Marked Prince - Michelle M. Pillow Page 0,21
meant to.”
On that she agreed with him, but the comment still took her by surprise. “Then what is your question?”
His eyes fixed on hers. “Do you want to be here?”
Want.
That one word echoed in her mind. Did she want?
“No.” The truth came out of her before she even realized what the truth would be.
He slowly nodded. “Do you want to be taken back to the facility?”
“No.” She shook her head.
“What do you want?” he asked.
A tear slipped down her cheek. “To travel back in time, to the day before my parents were killed and my sisters were taken from me. I want to know that love and acceptance again. I want to sleep without fear. I want to be away from all the timelines. Every single one of them ends in death because that is where life leads. Death. There’s so much of it here. I hear the distant screams. I sense them like nails scratching against my skin, clawing and begging me for help. There is nothing I can do but watch it replay from every angle.”
“Screaming?” He closed some of the distance between them. “Here? In the palace?”
“Shelter City,” she said. “I saw its end, and it is not pleasant. There will be an explosion. Everything will set on fire.” Fiora shivered and rubbed her arms. “They can’t escape it. There is all this desperation and fear. It will feed on everyone, building and churning and erupting.”
“Did you see what triggered it?” he asked.
A tear slipped down her cheek. “Please don’t ask me to try. There’s so much. So many reasons. So many thoughts.”
She felt a tickle under her nose and wiped at the fresh blood.
His mouth opened, and she could see he was torn.
Fiora wished she could be deceitful. Then she could trick him into escorting her back to the Federation base. One quick flight, and he could drop her off at the facility door. She’d walk right back into captivity. Instead, all she had was the truth, which was uncertain and shaky.
“I think I know what might change it,” she said. “If you take me back to the Federation and give me to the general, we might stop this future from happening. Or we might not. The visions flooded me when I left the facility. Salena’s coming for me shifted the future. This might undo it.”
“So, the future is not set?” he asked. She heard the hope in his words.
“It’s fluid and churning. By the time it reaches me, it’s usually set on its course, and it takes a great feat to interfere with its flow.” The screams tried to get louder, and she had to concentrate on forcing them away. She again swiped at her nose.
“If I say I’ll take you back, can’t you look to see if that will change things?” He lifted his hand as if he would catch her as she swayed on her feet. He didn’t touch her.
“I won’t know until I actually go. I usually can’t see my direct future, even in someone else’s timeline. Ironic, right?” She gave a humorless laugh. “A psychic who can’t even predict what she’s going to have for dinner unless it’s green nutrient paste in the Federation stronghold, but that’s less of a prediction and just the only thing they fed me.”
He glanced over her body, his gaze lingering on her waist. “Now that we know there is an immediate threat, we will figure out another way. You should not have to go back.”
“The universe does not run on should.”
Jaxx’s eyes moved back to capture hers. His steady gaze did something to her. The calmness she felt in him gave her strength. His presence didn’t invoke visions. His nearness seemed to cast away the emotions scratching at her skin.
“I should never have been brought to this planet in the first place. I should not have had my family ripped from me.” She found herself inching closer to him and forced her feet to stop and hold their place. “I should not have been born with this curse.”
Fiora frowned and looked down at her hands.
“I am dwelling in sorrow when I know there is much worse that can happen.” She needed to stop feeling sorry for herself. Fiora wasn’t used to so much space in her head. “It’s like you’re too quiet, and now I’m circling in my own thoughts. And since I can’t see your future, I’m just babbling. And I know I’m doing it, but I can’t compel myself to—”
Jaxx placed his hands