Marked Prince - Michelle M. Pillow Page 0,27

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.

Fiora and Jaxx had just left the palace. Unlike the time Jaxx led her through the hallways, he was now fully clothed in dark pants and a red tunic shirt. He’d guided her around a maze of halls so she could avoid running into people, which she thought was sweet. The clothes he had given her to were close in design to his, pants with a fitted shirt and boots.

“Which one are you?” the woman asked pointedly. “Future queen or sister?”

Fiora instantly became flooded with images of the woman locked in a battle with a man she couldn’t see. Wings ripped from her body before she swooped from a tower and attempted to chase after a cat running away from her.

“This is Fiora.” Jaxx placed a hand on her shoulder. His finger touched her neck and pulled her out of the vision. “Fiora, meet my cousin, Princess Grace.”

“You’re a dragon,” Fiora said. “One of the rare females I’ve heard about.”

“And you have visions,” Grace answered.

“Don’t,” Jaxx warned.

“What?” Grace blinked, trying to look innocent and failing.

“She’s not a fortune teller,” Jaxx stated.

“Well, from what I heard, she kind of is,” Grace quipped.

“You should go back to the palace,” Jaxx said. “You cannot be involved in what we’re doing.”

“What are you doing?” Grace asked.

“It’s better that you don’t know,” Jaxx answered.

“Jaxx, Grier, and Salena are escorting me to Shelter City to see if I can read the timelines and find out what is about to kill everyone,” Fiora said. “We are going to stop by Jaxx’s parents’ house to pick up some supplies, so no one saw us leaving the palace with bags. We did not tell the king and queen that we were leaving. We’re sneaking away.”

Jaxx grimaced.

Grace’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” Fiora said. “The general is not happy that I was taken from him, and his anger will need an outlet. That could mean hurting Shelter City somehow because he knows the shifters want to help them. I can’t go back because when Grier and Jaxx flew me over the city, I picked up a lot of timelines—which are what I call future premonitions because of the way they flow in my brain—and now I know too much about—”

“Grace, what are you doing?” Grier came down the path to join them. “I thought you were supposed to be getting ready to meet your—”

“No.” Grace held up her hand toward Grier’s face as if to block him from her view. “I am weary of you all teasing me that every