Marked Prince - Michelle M. Pillow Page 0,57

her ear to the mud in this town. I’ve been trying to recruit her, but you wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to lure women into my fortress,” Yevgen answered. “She’s been warning citizens about a thief that’s terrorizing the Federation and threatening to pull their wrath down on the city. I’ve heard rumors but am close to concluding that it is only a local myth at this point.”

“It’s not her. I had a vision of her face melting off during the blast.” Fiora tried not to picture the images she referenced. “But maybe the thief caused this.”

“I agree. Justina doesn’t come off as a killer. She’s more likely to get herself killed with that mouth of hers.” Payton frowned. “Who else?”

Fiora pointed toward the man in the yellow shirt. “It’s not him, and it’s not any of the vendors I saw in the marketplace. They’ll be hit by falling debris from an explosion.”

Justina, Yellow Shirt, and a few more images disappeared from the batch as he took her at her word.

“How do you find all this footage?” Fiora asked. “I didn’t see any cameras or recording droids in the area.”

“Yevgen knows everything that happens in the city,” Payton patted his arm. “He’s my go-to guy.”

“Careful with the flattery, princess. You already know I’m in love with you,” Yevgen said.

Payton laughed. “You say that to all the single women.”

“True.” Yevgen nodded. “I do fall for a pretty face.”

The screens flashed to show a variety of women before flickering back to their original images.

“Who else is capable?” Salena asked.

“This man is accident prone,” Yevgen said. A young man with torn clothing began moving on a monitor. He leaned against a building and it instantly began to shake. Within moments it collapsed, falling into the building next to it, only to knock the second building over, and then a third and fourth. The scene changed to show the same man tripping on a warped plank to launch a woman with a fruit basket into the mud. Next it showed the man reaching for a torch without looking directly at it and knocking the flames over to set a tent on fire. “If anyone was to accidentally stumble onto an antiquated nuclear reactor to destroy a city, this is the Cysgod who’ll do it.”

“I’m not sure clumsy equals destroyer of worlds,” Grier said.

“We should focus on intentional acts.” Fiora didn’t want to create more suspects. She needed to narrow them down. “We have to start somewhere. If we start including accidents, then I’ll be forced to read everyone in the city.”

Fiora leaned against Jaxx and closed her eyes. She felt the steady heartbeat in his chest. She wished the world would disappear and leave her alone with him. That’s all she wanted—a simple life away from crowds.

“What about those Cysgodians we came across in the forest? The ones who want to,” Salena frowned and glanced at Grier, “um, to dine on shifters.”

“Ew.” Fiora wrinkled her nose in disgust and tried not to gag.

“Raimon, Partha, Bharath, X,” Yevgen said.

“Yes, those men,” Salena turned toward Fiora and added, “They attacked us in the forest so we know they venture out of the city. Maybe they’re trying to plan an escape—or something—and want to use the explosion as a distraction.”

“I am watching them,” Yevgen said. “They lack the focus to be considered a serious large-scale threat. They’re harmless unless you’re alone with them.”

“What about the Doyen?” Payton gestured toward the picture of a man in a black cloak.

Fiora frowned and leaned closer. “He looks familiar. I think I’ve seen him in some of the timelines.”

Her arms stretched behind her as Jaxx kept a hold of her hand.

“It’s like looking at a blurry dream. I can just about see it, but…” Fiora frowned.

“Play the recordings you have of him,” Salena suggested. “It might help focus the timeline for her.”

The recording showed the man standing in front of what sounded like a mob of people, though they were not part of the image.

“The key is not the blue sun.” Rage dripped from Doyen’s words. “That is merely a distraction they hang in the sky to hide the truth. If anything, it’s hurting us with its poison. We are dying, our lives shortened, our children’s future corrupted and stolen by the greed of others. The Federation caused the virus and then pretended to save us as they took over our dead planet. They moved us here, into this valley of disrepair. Now, why is it our shifter neighbors live