Twenty-Five Ella
TWENTY-FIVE
Ella
Unlike the other social media companies, TimeGem Moments located its headquarters several miles outside of Silicon Valley.
The building is a massive spread of metal and glass, two stories above ground and five more hidden below.
The grounds are perfect, unnervingly so, with every hedge and path lined to precision.
Statues glimmer as if they’ve been carved straight out of diamonds.
For a second I almost believe the sparkles.
Then I wonder how the guards keep anyone from rushing in and prying the stones loose.
I glance sideways at Sylveria, suspicion pressing against my ribs.
The realization lands sharp. “Those aren’t diamonds,” I say, my voice catching.
“I read an exposé on you a few years back. They swore the statues were covered in diamonds. The eyes. The nails. All of it. They’re not diamonds. How did you fool the reporter?”
Sylveria doesn’t flinch. She turns her face toward the window, her tone flat, almost bored. “A couple are real. You just don’t know which ones we showed. The one the reporter saw was real. I told him the rest were authentic, and he wanted to believe that.”
My father would’ve hated that. “Of course he did.”
We roll up to the front of the building. Security cameras stare down at us from every angle, cold and unblinking. My stomach knots. “Are those on?” I try to keep my voice steady.
“I believe they’re temporarily down,” she answers carelessly.
“Wonderful,” I mutter, though my palms are slick.
We ditch the car and walk inside, where the air feels thick, almost heavy with memory. Nostalgia twists at me, but it’s poisoned. I remember coming here with my father, when things were still good. Before he married her.
If only he hadn’t.
At the elevator, she presses her palm to the scanner, once to open, once more to close, and again to push the floor button. My chest tightens. My palm won’t work here. I’m trapped without her.
The elevator descends fast, the walls humming as we drop. The space feels too small, the air too still, and every breath reminds me that I don’t belong here right now. Not until I retake the platform. My pulse won’t settle.
I’m almost grateful the hulking guy with the dead eyes isn’t here. If I make it back up out of this place, I’ll have to deal with him. For now, it’s Sylveria at my side, her presence pressing in until I can feel it under my skin.
“What do you need from me, anyway?” My voice scrapes the air, sharper than I intend.
“We’ve had a breach in our system,” Sylveria says. “And the diamond that powers the entire service seems … weakened.”
I blink. What in the world? “Define weakened.”
“I can’t.” She lifts a shoulder, her tone flat. “When I try to charge it, I don’t feel well.”
My stomach twists. Holy crap. It sounds like the virus I uploaded to weaken Thorn. Except I haven’t unleashed the deadly code into TimeGem’s servers. I swallow hard. “Well. That’s interesting.”
The elevator doors slide open. Light spills out, soft and almost too pretty for what I expect.
The floor looks polished and the place feminine.
Potted plants line the corners, their leaves glossy and perfect, like someone wipes them down every hour.
The air smells faintly floral, not chemical, and that throws me off.
I can’t help but contrast this with the Malice Media hub.
Yeah, totally masculine versus this feminine space.
I stop just inside, taking it in. To the right, a seating area is arranged like a lounge—chairs angled, pillows in careful patterns, a coffee table gleaming without a single fingerprint.
To the left, a wide glass counter stretches across the space.
Behind it sits Corinda.
I gape. “Corinda? What are you doing here?”
She preens, self-assured as always. “I can charge the diamonds.” Then, as if she’s dropping gossip instead of news, she adds, “Did you hear? Justice and I are becoming engaged.”
A bolt of heat zings through me so hard it hits my toes. I stiffen. What the hell was that? I’m not jealous. I don’t like Justice. “The poor man.” My smile feels tight. “Is he ready to spend his life on magazine covers?”
She laughs. “I don’t care whether he is or not. He’ll look good on my arm.”
I have to give her credit. She’s always known exactly who she is with her blonde hair piled high, confidence radiating as she leans back in her chair.
She rolls her eyes. “I don’t work the desk. Give me a break. We cleared the floor since you were kind enough to come assist us with our servers.”
Ah. There it is.
A double door in the mirrored glass behind Corinda opens. It’s a definite upgrade from the last time I was here, and Stacia strides out. “Hey there.”
Wow. It’s a whole family reunion. “Hey, Stacia.”
She looks at her mother and then back at me. “So she really did kidnap you, huh?”
I like her tone. “Yes.”
Stacia shakes her head. “Mother. I thought we were just going to pay her. I think this whole kidnapping situation is a little too much.”
Sylveria lowers her chin. “Stop contradicting me.”
