Marked Prince

by Michelle M. Pillow

  Not his proudest moment.

  Fiora looked just like her sister, but he didn’t see Salena when he looked at her. He saw someone who’d had a rougher road to travel—and when he’d found Salena, she’d been starved and dying in a cliffside cave near Shelter City, so that was saying something.

  He’d thought Queen Rigan standing up to the general was amusing at the time, but with Fiora’s warning, all humor faded. She was right. He didn’t have to be psychic to predict the general would retaliate. He was the type of man who always wanted retribution, even if it wasn’t justified.

  Jaxx released Fiora’s hand to stretch his arms over his head. Instantly, she gave a small moan and turned on the couch. Her forehead wrinkled with a deep frown, and she began to toss in her sleep.

  “Those poor babies,” she mumbled.

  “Hey, easy,” he soothed as he dropped his arms to make contact with her skin. He took her hand in his. She instantly calmed. Her fingers twitched against him.

  After several moments, he pulled his hand away, letting it hover over her. She moaned and kicked her legs. He put his hand against her cheek and felt her relax. She nuzzled against him.

  “Don’t leave me,” she whispered.

  He watched her face to see if she was awake. Her chest rose in even breaths.

  Jaxx didn’t know what to make of the reaction, but he felt a connection to her. For so long, he’d felt the chaos around him. It had gotten to the point it was all he felt. The Federation, with their hold over Shelter City, seemed to be locked in an eternal struggle with the shifters. He desperately wanted it to end, but not in the way Fiora predicted. Not with the death of all those in Shelter City.

  And, still, maybe that was the only way to end the stalemate and get the Federation off his planet. He could see no other way, and he had looked. The Federation was too powerful.

  But there were so many Cysgodians in the city, so many lives, so many who did not deserve such a harsh fate.

  Letting them die was not an option.

  Letting Fiora go back to the general was not an option.

  Doing nothing was not an option.

  There were no options.

  What path could be chosen when there was no path?

  Jaxx looked up at the ceiling. For a dragon, when there wasn’t a path that meant flying up. If the Federation smuggled people onto the planet, perhaps he could smuggle them off? How long before people noticed the missing population? How many could they free?

  He’d discussed the idea at length with his parents and the Var princess, Payton, but every time they’d shot it down. A spaceship big enough to fit everyone wouldn’t be stealthy, even if they could convince a distrusting population to board. Not to mention they’d break the agreement by helping them escape.

  There was no winning, only varying degrees of losing.

  “Fiora?”

  Jaxx picked up the softly spoken word before the door to the guest suite opened. Salena appeared, glancing around the spacious room before her eyes finally found him.

  “Jaxx? What are…?” Her gaze went to her sleeping sister. “What’s…?”

  Jaxx refused to stand. He moved his touch from Fiora’s cheek to hold her hand. “She asked me to stay.”

  “What?” Salena crept closer, not hearing him.

  Jaxx didn’t want to wake Fiora. “She asked me to stay with her.”

  “She did?” Even with her surprised statement, Salena had to believe him. No one could lie to her. “That’s unusual. Why you? Why didn’t she send for me?”

  “I calm the visions,” Jaxx answered. He lifted his hand. Fiora mumbled in her sleep. He returned his touch, and she settled.

  “That’s… I don’t know what that is.” Salena kept her voice quiet as she sat across from him on the circular couch and leaned forward. “I came to tell her what happened. The queen was incredible. I think Fiora will find the way the general stomped off amusing. He looked like a pouting child. I thought it would lift her spirits.”

  “She already knew. She said she saw it in the timelines,” Jaxx answered. Half his attention was focused on where Fiora’s skin pressed to his. “She wants me to take her back to the general.”

  “What—why?” Salena stiffened. “She can’t go back there. That makes no sense unless it has something to do with those doomsday visions she’s been mumbling about. I wanted to let her rest before asking her about them.”

  Jaxx nodded. “Yes. She thinks it might save Shelter City from destruction if she is returned. The general won’t take losing today lightly.”

