Storm: The Empire Chronicles

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

  "Do you think I can actually do this?" Slade didn't know me, but I figured that might mean he'd be more honest.

  "This whole situation is crazy, so I don't know what I think." He stared out the windshield rather than at me.

  "Yet you are driving toward the haven." I knew all about doing things you didn’t completely understand, but Slade didn’t strike me as the type to act that way. He appeared more careful and calculated, although something was behind his decision to join us.

  He glanced over at Gemma as though he wanted to make sure she was sleeping. "Someone's got to try something. Might as well be me."

  "Are you on a suicide mission, or do you want to be the hero?" I found that most times men did drastic things for one of three reasons. The third was to get some, but I didn’t think that’s what was at play here.

  "Neither. I care about our people. I know I'm strong, and I will use that strength to do my duty. Your father believed I was the right man for the job. I trust his judgment, and I believe in my own strength."

  “That’s surprisingly logical.”

  “Our clan is logical. It’s part of who we are.”

  “Yet we’re also superstitious and follow rules set centuries ago.” I was only beginning to see this.

  “What does one have to do with the other?”

  “Nothing I guess.”

  “You’re logical too.” He turned toward me. “At least you are when you trust yourself.”

  “Then how does Jared fit in?” I looked over. He was still sound asleep. Was it logical to pick an arrogant, albeit unbelievably addicting, Pteron as my mate? Of course I hadn’t really picked him, but as far as Slade knew I had.

  “He’s strong and protective. He’s also powerful. Choosing him was a strategic choice.”

  “He’s not a bear. He’s a Pteron.” That fact had enraged plenty of bears at the ceremony.

  “Despite what happened at the ceremony, your decision was a fine one.”

  “It wasn’t a decision I was ready to make.”

  “You were. You would have found another way out if that was true.”

  “What way out of it? I was backed in a corner.” I had to pick someone, and Jared was the only remotely plausible one. Besides, I knew he’d help me find an out.

  “It doesn’t matter anyway. Your decision showed strength. Jared is a helpful ally even if he does annoy the hell out of me.”

  I glanced over, expecting Jared to open his eyes. I couldn’t imagine he was really still sleeping.

  His breathing remained even. He must have been seriously worn out.

  I decided it was time to change the subject. "How crazy is the haven going to be?"

  “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  “That’s not true. You know more about these witches, the crystals, the magic and everything.”

  “I don’t know anything about the haven. It’s best that we expect the worse. It’s likely impenetrable and dangerous to outsiders.”

  “Are witches anything but dangerous?” In my experience they weren’t.

  “Not often.”

  “Hey.” Gemma yawned.

  “Have a nice nap?” Slade turned to her.

  “Yes.” She rolled her shoulders and stretched. “Where are we?”

  “I asked the same question when I woke up.”

  “About an hour out. I figured there was no reason to get closer until everyone was awake and ready to go.”

  She looked over at Jared. “He’s sleeping?”

  “Yes. He must have been more tired than he thought.”

  “I don’t like it.” Gemma unbuckled and climbed into the back.

  I edged away to make room, but I didn’t particularly like doing it. Watching someone near Jared really brought my territorial side out.

  She pushed his shoulder. “Jared?”

  He didn’t stir.

  She put her hands on his cheeks.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Shh.” Gemma put a finger over her lips. “Let me work.”

  “But what are you working on? He’s sleeping.” As I said the word, I started to doubt it. Jared was sleeping unnaturally deep and long.

  “Something is definitely up. He’s in too deep of a sleep.” Gemma watched Jared with a worried expression.

  “Have Vera kiss him and wake him up.” Slade laughed.

  “That’s actually not that crazy of an idea…” Gemma looked at me.

  “Uh, this isn’t a fairytale.” Real life never was. Even when you met the right guy, the rest of the world had to be going crazy.

  “No… but he did get touched by origin crystals. We had no idea what effect they’d have on a Pteron—” Gemma looked away.

  Yet we’d pressured him to use them. I was hit by guilt. “You think the crystals hurt him? You think we hurt him?”

  “I didn’t say he’s hurt, but he’s in a deep sleep that isn’t normal. It can’t be permanent though,” Gemma added as though it changed anything.

  “It better not be.” I elbowed Gemma and crawled onto Jared’s lap. I leaned over and kissed him. As soon as I touched my lips to his, my head started to spin, and everything got hazy.

  3

  Jared

  I needed help. Either I’d lost my mind or somehow I’d gone back in time. Neither possibility was good. The only time travel I’d ever heard existed involved the work of witches, and there was nothing good that could come from that. I needed to be careful. If I’d somehow been transported back I had to make sure not to mess anything up.

  I walked back to my house slowly. I’d already freaked out my friends, which wasn’t going to help things. I’d have to convince them I was messing around. Hopefully Levi’s mom didn’t call him and make me sound crazier.

  Levi and Owen were playing a video game when I walked back in. Clearly they weren’t too upset about the situation.

  “Did you find the lucky women?” Levi called over the noise from the game without turning around.

