Marked Prince - Michelle M. Pillow Page 0,52

pulled the clothes out of the pack and began to dress. He paused long enough to toss a pair of pants at Jaxx.

“There is a stockpile of cloaks we can use to disguise our clothing. We’ll pick them up from a cache on the way into the city,” Jaxx said.

Fiora let go of Jaxx so he could dress. She walked along a rocky path. The Federation building was on the other side of a valley. She was too far from the cliffside to see Shelter City. A glow emanated from the settlement below. She lifted her hands to each side and felt the tickle of ash against her skin. The screams filled her mind, and she knew she was the only one who could hear them crying out for help. She listened to their torment as it wrenched her insides.

Fiora wanted to save them, just as she wanted to throw herself off the side of the cliff to make the pain stop.

“It’s not too late to turn back,” Jaxx said behind her.

Fiora dropped her hands. “Yes. It is.”

14

Fiora clung to Jaxx’s arm as they walked through the city. When she touched him, she didn’t feel even the slightest hum of a timeline—and there were many timelines to follow. She couldn’t remember ever being able to be around so many people without wanting to cry out in pain. The visions should have been overwhelming.

Mud caked a few of her locks, causing them to hang heavy. A dirty piece fell close to her cheek. The cloak she wore had a musty smell as if stored damp. The material was patched together, and even that didn’t hide the worn spots. Salena wore a similar one as she walked ahead of them with Grier. The men had darker jackets worn thin at the elbows and cuffs.

With Jaxx at her side she could look at faces, brush against arms and not pick up a hint of tragedy or joy. It was nothingness and she loved it, especially when she knew what letting go of Jaxx could mean. It was with childlike wonder that she moved through the thickening crowd—so many people with secrets being kept from her. It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.

An unshaven face covered in dots of mud looked as compelling as any fine painting, more so because it moved, and breathed, and frowned at her staring. There was not much laughter in the streets, but the shouts of city dwellers and the scolding of a father to his child rose in a chorus of the present time. There was not picking apart what was real and what would be real someday. It was all now.

Glorious, perfect now.

Well, maybe not glorious. She needed to rein in her excitement over walking through a crowd unhampered by visions for the first time and remember why they were there in the first place.

Her feet trampled through mud, but she didn’t care. Mud reminded her of the clay pits from childhood, and she enjoyed the clomp and sticky pull of it against her boots. The one thing she could do without was the smell. The crush of bodies over a long period had marked the area with an underlying stench that even a breeze did little to resolve.

Jaxx kept to the streets, away from the crowded sidewalks. Warped boards created the walkways but were hardly kept clean.

Decay and rust ran as a theme through the structures. Patched metal repairs were held in place with corroded bolts and swipes of quick-drying polymers covered holes. The buildings were tethered together with rope. She couldn’t imagine any place more opposite to the Federation stronghold with its pristine and sterile walls.

Jaxx kept glancing in her direction as if gauging her response to everything. His serious expression drew her back from the carnival of the city sights to the reality of why they were here. She clung to his hand, not wanting to risk an apocalyptic vision while so many people were curiously watching them.

Suddenly a loud whack reverberated from between two of the dilapidated buildings, and a man stumbled in front of them. He tripped on the warped boards and slid across the muddy street. Jaxx swept Fiora into his chest and jumped out of the way.

The man stopped sliding. He jumped up with a growl and charged back between the buildings. Fiora tried to watch, but Jaxx pulled her away from the fight.

Salena stared back at them. Fiora nodded and mouthed that she was unharmed.

As they walked