  “No, I don’t suppose he will,” Salena agreed. She took a deep breath and held it for a long moment before letting it go. “We can’t give her to the general.”

  “I have no intention of letting her go back.” Jaxx tried to hide any hint of possessiveness in his tone, but Salena pulled it from him with her very presence.

  Salena smiled knowingly. “You’re attracted to my sister.”

  Jaxx tried not to answer but found the word forced from his throat. “Yes.”

  “I suppose it makes sense.” She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back. “I mean, you couldn’t have me, so you go for her.”

  “That’s not—wait, what?” Jaxx frowned.

  Fiora stirred and he glanced down to find her staring up at him. She slowly sat up. “You are in love with my sister?”

  “He asked me to marry him,” Salena said. “I said no.”

  “It wasn’t like that,” Jaxx answered.

  “Did you ask me?” Salena demanded.

  “Yes.” The word pried from his throat. “But it was a joke because my mother, and then the bridal ceremony, and we were getting ready to smuggle food simulators because the other cache was raided and…”

  Fiora arched a brow at his rambling explanation. Salena started laughing.

  Jaxx looked at the two sisters, feeling as if he was outmatched.

  “He’s right. It was a joke,” Salena relented. “His mother was on his case about losing his crystal and not taking the breeding ceremonies seriously.”

  “You have ceremonies for breeding?” Fiora’s gaze started to drift down his body, but she caught herself and corrected course to look at her sister instead.

  “Breeding festival is the old term used in the hope that the marriages would be blessed with children. Until my generation, the radiation from the sun suppressed our ability to have female dragons. My ancestors made a deal with aliens to bring compatible women once a year in hopes that matches could be made.”

  “I’m not sure if that’s sad or strange,” Fiora answered, rubbing her temple. Under her breath, she said, “Sorry, I know that sounded rude. Comments just slip out.”

  “You never have to apologize for speaking the truth,” Jaxx assured her. He never really stopped to contemplate just how strange their traditions must seem to the outside world. Now, with the questions reflected in Fiora’s expression, he couldn’t think how best to explain the old ways. “The ceremony is how my parents met, how the king and queen met. That’s how most of the older generation found each other. Galaxy Brides contracted women to come to the ceremony to try their fate.”

  He always assumed he’d meet his mate in a similar way. But the death mark hung over his head, lingering over every decision he would make from this moment forward. He could not bind himself to a woman only to leave her, no matter how much pain it caused him.

  “They officially changed it to a mating festival,” Jaxx said, hoping to end this course of conversation soon. “Though I supposed that might not sound much better.”

  “Blue radiation from one of the planet’s three suns,” Fiora said, closing her eyes. She no longer touched him and gave a slight moan as she pressed her fingers to her temple.

  “What do you see?” Salena asked.

  “Reels of people’s lives, moving and weaving into each other. There are several threads in Shelter City pulsing with fear of blue radiation. People are worried about it, but then someone
named Nadja proves that it’s not harmful in the way they suspect. The Federation releases information about Nadja’s father, who was a leader in the medical mafia, to discredit her. Her research is disregarded in public opinion though it was most likely correct.”

  “You’re sure?” Jaxx asked.

  Fiora opened her eyes. “I think so. I feel as if I was drifting in a dreamless sleep. It helped. Everything seems a little more organized now, not all twisted and knotted in my brain. Does that name Nadja mean something to you?”

  “Princess Nadja is my aunt. She’s a scientist. She came up with an immunization for the yellow, a plant that grows in the forest and causes people to pass out if they breathe in the spores. It wouldn’t surprise me if she discovered the blue radiation doesn’t harm the Cysgodian people like the Federation wants them to believe.”

  “Harm?” Fiora shook her head. “No. This doesn’t make sense. Maybe the timelines are still jumbled and too hard for me to decipher. Didn’t the blue sun cure them?”

  “When they first arrived. It saved them. Now the Federation insists the cure is also shortening their lives,” Jaxx answered.

  “Fiora, what do you see for the people of Shelter City?” Salena asked.

