City of Deception (The White City Series Book 1)

by Alexa Mackintosh

  City of Deception

  Ivan takes Vera’s hand and flinches. She pulls back even as he stares in wonder. “The crash changed me,” she says.

  “You’re alive. That is what matters,” he says

  She frowns. “You need to take the devices and go. I will join you once I’m sure the rebels can run the govern- ment.”

  “I know when you are lying. You will never come.”

  “I have my reasons!” she shouts. “I still love you, but we can’t be together. I’m basically dead.”

  “You changed, but maybe you can be cured.”

  “I’ve tried everything I can think of. If I could be healed, I would be by now.”

  “Come with us.”

  She chuckles as she kisses him on the cheek. “I enjoyed our time together, but I am not meant to be the one to keep your bed warm at night anymore. I already prepared the devices. You both need to go to the future. It’s time Natalia meets the future Natalia. You should go soon be- fore anyone else tries to use it. I have taught others to use my device.”

  “You taught me to use it when we were young. It’s why you won’t stop guarding it.” Someone says from the door- way. We turn to see my father in the doorway.

  “Hello, Liam,” Vera says. “Miss me?” my father asks.

  “As much as the moon in a total eclipse,” she says sol- emnly. “I didn’t forget if that’s what you wondered.”

  Alexa Mackintosh “You look almost the same,” he says.

  She laughs. “I can’t say the same for you. You’re old

  now.”

  “Vera? Have you worked for the revolution too?” Ivan questions.

  “She’s passed on information through Petrov until her supposed death. Did you tell Petrov things after the acci- dent?” my father asks.

  “You would not have succeeded had I not given you in- formation. I see now it was still a mistake. You want as much power as Dmitri, but you are wiser and willing to use your daughter to help you,” she says.

  “The real mistake was not allowing us to have the time device. We can go back and keep Earth from arriving.”

  “Yes, that would be wise, but you’ll not do that. You want your daughter in power. You do not care whether she is a dictator or not,” Vera says. “Besides, your daugh- ter made the future change because she killed Dmitri. Her future self is fighting against us to change time yet again.” “Keep Earth from arriving? I know they are supposed

  to be terrible, but is there no chance for peace? Agree- ment?” I ask.

  Three heads turn my way. Their expressions make me feel foolish for asking.

  My father moves towards one of the time devices. “You touch that machine, and I will splatter you across

  the wall,” Vera says, picking a weapon from the table and holding it in her hands.

  City of Deception

  My father raises his hands. “Don’t make me choose you or the time machine, Veronica.”

  “I’m already dead; you can do little,” she says.

  Ivan raises his gun, but Vera grabs his wrist. “If you love me, don’t kill him until I’m gone.”

  My father’s face reddens as he takes in Vera’s gesture. “Ivan’s why you hated Orion, and why you never came back.”

  Vera’s eyes fill with tears. “Of course, I didn’t tell you I had an affair with Ivan! I ended up thousands of years in the past on another planet when…when the explosion went off that originally sent me here. I used the device to hop through time to make this culture stronger because I saw a future where Earth took over this planet and they all but destroyed it. Eventually, this planet would revolt, and it would blow Earth up. I tried to stop it, but dammit, Liam, you messed up everything I tried to stop. Every time there was a revolution you were the leader. I realized I wasn’t the one who would ensure peace; your daughter and Ivan are meant to finish this fight. I couldn’t- wouldn’t-kill you every time I saw you in time. I should have, but I loved you too much for that.”

  Ivan whispers, “You knew Natalia’s father before you came here? And you loved him?”

  Vera looks exhausted as she turns to Ivan. “I was en- gaged to Liam. We had dreams, but one day an accident occurred. I worked with a team of scientists on a time ma- chine on Earth. We were almost finished, so I asked Liam

  Alexa Mackintosh

  to come watch as we conducted a test. The numerous tests before had gone smoothly, so we thought it was safe. Liam worked a floor below me in the genetics department,” Vera looks up at me. “You’re the result of Liam’s work. He worked with genetics. A child of two species was the ultimate genetics accomplishment.”

  She continues, “That day the time machine exploded. It was 2075. I was thrown here in the past and Liam into the future. I thought he was dead until after Zadie’s fam- ily took me in. By the time I found Liam again, he was part of the revolution, and Natalia’s mother was pregnant. I changed this planet’s culture basing your cities on an old culture, a country called Russia, during one of their revo- lutions. Russia was my mother’s homeland.”

  We are silent until she continues, “I came here and met you, Ivan. I couldn’t love Orion. We started falling in love and then the affair…and then Orion found out…Then I died in the accident. The world went black and the next thing I know, I woke up in this body that’s mine, yet not. I’m not sure why I’m still breathing when I know I must have died. I’m not aging either.” she wipes at her eyes. “This isn’t how I thought this would end.”

  We are silent until my father raises a gun towards Ivan. He must have had one stowed away on his belt. “Unless I’m mistaken, this is the time where the city is falling, the future is changing, and I need the time machine and my daughter.”

  City of Deception

  “Unless I’m mistaken, Liam, this is the reality where Ivan will be the reason your family survives in the future. Point your gun at me, not him. It is me you are mad at.”

