you? And there is no basement.” He wrung his hands at his side. He was starting to lose his cool. I was surprised he was still talking to me.

  “There is a basement. I’ve been in the chambers. Albeit not until you’re King, but still…”

  “Wait… is this part of Jared’s joke?” He narrowed his eyes.

  “No. I swear. I’ve been there. Take me downstairs and I’ll prove it by showing you where things are.” I nodded toward the elevator.

  “Technically Jared could have taken you down there.” He shifted his weight from foot to foot.

  “Without getting caught?” I put a hand on my hip. “You guys have better security than that.”

  “Who are you?” He stepped toward me. “Who are you really?

  “I’m someone who wants you to live and meet your mate.”

  “My mate?” His eyes widened.

  “Now I have your attention. Of course.” I should have started with that part. “Come on, let’s go. I’m sure Jared can meet us when he’s done with pyscho witch.”

  “Who?”

  I shook my head. “Just take us down there.”

  “Fine, but there better be a reason for all this.”

  “There is.” A good one. Everything was on the line. I finally got him into the elevator.

  Levi inserted a key, and the elevator started its descent. I hoped Jared figured out where we were. I had acted quickly and impulsively, but I needed to get Levi away from the witches. He needed to understand who and what he was dealing with.

  The elevator opened up into complete darkness. I was grateful for my night vision.

  “Ok. You ready to listen?” I turned to him.

  “You can see me.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Yes. I can. I’m an Ursus.” I went with the formal term.

  “Jared has lost his mind over an Ursus?” He didn’t sound as surprised as I’d have expected.

  “Yes. Or a bear if you want to be more informal.”

  “I don’t care what term you use. It’s the same thing.”

  “Ok then, let me lay this out there. Those girls we were with are witches. At least one of them is. The blonde. She’s psychotic. She is going to try to kill you and your mate.” I carefully avoided using names. There was no reason to confuse him more.

  “My mate? You men
tioned her before.”

  “Yes, your mate. You were supposed to meet her today but everything is messed up.” And it was only getting worse. What I’d give for a do-over of the day.

  “I was supposed to?” He raised an eyebrow.

  “Yes. If you thought I was crazy before you’ll think I’m certifiably insane when I tell you the next part.”

  “Then maybe you shouldn’t tell me.”

  I shrugged. “I have to, but promise to hear me out and give Jared a chance to talk to you.”

  “Jared’s one of my closest friends. I’ll always hear him out.”

  “That’s great and all, but I guarantee you’ll think he’s crazy too.” Or even crazier.

  “He’s been acting weird all day…”

  “For a reason.”

  “Which is?” Levi gestured for me to continue.

  “We’re from the future.”

  Levi chuckled. “Ok, good one.”

  “No, really. Jared somehow conjured a veil and made this alternative time thingie that I don’t fully understand, but the bottom line is he’s screwed some things up. I’ve screwed them up too, and we need your help to fix it.”

  “Now I know you’re insane. The only people who can conjure anything are witches and warlocks. Jared isn’t magical.”

  “Not yet. It isn’t awakened. That part comes from his mom, and you’re the one who tells him that. He’s used these crystals, and he somehow made this veil thing or someone else helped him make it.”

  Levi’s phone vibrated. One of the perks of being supernatural was incredible hearing. He pulled out his phone and picked up. “Either this girl is insane or you have a lot of explaining to do. Meet me downstairs.” He pocketed his phone.

  Hopefully that meant Jared was coming.

  “Maybe you’re the witch. Maybe you somehow found a way to mess with a Pteron’s mind.” Levi studied me like he was looking for a sign of what I actually was.

  “I’m not a witch. I’m a bear.”

  “Prove it.” He crossed his arms.

  “You really want me to?” I had no interest in shifting, but I’d do what I had to do.

  “Yes.”

  “Fine.” I pulled off my tank top.

  Levi averted his eyes slightly, but I could tell he was still watching. I didn’t think it was in any pervy way, but he didn’t trust me. I didn’t care. I was used to being naked in front of people. I stepped out of my shorts and underwear. I refused to rip them. They were the only clothes I had.