I could have sworn I just saw Preston, but he wouldn’t be caught dead at one of these parties. The behemoth of a jerk standing in front of me, however, looked like he enjoyed the shift in things a bit more than others. He had to be the biggest Onyx Skull I’d ever seen. At least Mig was ripped, muscular, and handsome … this guy … an ox with a hairy chest dripping in sweat wearing nothing but his wings and tight leather pants. The stench of whatever he was drinking seeped out of his pores and even appeared to drip into his matted ponytail.

“Please move,” I snarled with my frustration growing. It was bad enough Mig decided to have an orgy rather than hang with me like he said he would, but this? This gargantuan pile of Scaler waste decided to test me, believing I was an Anthro. He was about to be poorly mistaken if he did anything else but move.

“I ain’t gonna ask you again,” he sneered.

“Ask me what?” I replied with sarcasm.

“Who do you belong to?” he growled.

“I thought you weren’t gonna ask me again?” I laughed.

“I’ll teach you. Don’t you worry. I’ll teach you a pet’s place. I got plenty of room,” he said pushing the door open while grabbing my forearm.

“Let go of me!” I shouted. My talons came out, slicing him across his arm.

He yelped in pain while bringing his hand up to hit me.

“I think she’d like you to move out of her way now,” Preston said grabbing the guy’s wrist before he could strike. As annoying as he was, I was happier to see him than the open side of that Skull’s palm.

The blue-eyed Black Sapphire sure had a knack for showing up just in the nick of time. I was beginning to think he was following me. Perhaps it was my imagination, or maybe Dad put him up to it, but everywhere I ended up in Black Harbor, Preston was likely to show up. I only hoped that this time wouldn’t be like the last. The scent of cinder and ashes still lingered in the air, hovering like a cloud.

I took a step back to watch Preston maneuver himself in front of the enormous Scaler only to see him be shoved and tossed over the broken wall and out of the building.

“PRESTON!” I screamed.

Luckily for him, his wings worked and quickly. His friend, Bart I think his name was, lowered his shoulder and charged the Skull sending him outside of the building as well, taking a piece of the deteriorating wall with him. Preston’s dragon zeroed in on my aggressor, but he scaled too.

The Onyx Skull wasn’t as big as I thought he’d be but then again, none of them were. It brought me back to thoughts of Mig. Why did I find him so irresistibly sexy again? The fire in Preston’s eyes as he battled the matte black Scaler in the sky made me nervous and then a bit jealous. I knew how to take care of myself. I could fight too. I was just about to scale when I felt a firm grasp on my shoulder.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Lorna,” Bart warned, standing beside me with his eyes on the battle as well.

“I don’t know why you guys think it’s okay to tell me what to do,” I huffed, but still, I stood there. It wasn’t until Preston and the other Scaler came barreling down toward us that we backed up.

After taking out even more of the dilapidated building, they shifted back into their Anthro form both visibly tired. I walked over to Preston holding my hand out to him, while the ogre sat slumped against the door he came out of.

Mig poked his head out with a slender smile across his sunken cheeks, “What the hell is going on out here? Something I should get into?”

“No!” I snapped.

“Aww, don’t be mad at me, Lorie,” he chuckled.

“Lorna,” I corrected him.

“I knew you belonged to someone,” the slob groaned pushing himself up from the floor. “You should have said Miguel owned you. Miguel! You really need to teach your pet how to behave. Especially with respect to your brothers of the Skull.”

I’d had enough of him, “For the last time, NO ONE OWNS ME!”

I couldn’t help but take a deep breath, lean back an inch and kick him in the center of his torso. Letting my anger get the best of me didn’t turn out as I expected. He grabbed my foot, twisted it by the ankle and flung me to the side like a doll. The pain radiating from my ankle up through my thigh making me see red. Rage came shortly after but I could barely move.

