Blazing Ashes

by Jadyn Chase

  “Mig, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” I whispered pulling my sheets up to cover my sheer sleeping shirt.

  “I needed to talk to you, away from your Dad and away from Preston,” he smiled looking around the room. He picked up a hairbrush, stared at it, and tossed it back onto the dresser before moving toward me.

  “Stand right there and explain yourself. You have about 2 minutes before you meet my other half.”

  “I wanted to say I was sorry and I know that getting you to have another conversation with me was going to be difficult.”

  “Yeah, because you don’t deserve another conversation, nor do you deserve another chance!”

  He approached me with his hand out and pulled away. He came close with an aggressive look in his eyes, but it softened a bit as he spoke, “I just came to apologize. Let’s go fly a bit and then go somewhere to talk.”

  “No!” I told him firmly.

  “Just come on! Lorna, I came all this way! The least you can do-”

  I refused to let him finish, “The least I can do is let you live! Now get out.”

  He approached me again, but this time I didn’t shrink away. Instead, I swiped at him with my open claws. They pierced his skin, opening up a cut that he grabbed right before anger filled those dark indigo eyes of his.

  “You stupid,” he began to growl as he lunged at me. We tussled a bit before I finally got the upper hand and flung him to the floor. I had him pinned until he bucked his hips, forcing me off of him and reversing our positions.

  “You know, I’ve always wanted to feel what it would be like to have you under me,” he sneered, “But I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do. You deserve to be Queen of it all, and you deserve to have me by your side doing it. The sooner you realize that, the better it will be for all of us.”

  He leaned down to kiss me gently on the forehead before he released his grasp and headed back toward the window.

  “When you’re ready for our future together, come and get me,” he winked and dropped out of sight. Scrambling to my feet, I headed to the window to see those black wings of his slicing through the air. I wanted to kill him. And at that moment, I scaled and took off after him … that’s exactly what I planned to do.

  10

  Preston

  “So you had her here? She was taking a shower. You kissed her and then told her you changed your mind?” Bart asked as we stood on the outskirts of town.

  Black Harbor was quiet for the first time in a long time. It could be that Lorna wasn’t somewhere causing trouble, but a part of me wished she were. At least if she were getting into something, I’d have a reason for her to thank me again.

  “Yeah,” was all I could say to Bart.

  He laughed, cackled even, and loudly, “You’re insane. You were so close. Why did you back off?”

  “She’s still dealing with Mig.”

  “Are you sure about that? She looked pretty done to me. Are you sure you’re not just scared?”

  “Scared? Of what?”

  Bart looked at me before glancing back out toward the city, “I don’t know. Argos? Your responsibilities here? It’s a lot to ask for her to come down off that mountaintop to be with you when all you have to offer is this.”

  “I can’t even offer her this. Do you know what Grady has planned?” I told him shaking my head.

  “Don’t change the subject,” he huffed, “You chickened out of starting something with Lorna when all I’ve heard you do is bitch and moan about how much trouble she’s caused you, to how beautiful she is and how you’ll never meet anyone else like her. You should have just marked her and made her your mate.”

  “Yeah because forcing Lorna Ornopolis has worked out great for those who’ve tried that.”

  “Well, there’s one thing that’s always worked in your favor when someone’s trying to force Lorna to do anything.”

  I stared at him, “And what’s that?”

  “You.”

  It was short and straightforward.

  “I don’t get it,” I shrugged.

  “You always show up for her man, so at the very least if you mark her without exactly telling her, at least you know you’ll be there to save her.”

  I couldn’t help but burst into laughter, “That is by far one of the stupidest things you’ve ever said to me, about me. Lorna’s not going for that, and I wouldn’t want her to. You want me to treat her like a pet? Don’t you remember our last incident where someone wanted to claim her as a pet?”

