“Are you awake?”
A shadowy form crouched beside her, and she startled, then hurried to sit up. Surely she must be still dreaming. “Sagan? Is that you?”
“Yeah,” came his hushed answer.
Hesitantly, still unbelieving, she reached out to him. “Are you really here?”
He took her hand in both of his, and the unmistakably real warmth of his palms enclosed her cold fingers. “Yes, I’m here.”
“But I don’t understand. How did you escape?”
“I don’t have time to explain it all.” A heartbeat passed before he continued. “I’ve come to take you to Solace.”
“What?” The remainder of Violet’s grogginess dissipated instantly. “Are you serious?”
“Yes, but you need to come with me right now.”
Not missing the urgency in his tone, she scrambled to her feet. Sagan latched on to her wrist and half dragged her outside.
Violet’s adrenaline began to kick in as they weaved through the Maple Shire gardens. Sagan, half a step ahead, constantly swiveled his attention to the left and right, even glancing behind periodically.
“Is Solace here?”
“Shhh.” Sagan raised a finger to his lips. “Keep it down.”
Violet matched his volume. “How did you escape? Did you bring Solace with you?”
He halted at the edge of a grassy clearing and looked around before proceeding. “No. Solace isn’t here. But she’s safe, I promise.”
Violet frowned. “Sagan, slow down. I don’t understand. What’s going on?”
“You need to trust me,” he said over his shoulder. “We have to hurry.” He yanked her around a garden bed and toward an unfamiliar vehicle parked at the edge of the forest. “Get in.”
Violet yanked open the passenger door, but almost in the same instant, a nearby voice made her freeze.
“Violet, where are you going?”
She and Sagan both spun to find Thane standing a few feet away from the car. Even in the dim morning light, she could see his eyes widen when they landed on Sagan.
“You escaped? But . . . how?”
“I don’t have time to explain,” Sagan almost growled. “Violet, get in the car.”
“Where are you guys going?” Thane asked again.
“Nowhere,” said Sagan at the same time Violet said, “He’s taking me to Solace.”
Without another second’s delay, Thane lurched forward. “I’m coming with you.”
“No.” Sagan shook his head. “We don’t need you.”
But Thane jumped into the back seat regardless.
“We don’t have time for this. Get out of the car,” Sagan demanded.
“Not without my daughter, hunter” came the reply.
Sagan groaned, then barked, “Violet, get in.”
When all three were inside, Sagan took off, speeding through the forest, veering around each turn like a rally driver.
Violet clutched at the handle above her window. “Where are we going?”
“Not far,” said Sagan.
“Care to tell us how you escaped?” Thane asked.
Sagan didn’t answer. He whipped the car around another corner, and Violet was flung to the side. If she hadn’t been holding on tight to the handle, she would have been thrown into Sagan’s lap.
“Seriously, Sagan, I thought you said Solace was safe,” said Violet.
“She is.”
“How do you know for sure?”
“Because . . . I struck a deal with them.”
“What kind of deal?” Thane asked.
Without responding, Sagan brought the car to a halt.
“Are we here?” Violet asked, peering out the passenger window. They were parked in a clearing a few feet from the edge of a cliff. Below was a glorious view of the valley, with Maple Shire somewhere in the distance. As the sun’s first rays began to sneak past the horizon, the forest foliage was regaining its mixture of green hues.
Sagan turned the car off, plunging their world into silence.
“Where’s Solace?” Thane’s question held an edge of warning.
“Just wait.” Sagan leaned against the steering wheel and focused on the landscape ahead.
Violet scanned the trees along with him. A second passed. And then another. She was about to press for answers when a pair of headlights pierced the silhouetted trees.
“Who is that?” Thane asked.
Violet leaned forward, squinting at the headlights. “Is Solace in there?”
The vehicle—a pickup truck—rolled in closer. Its massive bull bar ploughed through the shrubbery until it broke into the clearing, coming to a halt about thirty feet away.
