"WHERE IS SHE!?" I yelled, bursting through the door and taking it off its hinge. I could tell Ivan was frightened, but he maintained his composure well.

"You know the rules, Ashton," he stammered, "She wasn't marked. She's fair game!"

"I'm here," I heard her call from another area of the apartment. She had to be with his pet, Sasha. She was one of the weird ones who enjoyed the less than sensual side of being chained to a Scaler.

"Move out of my way," I told him, ready to rip his throat out.

"I can't do that. She's in training. She belongs to me!" he asserted. This time he let his talons protrude from his fingertips. He was going to scale on me in this tiny space. I tried my best to keep calm. A battle in here would be dangerous for Whisper. Then I heard her yelp.

As if our hearts and energies were connected, I felt her falling. Grabbing Ivan by the throat, I squeezed tightly, "You'd better hope I save her because if her life ends I will be back to end yours … slowly."

I flung him out of my grasp behind me. He hit the wall and passed out. There wasn't any more time to waste as I ran and leaped through the open space. I saw her. She passed out and continued to fall.

I scaled mid-air. Like a spiraling torpedo, I dove through the air like there'd be that deep abyss we dove into the other night. My wings sprouted first as the familiar scales covered every inch of me. I could feel the pit in the back of my throat growing hotter and hotter. My temper furiously strong. I could kill him, But first, I had to save Whisper.

I reached her just as she passed the fifth floor, seconds from hitting the ground. With her safely in my arms, I glided just above the ground forcing those standing around the building to move out of the way. They all saw me jump to save her, to save an Anthro, my pet. They were supposed to be disposable, but seeing this … it let everyone know she was my weakness.

So I took off away from The Towers. I couldn't go back there. And without her being marked, both of our lives were in jeopardy. I refused to put her in that kind of danger again. She was right to yell at me. I caused all of this, letting my feelings for her, my yearning for her to be my forever, it blinded me.

My wings continued to slice through the night sky until we were far enough from The Towers for me set her down. I scaled back, hoping she'd wake up, but nothing. She didn't even stir as I held her during flight. Right now she needed somewhere to lie down and rest. The only place I could think of was going back to Aya's. However, with the moon high in the sky, I'm certain she wouldn't allow me in, especially with Whisper passed out. The other thought? How would I get her under the water?

Perhaps I could find her Jasper guy. He's as close to a parent as she would ever have and from the way she talked about him, he'd help her. She moaned a bit before opening her eyes. Relief washed over me as I crouched down to her side.

Sitting up frantically, her arms flailed about like she was still falling until I grabbed her, "Calm down. Calm down. Calm down. You're safe. You're okay. Whisper, you're okay."

"She pushed me! She pushed me," she said with broken breaths. Clutching her chest, she looked at her nervously. My guess she was trying to figure out where she was. "That bitch pushed me! She said I didn't deserve you and pushed me."

"Yeah, Sasha's a weird one," I told her, "She'd be as dangerous as Miranda if she could scale, but thankfully she's all Anthro. What about Ivan? Did he hurt you? Did he touch you? He didn't put a leash on you or anything right? Or kiss his feet? I'll go back there and kill him."

"No," she shook her head, "He just pulled me off the elevator and I didn't want to fight him. I knew I'd lose."

"That's true," I agreed.

"You saved me," she stated.

"I always do," I chuckled running my fingers through my hair. "I told you I'd keep you safe. I'm sorry, Whisper. I let Miranda get under my skin, and in the end what I didn't want to happen is already underway."

"What's that?"

"If I let the others, or any Scaler for that matter, see how much I cared about you, that would make you a target and a weakness for me. Someone could do anything to you if they wanted me to bend to their will. Miranda would have me be that dragon who scorched the earth uncontrollably. Someone like Ivan? He'd use you to manipulate me for a power play, to get closer to my father. With that stunt of you being pushed, it showed them all how far I'm willing to go to keep you alive. I can't go back there with you. I can't go back there with you out here still alive. I'm on my own until I figure this out."

"I'm sorry," she apologized. Her hands stroked the side of my face, making me stare into those beautiful big brown eyes of hers. She kissed me so softly on the lips I wanted to take her right there outside, but she spoke to me instead, "I was so focused on what I wanted and where I wanted to be, that I never thought about the danger I was putting you in. I was being selfish and after everything you've done for me, all the times you've saved me. The least I could do was stick to your plan."

"It's fine Whisper-"

I would have continued our talk, but the skies above were far more active than usual. Onyx Skulls were out, and an arch of blue pulsing flames lit up the sky above The Towers.

"What's that? What's going on?" she asked.

I could see the flames reflecting in her eyes.

"My father is looking for me, and my guess is Miranda and Ivan convinced him to get rid of you. The arch is a symbol for all Scalers loyal to the Black Sapphires, those under us. The blue, that particular shade, lets them know it's from Preston Cane looking for me. And he's looking for me to be brought in by any means necessary. I, we, have to get off the street. The Onyx Skulls never take long to find whoever's being sought and they always enjoy collecting their rewards."

"What do they get?"

"A pet, a pound of scales, and something else. I forgot but are we near any of your um, Stations? Or does Aya have a place we can go until I decide where to go from here?"

"You'd leave me?" her eyes glazed over.

Taking her face into my hands, I kissed her this time, "If it meant keeping you safe, then yes I would. I care about you Whisper."

"Well let me at least get you safe for now. We'll figure this out together," she smiled, "I need to see where we are."

I watched her rise to her feet, taking a brief look around before dropping back down. She began sketching something in the dirt. Two squares were at the top of her drawing, she stood up again and looked around some more. Back to the sketch, she drew lines with her finger through the dirt, twisting and turning her head as she marked it out.

"Okay, we're about a hundred yards due East from The Towers. That means we're about fifteen minutes away from The Gears. We're closer to The Tombs, but somehow I don't think going back toward The Towers is going to be a good idea."

"Agreed," I nodded. "Let's go."

I followed Whisper as she navigated her way through the rubble. I didn't like moving through Black Harbor like there was a target on my back. It made me wonder if this was how all Anthros had to move.

She was right. After about 15 minutes of scurrying around the ruins of vacant buildings, we arrived at a grate in the ground. She pushed a small rectangle next to the corner. It opened like the panel on my wall but it didn't reveal a lever, a pad with nine buttons rested there instead. She pushed a sequence of five or six of them before I heard the tiny click of the lock unhinging. The metal guard moved out of our way silently and allowed us to slip down into a tunnel.

Once we were inside, she pushed something along the wall to close it back up. My heart raced as I scanned every inch of space around us. A string of lanterns lit up a long hallway. Two other tunnels were pitch black with locked and barricaded entrances.

"Follow me and be quiet," she told me taking one of the lanterns off of its hook.

Again, I let her lead the way until we came to a solid steel door. My pulse raced. I had no idea where we were or what was on the other side of that door. It didn't take long to find out. We were greeted by three people. Two redheaded women and a bald guy with an eye patch.

The two women held pistols pointed directly at me, while the man moved toward Whisper. I grabbed her immediately pulling her behind me, letting smoke billow out from my nostrils.

"Wait! Stop! He's with me," Whisper shouted to them. She rolled around from behind me to stroke my face, a gesture telling me to calm down, "Ashton, this is my Jasper. Jasper, this is Ashton Cane."

"I know who he is, and I know what he is," the man growled. "Kill him."