  Bart nodded, “Yeah, and you showed up! Just like I said! You always show up for her. It’s like you got some weird connection that goes off any time she’s about to get into some shit. And if I ever showed up for anyone as much as you do for her, I’d be mated with three kids by now. I wouldn’t be touring Black Harbor with you.”

  “Wow, thanks,” I chuckled.

  We spent another few moments talking about my disastrous decisions to pull back from Lorna, and how I continued to hold onto the fact that she was dealing with Mig. Bart didn’t want to believe that, and a part of me didn’t either, but until we knew for sure she hadn’t fallen under his spell, it was as good a reason as any not to push for anything further between us. I’d have to settle for her arching her back, in front of my crotch, on my bike, and memories of the steamy kiss in the bathroom.

  “So let’s finish this tour out and if nothing spikes, we call it a night?” Bart asked.

  “Sounds like a plan to me,” I replied.

  Before pulling off, he stopped and stared at me. Curiosity spilled from his eyes, “And what was that you were saying about Grady? What are his plans for Black Harbor?”

  With Bart being a Scarlet Wing, I didn’t want to put him or his clan on edge, so I held back until I knew for sure that’s what was happening. The words seemed to flow without much effort, “He wants to tighten the reins and keep Black Harbor just as it is without any newcomers. I think he may want to stop the pet thing too.”

  “I don’t have a problem with that,” Bart admitted, “They taste better when you don’t let them fester in some cage anyway.”

  Watching Bart take off into the night made me wonder if I did the right thing by not telling him what Grady had in mind. We’d been through a lot together, and while I believed I owed him my honesty, a part of me had an even deeper loyalty to my fellow Black Sapphire; despite the fact that he had crazy ideas for the city.

  By the time I returned to the Towers, they were sitting around my table once again. I wondered if I moved the table into my parents’ place upstairs, would they meet there instead, but my mother had a very public distaste for Grady. I’d begun to see why.

  He and my father were in the middle of a debate when I walked in. They turned to me, both with anger in their eyes. My mother stood in the kitchen with Celia having a heated discussion of their own. It looked like I was about to be the tiebreaker.

  “Tell them how great your connection is with Skinner and Bart!” my father yelled as soon as I stepped close enough to respond.

  “My relationship with the other clans are great. I don’t have any complaints,” I shrugged.

  “Well, you should!” Grady shot back, “That Skinner guy is as sick as they come. He doesn’t want the Anthros simply as tools of pleasure. He intends to keep them to torture!”

  “I’m sure we can talk him down from that idea,” I assured him.

  “This is why we need to kill them all!” Grady shouted slamming his hands on the table.

  “Now wait just a minute!” My mother charged in from the kitchen, “We’re not talking about killing our brethren, not fellow Scalers! That was not a part of your plan!”

  “It wasn’t, Grady,” I told him, “You said that they’d bow down to us if we had the numbers to enforce our authority. I believe that if I can bring Skinner and Bart together, we can form a council of sorts to govern this city. We can break it into quadrants and keep the Black Sapphires in charge of it all. There’s
a way to do this without too much bloodshed.”

  “You’re despicable!” Grady hissed.

  “Calm down, honey,” Celia whispered to him.

  He flung the chair out of his way, shaking the table, as he got in my face, “You’re refusing to acknowledge the power burning inside of you. Lucas is a fool to have never told you what you’re capable of and now you babysit it as if anyone cares what happens to this hole in ground town! BURN IT DOWN, PRESTON! Watch it burn and take your place by my side since your father is hellbent on holding back!”

  “Grady,” I grabbed him by the shoulders, nudging him a few steps back, “You need to calm down and truly think about what you want to do. I don’t want this. None of the other Black Sapphires want this. Why don’t you and Celia go and figure out your grand plan and how it will work somewhere else? You’re going to have one hell of a fight on your hands if you decide to take on the other clans, plus the Anthros.”

  “Anthros?! The Anthros?” he scoffed, “Their ants! Vermin to be devoured and used for sustenance!”

