Flames of Mars (Celestial Shifters Book 2)

by Tjalara Draper

  “. . . You left without me . . !”

  Trust Autumn to add FOMO to her lecture list. Violet almost snorted a laugh.

  “. . . We’ve lost the element of surprise, and now I won’t be surprised if Xabat Labs will be expecting our next visit.”

  “Xabat Labs? I doubt it,” cut in Violet. “We drove past that building, and it was nothing but an empty shell. No one was there.”

  “Exactly! Don’t you think that would make the perfect cover to hide away some kind of secret facility? A place where no one goes but is also in a perfect location that’s central to the city and surrounding towns? If you hadn’t run off on me so fast, I would have told you their real facility is underground.”

  That revelation was like a punch to Violet’s gut.

  Autumn pulled up a model of Rivermyre on her computer screen, then zoomed in on a three-dimensional structure several stories below the city’s surface. The image rotated on the screen, showing at least four different levels with a few offshoots that might have been connected with elevators or tunnels.

  Violet’s eyes bugged. “That was underground this whole time? Along with that . . . that worm thing?”

  “Oh, yeah, I heard about that.” Autumn quirked an eyebrow. “A giant worm? Really? Are you sure you guys didn’t smoke some crack on the way?”

  Violet shot her a look that made Autumn raise her hands in surrender.

  “Anyway,” continued Autumn, “these plans are the latest I could find, but they’re already years out of date. I have no idea what’s inside. As far as satellite imagery is concerned, it may as well be a black hole; there’s no evidence on the surface of anyone living in Rivermyre. But I dug deeper, and there's definitely something heavy duty going on, judging by the electrical and data drain I’m finding. I've uncovered an epic firewall surrounding the place. It’s incredible. Unlike anything I’ve seen. It’s as if there’s a total void or some kind of virtual camouflage, so even when someone stumbles across it, there’s nothing to see. But I found that when I—” She plunged once again into her technological lingo. And to think Autumn thought Gus and Dawn needed subtitles.

  “English, please.”

  “Okay, okay.” She pointed to another screen, which looked to Violet like nothing but lines upon lines of colored text. “I’ve been developing a new code to break into their network. Once I'm in, I’ll be able to see what’s going on, and from there I should be able to override the system to figure out how to get us in and Solace out.”

  “Great,” said Violet. “That sounds easy enough. So how long will it take?”

  “Violet, you need to understand that I’m dealing with a highly sophisticated security network here—beyond military grade. First I’ll have to finish writing the code, and then I'll have to consider—”

  “How long?”

  “I’m not going to say, only because I don’t want to get your hopes up or dash them to bits. But the moment I’ve broken in, you’ll be the first to know.”

  After a heartbeat, Violet slowly nodded, doing her best to ignore the rolling wave of hopelessness in her core. It was difficult to maintain her composure, to not allow the information overload to consume her. “Who are these people?” Violet shook her head, dumbfounded. “Who is Xabat, and what do they want with my baby?”

  “I don’t know, Vi.” Autumn reached over and took Violet’s hand. “But once I crack into their system, hopefully we’ll get some answers. In the meantime, I suggest you keep up your training with Nathan and the others.”

  “How did you know about that?”

  Autumn shrugged. “There’s not a whole lot I don’t know.” She clacked for half a second on her keyboard, and the screens filled with multiple camera views of places around Maple Shire, including the living areas of her and Gus’s home. A few of the views showed different angles of the pavilion.

  “So, I suppose you also know that I can now—”

  “Shoot flames from your eyes and sprout crystal spikes? Heck yes! That footage was epic!”

  Violet hmmphed. “I don’t shoot flames from my eyes. It just kinda . . . ignites.”

  “Yeah, well, the looks on everyone’s faces was priceless. And by the way, that was a decent beating you gave Thane.”

  Violet chuckled.

  Autumn held up a finger. “Question. How come your clothes don’t burn when you’re on fire?”

