Marked Prince - Michelle M. Pillow Page 0,38

she fully hit the ground. Mindful of the wound, he shifted and carried her into flight. As a dragon, he held her to him, trying not to jar her as he flew as fast as he could toward his parents’ home. He saw his mother on the path below and watched as she turned to run back to the house.

Panic choked him as he landed outside the broken door. He didn’t stop to consider his actions as he scooped Fiora into his arms and ran up the stairs. His mother kept a handheld medical unit in the guest suite. A medical booth would have been preferred, but the handheld could stop the bleeding.

“Don’t leave me, Fiora,” Jaxx whispered, balancing her in his arms as he tried to input the code to open the door. His hand trembled, and it took longer than it should have.

Rushing inside the moment the door slid open, he lay Fiora on the bed and ran to get the unit from its place inside a wall cabinet. No other fear in all his life had struck him so profoundly as this moment. He smelled the copper of her blood, felt it cooling against his naked chest. Rage toward the man who’d stabbed her churned like fire inside him. It was nothing compared to the idea of losing her.

Clumsy hands somehow managed to find the unit and turn it on. He crawled partially over her on the bed and pressed it against her wound.

Her pale face appeared kissed by death. Blood loss turned her lips a horrible shade of blue. He stared at her chest, trying to gauge whether or not she breathed.

Jaxx died a thousand times in that hellish moment. Was this the mark she spoke of? Was this soulish agony the death she’d predicted? Because to lose her would be the death of his heart. He could think of no worse fate.

“Jaxx?” His mother appeared at the door.

“I can’t lose her,” Jaxx whispered, unable to take his eyes away from Fiora. When the unit didn’t seem to fix her, he lifted it and slammed it against the flat of his hand.

“Give it to me.” Olena snatched the unit from her son and hurried around the bed. She ripped Fiora’s shirt to expose the injury before pressing the unit to her flesh. The edges of the wound looked burnt as if the blue blade had cauterized the flesh, yet it still bled.

“He stabbed her,” Jaxx said needlessly. His mother could easily see the injury. “Some crude blade. I’d never seen one like it.”

“Who?”

“Cysgodians,” Jaxx said.

“I’ve seen stab-burns like this before,” his mother said. “It’s a blade meant for cutting through harder materials. I would guess they thought it would cut through shifter skin armor.”

Olena’s hand shook.

“They didn’t hurt anyone else,” Jaxx said, assuming she thought of her husband in danger. The love his parents had for each other was strong. “It was a couple in the forest. The woman is pregnant. Fiora told us not to hurt the babies, but—”

“Then you must trust her,” Olena stated. “She can only speak the truth and would have her reason for saying it. Your father will take care of it.”

“How can you be so trusting?” Jaxx asked. “You barely know her.”

“You trust her,” his mother answered. She brushed a piece of Fiora’s hair away from her face. “Why?”

“I…” Jaxx stared at Fiora. “I feel it. I feel her. I trust her more than myself. All I want is to fly her away from here and hide her from the world.”

“I know.” Olena nodded. “I just wasn’t sure you did.”

She kept her attention on healing the wound. The burned flesh began to seal shut.

“That is why I know we can trust her because I trust you,” Olena continued. “I see the way you change next to her. I see the way she changes when you touch her. If your father’s love has taught me anything, it is trust. And believe me, it was not a lesson I learned willingly or easily. His love…” She gave a soft laugh as if at some distant memory. “His love saved me. It taught me that the universe could be exploding all around us, but it’s just noise. That kind of noise is always there, waiting to challenge us and make our lives harder. Love is a constant if you let it be. It’s a ribbon that connects your father’s heart to mine. And, if you let it, it will be the tie that