Page 46

E yeing Harlow, Foxx slowed to a stop. Without looking, he shot a burst of bullets at the last ten remaining humans, aside from the one fighting Gavin.

He tossed the gun aside when he heard their hearts stop, and asked, “Did it again, huh?” while watching his boyfriend toss a wet wipe and pull out another.

Even though he seemed unharmed, aside from the bleeding knot on his forehead, Harlow looked physically in pain as he cleaned between the fingers of his right hand again and again. “Yes,” the dhampir ground out.

He smiled. It was kind of cute when Harlow was like this, not that he wanted to see the dhampir triggered all the time. “Need any help?”

After a few seconds, the man sighed. “No, just go help Gavin.”

“Mmkay, just shout if you need me!”

Leaving the man to sterilize his hand, Foxx turned and eyed the ‘human’ the dragon was fighting. Pale and freckle covered, with bright red hair that was clearly natural, the man stood well past six-foot, and had a squarish jaw, hawk-like nose, thin lips, and sharp blue eyes.

His left arm was hanging by his side, clearly broken and bleeding, and the man had a black eye and bloody lip, along with a few other minor injuries. He was also dressed in all black, but without Kevlar, unlike the humans who’d had guns. It was the same person who had initially knocked the dragon down, and likely, the same person the little birdy below had warned them about—Declan O’Connor.

While the man was injured, so was Gavin. In fact, the dragon appeared to be in worse shape. Looking unsteady on his feet, Gavin was clearly tired and out of breath.

Scales covering his skin, the man’s face was partially transformed into a reptilian snout, and his sharp teeth dripped with blood, most of it his own. While nothing looked broken bone-wise, that he could see, the man’s right shoulder appeared to have popped out of place. What was broken, some completely torn off, leaving deep, heavily bleeding gashes behind, were a shit ton of Gavin’s scales. Whole chunks and pieces of the beautiful rainbow obsidian colored scales littered the ground.

Foxx watched them fight for a few more moments, and quickly realized that the human was the better fighter of the two, and why.

It was not that Gavin couldn’t fight, but the way he moved made it clear that the dragon was rusty, even as the moves suggested to him that Harlow likely had a hand in training the man. Gavin may have been stronger, but the imbalance in their skill kept the human alive and dominating.

Well, I can knock that imbalance the fuck over in our favor , Foxx thought viciously.

As a blow sent Gavin to the ground, Foxx sprinted forward. Swinging, he laughed as his fist plowed into Declan’s face, and sent him flying back and on his ass.

Smiling widely, with his hands on his hips, Foxx said, “How about you pick on someone your own size?!”

Gavin, despite still being on the ground, burst into laughter. “He has more than a fucking foot on you.”

His smile dropped. Pursing his lips, Foxx glared at him. “I think the dragon currently bleeding and flat out on his back should shut the fuck up when I’m trash-talking.” He hmphed. “But fine! Time to pick on someone with your own skill!”

He looked at the human, who was back on his feet but rubbing his jaw. As he met the man’s gaze, he smiled on seeing a flash of fear there.

“Declan, right?” Foxx asked sweetly .

The human glanced from him to, he supposed, Harlow, who was behind him. Foxx caught just a glimpse of hatred in Declan’s eyes before the man was just…gone. Gone, as in, the fucker launched himself through and out of the nearest window.

Sputtering in disbelief, Foxx rushed to the broken window. Peering down at the street below, he stared in true bafflement as he watched the figure sprint away from the building, seemingly uninjured.

“What the fuck…” Letting out an irritated whine, he huffed, “Shouldn’t the bastard have broken a leg or something from this high up?!”

Gavin coughed hard, before letting out a groan. “We don’t have time to track him down. Someone could have heard that.”

He glanced back with a frown on his face, eyeing the dragon as the man shouted while jamming his arm back in its socket. Now looking fully human, the man appear more visually banged the fuck up without his scales. Like, the gouges in his skin looked quite a bit more concerning now than they did on a body covered in scales, with more scales underneath.

Harlow, who was no longer cleaning himself, approached and crouched down beside the dragon. Gavin growled when the dhampir grabbed at a wound on the man's leg that Foxx hadn’t noticed before. “How badly are you hurt? Can you stand?”

The dragon blinked, before suddenly sitting up and latching onto Harlow's arm while a bright smile spread across his face. “YOU DO CARE! I’m so happy!”

“Fucking hell, Gavin! Don’t touch me, ugh!” The dhampir hissed as he violently yanked his right arm free. Shockingly, the man pulled out another wipe and started cleaning again, while grumbling, “I just cleaned that hand!”

Huh… Perhaps Harlow was more sensitive to people touching him right after he’d been triggered? The dhampir never seemed to mind Foxx touching him though. Aww, his boyfriend liked his touch! Why did that make him feel so warm and fuzzy?!

“And now I am utterly insulted.” Gavin pushed up to his feet with a groan. The dragon wobbled a bit before straightening fully.

Foxx giggled and skipped towards them, looping his arm through Harlow’s as the man continued to re-clean his hand, and now his jacket too. “Oh, is my old man feeling sensitive to people touching him after he accidentally triggered his haphephobia?”

“Shut up, Foxx,” the dhampir ground out, but didn’t pull away.

“I'm even MORE insulted that you can touch him, and I get treated like I’m diseased and—” Gavin cut off, his head jerking back as his eyes widened. “WAIT—Haphephobia? What the fuck are you talking about?”

Foxx blinked. “You don’t know about his aversion to touching people, and people touching him?”

Gavin definitely still looked confused. “What…aversion?”

“Harlow doesn’t like people touching him in general, but he doesn’t like touching others at all, unless he is killing, fighting, or fucking. In fact, I’m pretty sure it disgusts him most of the time. Oh, and the caveat, squeezing so hard that his fingers sink through flesh like a warm knife through butter is a big no-no.”

“Fucking hell, Foxx, did you have to describe it?!” Harlow gagged, hunching over as he began to dry heave.

Foxx patted the dhampir on the back. “Sorry, Old Man.”

“Holy shit, you aren’t fucking with me, are you?” Gavin said, sounding bemused. “You know…that makes sense, and…explains a lot of things, now that I think about it. There was this time when I was a teen, he accidentally placed his hand on some dried spilled soda that I forgot to clean up, and he freaked out. At the time, I thought he was just mad about the mess, but he actually looked pained, now that I’m thinking about it. Are we sure he isn’t a germaphobe?!”

“I WAS mad about the mess, and it was fucking sticky!” Harlow snarled.

Foxx cocked his head. “Are sticky things a no too?”

“I am not a germaphobe. I literally walk around covered in blood and guts all the fucking time!”

“I know.” He patted the man’s chest soothingly, which just caused the dhampir to growl dangerously at him. “It’s not germs, it’s touch. Which likely has a texture component to it, especially if you have a thing about sticky stuff.”

“No one likes fucking sticky stuff on their hands!” Harlow snapped defensively, before hissing, “Enough talking, just set the fucking building on fire, Gavin, so we can get the fuck out of here!”

“Yes, yes, burn the building, and then…BAKING!” Foxx patted the dhampir again, giggling when the man’s glare deepened.