Marked Prince - Michelle M. Pillow Page 0,62

emotions. She’d sensed his kind before. It showed in their expressions, their manners, in their speech. People like him felt very little, and what they did feel was only for themselves—their need for adoration, their wants and desires. He was the kind who could easily kill thousands if it advanced his agenda…or if he simply had a bad day and felt like taking it out on others.

But capable did not mean he was the one. Fiora needed to see the moment the disaster started.

Many acts of violence formed Doyen’s future. They came at her in flashes. She flinched as she watched the man strike down a young boy for daring to bump into him. Crowds became inflamed as he spoke of attacking shifters. His men pulled a woman off the streets and brought her to him. Fiora felt the bile rising in her as she watched the horror that ensued. When Doyen finished, her naked, dead body was thrown in a trash fire by a man in red boots.

“Fiora?” Jaxx’s voice felt far away. She managed to lift her hand to keep him back. He couldn’t stop this. She had to look. She was the only one who could.

Next, the smell of liquor overwhelmed her senses, and she coughed as it burned her lungs. She felt as if she moved through a campsite in the forest. Large cats slept on the ground on old blankets next to messy piles of men’s clothing. A giant metal canister, which seemed to be the source of the smell, had been situated between them. Doyen ordered his men to attack, watching as they obeyed. The cat-shifters never had a chance as they were slaughtered in their sleep.

Each second felt like an eternity in the fire pits of Bravon. Doyen and his men were so proud of what they had done. Fiora wanted to scream at them to stop but couldn’t.

A bright light illuminated the forest, interrupting the post-massacre celebration. The world spun as her viewpoint altered to face the other direction. The eruption over Shelter City could be seen even miles away.

“What is this? What are you doing in here?” an angry voice demanded.

The angry voice jolted her away from the forest vision. She turned to look only to be smacked in the face by something that was on fire. Startled and disoriented, Fiora gasped and flung her hands to stop the attack. The fire disappeared, and she ended up tangled in a wet cloth.

“You’re getting blood on my linens. Get out, get out!” A man charged at her with a smooth wooden bat. Red, blistered skin covered his face.

The man swung at her. Fiora screamed, unable to focus between the future and the present.

Jaxx jumped in front of her and caught the bat in his hand. With a growl, he pushed the man away from them. The man fell on the ground.

Jaxx grabbed her hand. Instantly the fire cleared, and she saw that the man staring at her from the ground no longer had blisters.

Jaxx tossed the bat aside. “Go!”

The man scrambled away from them.

“Don’t worry. He won’t hurt you.” Jaxx grabbed the damp cloth she’d been entangled in and lifted a corner to clean her face gently. She glanced down to see blood staining the front of her shirt.

“Hey! What’s going on in there?”

Fiora pushed the cloth away from her face and turned toward the sound. Doyen and his men had stood at the commotion and came to investigate.

“We have to leave.” Fiora grabbed Jaxx’s hand and pulled him behind her as she pushed her way out of the material. She rushed in the opposite direction of the dining tables, hoping to get lost in the crowd. She found Payton watching from across the street.

“What did you see?” Jaxx asked, threading his arm behind her back to propel her forward.

“It wasn’t him. He will be in the forest slaughtering cat-shifters when the explosion goes off.” Fiora’s head pounded, and she felt dizzy.

“What?” Jaxx slowed and glanced back as if his first reaction was to help the cat-shifters.

“Stop them!” Doyen yelled.

“It wasn’t him,” Fiora was forced to repeat. “He will be in the forest slaughtering cat-shifters when the explosion goes off.”

“There you are.” Payton showed up next to her. She swept a cloak around Fiora’s shoulders. “Jaxx, we have to split up. That launderer is under Doyen’s protection. They’re looking for a man and woman together. We’ll meet you back at Yevgen’s.”

Jaxx’s grip tightened on her hand. “No, I can get you both