Violet held up an arm to shield her eyes from the blinding headlights. Her pounding pulse quickened to a painful thrum as a man clad in typical all-black hunter attire stepped in front of the truck and blocked the beams. She drew in a sharp breath and began hurriedly removing her seatbelt when Sagan put a hand on her arm.
“Violet, wait.”
“Are you kidding? That man has my baby.” Before anyone could stop her, she leaped out of the car and ran toward her child.
“Violet, stop!” called a voice from behind her—either Sagan or Thane, she didn’t care.
The cold morning air whipped through her hair, twigs crackled under her boots, and the rising sunlight glinted off her daughter’s blonde curls. Before she’d even gone halfway to the hunter, Violet could make out a gentle cooing. Joy leaped in her chest. That was undeniably her daughter. She’d be able to pick out Solace’s voice even in the middle of a rock concert. Her child was free, uncaged, and would soon be in her arms. Whatever deal Sagan had made, it was totally worth it.
Solace caught sight of her, smiled, and reached out a chubby hand. Her daughter was almost in reach.
And then Thane’s roar sliced through Violet’s eardrums.
“Look out!”
Several things happened at once. The face of the man holding Solace broke into a wicked grin, and four more people moved in on either side of him, each holding Diamantium weapons. Before Violet could react, something slammed into her, constraining her arms and legs. It wasn’t until she plummeted to the ground that she registered the wire net wrapped around her entire body.
From somewhere out of view came Thane’s raging shouts and the all-too-familiar sounds of a vicious brawl. Violet struggled against her bonds, but the more she moved, the tighter the net became. A pair of Diamantium-tipped boots moved into her field of vision, but the net had completely immobilized her, denying her the chance to look up and see who it was.
Just as panic began to set in, an agonizing wave of electricity crackled through the net and cut deep into her flesh.
Violet’s shrill scream was deafening even to her own ears. When the current ended, it left her entire body numb and twitching. But even more distressing was Solace’s harrowing cry ringing out over the melee. The sounds of the fight Violet assumed Thane and Sagan were in the middle of were beginning to slow down, but her daughter’s screams were only increasing.
No, no, NO! This can’t be happening. Every time she was given the chance to reunite with her daughter, the opportunity was snatched away.
Molten fury roiled in Violet’s core—for all the endless worry, the sleepless nights, the failed missions. She couldn’t take it anymore. Her body began to tremble as her inward turmoil overflowed through her extremities. In an instant, Violet’s entire world turned an inflamed shade of teal. Every cell in her body vibrated. Every ounce of her torment fueled her flames.
She screamed until her throat became ragged. Then, suddenly, her body was no longer restrained. Her flames dissipated, and she scrambled to her feet. It took a couple seconds to comprehend that the black ash all over her clothes and covering the ground at her feet was all that was left of the wire net.
Other than Solace’s cries, everything became quiet as all eyes turned to her, wide and disbelieving.
Harsh, angry breaths heaved in an
d out of Violet’s lungs as she scanned her surroundings. Thane was pinned to the ground by three hunters while three more lay sprawled around him—two lying deathly still and the third writhing in agony. The blood in Violet’s veins began to boil when she spotted the Xabat Biogenetics logo on their uniforms. These people had stolen her baby and caused her and her friends to run in defeat only hours ago. Her teal flames once again flared into existence, fanned to life by the all-consuming rage coursing through her chest.
A female hunter, the closest to Violet, shook off her stunned expression and charged.
Violet unleashed her full fury. She threw her arms forward, and the inferno over her body surged out like a flamethrower and roasted the hunter in an instant. The woman didn’t even have a chance to scream before she collapsed in a charred heap.
The stench of burned flesh almost made Violet gag, but she pushed her disgust aside and set her sights on the men surrounding Thane. Throwing her arms out again, she released another maelstrom of teal that roasted two more men—just as Thane sliced up the third with his elbow blades. The hunters crumpled to the ground in a gory mess.
“Are you okay?” Thane asked.
Violet nodded, allowing her flames to diminish until only her eyes and hands were alight. “Are you?”
