Storm Front: NA Fantasy/Time Travel (Tesla Time Travelers Book 3) by Jen Greyson Read Free Book Online

sit heavily, kicking the one beside it and propping a boot on the seat.
    “His repeated assurance that he belonged in the neighborhood.” Ilif strokes the hair at his temple while he ponders their interactions. “He shared three different explanations of when he’d encountered you while he was walking his dog, or washing his car, or returning from watching the local baseball team.”
    I frown. He was far less   and yet he also ensured that I would come get you. He seemed certain that I would be able to find you. That alone is curious. If he worked for Penya, the expectation would have been for him to send me elsewhere.” Ilif tugs at the bottom of his tie.
    “Sorry about that.” Slapping him across the face would have made less of an impact than ruining his clothes and I knew that when I made the choice of where to hit him. Now that I know he wasn’t lying, I do feel bad about it. “I really do apologize.”
    He bows his head and pulls a chair to the space beside the one I’ve turned into an footstool. “May I?”
    I sit up, put my feet on the floor and push the chair in, making room for him. The baby step doesn’t go unnoticed by either of us and there’s a pregnant pause as we absorb it. Too much has happened between us that a complete coming together will take time, and he’s going to have to earn my trust as much as I will his, but there’s a spark of hope that’s never been there before. Our experience is layered with the stories we’ve created about ourselves and each other.  
    He lowers himself with the poise and propriety of a lady in waiting and—while I don’t change my slouch in the chair—it’s the least attitude I’ve given him since we met. For the briefest second I wonder what he was like before; before Penya and Renaee and Nikola, if he was always this anal about everything or if this has come as a result of the trauma. They say every villain is the hero of his own story and I’ve never allowed the possibility of that for him. He has been my enemy for all time, even when I afforded him the option to direct my actions. “I understand your anger. I understand why I have always been the easiest target for it. I’ve withheld many truths from you because I didn’t think you could handle them. At moments I thought you didn’t need to know. I worry perhaps that those decisions have put you in danger.”
    “You’ve put all my family in danger.”
    “Quite possibly.”
    “I have to fix this, Ilif. I have to find out who this guy is. I’m sure he’s connected to Penya.”
    “Perhaps, yet he wanted me to find you and know of Tiana’s disappearance. He’s certainly not a part of my operation and not someone Penya met here. Can you avoid him for now, or stay guarded until we can solve the matter of Tiana’s whereabouts? Once she is safe, I will work to aid you in determining his affiliations.”
    I nod in agreement. “No more lies.” Two pieces slam together and I freeze. “Wait. You said we hadn’t worked together in months.” I frown. “Why would we have stopped if Tiana is still missing in your now?”
    “No more lies, correct?” I watch him intently. His fingers stay folded in his lap. “We never found her, Evy. Your father and I failed at every turn. Penya never came to you, not once in all the time we looked.”
    “But.” I can’t grasp this. Again, the workings of time race through my fingers like water. I close my eyes and take a breath and focus on the grains of truths that I know about riding. I cling to them like they’re the last morsels I’ll ever hold. “Doesn’t mean I can’t change that, right?” I open my eyes.   “If I do something different?”
    “Eliciting my response of why you’re here now.”
    “Please tell me you’ve found a trace.”
    The corners of his lips curl in what must be his version of a smile. Like everything else he does, it’s awkward and confusing. The apples of his cheeks swell like backward dimples and the skin at the edge