  “Ivan will not help my daughter,” he says.

  “I’ve seen the future. This part hasn’t changed either.

  Ask your daughter; she knows.”

  He glances at me, and I nod. Thankfully, Ivan is clue- less and too preoccupied with Vera to understand. He doesn’t need to know I might one day carry his child. I don’t even want to think how that will come about in the future. It won’t if I can change it.

  Vera picks two devices off the table and hands them to Ivan. “Run. The devices will take you to the future. I set where you’ll come out at.”

  “You are coming,” Ivan says.

  “Talia, get Ivan out of here.” She keeps the gun pointed at my father, but I see it in her eyes. She’s deter- mined, but she’s looking at the man she loves. She won’t hurt him unless she must. She gives Ivan the same look.

  I edge towards Ivan and grab his arm. “We have to go.”

  His face is white, and he can’t take his eyes off Vera. “I thought she died.”

  “She did,” I say. “Just not successfully.”

  Ivan walks past me to Vera. He takes her face in his hands and kisses her, not caring that my father points a gun at them.

  Alexa Mackintosh

  The kiss lasts for several seconds before they separate. “I’ll miss you, Ivan Setari,” she whispers as she places her forehead against his.

  “I already miss you,” he says. She smiles tightlipped.

  “I’m sorry, but I must do this,” my father says. I feel an arm wrap around my waist and pin my arms to my sides. My father pulls me back and points his gun at Ivan.

  “He was never meant to die! He’s the rightful leader,” Vera shouts.

  It all happens so fast that neither Ivan or I have time to act.

  The gun fires, but as it does Ivan is shoved aside and Vera takes his place.

  My father releases me as he sees what he has done. Ivan goes to her as the blood begins to spread across her abdo- men.

  She grabs his arm and says, “Don’t blame Liam. I knew this would happen.”
>
  “You knew you would die again, you fool?” Ivan says, his voice cracking. He takes her head and places it in his lap.

  My father watches, and I take the moment to pull out my weapon. After killing Dmitri, holding the gun is eas- ier.

  “You’ll make sure Ivan and I make it safely to the fu- ture. If not, I will shoot you,” I say.

  City of Deception

  He turns to me. He looks me up and down and for the first time notices the blood on my clothes. “Whose blood is that?”

  “Orion is dead. You will join him if you don’t help us.

  Am I clear, father?”

  He nods, dropping his weapon. He looks dazed. It is ex- pected. He killed the girl he loved, and his daughter holds a gun towards him.

  “Go,” Vera says, her hand brushing across Ivan’s cheek. Her breath is worsening, and she is surrounded by a puddle of blood. It could be minutes before she dies, but she will die from her wound sometime soon.

  Ivan stands but doesn’t move from her side.

  “You stupid, loyal idiot. I suppose I must be dead be- fore you go,” she manages. She points the gun in her hand at her head and pulls the trigger.

  I scream as Ivan jumps back.

  We are too horrified to say anything. Ivan turns away first and heads for the door. He’s crying, and letting my father or I see is probably the last thing he wants to do now.

  We need to leave, but I don’t know what lies ahead. I’m giving Ivan a few minutes to calm down. We will need our heads clear when we arrive.

  Ivan goes first down the hall, and I go last to make sure my father does nothing. We get halfway down the hall be- fore Ivan spins and hits my father.

  “Ivan, stop!” I scream.

  Alexa Mackintosh

  My father stumbles, and Ivan pins him against the wall. I point the gun at them. I’m not sure if my Earth her- itage makes me realize this is about survival or if it comes from the inner clock warning me that time is running out.

  The two men in front of me may die, but I will not. I will make sure of that.

  “Next time one of you holds us up I will shoot you. You both lost someone you care about, and I am sorry and maybe a little disgusted that you liked the same girl. I lost someone too, and I can hold myself together. I expect you to do the same,” I say.

  My father hurt my mother and me by loving someone else. I wish I had time to ask him if he ever loved my mother or if I was born as a game piece. I don’t want to hear his crap answer either way.

  Ivan releases my father and starts pacing.

  Before I tell Ivan to put on a device and hand me the other, a group of rebels round the corner. To my surprise, I recognize the woman leading the small group.

  Angelica stands in the middle of the group giving or- ders. She doesn’t look like the lady she trained to be. She looks like a normal rebel with her golden hair tied back and wearing a simple uniform. She must have helped get the rebels into the palace.

  She dismisses the rebels surrounding her. She comes to greet me, hesitating when she sees the blood on me.

  “Were you hurt?” she asks, scanning my chest and no- ticing the gun clenched at my side.

  City of Deception

  “The blood is Orion’s. I told you I would complete the mission. Now we need to get to the future to finish this mission.”

  “You’re going into the future? The dictator is too pow- erful! The rebels of the future are failing. That’s why we’re here,” she glances at my father. “Going to the future won’t help, correct?”

  He glances the other direction. He’s lied to all the re- bels about what is going on. It’s why everyone believes the Mersiovskys are the main enemies. Sure, it’s the wife of a prince that becomes the dictator, but most of the public doesn’t know.