He nodded, then looked around. “Where’s Sagan?”
Violet frowned but didn’t dwell on the thought for long—the only thing she could concentrate on was Solace. She turned to the hunter who had her baby.
“Ouch!” Thane slapped at his arm and inspected his upper bicep.
Half a moment later, Violet shrieked as a sharp sting pierced the back of her shoulder. She reached around to feel the area, and her fingers caught hold of a small cylindrical object: a Diamantium-tipped tranquilizer dart.
“No,” said Thane. “No. Not again.”
The blood in Violet’s veins turned to ice at the terror in his voice. She’d never seen Thane so afraid.
He collapsed to his knees, and Violet face-planted only a second later. With her mind swimming in a groggy haze, she found herself being heaved up from the ground and shoved into a crate, with Thane being thrown in right behind her.
“Where’s my daughter?” Violet’s words came out as a warble. She desperately fought against the impending paralysis, swiveling her head as best she could in search of Solace.
The door to the crate swung closed with a clang, and a face appeared on the other side.
“You!” Violet shrieked. “You . . . traitor!”
“Who, me?” Nika’s head tipped back with a mocking laugh. “Oh, Violet. Don’t be so naive. You’re not the only one who’s willing to make sacrifices for a loved one.” Nika’s evil grin stretched wide as she stepped to the side.
A few feet behind her, his shoulders hunched, was Sagan. Two hunters flanked him, guarding him closely with their Diamantium blades.
It was as if the world had fallen out from beneath Violet. No. This isn’t possible.
Thane’s enraged bellows were deafening. He roared at Sagan, battering himself against their metal prison. But his efforts quickly waned as the tranquilizer took over his body.
Tears filled Violet’s eyes, stinging like acid within her still-raw tear ducts. With every ounce of willpower she could muster, she fought the paralysis swiftly claiming her body. “Sagan? Tell me it’s not true.”
He didn’t meet her eyes.
“Believe it, Violet,” said Nika. “Even your golden boy Sagan eventually saw reason.” She thumped him in the chest. “I knew you wouldn’t let us down. Grandpa is going to be so pleased you helped us snag him the hybrid.”
“I don’t care what he thinks,” Sagan hissed through his teeth. “I didn’t do this for him.”
Nika rolled her eyes. “Yeah, whatever, Saggy-Aggy. You’re a real hero.”
He stepped up to Nika with a poisonous scowl, halting only an inch from her face. “Give me what’s mine.”
The two other hunters bristled at Sagan’s hostile behavior. One kicked his legs out from under him, and the other angled his crystal blade down to Sagan’s throat, but Nika gestured for them to back off.
Once Sagan was back on his feet, she shot him a glare of her own, then called out over her shoulder. Four hunters walked over with a second silver crate and placed it on the ground in front of Sagan. The venom in his demeanor vanished, to be replaced with . . . what? Violet had never seen that expression on Sagan’s face before. Tenderness? Longing?
He slowly lowered himself to the ground and peered through the bars of the crate. There was a slight scuffling sound from inside.
“Don’t be afraid,” Sagan said quietly, fondly.
A soft female voice from within began to sing an odd little melody about a boy who made friends with his echo in a well.
Sagan gently laid a hand on the crate. “Mom, it’s me.”
26
Pliokai
Nathan rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands, then once again inspected himself in the mirror.
Nope, he wasn’t seeing things.
A shiver of fear tingled down his spine, joining the onslaught of gut-wrenching remorse from the abysmal mission to Rivermyre. All that preparation, all that effort and sacrifice, for what? To have Sagan captured and Solace no closer to freedom than before? What had gone wrong?
Nathan scoffed. Everything went wrong!
They’d been outsmarted, outmanned, and outmaneuvered. Xabat Biogenetics was far more prepared and unassailable than he, or any of the others, had given them credit for. And based on the events of the previous few hours, Nathan and his companions couldn’t afford to go up against Renard Branstone and his army of Xabat security again.