I think I could probably take all three of them. Then I notice the guards. Two at each corner, blending into the shadows. I actually have to look to find them. Nice. Very effective. The lighting in this place is phenomenally structured.
Sylveria gestures to the elevator. “All right, ladies. I’d like to speak with your stepsister alone.”
“No.” Corinda’s voice is cool. “This involves all of us. I don’t think it’s a good idea to let her into our servers.”
Stacia chirps in, reaching for her sparkly purse by the phone.
Some of the cheap glitter drops to the cement floor.
“Yeah. I don’t think it’s a good idea either.
If the diamond is making the two of you feel ill, the gem might truly harm her since she doesn’t have the affinity to diamonds that we do. ”
I feel like Stacia might be on my side. Even so, I have to hide my panic as I fight a sneeze. “The diamond is making you ill, too?”
Corinda nods. “Yes. When I try to charge it, I feel like puking.”
“I’m not asking. Go.” Their mother dismisses them.
Stacia rolls her eyes and walks around the glass counter toward the elevator. “Blink once if you need help,” she says dryly.
Okay. Now I kind of want to punch her.
She chuckles and moves to the elevator, pressing her palm to the wall. It opens.
Corinda moves more gracefully around the counter and pauses. She’s dressed in an unwrinkled yellow silk suit and looks pretty, I have to admit. “Just charge the diamonds, and I’m sure we can reach an arrangement,” she says softly before moving into the elevator.
Stacia pauses. “Mother? We know she’s here. If she disappears, I will cause a scene.”
I blink. “Gee, Stacia. I didn’t know you cared.”
She shrugs, looking young and rather carefree in jeans and a button-down. High-end flannel. The blue brings out the blue in her eyes. “We’re kind of family.”
“I appreciate that,” I say grimly. “I’d very much like not to be dead.”
Corinda lifts a shaking hand to her head.
I frown. “How badly do you feel?”
“I just tried to charge the diamonds and I’m just feeling … I don’t know. Tired.”
“Don’t charge the diamonds,” I blurt.
Sylveria tilts her head. “Why not?”
“There’s obviously something wrong with them.
” I can’t tell her about the virus, but I also don’t want Corinda ending up dead.
I’m not sure we could pull off the same feat with anyone else the way we did with Thorn when we saved his life, and Justice is still struggling.
How am I going to save him? Plus, how did the virus end up in TimeGem, if that’s what’s going on here?
Is there a different virus? Or a mutated one?
“Let me discover what’s going on with the servers before you try to charge them again. ”
Corinda pulls her sister into the elevator. “Nice try. We know you want to take over. We’re not going to let you do that.”
I decide not to answer, but my face must give me away, because she winks as the doors slide shut.
“What do you know about the diamond being weakened?” Sylveria demands, grabbing my arm and yanking me toward her.
I face her. “I don’t know anything about your damn diamonds. I do know TimeGem Moments is supposed to run on citrines.”
She rolls her eyes. “Whatever. Come this way.” She turns, head high, still draped in that ridiculous ball gown.
“Do you ever dress down?” I follow, acutely aware of the guards posted in the corners.
“This is dressed down.” She walks into the server room, and the moment I step inside, I feel at home.
My gaze catches on a series of glass compartments set into the far wall.
The middle one holds a tiara—citrine and diamond, but the glow is gone.
It looks dull, lifeless. My breath catches.
It has belonged in my family for longer than anybody can remember.
The tiara is exquisite. Large oval citrines burn golden in their settings, encircled by smaller diamonds that climb the delicate platinum frame. Even dulled, it’s beautiful, regal. Once, the citrines would have shone like captured sunlight.
Then my gaze shifts to the center of the room. The diamond. Or rather, a structure made from several diamonds, massive, worth billions. They hum softly, as do the server banks surrounding them in tall columns flashing with yellow and white lights.
I step closer to the crown instead. I can’t help it. As I near, the citrines flicker faintly, beginning to glow. I stop, my heart pounding.
“Wow,” Sylveria says. “I always wondered about that.”
“It’s because the crown’s mine.” I wonder idly if my heirs, if I live long enough to have any, will be able to affect the citrines. I look back toward the diamonds. The centers are yellowed, but not with citrine color. It’s sickness. “Somebody’s infected your servers.”
Sylveria nods. “No kidding.” She lifts her wristwatch to her mouth. “Bring him in.”
I pause. Interesting.
A side door opens. Two guards push in a bleeding, battered Wesley.
“Wesley,” I whisper, moving toward him.