  “Maybe we should go Grady,” Celia whispered to him, “It’s not a bad idea to leave and find Black Sapphires who can and will be loyal to you, to us, to our cause. We bring them back here and show them that it’s a better way. Leave Lucas in charge, and we can come back.”

  “Fine, maybe you’re right,” Grady sneered. Turning to my father, he told him, “Get a hold of your boy, Lucas. Prepare these Sapphires for a new type of order once we return. We’ll head out within the next few days.”

  Grady grabbed hold of Celia’s hand and led her out of my apartment. Insane was the only words that crossed my mind to describe Grady and his tyrannical goals.

  “Dad, you can’t be considering this,” I looked at him and then to my mother. She turned away from us both.

  He didn’t have much to say in his defense, but instead gave me orders, “You will get together with the other clans and decide on members to have a point of contact in each. I don’t want Skinner though. He’s too much of a weird one. We need a level-headed Onyx Skull to ensure that we can discuss the beginning of a true way to govern this city. I don’t want to do it anymore. I never actually wanted to do it in the first place, but Argos insisted. I’d rather leave it up to you as my hands off attitude has allowed the likes of Grady to slither into a position where other Sapphires might take up his cause. We need to regain total control, and if we band together with the other clans, it doesn’t matter how many Scalers Grady brings back with him. It won’t be enough. I'll phase him out, but let him believe he’s still in charge. In the meantime, get to work on finding a replacement for Skinner within the Skulls.”

  “What if I can’t?” I asked him.

  “Try!”

  “What if there isn’t anyone better? I mean, I know the Onyx Skulls fairly well, Dad. They’re not too bright, and they’re not exactly cooperative under anyone else’s command. We run the risk of having to negotiate with someone power hungry like Mig,” I explained.

  “If it has to be him, make him your last option. Just see who else could be a possibility. If he weren’t so creepy, I wouldn’t be so adamant about an alternative.”

  “I understand, but-”

  I was cut off by the sound of something colliding in the sky. While I wondered if it was Lorna, I couldn’t be sure. The only thing I could do was my job and go check it out.

  “I’ll look into it, Dad,” I promised him with my eyes darting out into the night.

  “Go on and check it out, Preston. We’ll discuss this later.”

  Leaving the Towers and heading toward the docks left me anxious about what I’d find. Wherever the sound came from, it was gone.

  11

  Lorna

  I had the sight of Mig’s tail in front of me. The gall of that asshole thinking he could manipulate me into welcoming him into our family, our royal lineage! Whenever I’m ready… I could kill him! I was going to kill him. Putting his hands on me was the equivalent to signing his death warrant. He’s lucky Dad didn’t get to him first.

  The faster he flew, the harder it became for me to catch up to him. Onyx Skulls were built for battle, from stealth flying tactics to an immense amount of strength. Golden Imperials, while stronger than most Scalers, we weren’t encouraged to fight only to protect ourselves. However, I couldn’t let Mig get away with what he’d done to me.

  As he slowed down and turned, I hadn’t any idea where he was heading, but I decided to strike. With the full force of the winds behind me, I charged toward him. Glints of the moonlight bounced off the sharp dark talons along with a flash of his teeth. He roared in pain as I dug my golden claws into his chest. The ease of my nails sinking into his flesh led me to believe I didn’t have much else to do, but I was wrong.

  In a flash of speed and anger, Mig whipped his tail around his body striking me across the back. Yellow flames shot out of my throat as the spikes from his tail tore into me. The fatal blows of the Onyx Skull were known to debilitate many, but Golden Imperial blood was compelling on its own. The punch still hurt and even slowed me down as he turned to push me off of him.

  As we tangled in the sky, our claws and teeth went to work until I felt the heaviness of his poisonous strikes. Every single lash against my body took a little bit of me. Roaring through our battle, he clawed at my arm and then swiped his talons across my throat. The fight was over as I fell out of the sky and into the dark waters below.