  “It is the solution to everything,” I say. “Angelica, I learned who the dictator is. I know her name.”

  “So, we can kill her now and end this!” she exclaims.

  I shake my head. “You can do that, but you’ll be run- ning a knife through your best friend.”

  “What?” she questions confused. “It’s me. I’m the dictator.”

  { 42 }

  Chapter 42

  HE LAUGHS, AND THE SOUND ECHOES OFF THE WALLS.

  “She’s not joking,” Ivan says.

  The laughter dies. “That’s impossible.”

  “Remember how I could predict the future dictator’s plans?” I ask.

  She gasps. “Oh! But that can’t be right. You’re not evil.”

  “I’m not evil yet, and never will be. I need to fight my future self and change the future.”

  “Well,” she says pointedly. “This mission got awesome and weird at the same time. So, we can’t defeat you now?” I shake my head. “You could, but I don’t like the out-

  come of that. I’d like to live.”

  “Of course,” she says in thought. “We should leave now for the future. The rebels have overrun most of the city.”

  “You’re coming?” I ask.

  Alexa Mackintosh

  “You will need someone to help you fight,” she says. “There are two devices.” How can I choose who to take? “Vera mentioned that a third person might be trans-

  ported if they held on to the other two,” my father says. I’d almost forgotten he is standing a few feet away. “They ‘might be transported?’ What happens if they’re

  not?” Angelica asks.

  My father shrugs. “I guess anything could happen. You might be transported to another time and place or im- plode on the spot.”

  Angelica pales but says, “I’ll try it anyway.”

  I start to object, but Ivan interrupts me. He walks to- wards Angelica, but she steps back and places her hand on the hilt of her gun.

  “You say you are a rebel, but stay back,” she says. Ivan grasps her arm and places the device on her wrist.

  “I’ll be the third person.”

  “You have more to lose,” I remind. “You need to live to be ruler in the future. You’re from the right Royal family, and even if the people don’t want you as a ruler, they will want you to support the new democracy.”

  He shakes his head. “If I’m meant to be in the future I will live. Vera could never kill you because you came back in every future. I will be fine if meant to be.”

  Now we can leave, but what do I do with my father?

  My father starts to speak, but I point my gun towards him. “One word and you're dead. We share DNA. Nothing else.”

  City of Deception

  He shuts his eyes as if my comment hurts him, but I realize now that my father and the revolution is as manip- ulative as Dmitri. He wants something and will tug at my heartstrings and loyalty to get it.

  Angelica pulls a small bag from her belt and opens it. She takes a needle between her fingers. “Hold the general still.”

  I take one of my father’s arms, and Ivan takes the other. My father doesn’t resist. Maybe he knows what the needle holds.

  Angelica inserts the needle’s contents into a vein in his arm.

  My father collapses thirty seconds later and lay still. “Someone will come to fetch him. Rebels crawl

  through this level. He should be unconscious for a few hours,” she says. “Should we go?”

  I reach out and grasp her hand before taking Ivan’s hand in the other. “How do we turn the devices on?”

  It always looked simple, but I realize there are ten dif- ferent size buttons on the device. I don’t want to randomly start pressing them.

  “Press down on the top of the device,” Ivan instructs.

  Angelica and I push against the top. In seconds, the room disappears, and a street full of shops takes its place. Ivan appears beside me instantly, but it takes a moment for Angelica to arrive. When she does appear, she crum- ples against the sidewalk.

  Alexa Mackintosh

  I fall to my knees and gently shake her shoulder. “An- gelica?”

  Ivan bends down beside
me and presses two fingers against her throat. “She’s still breathing. Hopefully, this is a temporary fainting spell caused by the time travel.”

  “Why would time travel hurt her?”

  Ivan looks at me seriously. “Vera didn’t tell you the things that could go wrong because she didn’t want you to fear using it. Besides, you are one of the catalysts of the future. It is unlikely you will be hurt. Everyone is differ- ent. Some survive time travel; some do not. It is not a toy. It is a weapon and can kill.”

  “Will she be alright?” What if I hurt my best friend?

  I’ll never forgive myself if I did.

  “She should be, but we don’t know how long she’ll be unconscious. We need to move her before anyone notices. What year are we in?”

  I shrug. “A decade or two ahead. Vera didn’t mention the year.”

  I glance into the nearest shop window in the hope that the date might be visible on one of the items. It’s all elec- tronic gear, but only one reads the time and doesn’t in- clude the year. Live footage of a woman on one of the screens catches my eye. I would know her from anywhere.

  It’s me.

  I’m standing at a podium giving a speech to a small group of people. Silver streaks through my hair, but I look almost like I do now. A diamond crown rests on my head.

  City of Deception

  The bottom of the screen reads Empress Addresses the Issue of the Rebellion’s New Leader. I wish I could hear through the thick, glass window.

  “You need to see this.” I wave Ivan over. “It’s true then,” he says.

  “I must have my reasons, and I need to know what they are. What could make me choose to harm the people I want to protect?” Could I be selfish enough to destroy lives to keep my own happiness? There have to be more reasons. I’m not a foolish girl who changes everyone’s lives on a whim.