Flames of Mars (Celestial Shifters Book 2)

by Tjalara Draper

  As Nathan rested his back against the outer wall of the pavilion, a soft breeze brushed over his face and twisted through his hair. It was longer than he usually kept it, but he hadn’t had a chance to find someone to cut it for him since escaping Tempecrest. Encroaching memories of his imprisonment began to infect his consciousness, but he shook his head and pushed those thoughts away.

  Instead, he focused on Violet. The vicious scowl she’d given him earlier flashed in his mind, followed by a sharp pang in his chest.

  How had it come to this? He’d tried his darnedest to protect her, to keep her away from his world. And yet Violet had somehow contracted not only Veniri abilities but Magneii abilities as well. Not to mention she was now a mother to a Veniri child—a daughter, no less. In the Veniri world, any female was automatically considered royalty. Did that mean Violet was also a Veniri royal, even with the Magneii abilities? Either way, Nathan hoped Queen Idalia would never find out about Violet and Solace. She would have them hunted down and slaughtered just to eliminate any challenge to her throne.

  His worries heightened when he recalled what Gus had told him earlier—theories on how it could be possible for more humans to become hybrid shifters. If Gus was right, and if this information ever began to spread, all hell would break loose for all shifter races. It could mean a global war.

  Nathan dropped his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes. On top of everything else, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could take Violet hating him.

  He’d considered leaving, especially since it was clear Violet had moved on; she didn’t need him anymore. Gus and his family had embraced her as one of their own. Sagan was keeping a watchful eye. And there was no chance Thane would leave her anytime soon, especially if he found out he was a father.

  But Nathan had promised Tio he would stick around until the kid’s brother arrived. In the meantime, he could at least help Violet learn to use her new abilities—give her a fighting chance to get her daughter back. Maybe he could even play a more direct role in rescuing Solace. And if that still wasn’t enough to earn Violet’s trust and forgiveness, he would leave, and she could continue her life without him.

  Not wanting to suffocate in his melancholy, he tilted his face toward the inky sky and closed his eyes. His inner melody, a soft tune only he could hear, thrummed comfortingly in his ears. He pivoted, knowing, even without opening his eyes, that he was facing Venus; the music in his soul had swelled to a full orchestra.

  He stood still and quiet, absorbing the Venusian beams. The revitalizing energy buzzed from his core and radiated out to every cell in his body. Despite how chaotic life could be, his link with Venus was refreshingly constant. Whether day or night, sunny or cloudy, in the midst of summer or the depths of winter, as long as Venus was in the sky overhead, Nathan could tap into his connection with the planet. Only during a superior conjunction—when Venus’s orbit took it to the opposite side of the Sun from the Earth—was he cut off from its power.

  He was about to stop absorbing the Venusian energy when a beam latched on to him—or at least, that was what it felt like. His inner creature roared to life, and without his consent, his body began to haze.

  Instant panic shot through him as he tried to regain control, to maintain his human appearance. There was no mistaking the ragged sound of tearing fabric as several shards erupted from his legs and arms. If he couldn’t hold back the haze, his clothes would be torn to shreds within seconds. Crystal blades shot out of his elbows, and his smooth skin turned into iridescent scales that shimmered under the pavilion’s floodlights.

  A cold, paralyzing fear gripped his throat, choking him, as he watched the scales ripple and fuse into a faceted crystallized surface, much like the patches that had been spreading on his shoulder and calf.

  What is happening to me?

  With every ounce of focus he possessed, he tried to force his arms to haze back into their human form. After a slow, brutal effort, his scales gradually reappeared, erasing the crystallized surface. Then, several torturous seconds later, the scales themselves smoothed into human skin, and his shards melted back into his flesh.

  His ragged panting was almost deafening. He stared at his arms, rotating them back and forth to examine them from every angle, trying to convince his racing mind that the crystals were really gone. That he was back in control.

  A heavy thump-thump-thump came from the wooden steps at the opposite end of the pavilion.

