Storm Front: NA Fantasy/Time Travel (Tesla Time Travelers Book 3) (12 page)

He makes a face. “You cannot be serious. Men do not go about dressed like this, do they?”

“All men dress as warriors in your day?”

He snorts. “Only the important ones.”

I roll my eyes. “Well if you’re going to travel with me then you need to get over your issues. Here, important men dress like this.” That’s a lie but there’s no point in telling him if we really had somewhere fancy to go he’d have had to wear a tie and jacket, and most certainly shoes. This is good enough for right now. I pull the fabric across his chest and button the top button, barely getting it through. As long as he doesn’t try to take anyone out, I’m pretty sure they’ll stay closed. I nimbly finish buttoning the shirt and brush my hands along the crest of his shoulders. “You look incredibly handsome.”

He ignores me.

“Right. Now you have to put pants on.”

“What?”

I laugh, unable to help myself. “Constantine! You have killed people. I’m asking you to wear pants. Stop acting so affronted. Seriously.”

He huffs and crosses his arms, straining the seams of the fabric.

I slap his elbow. “Don’t do that. You’ll pop the back of the shirt open.”

“Good.” His surliness is hysterical.

“If you rip it, I’ll have to leave and go get you another one.” I’m arguing with a four year old the way he’s behaving. I hand him the pants. “Put these on.”

He turns away from me and drops his bottoms, giving me a surly shot of his tight ass. If I thought it would help, I’d slap it, but I don’t need him any more unpredictable than he is right now, and for all I know, he’s barely keeping his misplaced rage controlled and that’s the thing will set him off. The clothes aren't why he's upset, it’s the uncertainty of everything, where we are, what we’re here to do, how we’re searching for Tiana in a huge city and might not be here during the right time. I get it, but his reaction is ridiculous.

He puts the pants on over his nakedness, then turns back to me, pointing at the fly. “And these contraptions?”

I laugh again as I do up his pants and tuck his shirt in, amazed at how much the simplest things are setting him off-kilter today. The shirt wasn’t meant to be fitted, but it hugs his thick pecs and tapers his narrow waist. The pants are made for a small Englishman, not a hulking Roman warrior, so they accentuate the stunning curve of his ass and thighs. He’s splendid.

I might as well have let him walk the streets in his training gear because now he’s going to be turning every head within a ten-mile radius. Jealousy rears up inside me and I quickly squash it, unwilling to give it purchase. I’ll have to manage it on the go, but if one woman flirts him up, I’ll probably lose it.

I pick up his clothes and fold them, then tuck them beneath a wide pile of wood. “We won’t leave them, I promise.” I hold out my hand. “I’ll put your sword here with them.”

“Not a chance.”

“You can’t wear—” I shut my mouth and press my lips together. I’ve managed to get him in clothes, the sword isn’t a battle I’ll win. I stand and brush my hands.

He retrieves his sword and buckles it on, looking only slightly odd with the weapon dangling at his side. Everything about him is lethal, the sword icing.

My fingers tingle and I shift my weight, unable to shake my edginess, like we’re being watched. I don’t give into the urge to look over my shoulder but the vastness of the warehouse is freaking me out. I want to get out among people and see if we can find a kid who’s an abnormally gifted scholar.

“Ready?” Constantine asks, shrugging his shoulders in discomfort. “I’d feel better if I knew the objective.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

“Is this always the way of your alterations?”

I shrug. “Maybe. I’ve always had Ilif or Penya involved, manipulating everything, so I’ve never had to do any of this part on my own before. And it’s a thousand times more confusing this time because we’re in Tiana’s alteration.”

He grunts. “This is dangerous. You might as well walk to the middle of the street and announce your presence. At least then you’d see your enemy coming.”

“There isn’t always an enemy. Tiana’s finding a girl—a smarty-pants genius—how dangerous can be? Some alterations have to be easy and safe.” I glance over my shoulder at him. “Don’t they?”

“Safe and easy does not require lightning riders, only change of will.”

I turn forward, unwilling to acknowledge the truth in his statement. History can be changed with a mere attitude adjustment doesn’t need me. We’re the big guns, the last resort. If a lightning rider shows up it means some serious shit went down and we have to stand in the way. My shoulders slump. I wanted this to be easy and safe for Tiana… but now I see that’s not likely.