  Violet blinked. “I have no idea. I hadn’t thought about that. Come to think of it, my hair doesn’t burn either.” She inspected the ends of her hair. Not a singe or even the scent of smoke. “Which is convenient, because I’m pretty sure I would have burned off my eyelashes and eyebrows ages ago.”

  “Hmm . . .” Autumn chewed on her lip in thought. Then she shrugged. “It’s just as well. Being butt naked would make your training sessions with Nathan and Sagan a lot more awkward.”

  “Ain’t that the truth.”

  Autumn grinned when Violet covered her burning cheeks.

  Returning her attention to the computer screens, Violet asked, “How long have you had the cameras?”

  “I had CCTV installed when we came home from college,” Autumn explained. “Because, you know, after Bessie . . . I still don’t know who killed her. And with the video surveillance, I sleep better at night. Well, I did sleep better before . . . you know.”

  Violet nodded, grief settling in her stomach like a stone when she thought of Bessie, their bubbly friend from college. The night she was murdered, Bessie had been staying over in Violet and Autumn’s dorm room while Violet was out late studying. Autumn had woken in the night to find Bessie’s throat had been slashed.

  Autumn had changed after that. She’d become more withdrawn and had spent countless hours on her laptop typing away with intense urgency. It was Autumn’s parents who had helped reassure her and forced her to spend more time in the real world.

  “Uh, Autumn?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m sorry. And not just for running off on you.” Violet paused to push aside her pride. “Yesterday when I slapped you, I was out of line, and I—”

  “It’s my fault.” Autumn turned to look her square in the face. “I shouldn’t have said those things. I used you as my punching bag. I know you didn’t come here looking for a fight. But . . . when my parents . . .” Autumn’s gaze dropped to her lap. A tear, and then another, fell onto her hands.

  “I understand.” Violet reached out to wrap her arms around her friend. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I’m sorry too,” said Autumn, hugging her back.

  Violet fell into a solid routine of training with Nathan, Sagan, and Nika every night at the pavilion after the majority of Maple Shire had gone to bed. Each morning, she would wake up stiff, sore, and seriously regretting pushing her body so hard. But whenever she reached the threshold of wanting to quit, she only had to think of her daughter to keep going. Fear for Solace—the constant, terrifying questions of where she was and who had her—was, at times, crippling. Thankfully, the avalanche of new information, skills, and lists upon lists of things to remember helped occupy her mind.

  It was hard to believe only a week ago she’d woken from her coma. With her growing strength and muscle, she was losing the remnants of her pregnancy body. Her stomach flattened, but her stretch marks remained. In a way, Violet was thankful for the marks; it was a reminder Solace was once a part of her, that she was still a mother.

  Along with the toned body, she’d also gained greater control over her hazing. With practice, the Veniri and Magneii forms were becoming second nature, although a smooth transition into her hybrid form was still a little tricky. At first it was as if the two parts were at war with each other, but gradually Violet wrangled them under her control. Her hybrid form of magenta scales with teal magma fissures was swiftly becoming her preferred option.

  Locating the positions of Venus and Mars and utilizing their energy became more natural all the time. Nathan said developing her connections with the celestial bodies would be easier
at night, yet Violet was becoming increasingly aware of her connections with them during the day too.

  The hardest part of her training was comprehending her new anatomy and abilities. Crystal spikes, scales, flames, fangs, poison glands, and energy orbs were all foreign concepts that belonged in a sci-fi movie, and a forked tongue that could taste emotions was just the icing on the cake. With her taste and olfactory senses enhanced, Violet’s knowledge of flavors had increased exponentially. Yet remembering what they all represented was next to impossible. Even though—thankfully—each emotion’s flavor was the same for everybody, the variety and complexity of emotions seemed inexhaustible.

  “It’s important to decipher each specific flavor within the emotional bouquet,” Nathan had said to her one night. “Train your palate to distinguish even the most complicated of flavors. For example, if you sense vinegar, don’t just assume the person is suffering from melancholy. What kind of vinegar is it? Balsamic vinegar represents sadness, cider vinegar represents grieving, and white vinegar represents depression. And what if you sense sweetness? What kind of sweet is it? Sticky like syrup? Artificial like candy? Natural like fruit? Also, don’t fall into the idea that if a flavor tastes good, it must represent a ‘good’ emotion. Jealousy tastes like marshmallows, and truthfulness tastes like bleach.”