  Nathan hurriedly composed himself just as Violet came into view. She’d changed into a black tank top and ripped denim shorts. Her dark brown hair was tied back into a high ponytail. Though the scowl was still etched onto her face, it was less poisonous than before.

  “I’m here,” she said, crossing her arms.

  “Uh, great.” Nathan rubbed his clammy palms on his jeans. “Great.” Come on, pull yourself together! “Great.”

  “So you keep saying.” Violet raised an unimpressed eyebrow. A moment passed before she added, “I know what you are.”

  “Oh, yeah?” He knew there was no point playing dumb. He’d been a fool for trying to delay the inevitable.

  “You’re a shifter. A Veniri.”

  “How did you . . ? I mean . . .”

  “What, you thought I would never find out?” She crossed her arms. “I had a suspicion while all you guys were talking around me when I was paralyzed, and you confirmed that suspicion just now.”

  Nathan made a silent “oh” with a nod of his head. He couldn’t hold her gaze. She was bound to demand why he hadn’t told her. Perhaps she was trying to picture him in shifted form. He froze. Damn it, what if she asks me to haze? “You must have a lot of questions.”

  She regarded him with a steady gaze.

  Nathan waited, preparing for whatever she would ask him.

  But with a flippant wave of her hand, she said, “Whatever. Can we just get this training thing over with so I can go to bed?”

  “Fine, let’s make sure you get that full eight hours,” he said, with a little more bite than he intended. “Have you forgotten your daughter is counting on you?”

  The stricken look in Violet’s eyes made Nathan immediately regret his words. There was no excuse for his lashing out like that, no matter how much her keeping him at arm’s length hurt him.

  “Violet—”

  She turned her face away, clearly not ready for his apologies.

  Nathan sighed and raked a hand through his hair. This training session was off to a terrible start. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all. Besides, even if he knew how to train a Veniri—which he wasn’t entirely convinced of—he still knew nothing about how to train a Veniri-Magneii hybrid. He mentally rifled through his childhood memories for something of use—some trick or scrap of advice to make this easy—but unfortunately, most of the memories of his own training were a blur, considering he’d begun at about six years old.

  Maybe he should just start with the basics.

  “I’m sure by now Sagan’s filled you in on some things. So what do you currently know about the Veniri?” he asked.

  “I know they’re ugly, scaly creatures who kidnap and kill young girls.”

  Nathan hmmphed a humorless laugh. “Yep. That’s pretty much it, in a nutshell. Anything else? Keep in mind that you’re now just as ugly and scaly as the rest of us.”

  Violet’s scowl deepened, but after a few seconds, she added, “Their blood is blue, and they use their crystal spikes as weapons.”

  “Do you know what the crystal is called?”

  She nodded. “Diamantium. Sagan said it’s what your skeleton is made of. Actually, I suppose it’s what my skeleton is now made of.” She stared off into the distance, her eyes widening as the concept washed over her.

  Nathan asked her a few more questions, and Violet’s attitude thawed a little more with each answer.

  Sagan had been pretty thorough with his description of the Veniri—as expected from someone who’d hunted them for most of his life. But there we
re still a lot of things even a seasoned hunter would never know.

  “All right, let’s get your hazing under control,” said Nathan.

  “Hazing?”

  “Yeah, you know, changing. Transforming. Shape-shifting. Hazing.”

  “Oh, shifting. I know what that is. Why don’t you just call it shifting?”

  Nathan shrugged. “I wasn’t there when the decision was made.”

  “Well, we can move on to the next lesson, ’cause I already know how to ‘haze.’” Violet wiggled her fingers to make air quotes.

  “Oh, yeah? Then what’s the story I hear that you didn’t use your abilities at Rivermyre?”

  Violet opened her mouth to retort but said nothing.

  Nathan stifled a smirk when she clamped her mouth shut again. “Close your eyes. I want you to focus on the ‘shifter’ part of you. I want you to listen—”

  “Do I have to do it with my eyes closed?”

  “Just do it.”

  With an adolescent grumble, Violet complied. “Fine. My eyes are closed. Now what?”

