Storm Front: NA Fantasy/Time Travel (Tesla Time Travelers Book 3)

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.

C
HAPTER
1

Y
OU
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.

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C
HAPTER
2

T
IANA
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 residence.” 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.

C
HAPTER
3

“O
H
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.
 

C
HAPTER
4

M
Y
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
.