Marked Prince - Michelle M. Pillow Page 0,26

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,”