  He’d been giving her a list of new emotional referents every night, to the point Violet was mentally reciting them in the shower, at mealtimes, and even in her dreams.

  One part of controlling her abilities was learning how to master her own emotions. They usually flared out of control when her dark thoughts spiraled around Solace, or if she happened to cross paths with Thane. Most of the time, only her eyes would ignite, but if things got too overwhelming, flames would burst from her hands too, and she would get an agonizing, searing pain in her elbows. Nathan had told her that was when her elbow blades were about to slice through her flesh.

  As Violet gained more control over her abilities, she discovered how to take small advantage of them. When helping Lazareth in the kitchen, if she kept her hands aflame while she was washing the dishes, the water in the sink would stay hot for longer. She just needed to remember to turn down the heat when cleaning anything plastic. There was also a time the hot water ran out while she was showering, and her Magneii flames kept her from catching a chill.

  Learning how to be an adequate shifter had Violet feeling incompetent on so many levels. Yet there was one aspect of her training she felt right at home with: the fighting. Each training session usually ended with a sparring match against Nathan, Sagan, or Nika. Sometimes Gus would come, dragging Autumn along to check out Violet’s progress and cheer her on. Most nights Violet would spy Thane watching from several meters away. As far as she knew, he still wasn’t aware of Solace’s existence. Apparently, he’d figured the training sessions were necessary to prevent Violet from accidentally burning or skewering someone.

  Nathan had her learning how to fight Veniri-style. “With your previous self-defense training, I taught you how to fend off other Erathi. As Veniri, our biggest defenses are the blades from our elbows and knee spikes.”

  He’d acquired a pair of boxing pads and was teaching Violet a variety of sequences to get her used to landing blows with her elbows and knees. At first, Violet couldn’t quite get her head around it. What was wrong with just throwing a power punch? But with every passing night, her movements became less awkward, and the cracks and thrusts of her elbows against the pads became more robust.

  Sagan’s role was to teach her how to defend against hunters and anyone else who knew Veniri and Magneii weaknesses. It was some comfort to know she now had the tough Veniri hide that was practically impenetrable except by a Diamantium weapon. The fact that Diamantium was actually bones still made her squeamish, and she shuddered at the memory of the Diamantium-tipped crossbow bolt the gray-bearded hunter had used to shoot Sagan. If she wasn’t on her guard—Sagan drilled into her—one day she could be diced up and have her own bones forged into similar weapons.

  Sagan’s fighting style was very different from Nathan’s. Sagan would kick, throw punches at, and use makeshift practice weapons on Violet’s vulnerable areas over and over, forcing her to instinctively react to protect her head and torso.

  Much like a human, stabbing a Veniri’s heart was lethal, but it wasn’t the stabbed heart itself that killed them; rather, it was puncturing one of the several nearby poison glands. “The poison glands feed into a few small shards located here, here, and here.” Nathan pointed to Violet’s collarbones, the tops of her shoulders, and her lower ribs. “The poison is highly corrosive, like acid. Once a gland is punctured, it melts away your surrounding organs within seconds.” He went on to explain that flesh reacted differently to the poison. “In dire circumstances, the glands can be cut out and used to cauterize wounds.”

  Nika had scoffed at this statement. “When would Violet ever need to cut out a gland for cauterizing?”

  Nathan didn’t answer. The guarded expression on his face made Violet curious about what exactly he wasn’t saying.

  Other than her heart, Sagan told Violet she needed to protect her head. The Magneii were hunted for their Luxiums, energy orbs with an infinite lifespan. The hunters used them to power flashlights, vehicles, power plants, high-tech weapons, and everything in between. The Luxium was located in the Magneii’s skull, right behind their eyes.

