Storm Front: NA Fantasy/Time Travel (Tesla Time Travelers Book 3) (18 page)

“I haven’t been completely truthful with you,” I say as we walk the perimeter of the compound. While my mind unraveled, I thought about Penya and how committed she’s been to her deception. I have to be ready for her when she arrives and to do that, I’ll need Constantine’s full consent to help me.

He gently grabs my arm and pulls me sideways around a swampy section of thick grass. “Most women aren’t.”

I laugh. “Maybe the ones you know.”

“And yet you’re saying you’re similar.” We hike up a small rise and toward a couple of soldiers on the other side.

“There’s another reason I’m here.”

He stops and turns, giving me his full attention. “What is it?” There’s an intensity to his gaze and questioning makes me second-guess telling him. He’s always been so good about accepting my information, but we’ve been on such good terms since I’ve been here and usually means there’s a blow-up pending and I’m pushing my luck.

“There’s another woman coming. One who is far from good. I need to stop her, but it won’t be easy. She’ll start trouble the moment she arrives, convince you I’m not here to help.”

He frowns. “Why would I believe her?”

“I’m kind of hoping you won’t. We’ve had some issues, she and I and when she finds me here she’s going to be mad, really mad.”

He stiffens and puffs out his chest. “I’ll protect you.” He’s deadly serious.

I’m overcome with emotion. All I wanted was for him to be alert and wary of Penya when she gets here. Now he’s gone and stepped it up. I can’t come to grips with how much I love him. His older self was right—no matter the time, no matter the place, he will always keep me safe. I lean forward to take a step, but catch myself and straighten, keeping the small distance between us. “She’s dangerous and has weapons far more powerful than mine.”

He arches his eyebrows in surprise. “You jest.”

“No. She’s a powerful sorceress—” I take supreme satisfaction in being able to smudge her name first. “But her weapons are words and…” I hesitate before throwing time travel in to the mix of her arsenal. I don’t want him to be afraid of it before I can show it to him. “Chemistry.”

“What does she plan to do?”

“When she sees I’m here? Probably try to kill me.”

“Then we strike first,” he says with his usual confident surety.

“It’s not easy, which is why I need your help. She’s kidnapped my sister, making it risky for me to kill her.”

He scowls. “I see. Then we capture her?”

“Yes. If we can. Her chemistry is advanced, so we’ll need to be careful.” Such an understatement, but until she’s here and he can see what she’s capable of, I can’t overload him with too much information.

He nods slowly and runs a hand over his hair, clasping his neck. “Stay alert. Point her out when you see her. I’ll inform the men.”

“Thank you.” I reach for him and he drops his arm to his side, stepping close. My fingers curl around his forearm and his nostrils flare. I want to kiss him to thank him properly, but I bite my lower lip. He lifts his hand and slides it behind my neck. “You’ve been here for so brief a time… and yet…” His gaze touches my lips. “I am already aware I will miss you fiercely when you are gone.”

My breath comes quick and I force myself to remember he’s taken, engaged, going to have sex with someone else… but the appeal of him is too strong. I know him too well, know soon this face will bear the scars of battle, he’ll start wearing his hair tighter against his scalp so attackers can’t grab his curls, know the feel of his skin against my tongue and how his abs lurch in anticipation right before I kiss them. His golden eyes search me and I want so many forbidden things right now. My fingers tighten on his arm. Thankfully he manages to be the one with some willpower and releases me. I’m trembling.

He turns and starts walking again, letting me get myself put back together. His body gravitates closer so our arms brush every other step. It’s distracting in an incredible way and by the end of this trip I’ll have gone straight insane. The man is too much to resist.

We stop beside his men, dirty and sweaty from the day’s work. Constantine introduces me and I recognize the archer who fired on me the very first time I was here. He’s younger, but it’s definitely him—I’ll never forget the first man who called me a goddess. “Sim, this is Evy.” I incline my head in acknowledgment, then meet the rest of them. They look familiar too and it makes sense though he’d keep those men with him. It’s comforting to have them here, knowing we’ve fought together before and they defended me. My kinship with Constantine is not the only relationship that’s managed to stay intact across the centuries and I’d give anything for the chance to thank them for their bravery night is still to come, to tell them how many times I’ve wondered and worried for their safety.