  “I…” Fiora trembled as if she didn’t want to answer but was compelled by both her curse and her sister’s gift. “It’s all broken, gaps in the current. Some are scared and don’t want to cause trouble for fear it will be worse. Others want to riot and take down the Federation base. A sect believes shifters are the enemy, and they wish to consume them.” Fiora gagged and clutched her stomach. “Their leader thinks shifter blood will give them strength and long life. They’re furious and immune to reasoning.”

  Jaxx stared at Fiora’s face, not liking what Salena’s question was doing to her. He started to reach for her, but Fiora lifted her hand to stop him.

  “It’s all right. I want to help,” Fiora said.

  “Is the leader named Doyen?” Salena asked. To Jaxx, she said, “Yevgen warned Payton and me about him when we were in the city.”

  “Blood. Blood. Blood,” Fiora whispered as if trying to grab onto a thought. “I hear the chanting.” She gagged. “I get the impression that they are going to succeed soon.”

  “Is that what causes the explosion?” Jaxx asked.

  “I can’t see it,” Fiora said. “I need to be closer to the city to get the rest of the readings and fill in the gaps.”

  “You can’t go back there,” Salena denied. “What else do you see?”

  “Federation soldiers are angry. Something has been taken, and they have to find it,” Fiora whispered.

  “Do you mean you?” Salena asked.

  “I don’t know. They’re searching. There’s a woman. They’ll hit her.” A trickle of blood came from Fiora’s nose. “She’s so hungry. They all are. Hungry for food, for freedom, for…”

  Fiora gasped. A second trickle came from the other nostril to drip down her chin.

  “That’s enough,” Jaxx decided. He wrapped his arms around Fiora and pulled her to him. He made sure to touch her skin. Her face pressed against his chest, and he felt his grip tightening as if his hands were unwilling to let her go. His heartbeat quickened, and he had to focus on keeping his breathing steady. Something about this woman made the dragon simmer to the surface. He had to fight the urge to shift and fly her away to the northern mountains where he could keep her safe.

  Fiora made a weak noise against him before sighing with relief. Her body relaxed as the visions released her. Fiora’s words were muffled as her face pressed against his chest. “I’m sorry, it’s—”

  “You don’t have to apologize,” Jaxx interrupted, holding her tighter. “You did what you could.”

  “He’s right. You need to take it in smaller steps,” Selena agreed. “You’ve said enough.”

  He considered the impulse to carry her away for a moment. He had cousins who lived in the mountains. Mirek and his wife had been taking care of orphans since Riona lost their baby. Sure, Fiora wasn’t a child, but they wouldn’t turn her away if he asked. They’d keep her safe and far away from the general.

  Fiora pushed against his chest, and he was reluctant to release his hold on her. “No. I haven’t. I—oh, blast it all.”

  Jaxx let her pull away but kept his hand on her to stop her visions. If he were honest with himself, he kept touching her because he didn’t want to let go. The press of her against his chest remained like a ghost against his flesh.

  “I can’t go back to the general,” Fiora stated.

  “I agree. You—” Jaxx began.

  “That’s not even an—” Salena tried to say at the same time.

  “No, you don’t understand. It’s not about me. I have the Cysgodians in my head. If he asks me, I’ll tell him everything. They’ll inject me with boosters and pull people in front of me one by one until I know everything. I’m surprised they hadn’t started trying that already. I think the general’s ego prevented him from thinking the Cysgodians were a threat.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “I don’t see how to help them. If the Draig don’t give me back, the general will be angry and will take it out on the city. But if I go—”

  “You’ll tell them all of the Cysgodians’ fears and plans,” Salena concluded for her.

  Fiora nodded. “I’m too dangerous now. He’ll make me tell him everything.”

  Salena sat back in her seat and rested her head so that she stared at the ceiling. She took a deep, audible breath.

  Fiora turned her attention to Jaxx. “There is only one answer.”

  Jaxx stiffened, not liking the look on her face.