  “If you can light your eyes on fire, then you definitely have a Luxium,” said Sagan. “If the Luxium is damaged, the Magneii dies instantly. In a fight, a hunter usually tries to cut their head off to reduce the risk of damaging the Luxium. Otherwise, a strong, direct hit between the eyes gets the job done.”

  As for Nika, Violet wasn’t exactly sure what her job was. If anything, training seemed to be Nika’s excuse to use her as a punching bag.

  “Don’t take your eyes off Nika,” said Sagan while Violet and Nika circled each other for a sparring match. “Watch where she looks. Take note of even the slightest movement.”

  “Use your other senses as well,” Nathan cut in. “Now would be a good time to taste her intentions.”

  The tingling sensation in Violet’s mouth grew stronger, and she allowed her tongue to change into its whip-like form. As instructed by Nathan, she lashed it out, snakelike, and braced herself for the chaotic rush of flavors.

  Nika took advantage of Violet’s sudden disorientation to land a solid punch to the side of her head. Violet growled, her ear ringing.

  “What are the flavors telling you?” Nathan called out.

  “Uh . . .” Violet shook her head, trying to clear the ringing and make sense of what she was tasting. “I think—”

  Nika attacked her with a three-punch sequence to the head, followed by a knee below the belt.

  Violet ground her teeth, biting back her groan of pain. Where Nathan and Sagan had a level of honor, respect, and restraint during sparring, Nika was a downright dirty fighter. Violet was glad she wasn’t a guy, but that knee to the groin still hurt like a mother.

  “Come on, Violet. Concentrate,” demanded Nathan.

  Nika hooked another punch at her ribs, but Violet managed to block the blow at the last second.

  “Knees. Remember to use your knees,” Nathan reminded her.

  “I know,” Violet gritted out.

  Again, Nika came at her, landing more blows around her head and stomach. When Violet managed to throw a punch of her own, her fist only cut through the air.

  “Elbows!” Nathan shouted. “Your shards aren’t out, so it’s safe to crack her with an elbow.”

  This time when Nika charged her, Violet aimed an elbow strike at her face. The blow landed but not as hard as she would have liked, as the other girl sidestepped at the last second. Nika then countered with a swift jab-cross-jab to Violet’s diaphragm.

  Violet stumbled back, giving herself space to return some air to her lungs. The hunter laughed maliciously.

  “Nika,” Sagan warned.
r />   Nika ignored him.

  “You’re enjoying this too much,” Violet said in a low voice.

  Nika shrugged and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “You want to learn how to survive in this world, slith. Don’t expect me to go easy on you.” Before she’d even finished speaking, she slammed a fist into Violet’s jaw.

  Violet wiped her mouth, surprised not to find any blood. Then she remembered her tough Veniri hide. It was a shame that even though her flesh was hard to cut, she still felt every slap, kick, and punch with as much intensity as when she was a human.

  Nika laughed again, and Violet’s body began to shake from frustration and rising fury.

  Nika rushed her, but this time Violet was ready. She blocked an incoming punch to her head and, using the blow’s momentum, swung Nika’s arm out. In the same swift move, Violet hooked her hands around the back of the hunter’s neck and yanked her into a headlock. Nika grunted with surprise, then with pain as Violet slammed one knee and then another up into her opponent’s belly.

  “That’s it! Dig your elbows into her collarbone. Don’t let her break through your defenses,” urged Nathan.

  Violet’s strength drained as Nika writhed. She managed to land two more knee strikes, but the hunter connected a few painful low punches as well. Pivoting on her heels, Violet used the centrifugal force to throw Nika to the side, then finished the move with a kick to her ribs.

  A cheer erupted from both Nathan and Sagan.

  Violet couldn’t help but give Nika a victory grin. “How d’ya like me now, hunter?”

  Nika’s air of foolhardy arrogance had disintegrated, especially after she shot a pointed look at the cheering spectators.

  Violet’s grin faltered at the cold bitterness in Nika’s eyes.

  “Great job, Violet,” said Nathan. “How about we call it a night?”

  “We’re not finished yet,” Nika said, then lunged.