“A word?” The older man—Janus, I think—says to Constantine.

“Of course.”

“There’s been talk of another uprising.”

“The same goat herder and his men?” Constantine asks, troubled.

I gasp.
Viriato!
Holy shit, my alterations have come full-circle. I clutch my stomach and step away. Constantine glances worriedly at me but I wave him off and he returns his attention to his man, asking questions about the number of the attackers, weapons, where to find them.

I block it out and turn inward, confused and searching for answers. Being here early might screw up history and who knows what I can jack up outside an alteration. I have to tread carefully, but I’m a walking historical time bomb. To be safe, I should probably lock myself in my room and not do anything until Penya gets here.

“Yes,” Janus says, interrupting my thoughts. “They’ve taken one of the less armored camps. Retaliation is required if we’re to stop them before the men become more brazen.”

Constantine mulls over the information and tightens his shoulders. “We leave at dusk.”

The men nod, eager to have something more to do than construct buildings. They disperse and Constantine stands beside me, his fingers warm and low on my back. “Is something amiss?”

Do I tell him what I know? Shit, how much of will screw up what I have to come do later? My brain hurts but I manage to shake my head and drop my hands. “No. Sorry, I’m okay. You’re going to war tonight?”

He rubs his temple then ruffles his hair. “Not war, handling a troublemaker.”

“Oh.” We’ve already had this discussion months from now, when tonight doesn’t go as he hopes and Viriato bests him and his men again. Somewhen between now and then, Penya badmouths me, but also convinces him he needs me. If we take her out before happens, does keep him from forging an alliance with me later, or will this one we’re building stand in place of everything Penya did with him? I’m so confused and wary of my power here.

My sour stomach mellows and I take a deep breath, trusting my lightning’s ability to guide me for the rest of this trip. Tonight will be what it’s supposed to be as with the rest of my days here. I must risk his later relationship with Penya in order to save Tiana. She’s too malleable, too young to understand the ramifications and means it’s Penya who could screw the future and everything we’ve already accomplished. We have to stop her and trust anything I change is worth the risk. Tiana will do what Penya says and I’ve succumbed to Penya’s brilliant deception, so I know Tiana doesn’t stand a chance against Penya’s manipulation and lies.
 

This is no longer about saving my little sister—it’s more than that, bigger than that. A radical like Penya can’t be on the loose with a lightning rider. That’s like giving her an eraser and magic marker to do with as she pleases. History will be all kinds of screwed up. I can’t let her continue on this path of hers. We must stop her.

The other thing crystalized for me this morning was I must trust my ability. Not so much the
alteration
like Penya always told me, but the white-hot source lives inside me, the one came to life with first strike of lightning. It has yet to fail me, and I can move through time and space, not because of my own desires, but because I do what’s right, what’s needed. Whatever happens with Penya, if I let guide me, I won’t choose wrong.

The right future will happen.

We walk away from the men and Constantine is thoughtful for a long time, then he asks if I’ll come with him tonight.

“Uh.” We’ve been in battle before, but only to kill Viriato…. Which I guess is what this is. I’m not worried about being able to protect myself and I already know the intensity and skill of Constantine’s men. I trust them. I’ve fought with these men before and I’m honored to go into battle with them again, especially since I need to redeem myself for the lousy way I handled last time. I’d like to think everyone’s first real fight is a rough one, and now I’ve had more experience, I won’t be such a rookie. My hesitation comes from my other abilities and I can’t answer him yet. I hold up my hand and step away, seeking guidance. This is so strange and ill-fitting, stopping to process before I race off unprepared. Normally I’d agree and worry about the consequences later, but I feel like this time—outside an alteration—my every choice carries the weight of a thousand alterations.

My belly burns with the heat of my lightning and I put both hands over it. Penya isn’t here yet and what I do between now and her arrival is a big deal.

“I’ll keep you at the fringe of the fighting.”

I turn and come back to him. “I’m not worried about that.”