Constantine’s arm wraps around my waist and he pulls me backward until our bodies are snug. “But I am here this time.”

I nod and try to come to grips with the possible levels of danger we’re about to face. Penya will not go quietly, and I already know she’s not afraid to use whatever force necessary.

“Though we are in a time closer to yours, one I know nothing about, I need to know you’ll obey me. I cannot keep you safe otherwise.”

I close my eyes and relax into the solidity of him. My fingers drop to his wrist and encircle his forearm. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“And the rest?”

“I’ll do what you say.” It’s not difficult to submit to him, to what he needs to hear from me. I’ve had enough of being on my own and being in danger. I don’t like it. Not at these stakes… and now I’ve endangered Tiana, I’m more willing to follow his lead in this. I’ve tried battling Penya on my own and managed to blow up my own house in the process.

His arm tightens. “Unless nothing, understand? There is no condition to request. I do not care what situation we encounter, I am here to keep you safe.”

“What if—”

“No. No ifs. You know I will let no harm come to you, correct?”

I nod, wanting to ask him what he’d do if the choice was saving me or Tiana, but I know the answer, so I press my lips together and swallow. I asked him to come protect me, to come help me, to be my other half on this wild rider trip and I have to let him do it. Even when it threatens to destroy me.

Aligned on who’s giving the orders and who’s taking them, he unwraps me and links his fingers through mine. “You watch for Tiana, I’ll watch everyone else.”

I brush a kiss across his lips and squeeze his hand. I turn and the air shifts, making me freeze.

Ilif pops in, relief on his face, everything else a complete mess. “Good. I’d hoped to catch you.”

“What happened to you guys? Where’s Papi?”

He shakes his head and I don’t like the disheveled look of him. His jacket is bunched up around his neck like someone grabbed him and there’s a scuff across the tip of his left shoe. For Ilif, that’s as bad as Constantine stumbling in bloodied and missing his sword. He draws a deep breath and I hold mine in dreaded anticipation.

“Your father and I have tried a dozen manipulations of the arc, and each time we are unsuccessful in locating Tiana or a trace of her. I worry Penya has figured out how to cloak them both.”

“How?” Constantine steps closer to Ilif, making the lesser man wince. 

He finds his courage and puffs out his chest. “It was always Penya who erased Evy’s residue.” He looks at me. “Everywhere you went, she kept me from finding you.”

I remember that, but back then I needed to stay hidden from Ilif since he despised me. Penya’s only gotten better at it. “That’s a big deal. How are we going to figure out if that’s what’s happening?”

“I must return to my lab and adjust the calculations. Tracking her with my equipment gives us the highest probability of finding her. If we continue in this manner, it will be nothing but an exercise in futility. And if you’ll let me find her, then you won’t be in the middle of an alteration and you can immediately intercept her.”

I open my mouth, but he holds up a hand to silence me. “I wish I had a more positive or assured answer. But we simply cannot continue crossing dimensions and time searching without further knowledge. With Penya erasing her residue, Tiana could be in the next room and we would not know.”

“Really?” I thought if we were close, I’d get a ping or a feeling or something. That’s both shitty and good. She’ll have to damn near standing in front of us. All my training and powers afford me nothing… and when I need them most.

Ilif nods, but it’s in defeat, not his usual know-it-all-confidence. “It is true.” He’s quiet and solemn and I’ve never seen him like this. I don’t like it. Allowing Penya to get the best of him is jacking him hard. He skimmed right over the technical aspects of tracing her and tweaking the math, stuff he’d ordinarily blather on about for hours. Penya’s latest stunt has cut us all off at the knees.

Tiana bent over and tried not to puke. “Oh wow.” Her fingers curled into her stomach and she tried to make the ground stop spinning. Behind her, Penya patted Tiana’s back. “You’ll be fine. They will become easier each time.”

“Oh man, I’m not sure I can do any more of these.”

“Stand up.”

“Not a good idea.” Tiana lifted up halfway and the ground tilted at an angle, forcing her to close her eyes again and swallow half a dozen times to keep this morning’s breakfast from launching itself out of her throat. “IDTk I like being a lightning rider. Did Evy have to do this every time?”

“Each rider is different as well as every alteration. They’ll distress you differently and you’ll acclimates at your own pace.”