  “Nope, but I got someone else’s number.” If I was going to get things to blow over, I had to pretend to be my old self.

  Levi laughed. “Didn’t take long.”

  “Have you met the new owner of the hotel yet?” I asked.

  “You heard about that too? Nope. He’s someone my dad handpicked though.”

  Owen nodded. “And the owner has got to be loaded. He went to town on the updates.”

  “Of course he’s rich. I’m sure there are other reasons he was picked too, but I don’t really care.” Levi tossed his controller before turning to me. “Here to talk more of your conquests, or ready to actually do something?”

  “Just pretend I never said anything.”

  “You look better.”

  “I didn’t realize I looked bad before.” I made sure to sound as sarcastic as usual.

  “You looked out of it.”

  “Busy night.” I smirked.

  Owen shook his head. “You’re unbelievable.”

  “What are we doing today?” I needed to get a handle on what I was in for.

  “We have to meet with my dad.” Levi leaned his head back on the couch.

  “Today?” I thought back. I only remembered meeting with Robert a few times that June.

  “Yes. He especially requested you be there.”

  “Why?” I was almost certain I knew what meeting this was, and that meant this day was really important.

  “Because your dad wants you taking a more active role. You are going to be running security eventually.”

  “That’s right, when you’re king.” I hadn’t kept the position for very long. I’d have never imagined I would have walked away from the job.

  “Too bad we can’t leave.” Levi looked away.

  “Technically you could.” Owen shrugged. “I wouldn’t advise it though.”

  “We could run away and leave you to deal with the mess.” I never went easy on Owen. Our relationship was complicated. I doubted we’d have ever been friends without Le
vi.

  “Why don’t we go now and get a drink?”

  I glanced at my watch. “It’s not even lunch time.”

  “Since when has that stopped us?” Levi strode off toward his room.

  I needed to get back to reality, but I also needed to understand why I was even back here.

  We quietly loaded into Levi’s car and headed downtown. I’d have rather flown, but that wasn’t advisable in broad daylight.

  The hotel looked exactly the same way it looked when I’d recently been inside. Although Allie’s dad had done some major improvements when he took over, nothing had changed in the few years since.

  I ran my hand over the mahogany bar. I’d spent countless hours sitting there.

  “Rough day?” The bartender broke me out of my thoughts. I’d already zoned out on the conversation Levi and Owen were having. My eyes were fixed on the door. If I was right, Allie was about to walk in with her friend, Jess. One of my biggest mistakes.

  “You could say that.”

  “Yeah, I’m having one of those too.”

  I was tempted to ask him why I should care, but I kept that thought to myself. Instead I only grunted in agreement and looked away. Hopefully he’d take the hint.

  The front doors to the hotel opened, and Allie and Jess walked in. Allie looked younger and lonelier. I hadn’t noticed the loneliness in her eyes the first time I saw her. I’d been too fixated on Jess that time, but now I barely noticed her.

  I snapped out of my staring. Levi needed to notice her. “Hey, look at those girls.” I cringed as the stupid words left my mouth. I cringed again when I realized they came too late.

  “What girls?” Levi looked all around. Allie and Jess had already disappeared from view. “Are you imagining women now?”

  “No. They must have gone out to the courtyard. Let’s go see.”

  “Yeah… why don’t you do that?” Levi returned to his drink.

  “Seriously, you need to come.” I tried to keep my voice level, but I wanted to scream it.

  “The way you’re acting the girls had to have been naked.”

  “Not naked, but hot.” I tried to level out my voice.

  Levi shook his head. “You’re losing it.”

  I thought fast. Maybe it didn’t matter. Maybe I was hallucinating from the stupid crystals the bears had given me. I’d snap out of it. I was only remembering a day that had significance.

  Owen looked at his watch. “We need to go. We’re going to be late.”

  “We can take a look around in the courtyard first. It won’t take long.”

  “We don’t have time. My dad sounded pissed when he called.” Levi stood and started walking to the elevator. I followed behind him. I knew exactly where she’d be the rest of the evening, so it could all still work out.

  Levi inserted his key card, and the elevator moved down to the basement level. The doors opened, and we stepped out into the darkness of the hallway. At least I still had my night vision in this hallucination, or time travel, or whatever the hell it was.

  Levi pushed open a set of double doors, and we headed down the hall to what I now knew as his office. Back then it was his dad’s.

  Levi knocked loudly.

  “Who is it?” Robert’s strong voice called out.

  Levi knocked again. He was such a little ass back then. “Who do you think?”

  “Come in, Levi.” Robert was pissed off already.

  Levi walked in, and I followed behind him.

  Robert didn’t look up. “Close the door.”

  Owen carefully closed the door.

  Robert set aside his papers and looked at his son. “You missed last night’s council meeting.”

  “What are you talking about? We met last week.” Levi’s forehead furrowed.

  “I called an emergency meeting last night.” He ran a hand through his gray hair. It had been the same brown of Levi’s when we were kids, but he’d aged a lot over the years.

  Levi shrugged. “Yeah, well, I didn’t know.”

  “Is that all you have to say for yourself? Twenty-two years old and you behave like a child.” Robert’s face reddened.