  The coolness of the water forced me to scale down as my beautifully golden Scaler wasn’t meant for water. But, in my Anthro form, I couldn’t swim. I could barely tread water as I watched Mig land on the shore. He called out to me angrily, “That’s why I’m going to leave your ass out there to think about your choices, Lorna! You ruined our future together! I hope you drown!”

  The water swayed me from side to side as pain coursed through my body. My eyelids grew heavier with every passing minute. I could barely see straight when the large white main of an Emerald Siren circled me in the water. The beautiful teal scales glistened in the moonlight and illuminated under the water’s surface. Those familiar light blue eyes with emerald flecks stared at me for a moment, as if assessing my condition before I felt the firm grip of the Scaler’s claws around my shoulders.

  The Scaler rolled onto her back letting me lay atop of her belly as she backstroked toward the docks. Mig had already disappeared into the night, and all that remained was my embarrassment. Being pulled into a cave-like dwelling under the pier, I couldn’t help but think if this was the same place I went before where the Enchantress set my ankle straight.

  Sure enough, I watched her scale down into that familiarly gorgeous Anthro form. That honey complexion was like no other I’d ever seen. The tornado of freckles from her eyes that wrapped around her body gave her an exotic appeal that said she was too good for Black Harbor.

  “You get into too much trouble,” she said in a snappy tone.

  I could barely speak to the reality of my injuries began to set in. I grunted out a reply, “I needed to make him pay for what he did to me and how he’s been treating me! Miguel, the Onyx Skull, needs to die!”

  “Calm down,” she said. Aya moved toward me, lifting my arms and legs as if the injuries were nonexistent. She scraped one of her talons into my wound removing a black, tar-like film. She rubbed it between her fingers before digging into my wounds again. This time I yelped from the pain as she cut even deeper than Mig and began to squeeze my blood out of the wound. After wrapping the areas with a bandage, she massaged it thoroughly and then removed the bandage. Like magic, my battle cuts were gone.

  “You give me three scales for saving you, a vial of your blood for healing you, and five Golden feathers for wisdom and advice,” she said with a quick nod.

  “Wisdom and advice?” I eyed her like she was crazy.

  “Yes,” she said with a half-smile, “You need help to defeat Mig. You need to follow your heart and not your eyes. You need to slow down before you attack to assess
weakness. You are built to protect yourself and heal quicker than all others. So you need to use that to your advantage. You must protect yourself so you can see how to take out your aggressor. They must attack you. You will never win if you strike first.”

  I guess that information’s good to know. I wonder if that was the rule for all Golden Imperials, or just me. Dad didn’t seem to have the same caveat, but then again, he’d always been on the defensive. I didn’t question Aya’s wisdom as I began to feel more and more like myself. Before she sent me on my way, I gave her everything that she asked me.

  “Thank you Aya,” I bowed slightly with as much gratitude as I could muster. There was still a bit of pain, but all of my wounds were closed and scarring. The scars would disappear over the next few weeks, but at least I wouldn’t succumb to the poison of my defeat.

  “You’re welcome, Young Lavender,” Aya replied with a smile, “You will fall in love, and he will guard your heart as fiercely as he protects your body. Listen to your heart and let go of anger towards the Onyx Skull.”

  “I don’t know if I can do that,” I said honestly.

  “If you’re not going to kill him and have his death bring something significant, then leave it be. Your hatred and embarrassment will continue to cripple you if you do not find the purpose behind it. Now leave and no scaling for at least ten hours. Let your body completely heal. Now you get out. Anthros are coming, and I don’t need Scalers scaring away all my customers,” she shooed me out of the tight-knit space.

  I only stood under the pier for a moment before the waters began to come in with high tide. I climbed up to the docks and cement landing where I found Preston. He was pacing back and forth with his face pointed up toward the sky. He kept looking around as if he were searching for something. I stared up at the sky, with him as I walked closer.