It wasn’t until I calmed down that I saw Preston going at it with the Onyx Skull again. Bart was crouched down in front of me with the weight of his body pushing me against the wall while he tended to my ankle. He didn’t say anything. He just wrapped it with what looked to be a torn piece of cloth.

The battle wasn’t as equally matched as the last one as Preston had his bare hand gripping his throat. He used his free hand to pummel his face into a bloody mess. The savagery of red droplets spilling from open wounds around his face didn’t even match the glare in Preston’s eyes. In his fit of rage, they blackened with flecks of sapphire, reminding me of his Scaler.

With every blow to the Skull’s face, his arm flexed and bulged. It wasn’t until I noticed Bart vanish from in front of me that I picked up something was wrong. Miguel came out of his room with only his wings draped over his shoulders and a pair of shredded denim jeans. He began pulling on his Scaler friend while Bart tugged at Preston.

“Snap out of it!” Bart yelled at him.

Once the two were finally separated, Skinner had found his way up to us. He looked over at me shaking his head and then to the blood splatter with a gleam in his eyes.

“I can’t believe you all started without me,” he said running his finger down the bloodied face of my aggressor.

“I can’t believe this all started because of her,” Miguel said motioning toward me.

“Well of course it did,” Skinner grinned, “The daughter of the Great Argos, Lord and King of Empyrean. She deserves all the bloodshed spilled at her feet.”

He bowed toward me but then looked up as I still sat on the floor against the wall. Those light purple eyes of his only accentuated his pale complexion. He made my skin crawl.

“Daughter of Argos?” Mig said with shock. “I knew you were a Golden Imperial which is truly why I thought he called you Princess every time you came here. But you really are a Princess, aren’t you? Slumming it with the Onyx Skulls? While living in your golden palace up in the sky, looking down on us.”

“Do you have any idea what Argos will do if he gets wind of her being hurt here,” Preston interrupted. He turned to Skinner with his arm out, who rolled his eyes but accepted the peaceful handshake.

“Take her out of here Preston,” Skinner commanded, but then he turned to me, “Unless, of course, you’d like to stay and help clean up the mess.”

He ran his hand over the blood on the wall next to him. I turned away not wanting to bait him any further. I couldn’t stand Skinner, but even in all of his creepiness, he never did anything to hurt me. I’m sure that was out of fear of both Preston and Dad. With a heavy sigh, I hoisted myself off of the floor and looked to the sky. I couldn’t return to Empyrean in this condition. I needed to get help first.

“Come on, Lorna,” Preston said from behind me. He touched my hand slightly sending a shock through my body like I’d never felt before. I didn’t want to believe that this moment changed everything between us, but it did.

My heart sank when I glanced down at his bruised knuckles. He cut his hands punching that guy in the face. This was the same person I grew up with. We went through an awful fighting phase a few years ago, but that had graduated into a simply annoying habit of him following me around Black Harbor. I had to admit that a piece of me liked it, and him. There was a sexiness to the way he stood up for me. And our connection these days was so strong, I'd feel wrong if I didn't see him while in the city. However, I thought it would be too complicated and pushed thoughts of Preston out of my mind and my heart, substituting my affections with my infatuation for Mig. It's good to see how well it's been working out ... yeah right.

“Let’s get out of here guys,” Bart insisted staring around at the increasing number of Onyx Skulls coming up to look at the scene.

I tried to walk, but the pain shot up through my leg forcing me to bend over and drop to my knees. Preston wrapped my arm around his neck. I thought he was simply going to let me hang onto him, but he scooped me into his arms and carried me to the stairs.

“Oh now that’s power,” someone mumbled.

“I wish he’d carry me like that,” another laughed.

“He’s so sexy and that’s Preston Cane?” someone else jeered.

Preston meant more to me than any of those partygoers would ever know. With his arms bulging, and injuries so pronounced on his hands, I laid my head against his chest letting the stares and comments of others roll off of me. His scent after doing battle engulfed me, and I couldn’t shake it. But more shocking? I didn’t want to.