  Levi straightened, belatedly realizing his dad meant business. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  Back then I’d encouraged him to give his father a hard time. Now I wanted to throttle him and tell him to listen. He’d need to be ready to be king.

  “It better not.” Robert gave Levi an icy stare.

  “What did you discuss?” Levi shifted his weight from foot to foot. He was nervous. It was rare that he ever got nervous.

  “The Blackwells. There’s talk of a takeover attempt.”

  I’d have never believed back then that a Blackwell would be marrying into the Laurent family, but times had changed. Robert had been right about the takeover attempt though. Toby’s grandfather had been as evil as we’d thought.

  “The Blackwells? Unlikely, but whatever you say.” Levi slunk down in a high back chair. I resisted the urge to kick him to snap him out of it. He was underestimating the Blackwells. “So what’s the plan?”

  “The plan is that you grow up and find a girl.” Robert set his steely gaze on Levi.

  “This again? I’m not ready. Just because you and Mom got married at twenty doesn’t mean I have to do it.” He groaned.

  “You’re not twenty. You graduate college in less than a year; it’s time to stop chasing after everything in a skirt. Find someone worth your time.”

  “What does this have to do with the takeover attempt?”

  “Don’t play stupid.” Robert locked eyes with his son.

  “No one cares whether I have a mate. They know I can have a kid, it’s not a big deal.”

  “Everyone cares. Everyone.” Robert cracked his knuckles.

  “I’ll take a mate when I meet the right girl.” Levi leaned back in his chair and stretched out his legs.

  “You can’t find her unless you look.” Robert leaned forward.

  “He does plenty of looking,” Owen mumbled under his breath.

  “Looking for a mate is different from looking for a girl to jump in bed with. I’d have thought you’d understand that, Owen.” Robert gave him a disapproving look.

  “You told me I have until graduation. That’s months from now.” Levi sounded ridiculously naïve. He had been.

  “Building a relationship takes time. Do you expect to meet someone and bind yourself to her the next day? Don’t wait too long.” Robert turned to Owen and me. “I’m tasking you two with making sure it happens. We all have a lot to lose if Levi can’t keep his pants on long enough to find a worthy girl.”

  “Absolutely, sir.” Owen nodded. He’d have done anything Robert told him to do. Only recently had I understood why. If he wanted a position in The Society he was going to have to earn it. I complained about my life being planned out, but I’d never worried about my place in The Society.

  “Can we please talk about the real plan? The one that doesn’t involve my sex life,” Levi grumbled.

  Robert leaned his elbows on his desk. “All we can do is stay alert and make sure our own ranks are loyal. If things come to blow, we can’t have any mutiny from within.”

  He was right. Some of the men closest to him weren’t loyal. We didn’t know that then, but I did now. If I was really back in time could I fix things? Not without causing more problems.

  “Do you all understand?”

  “Yes, sir.” I nodded. I needed to get us out of that office so Levi could meet Allie. Then I needed to get back to reality.

  “Good. Now get out of here. I have better things to do today.” Robert went back to the pile of paperwork on his desk. So much of the job was paperwork, which seemed strange. Even paranormal kings couldn’t avoid all the monotonous tasks.

  “Bye, Dad. Great talking to you.” Levi led the way out of the office that would soon become his.

  “Way to have my back.” Levi punched my shoulder as we headed toward the elevator.
r />   “Your dad had a point. We can’t underestimate our opponents.”

  “It’s the fucking Blackwells. What is that old geezer going to do to us?” Levi shook his head.

  “You never know, and it pays to be careful.” I’d been as cocky as Levi once but not anymore.

  “You really have lost your mind.” Levi turned to Owen. “If Pterons could be affected by mental magic I’d think a witch messed with his brain.”

  “His brain’s been messed up for years, you’re only realizing it now.” Owen smirked.

  “Enough about me.” I led the way into the elevator. “Let’s find those girls.”

  “At least something is the same.” Levi laughed.

  The elevator door opened into the lobby, and I came face to face with my dad. My blood boiled at the sight of him. His expression was aloof and judgmental of me. As if I was the one who was doing something wrong. He was the biggest traitor The Society had ever known.

  “Jared.” He nodded.

  “Dad.” There was so many things I wanted to say, but I couldn’t. Not yet anyway, but I could once I had the evidence.

  I didn’t remember seeing him that day, but I also didn’t remember every detail. Or maybe our timing had been off. I could have missed him last time.

  “Did you meet with your father?” My dad addressed Levi.

  “Yes.” Levi nodded.

  “You understand we have a lot at stake?” My dad met Levi’s eyes head on. Very few people could do it. Even without being king yet, Levi was powerful.

  “I already got the pep talk.” Levi nodded and stepped around my dad. Owen followed, and I started to as well until my dad grabbed my arm.

  “Is there something you need?” My voice was cold, but it was no different than the way I used to speak with him. We’d never had a good relationship, even when I thought he was helping the Laurents.

  “There would be if I could trust you.”

  “I’d say the same to you.” I pulled my arm away and followed the others.