  “What’s that?” Salena asked, her attention still focused upward has she kept her head back.

  “I have to die,” Fiora said.

  Salena jerked her head forward.

  “Show my body to the general,” Fiora added. “Let him know it’s over.”

  “No,” Jaxx managed. It was the only sound he could push out from his squeezing lungs. It felt like she’d kicked him.

  Fiora’s eyes were moist, but she smiled at them. “It’s all right. I’m not scared. I—”

  “We’re not considering it,” Salena stated. “I just found you. We have to find our other sister. Piera is still out there. We have too much work to do. Your death doesn’t solve anything.”

  At that, Fiora gave a humorless laugh. “You forget, sister. You can lie. I can’t.”

  “But you can be mistaken,” Salena challenged. “Sure, death is the great fix for everything, a jump into nothingness, but that is not how we were raised. Life is worth fighting for. If our parents—”

  “Don’t bring them into this,” Fiora snapped, standing from the couch to tower over her sister. “They couldn’t protect us, and I couldn’t save them. All these threads in my head and I couldn’t have a hint of one to warn me that danger was coming. I couldn’t stop it—not their murder, or the fire that burned our house, or the black holes that sucked you, me, and Piera into them and cast us out into the universe as orphans. All I’m good for is reliving it, detail by detail, for the sick pleasure of General Sten, which is why I’m not scared of dying. I might not be able to see my future, but I don’t have to be psychic to know what it holds. In it, I’m being forced to see things I don’t want to see and tell secrets that are not mine to tell. I’m done.”

  Jaxx clenched his fists. “Salena is right. Death is not the answer.”

  Fiora glanced at him, and he could see her frustration. Blood stained her face, smeared from when she’d pressed against him. “Then what is? Because I can’t see any other path.”

  “Then…” Jaxx tried to come up with a solution, anything to change her course of thinking. He refused to accept that what she said was true, even though only truth could pass her lips. “We don’t have enough information.”

  “Right,” Salena jumped on his words. “If you don’t see another way, then that’s because we need to know more about what might cause this destruction.
You said it yourself. You need to read more people. We can do it on your terms, under your control, however you need to be the most comfortable.”

  “And we don’t know if your death would end it.” Jaxx clung to any argument that would change her mind. “But if we lost you, then we lose any chance we have of figuring it out.”

  “So, we need you,” Salena said.

  “Yes,” Jaxx agreed. “We need you, Fiora. Don’t give up hope.”

  “I’ll go speak to Grier. We’ll leave for Shelter City at once,” Salena stated. She stood and patted her sister’s arm as she passed by her to go to the door. “I’m not going to rest until you feel safe enough to never wish for death again.”

  Fiora stared after her sister and whispered, “She doesn’t understand what she’s asking of me. She doesn’t understand how bad it’s gotten when I see things. She still sees me as her sixteen-year-old sister.”

  “I don’t see a clear solution when it comes to the people of Shelter City,” Jaxx said, “but I will not force you to go. It is not your responsibility to fix what is broken there. If anyone tries to make you, I’ll take you to the forest and hide you. Say the word.”

  Fiora smiled at him, but she seemed so sad, and the look did not reach her eyes. He wanted to erase that sadness from her. “You don’t know how tempting that sounds to be away from the world, but the world always seems to find me. I can’t live with myself if I don’t at least try to help those people.”

  “Then I promise not to leave your side.” If this was how he met his end, so be it. Fiora might hold the key to ending the Federation’s hold on Shelter City. “For whatever reason my presence stops your visions. So I will be there to do that. And if anyone threatens you, I will be there for that. I give you my word. You will never belong to the Federation or anyone again.”

  “I believe that you will try,” she said.

  9

  “I’m coming with you.”

  Fiora glanced over in surprise as a woman appeared next to her on the narrow path. They were just out of view of the palace’s front gate, around a bend of trees. Mischievous brown eyes met hers. The woman’s brown hair wove in an intricate pattern around the top of her head like a crown. She had a wildness to her that appeared poorly contained within a beautiful prison.