Marked Prince - Michelle M. Pillow Page 0,50

hit her. Jaxx had been right. Touching his dragon skin didn’t stop the visions. She’d been so focused on flying that she had forgotten about the timelines.

The sky lit up with the orange glow of a fire seconds before a giant ball of flames appeared. Distant shouts filled her ears as the people below panicked in their futures. She tried to drop against Jaxx’s back, but an explosive force of heat blasted her. She tried to hold on, but her hands were pried from his wings. Fiora screamed as she rolled through the air over his spiny tail. A sharp point sliced her arm when she tried to grab hold of him.

There was no time to think of the pain as she found herself launched over the forest. Her limbs flailed as she tried to grab hold of nothingness to stop her descent. Another scream ripped from her lungs as terror filled her. She saw Jaxx swooping above her and remembered what he’d said.

Fiora forced her shaking arms to the side. She plummeted toward the treetops. A wave of fire rolled over the top of them as the future visions overlaid the actual present. She closed her eyes as the flames came closer.

Please. Please. Plea—ah!

Her feet hit the canopy of leaves just as two vicelike grips formed on her biceps. Jaxx jerked her away from the trees, changing her trajectory. Her feet swung up over her head. They made contact with the underside of his jaw.

Jaxx’s head snapped back, and he flipped in the air in a backward somersault. Fiora cried out in surprise as she was flung around with him. Her stomach fluttered in warning as nausea rose in her throat. He completed the rotation and steadied his flight pattern.

Fiora gasped for breath. She stretched her fingers but was only able to feel the air. Jaxx kept a tight grip on her arms as she dangled beneath him. The grip stopped the circulation in her arms, but at the moment she didn’t care about her tingling hands. His flight was overly cautious as he slowly carried her toward a clearing.

The timelines became stronger. They were just as chaotic as the first time she’d flown by the city, but not as amplified without the boost the Federation scientists had injected into her. Screams echoed all around her. Balls of smoke and fire billowed into the air. The sky became dark, darker than should have been possible with the constant daylight of the planet. Ash hung thick in the atmosphere, choking her lungs and making it difficult to breathe.

Those in the middle of the city who were not lucky enough to instantly burn were suffocating in the aftermath. As the pain fanned out from the epicenter, some were able to escape only to starve in the woods. People turned on each other, killing in anger and fear. Others ate poisonous berries in hungry desperation, having navigated burnt forests. Yet others fell asleep in patches of yellow ferns, the spores drugging them into oblivious death.

One moment she felt like she was on fire, the next she ran through a forest, then she was back flying in the air, and then writhing in agony on the ground. She was stabbed, blasted, kicked off the side of a cliff. Yellow pollen tickled her nose seconds before she slit someone’s throat from behind. The sensations washed over her, fighting for dominance.

Synapses fired in her brain. All of the sensations felt real, although at the same time only a few of them were from the present. She couldn’t differentiate between them.

Something bounced against her heels. The skid of earth sounded as her feet were dragged over the ground. When her feet stopped, her ass dropped onto the uneven rock, followed by her back and head.

Jaxx released his hold on her arms, and she blinked in surprise to see he’d ended their flight. For a second, the sky cleared of fire and she watched Grier fly over her. Particles of ash followed him, falling like black snow.

“Fiora?”

Jaxx appeared over her, and he took hold of her face. The ash disappeared the second he made contact.

“Fiora?” Jaxx repeated. “Look at me.”

She tried to lift her hands to cover his, but she couldn’t move her arms.

“I don’t know what happened. I’m sorry, I tried to take it slow for you.” Jaxx continued to hold her face.

“Fiora?” Salena yelled. A thud sounded as Grier landed.

“She’s hurt. I need the handheld medic. She cut her arm on my tail,” Jaxx answered.

“I’m