Marked Prince - Michelle M. Pillow Page 0,39

links you to Fiora.”

Jaxx thought about the death mark but refused to tell his mother about it. He did not want to cause her to worry. It wasn’t as if he had answers to the unknowns—what, when, how…?

“Fiora saved Grace’s life by jumping before the blade. Grace wasn’t shifted. She was trying to talk the woman down from her attack when the man she was with jumped out from behind,” Jaxx said.

“Then our family owes her a great debt,” Olena said.

Jaxx watched Fiora’s chest lift with breath, but her eyes remained closed. His mother pushed a button on the unit and moved it to the side of Fiora’s neck to inject her with medicine before returning it to the wound. “I can’t lose her.”

“You won’t.” Olena lifted the unit. Skin had grown over Fiora’s wound. “The handheld can only do so much. She’ll need a little time to rest after the blood loss.”

Jaxx lifted Fiora’s hand into his to make sure any dreams she had were easy ones. “I’ll wait with her.”

“First Salena and now Fiora. At this rate, you are well on your way to saving what is left of their family,” Olena said. “Do they have any idea where their third sister is?”

“No.” Jaxx sat back and lifted Fiora’s hand in his. “I thought we might talk to Alek and see if he can help us. I remember hearing a story about how they found Kendall’s sister when she was lost in space. Maybe they can get lucky twice and find Piera.”

“That sounds like a good place to start,” Olena said. “I’ll get in touch with him.”

Alek was his father’s first cousin. He and his wife, Kendall, lived in the Northern Mountains. Two of their sons, Zavir and Thorn, were adventuring off-world. They were all around the same age as Jaxx, but Jaxx had never had that same kind of wanderlust. Mirek had taken them all up into space when they were younger so they could see what the world looked like from the heavens.

He loved Qurilixen. From the stars, the planet appeared so small, like he could hold it in his hand and protect it from the rest of the universe. Sometimes he thought about that trip, seeing the red surface dotted with clouds. Everything he cared about had been right there in front of him, some so small he couldn’t see them, but there. In the concept of time and space, it was but a spec of dirt on a timeline longer than anyone could imagine. Yet, it was everything to him.

He had the same feeling now, looking at Fiora’s face, that feeling of love and fear, of the desire to cup her in his hands and keep her safe where he could watch over her.

“I’ll bring you some clothes before going out to meet your father to see what is happening. You stay here with Fiora.” Olena patted his shoulder as he passed.

Jaxx barely registered her leaving as he stared at Fiora, unable to look away. He thought of the Federation, of Shelter City, of food simulators and freedom.

“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…if you let it, it will be the tie that links you to Fiora.”

He understood what his mother meant, but that noise was important. It mattered. What they did in this life mattered.

If he had the death mark if his timeline was shorter than he had always believed, did it change anything? Did it mean his life had any less meaning? Did it have more?

Jaxx took a deep breath, his attention moving from Fiora’s face to her healed shoulder and bloodstained shirt.

Death didn’t change who he was, what he believed, what he would fight for. If anything, it sped up the timeline.

Timelines.

What an interesting way to think of things, like lines drawing out of people into the future. He saw the pain they caused Fiora, but what would it be like to see them, to know what would happen, to understand the path you were on so completely.

But Fiora didn’t see her path. She saw everyone else’s.

Jaxx held her hand, not letting go, hoping his touch kept the timelines from disturbing her unconscious state.

He heard the door behind him. His mother set clothes on the bed.

“I feel like half of my life has been spent making sure all you flying dragons have access to clothes,” Olena mused, almost to herself,