  “Focus on the ‘shifter’ part of—”

  “You already said that.”

  Nathan slowly sucked in a breath and massaged his temples. This shouldn’t be so hard. He’d trained Violet before. What had changed?

  He inwardly groaned. How could he even ask that? Everything had changed.

  “Are you doing that thing where you pretend to strangle me?” Violet asked, her eyes still closed.

  “I have never done that, and you know it.”

  “Whatever you say, old man.”

  “Hey, keep it up, and I’ll have no problem doing it for real.”

  The corner of Violet’s mouth twitched.

  A tiny ripple of relief washed over Nathan. It was good to know they could still banter the way they used to, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up yet. Knowing Violet, it would take much more than a half-hour training session to get her even close to trusting him again.

  “Focus and listen. Tune your ear to your inward melody.”

  “‘Inward melody’? That sounds dumb. What kinda—” Her whole body went stiff. “Whoa . . . I think . . . I can hear it.”

  Nathan almost shouted “hallelujah.” Finally, a breakthrough. “Okay, good. Pay attention to that melody.” He waited for about a minute before saying, “Now, let the energy wash over you. Very slowly, tune your body to that melody, then haze.”

  Violet’s face screwed up, and her hands balled into fists at her sides. She squirmed uncomfortably and clenched her jaw, most likely because of the pain Nathan knew came from hazing.

  Teal flames ignited all over her body, then disappeared. Diamantium shards sliced out from her flesh, then just as quickly glided back in. Scales rippled all over her exposed skin, then burned black and split, revealing molten magenta fissures that soon turned to glowing teal. The teal flames returned to lick across her arms and face, flickered to magenta, and then just as quickly flashed back to teal.

  Shock rooted Nathan in place. What on earth? This isn’t right. “Violet, stop!”

  More shards burst from her shoulders and collar bones. Magneii flesh rippled back into scales.

  He needed to do something. But what? “Stop!”

  “I . . . can’t . . .” she gritted out through Veniri triple fangs.

  “Concentrate!” Nathan demanded. “You must regain control.”

  A few more agonizing seconds passed, then finally, Violet hazed back into human form and collapsed to the ground.

  Nathan rushed to her side. “Are you okay?” He took hold of her arms and helped her up. “Violet?”

  “I’m okay.” She dragged in several deep breaths. “What just happened?”

  “I think . . .” Nathan floundered for an answer. “Well, it looked like both your Veniri and Magneii components were fighting for domination.”

  Violet grimaced. “Oh.”

  Nathan rubbed at his jaw. “Hmm . . . I wonder . . .”

  “What?” Violet stood a little straighter. “What is it?”

  A few seconds passed before Nathan was able to articulate his musings. “The way I see it, there’s no doubt you’re a hybrid, but it might be possible to control your Veniri and Magneii sides individually.”

  Violet chewed on her lip. “Are you saying I might be able to shift . . . I mean haze . . . into a Veniri or a Magneii or whatever my hybrid version is?”

  Nathan tilted his head from side to side as he considered the possibility. Then he shrugged. “Sure. I don’t see why not.”

  Violet’s hands flew to her cheeks. “In that case . . . I’m not sure if I should be saying ‘cool’ or ‘damn.’”

  Nathan almost chuckled—until he realized she might be on the verge of one of her overwhelming meltdowns. He braced himself for her to flee, as she usually did when things became more than she could handle. It had taken a lot of work for her to get her panic attacks under control. Was she still doing the exercises her school psychologist had recommended? Did she still get panic attacks at all?

  A pang of sorrow pricked his heart. Violet had been through so much since he last saw her. How much of the woman before him did he really know?

  Violet’s hands dropped from her face. The determination blazing in her eyes reminded Nathan of the moment he’d given her a switchblade and told her he was going to train her how to use it.

  She squared her shoulders and looked him directly in the eye. “What’s next?”

  Nathan couldn’t help but grin. There was the Violet he knew.

