Marked Prince - Michelle M. Pillow Page 0,8

medical.

The flames died down to a quiet shimmer in the background of her thoughts. Yes, she had a headache and was bombarded with futures, but when she focused on the woman, she should have picked up more than blurry facial features and the sound of a bone cracking.

The woman reached for her with shaking hands, as if she was both afraid and eager. Fiora stiffened and concentrated harder. The woman’s timeline refused to come into focus.

“Don’t touch,” Taw warned.

Fiora lifted a hand to stop him from pushing the woman back. “No, it’s all right. She won’t hurt me.”

Fiora didn’t know why she thought so, but if she said the words, then they had to be true. Maybe the boost injection was affecting her concertation. Taw hesitated before finally stepping back and motioning the stranger to approach.

The woman took Fiora’s hand. A shiver worked up her arm, a familiar tug that went against all she was seeing before her. There were only two people in the entire universes who could send that particular awareness through her body.

Fiora’s breath caught in her throat, and she wasn’t sure she could allow herself to think it. The woman standing before her could not be her sister. Unless…the second-tier surgeon? Had someone destroyed one of her sisters’ faces? Her body?

Piera? Salena?

Fiora gripped the hand tighter, not wanting to let go. She waited for the woman to speak, to end the mystery.

“You poor thing,” the woman said in a high-pitched whine. The voice was not familiar. “I have seen fortune-tellers before. You look as if you need a break.”

“That’s enough,” Taw interrupted. “Step back.”

Fiora let the weakness take her, and she swayed on the seat. She needed to know more and couldn’t do it in front of the crowd. If General Sten suspected another of the triplets were here, he’d imprison them both. “I think she’s right. The images become clearer when I am rested. I need a small break. There are too many futures in this room.”

The woman stepped back, and Fiora called out before she could become swallowed by the crowd. “Don’t you want your prediction?”

The woman nodded.

“You will find what you are looking for,” Fiora said, hoping to send some kind of message to her.

The woman smiled and continued to back away. “Thank you.”

Fiora lost sight of her. She stood and purposefully swayed on her feet. So the crowd could hear her, she said, “I must excuse myself for a moment.” Then to Taw, she added, “The shot they gave me has left me feeling strange.” She gave a meaningful glance downward.

Taw nodded, gesturing that she should walk with him. When they left the banquet room, she quickened her pace to keep them from asking her any questions. At the end of the long hall, she slipped into a comfort room and gestured for the guards to stay back. Taw ignored her, going inside to make sure the place was empty before leaving her alone.

Fiora pressed her fist against her chest. Her heart physically ached. She tried to calm her breathing, but it was difficult.

Why was she feeling her sister? For years she’d searched every crowd looking for faces like her own. Well, like her own minus the scar on her forehead she’d received the night they were forced from their loving home.

“Turn around,” Taw announced from the other side of the door. “This area is closed.”

A strange grunt followed his words. Taw moaned in pain.

Fiora moved closer to the door to hear what was being said. She detected a series of thumps.

“I think rendering him unconscious is actually a kindness,” a man said on the other side of the door.

Fiora backed away from the door and watched it open. The woman in the tight dress appeared. Behind her, Taw and the other guard were unconscious on the floor. The man with the furry face stood over them.

“Who are you?” Fiora demanded as she stared at the woman’s face.

The woman lifted her hand and fidgeted with the ring on her finger. Her skin began to stretch and contract. Fiora gasped at the strange sight and placed her hand to her throat as if the gesture would help her breathe.

The woman jerked the ring off her finger and slapped more than handed the jewelry to the man with her. Her body shape changed as she came for Fiora, arms widespread.

Fiora gasped as the woman hugged her, her face morphing into one more familiar as she moved. Shaking, she whispered, “Salena? I didn’t know if