Marked Prince - Michelle M. Pillow Page 0,54

and peel away from her face as if hit by a laser. Screams echoed but the redhead only stared at her with sad eyes.

Jaxx took Fiora’s hand and the vision instantly disappeared.

“You all right?” the redhead asked, frowning as she stared at Fiora’s nose. The blood must have smeared on her face. It wasn’t the first time she’d caught someone staring at her nose. She reached to cover it.

“She’s fine,” Jaxx answered.

“No,” Fiora said, forced to tell the truth.

The redhead’s eyes narrowed. She sprang into action, attacking Jaxx as she ripped Fiora away from him. She shoved the heel of her hand toward his jaw. Jaxx’s head snapped back at the sudden assault but he only lifted his hands in defense, choosing not to hurt the woman.

“Run!” the redhead yelled.

Fiora stood with her arms to the side as a rush of agony overcame her. Fire rolled down the street, causing buildings to explode and people to cry out in pain. Panic ensued as people rushed past her like ghosts over the present. The fire came closer, so hot she could feel it bubbling her flesh.

The redhead tried to pull Fiora’s arm to get her to safety. Fiora jerked away from her.

“Stop.” Fiora’s voice was weak. She began to shake. “Jaxx. I can’t see you.”

Jaxx rushed to Fiora. He put his hands on Fiora’s face, ending the vision. A rush of cool hit her body and she gasped for breath.

“Look at me. You’re all right. I’m here,” Jaxx said.

Tears rolled down her cheeks. “There’s so much. We have to stop it.”

“I know, love, I know,” Jaxx soothed. He ran his thumb under her bleeding nose.

“What’s wrong with her?” the redhead asked, eyeing them warily.

“Nothing,” Jaxx answered.

“There’s so much,” Fiora repeated. “These people shouldn’t be here. We have to make it stop.”

“Shh, we will, my love, we will,” Jaxx assured her. “We can’t talk about it here.”

“Jaxx, we have to go,” Grier appeared at their side. “We’re starting to draw the attention of sweeper borgs.”

The redhead stared at Fiora a moment, before finally judging that Jaxx meant her no harm. “I thought you were hurting her.”

It wasn’t much of an apology. Jaxx ignored the woman as he wrapped an arm around Fiora to guide her steps.

“We have to walk,” Jaxx urged.

“I know,” Fiora whispered, still teary as the remnants of grief rolled through her. Her legs felt wobbly.

Fiora blinked in surprise as the redhead touched her arm. “You’re not from Shelter City, are you?”

“No,” Fiora answered. “I was being held by the Federation. I escaped, and now we’re trying to—”

Jaxx wrapped his hand gently over her mouth and walked faster. “I’m sorry about this.”

“Enough said. I’ll handle the sweepers,” the woman stated. “Those buckets of rust are stupider than a pile of Federation rubble.”

Jaxx removed his hand, and Fiora glanced back to see the redhead kicking a metal wall before taking off down an alley. The sound of banging followed the woman.

“What are sweeper borgs?” Fiora asked. Two men ran after the redhead, following the ruckus she made.

“The Federation reconditioned old rubbish collecting droids into cheap hitmen to police the citizens of Shelter City,” Jaxx said. “They’re not working with the smartest processors, but they are dangerous if engaged.”

Grier and Salena waited near a narrow opening between two structures. Seeing them Salena slipped between the buildings. Grier and Jaxx barely fit as they all had to turn sideways to pass through. They turned a corner, still sideways as they moved into a shaded inlet.

“Careful,” Salena said. “There’s a step up.”

They turned yet another corner. Fiora held Jaxx’s arm, letting him guide her in the dark. A thud sounded, and suddenly there was a blue light coming from behind an old board that acted as a door. Exterior building walls made the secret nook, and sheets of metal had been laid over the top to create a hidden room of odd angles and mismatched colors.

“Yevgen, are you here?” Salena called. “It’s Salena. I came before with Princess Payton.”

Fiora was the last to step into the strange space. The blue glow came from a wall of monitors, all in various states of grainy dilapidation. Sounds seemed to come from all of them, creating a low murmur of tones that acted more like white noise. They appeared to be surveillance of the city, each one showing a different area. The largest, clearest monitor showed the outside of the Federation building and political housing on top of the cliff.

“Yevgen?” Salena called again, looking upward. Her gaze