He’d spent most of the car ride home in Veniri form. It had taken him almost two hours to regain enough control over his body to haze back into his human form again.
Nathan’s heart sank lower and lower the longer he looked in the mirror. Would he even have the chance to face Renard and his minions again? Who knew how much time he had left?
The crystallized patch was no longer just a patch. It was an infestation of crystal flesh that now covered the side of his neck and throat, his jaw, and part of his face. The shoulder where it originally started was entirely encased, the crystallization continuing down the length of his arm almost to his wrist. It covered half his torso and nearly joined up to the section that had started on his calf, which had grown over his entire leg and foot.
The fractal surface twinkled under the bathroom lights. If the unknown prospects weren’t so terrifying, he would have been mesmerized.
. . . consider putting your affairs in order.
Dawn’s words held more weight than ever before, especially since he’d already decided he would do whatever it took to save Violet’s baby, regardless of the consequences to himself.
Nathan hung his head. He hadn’t been in the same vehicle as Violet on the way home from Rivermyre, but he could only imagine how painful that endless, somber ride must have been for her. When they’d arrived at Maple Shire, he hadn’t been sure what to say or do to ease Violet’s unbearable grief. There was nothing he could do.
. . . Or perhaps there was something he alone could do.
He rubbed at the smooth crystallized flesh as a plan started to form in his mind. If he was on the way out, he was going to make sure he left Solace in Violet’s arms. The decision was made. He was going to—
An almighty KA-BOOM nearly ruptured his eardrums. He clapped his hands over his ears just as the ground shook him off his feet, throwing him face-first onto the ice-cold tiles. A split second later, an avalanche of splintered bathroom walls and ceiling pummeled his back. Nathan’s tough Veniri hide was all that kept the shrapnel at bay, and his Diamantium skeleton ensured he wasn’t crushed under the weight of the crumbled building. A human would never have survived.
The roar of the collapsing bathroom eventually died down to a pitter-patter of lighter debris. Soon, all that remained was the ringing in Nathan
’s ears. With each breath, he inhaled fine plasterboard dust and the overwhelming stench of something burning. There was a hiss of water gushing from broken pipes, and the spray of heavy droplets drenched every surface.
The ringing in his ears began to give way to the shrieking wails of the Maple Shire residents.
Nathan’s adrenaline spiked a hundredfold. He needed to get out. He needed to find the others.
With an agonized grunt, he pushed up from the floor, heaving enough of the substantial burden off himself so he could dig free of the wreck.
An orange inferno lit up the night. Buildings were on fire or torn to shreds. People rushed from their houses wailing in hysteria. Some hustled to drag loved ones out from under piles of rubble. Mothers screamed for their children. Husbands yelled for their wives. Almost everyone was covered in dust, ash, or blood.
Nathan placed his hands on either side of his head, as if to prevent his mind from shattering along with the chaos. With as much speed as he could muster, he crawled over the wreckage, then ran through the gardens toward Gus’s house. He heaved in lungful after lungful of air, breathing in the burning stench and ash as the heat of the fire washed over his bare skin.
The back door to Gus’s house was still standing, but beyond it, half the house was in shambles, and the other was covered with dust and debris. Nathan roared name after name. “Violet! Gus! Dawn! Lazareth! Autumn!” Anyone and everyone who came to mind.
“Help!” screamed a voice.
Nathan lunged toward it. Only when he began throwing beams and building chunks out of the way did he register he’d hazed into his Veniri form. His scaled hands heaved, hauled, and dug a path through what was once the hallway to the bedrooms.
“Help!” cried the voice again.
“I’m coming, Autumn!”
“Please hurry!” A hand flailed from under the wreckage.
“I’m here!” Nathan took hold of the hand. Seconds later, En’gorr appeared with his three comrades, all of them covered in ash and dust. With their help, Nathan dug out Autumn and then Gus, Dawn, and Lazareth, who were all unconscious.
Flames of Mars (Celestial Shifters Book 2) Page 27