  15

  Downright Dirty Fighter

  The night air wrapped around Violet, turning the film of sweat over her skin into a blanket of ice. The residual adrenaline of her Veniri and Magneii-hazing overload still trembled through her body.

  But that energy was nothing compared to the surge of excitement she’d felt when Nathan had suggested she might be able to learn how to control not one or two but three versions of her new abilities. She remembered how powerful she’d felt when Nathan began teaching her how to use her switchblade. Back then, she’d felt like no one would ever be able to take advantage of her again. But with the prospects of gaining control of her abilities, she would be able to find her child and obliterate anyone in her path. She would be unstoppable.

  “What’s next?” she asked.

  “We change tactics.” Nathan grinned at her.

  She almost grinned back before the stinging memory of his betrayal stifled it. How could she stand to be anywhere near this man? All along he’d known who and what Thane was, even when her own memories had eluded her.

  She had trusted Nathan.

  Nathan’s betrayal had cut deep, and talking about it would only reopen the wound. As much as she still didn’t want to have anything to do with him, there was no denying she needed him. She needed to learn how to harness her powers. To save Solace.

  “I think if you learn the inner workings of both your Veniri and Magneii side individually,” Nathan continued, “you should be able to fit together the hybrid parts of each seamlessly. I’ll be able to teach you all about how to be a Veniri, no problem. You’ll learn how to haze, heal, track, distinguish other’s intentions and emotions, and even fight like a Veniri. But for your Magneii side . . .”

  “I’ll teach you how to use your Magneii abilities,” said a new voice.

  Both Violet and Nathan spun to find Sagan leaning against a tree at the edge of the nearby path. Next to him was his cousin Nika.

  “How long have you guys been standing there?” Violet asked.

  Sagan shrugged a shoulder.

  “Long enough to see you go shifter crazy,” said Nika with a grin.

  Violet wasn’t sure she felt comfortable with the expression Nika was giving her, but apart from her warning to Thane, Nika hadn’t actually done anything to cause Violet any further concern. At least not yet.

  “But you’re not Magneii,” Violet said to Sagan. “What makes you think you can teach me?”
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  “I’ve dealt with enough of them to learn how they react in various situations. The least I can do is show you how to counter a hunter’s attack. Plus”—he grimaced—“I also know a little about their anatomy.”

  A few seconds of silence passed before Violet caught on to what Sagan meant, and she made a voiceless “oh.”

  Nathan cleared his throat. “Well, I suppose it’s the best we’ve got, short of kidnapping a Magneii and forcing them to train you.”

  “Great,” said Nika. “When do we start?”

  Sagan gently nudged her with his elbow. “You’re not staying.”

  “What? Why?” Nika retorted. “You want her to learn how to not die, right? Besides, I think I’m qualified enough to help out, wouldn’t you say?” She pulled an amulet from under her shirt and held it up in Sagan’s face. Violet couldn’t make out the image on the amulet, and she didn’t understand its significance. All she could tell was that it was made of black metal and had four colored strips—silver, teal, magenta, and orange—that glowed subtly in the night. “Anyway, last I checked, your amulet—” She reached for the black chain around Sagan’s neck.

  With vicious speed, Sagan slapped her hand away. The poisonous glare he gave his cousin was enough to make Nika stand down, or at least decide not to make a scene in front of Violet and Nathan.

  “It’s fine,” said Violet. “She can stay. I think we can all agree I need as much help as possible.”

  Sagan’s expression became unreadable. Nika’s grin was impish.

  Violet had wanted to put off seeing Autumn as long as she could, but her friend hunted her down at breakfast the next morning and dragged her to the computer hut.

  “Violet Chambers! You’re an idiot!”

  Violet crumpled deeper into her swivel chair as Autumn continued to lecture. The brutal scolding might have only lasted about five minutes, but it felt like half an hour.

  “. . . Tio lost an arm . . !”

  Violet cringed. She’d wanted the ground to swallow her up when Sagan told her Dawn and Gus had amputated Tio’s arm. But it was such a relief to find out Jiovis shifters had regeneration abilities. Tio had already been sporting a new arm at breakfast.