“So no… No… Figures she’d get this right the first time. She always does.” Tiana groaned. “Man, oh God. Gonna puke. Yep, oh, jeez.”

Penya took a large step back as Tiana vomited into the dirt. Evy could keep her lightning riding. She and Papi could conquer the world while Tiana did math problems safe at home. She didn't need all this adventure to feel good about herself. 

“Here, child.” Penya handed Tiana a soft handkerchief and she wiped her mouth, then tried to stand again. This time the horizon stayed like it was supposed to. Her gut settled and she took several deep breaths, then gave the handkerchief back. Penya waved it off. “Keep it, we have more traveling to do.”

Finally upright and her eyes no longer wet with the tears of hurling, Tiana noticed the strangeness of where they were. Gone were the flat fields of grass, replaced now by a picture-perfect old-world European city, complete with spired buildings and an overcast sky. She couldn’t see much of the neighborhood beyond where they stood in the middle of a well-manicured park, but the cobblestone street hinted at a tidy row of houses on either side. “Where are we?” Tiana took another deep breath and wiped her trembling hands on her pants.

“London, England, 1830. At the end of this street lives the girl I mentioned, Augusta Ada Byron. The next couple years are the most pivotal of her entire life. She will explore concepts promise to change everything. But she’ll miss an appointment would have changed the world. I need you to ensure the meeting happens.”

Tiana’s eyes widened. “That’s how this works, then? I make them meet? That sounds super hard.”

“Easy, actually. You’ll continue to skip forward along the timeline of the alteration affecting things along the way.” She tucked a strand of hair behind Tiana’s ear. “Don’t discount your ability. Your family has done this for years, it will come to you.”

Tiana didn’t feel any of the confidence Penya saw in here. She’d never been sure of her abilities though and it was one thing she’d always admired about Evy, her unrestrained surety in her decisions. Maybe if Tiana could do this, get this girl to her meeting, maybe then she’d feel worthy of Penya’s words. 

“Ada is far more genius than the men working on the first computers. This opportunity will allow her the freedom to express herself scientifically, to show off her mathematical genius, and to prove women should never have to hide behind their initials.”

Tiana blinked and frowned. She didn’t know much about Penya other than what Evy had told her—which wasn’t a lot—but Penya sounded like her friend Sasha’s mom after the divorce. She’d turned all wounded-bird about her soon-to-be ex, went all women’s lib weird and she was always telling Tiana and Sasha they needed to embrace their womanhood and not take orders from men. It made Tiana feel uncomfortable and strange. Penya was as manic as Sasha’s mom on a tirade right now.

“That’s really great.” Thankfully, Sasha had figured out the best way to deal with her mom and Tiana used it now. “It sounds like you want to make things better for her and for all girls.” Tiana pressed her clasped hands to her chest like she’d seen Sasha do. “Thank you.”

Penya preened. “You’ll do fine, Tiana. Just fine.”

Ilif returns to the lab, leaving us to wait—which I hate more than anything. I didn’t want to leave London in case he got a hit on her and we could catch up to them. Constantine paces the building, fascinated by its construction and the piles of scrap. I watch the door, too high-strung and twitchy to carry on a conversation.

No matter how long it takes to fix things on his end, Ilif should arrive back here mere moments after he left… It’s already taking him so long.

Metal scrapes across the concrete and I glance over my shoulder. Constantine’s tugging a heavy metal bar out of a pile. “Don’t get dirty.” He ignores me and I pace, unsure how much more of this I can handle. “We should go.”

“Wait for him.” He sets the bar in his pile. I have no idea what he thinks he’s going to do with all that, it’s not like we can move it through time. I leave him to it, knowing it’s in his nature to stay busy and thinking of war and weapons. At least he has something to occupy his thoughts.

I make two more circuits around the room and the air shifts in Ilif’s signature entrance. Relief washes through me, but it’s short-lived when he appears with a distressed frown. “What’s wrong? Is she lost? Hurt? Where’s Papi?”

Constantine’s footfalls echo through the space as he hurries over.

“I sent him home,” Ilif says. “We tried everything. Penya’s stayed ahead of us. I fear…” He swallows and looks away. “I fear she’s outsmarted me.”

I don’t want him admitting that. Not this early in the game. “What do we need to do? Do I need to go look for her? I’m willing to do whatever—whatever it takes.”