Marked Prince - Michelle M. Pillow Page 0,17

had made a pact with his cousin. He’d hid her crystal, and she’d hid his. On the day she was freed from her betrothal would be the day they returned the stones. As long as she was held from her future, he would wait for his. That way she was not alone.

That had been years ago.

Jaxx moved toward the decontaminator room to clean up, knowing his cousin wouldn’t follow him inside. He ignored the water bath that drew from the hot springs in the mountain and always bubbled at a pleasant temperature. Instead, he stepped into a decontaminator and let the lasers efficiently clean him. He closed his eyes as the lights danced over his naked body.

Why was he thinking about his crystal? Unless his mother brought up her wish to see him married, he rarely thought about the stone.

Fiora.

There was something special about her. He’d felt it the second she’d landed in his arms. Maybe before that. It wasn’t attraction—not to her morphed body, anyway. And it would be strange to say he was attracted to her when he hadn’t been attracted to her sister, Salena. They looked fairly identical.

Still, even now, he could feel the awareness of her in his arms.

Was it merely circumstances that made him think so?

Jaxx had a death mark. It didn’t take much imagination to deduce what that probably meant. Was the knowledge causing his mind to toss out regrets? He had no wife, no children. He had never been in love.

He had no reason to mistrust the woman when she said he was death marked. He had already witnessed Salena’s power to force the truth out of people. It stood to reason Fiora’s abilities would be just as strong.

Fiora’s gaze had been so apologetic and sad when she’d looked at him. He wondered what details she saw but was too afraid to ask. No one wanted to hear how or when they were going to die, him included.

Death.

The woman’s face haunted him. Those eyes, so sad, so troubled.

In the abstract, he’d always been ready for death. If he died fighting for the people of Shelter City, or for his fellow shifters, so be it. He wasn’t afraid of fate.

Yet, part of the appeal had always been the not knowing. Each time he snuck into Shelter City, or smuggled decontaminators, he did so with the belief that he would come out alive. Hope was a great thing.

But take that hope away, only to replace it with certainty? That only left death.

The laser decontaminator had finished by the time he came back from his thoughts. His vision focused. Jaxx wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing in the inactive unit.

He stepped out of the decontaminator and went to the living room. Kane shoved clothes at his chest as Jaxx walked out the door.

“I ordered a cleaning droid sent to the statue,” Kane said.

Jaxx nodded. He dropped a tunic shirt on the floor and pulled on the pair of loose pants. Then, leaning over, he swiped the shirt from the floor. He held it in his fist.

“Can I stay here?” Jaxx asked.

“You never have to ask, cousin,” Kane said. “All that I have is yours. Except for my bed.”

Jaxx nodded.

Kane moved to his table. Parchment was piled neatly into five stacks next to an electronic clipboard. “Hungry?”

“No.” Jaxx couldn’t think of eating when his mind was full. He sat across from his cousin. He pulled a stack of documents toward him and read, “Syog negotiation guidelines. What are we negotiating?”

“Nothing, ever, if I can help it.” Kane leaned forward and put his finger on the second paragraph.

Jaxx read, “Each negotiator will be allowed three strikes upon the other’s man…” He lifted his head and grimaced. “They negotiate by kicking each other in the manhood?” He slowly shook his head. “And you want to be an ambassador?”

Kane gave a wry laugh. “The day those aliens come to visit might be the day I join you hiding in the forest.”

“I’m hardly hiding,” Jaxx grumbled. He gestured at the papers. “What is all this anyway?”

“I’m rescanning documents that were lost when the palace databases went down.” Kane crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s as thrilling as it sounds.”

Jaxx’s eyes went to his cousin’s wrist. Kane’s crystal was sewn into place on the leather band.

“What happened?” Kane asked.

“I’ll tell you later.” Jaxx pried his eyes away from Kane’s dormant mating crystal. He pushed up from the table and moved to rest on the couch. “I need to sleep.”

It was