“The sorceress?”

“Yes and no.” I chew my bottom lip then take a chance. “My powers aren’t limited to lightning. I have the power to travel back and forth through time.”

He blinks, but doesn’t comment.

“I can change events, but I have to be careful I only change the right ones. Going tonight… well, I could change some stuff isn’t supposed to happen yet.”

“Then don’t.”

I laugh. “You and your simplistic answers.”

“Is not always the easiest way?”

I sigh. “It is, but these powers are complicated. I don’t always know what the right choice is.”

“I doubt that,” he says confidently. “Your actions are swift and sure. I am certain you
know
the correct choice, but the dilemma lies in wanting to make it.”

I shift closer. “How do you do that?” I whisper, tipping my face up to him. “How do you boil things down to the purest, simplest reasoning?”

He cups my chin and strokes my bottom lip with his thumb. “I only do what makes sense.” His low voice melts like chocolate across my body.

I know better than to ask him what makes sense right now, because the answer will be his body touching mine, his lips brushing mine apart, my fingers curling into the thick flesh of his arms. My heart pounds and I want him to kiss me so badly, to wrap me up in his arms and be my stronghold. 

“Will you come?” His breath tickles my skin and I know I won’t be anywhere but at his side tonight—and every night while I’m here. Even as mere comrades, my need for him is overwhelming.

My lids flutter closed and he presses the pad of his thumb to my lips—a promise of kisses yet to come. His hand falls away and I recover. “Yes.”

He falters and neither one of us is sure what I answered to, but he takes a step away, honoring my own reservations about his engagement if they differ from the common thinking of his time, giving me one more reason to love him.

“The armory is this way.”

We follow the narrow path, now only flattened grass and not yet a fully packed dirt trail. The grass whispers against my soles and my mind wanders to Viriato, to the decade of fighting he’s about to inflict on these men. Will my arrival change that? If we encounter him and I have the chance to take the shot, should I or will collapse time because my future alteration is the one has to stand? This is so hard without a
reliable
guide.

Being the rogue hot-head was so much easier.

I’ve only seen the armory from the hallway and in passing. It’s impressive and they either put this room together first or not very long after arriving. It’s full to the brim with swords, shields, bows and arrows, with armor lining one entire wall.

He spreads his arms. “Take what you need.”

I head for the armor since I don’t want any of the weapons. The pieces make me miss Anna and the badass custom set she made for me. I rub my thumb across the scarred leather of a huge breastplate. These will have to work for now and I find a small set covers the important stuff.

“I apologize for the lack of sizing. I lost the man who crafted it for us. While I’ve managed to locate a new blacksmith to keep us in weapons, I have yet to find one to craft new armor.”

“Too bad you don’t know anyone personally.” Like Anna.

He chuckles. “The best seamstress I know is my sister. I doubt her fiancé would let her come to the battle lines. Nor would she prefer crafting armor to dresses.”

“When is her wedding?” I’m eager to know if she’s safely happy or if the plague has yet to come.

“Years yet before the nuptials, but they’ve been pledged for over two.”

“Oh.” Damn. Horror still waits for her on a future horizon. I sigh and have nothing more to say. I’ve laid the ground work, seeding the thought, so if needed, he’ll think to bring her here. Not he wouldn’t have anyway, but I felt compelled to say something. Maybe I’m missing Anna, but maybe these are the tiny alterations have to happen so she’ll come—like teaching him the Tai Chi. This time within a time is so tricky.

I touch the flat sections of a breastplate and find the smallest one. “Here,” Constantine says, lifting the armor up and spreading it so I can slip it on.

I duck my head and settle it on my shoulders while he tests the straps, tightening them until the leather fits snug. “Thanks.” I run my hands across my chest and down the sides, then jump up and down a few times, flexing my arms and moving them like I’m holding my bolts.

“Suitable?”

“Very.”

“The barbarians we fight here are farmers and ranchers. They fight in the most unorthodox manner and we’ve had to change our style, forgoing our helmets. Will you require one?”

“No. Definitely not. I’ll need to keep my vision clear so I don’t electrocute any of you.”