Marked Prince - Michelle M. Pillow Page 0,11

renewed force. She tried to steady her breath. The people did not turn to stare at her like before as they kept their attention on the small stage, awaiting her return. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. A few of the nearby aliens seemed fascinated with her body. She glanced down, suddenly recognizing a weight on her chest. Those two jiggly spaceports were new. No wonder she’d felt like something had been trying to get out of her when she’d morphed. It had been planet Breast and her sister planet Boob.

“Is everything all right?” Grier asked in concern.

“These breasts are huge. It’s like lugging around two docked spaceships,” she blurted before biting the inside of her lip.

He arched a brow. More eyes turned to look at her.

“Sorry I can’t lie. Please don’t ask me any more questions,” she pleaded in a whisper.

He nodded once.

Salena entered the hall, watching her feet as she walked. Fiora concentrated on breathing. Salena now looked like Salena…or rather, like Fiora.

Salena might be able to take her place on stage, but she couldn’t take the timelines flowing into Fiora’s thoughts from the crowd. Her temple throbbed.

“Who is next?”

At her sister’s voice, she glanced up to find the Lykan man approaching Salena, now sitting in her chair.

“They are not supposed to do that,” Fiora said in irritation, but there were no guards next to Salena to regulate the event. “Everyone gets one turn, one question.”

She couldn’t hear what the man asked Salena, but her sister stood from her chair and moved to whisper something in the Lykan’s ear.

Grier stiffened next to her. His hand balled into a fist, and Fiora wondered if it was jealousy that fueled him. When she tried to look into his future, all she saw was flames and monsters.

Fiora’s gaze moved over the floor to look at General Sten. He stared at Salena, probably noticing her lack of bodyguards.

“I hope my sister knows what she’s doing,” Fiora said as Salena retook her seat.

“I trust her,” Grier answered.

No, it wasn’t jealousy that fueled him. It was hidden within a tiny glimpse of his future, but she caught it.

“You do more than trust her,” Fiora smiled, comforted somewhat to know that her sister would be in this man’s future. That meant Salena would get out of here. “I can feel it between you two. You’re connected. You have the kind of love for her that I have rarely seen in my life.”

Grier gave a small laugh. “You are blunt like your sister. I take that to be a family trait.”

“I do not believe I had to wait to go after a smelly Lykan,” a Dokka trader announced. His words caused a round of laughter. The Lykan had been approaching a Slit’therne. He turned at the Dokka’s comment.

Fiora’s smile fell. The arguments were starting. Salena was pulling confessions from the crowd.

“And you with the lustful eyes?” Salena’s voice lifted. “What are you thinking?”

“That I would like to bend over the Klennup’s wife,” another Dokka answered.

More laughter erupted.

Salena continued pulling the confessions from the crowd, turning them on each other.

“What is going on here?” General Sten demanded over the chaos.

“Dammit, Salena,” Grier muttered as yelling turned to fighting. He grabbed Fiora’s arm and navigated the crowd toward his wife. He kept his body angled to protect her from danger.

A slender man stumbled across their path. Grier nudged him out of the way. The gathering’s timelines converged as their shared futures painted a clearer picture of the brawl that was about to happen.

Fiora saw the soldiers flooding the room seconds before it happened. She turned a high-pitched scream in their direction to get their attention. She pointed away from her sister. “Over there! The general!”

Since she couldn’t lie and say the general needed help, it was as close as a diversion as she could manage.

The soldiers rammed their way through the crowd, knocking several of the guests over as they fought their way to their leader.

The timelines split apart, became as chaotic as the room, causing her head to spin. She didn’t see a way out. There were too many soldiers, too many flying fists. Someone hit her shoulder and sent her stumbling. She felt dizzy and had to close her eyes. The emotion in the room was too much to sort through.

Fiora wasn’t sure she would make it out of this mess alive. And so long as Salena was safe, she was all right with that outcome.

4

Movement caught Jaxx’s attention, and he saw a uniformed soldier flying from