Juri groaned and bent his head. Another crack came as he straightened his nose. Then he mopped at his face with his sleeve. “Fuck,” he muttered and finally looked up.
I gasped.
With his Dragon healing, his face had already bruised. Great blobs of purple faded to sickly green as I watched, and the extreme swelling in his face receded just as quickly. But when the swelling went down, I could see his nose and cheek move as the bones knitted together. It was disgusting, but I couldn't look away.
“You really broke his face,” I whispered.
Cyn's hand lifted to my cheek. “No one hurts you without consequence.”
“You are so fucking sexy right now.”
“I'm so glad my pain has brought the two of you closer,” Juri drawled.
“Hey, fucker!” I pointed at him. “You think that was bad? I don't have your kind of healing, nor am I as resilient as you are. I had to reset my nose just like you, but I suffered far longer.”
“He's right,” Cyn growled and drew back his fist. “You should suffer more.”
Juri cringed.
I grabbed Cyn's arm. “It's all right. Let it go. I'm satisfied.”
Cyn looked back at me. “I am not.” As he stared at me, his fist shot out, and Juri's head whipped back again.
“Holy fuck!” I exclaimed. Then, as Juri groaned, cursed, and bled, I grabbed Cyn's face and kissed him. When we finally eased away from each other, I said, “That was the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“Romantic!” Juri growled. “If you think that's romantic, you're—”
The Dragon King's growl cut Juri off and shut him the fuck up.
For a second.
Then Lord Juri asked, “Can we move on now that I'm wearing more blood than clothing?”
Cyn snorted a laugh and swung his head back toward Juri. “Yes, I suppose we can.”
“Thank you,” Juri said petulantly, still gingerly wiping the blood from his face as he healed. “Now, do you have a plan, Your Majesty?”
“We know the thief is a Shanba,” the King said. “I didn't want to upset our Shanba population by targeting them, but this has gone on too long, and I have few options left.”
“So, we round up the Shanba and question them?” Juri asked.
“No. We search their homes. But before we do this, we must make some preparations.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
The preparations were simple and included a lot of organizing. A search of every Shanba home in the city was scheduled for the next day. All but one of Cyn's knights would leave the city at noon, shift into dragons, and circle the city walls, ensuring that no one left. With them in the air, they wouldn't be susceptible to enchantment. Cyn met with General Rontor of the Horns, Commander Marzon of the Castle Guard, and Captain Rin of the Talons to give them their orders as well. Before noon, General Rontor and Captain Rin would detain the Shanba men and women under their command in holding cells. Once they had the Shanba secured, they would explain the situation and dispense the King’s orders.
The Horns, except for those in the Castle Guard, would guard the city walls along with the dragons. The Talons would help us with the search. Last, the Castle Guard would do as they usually did and guard the castle. With one difference; all of them would be on duty. Oh, and one last thing; the King dismissed his courtiers. All of them. They were told it was for their own protection, but the truth was we wanted to get the Shanba courtiers out of the castle without raising suspicions.
“I don't know about this,” I said as I looked around Cyn's bedroom.
“My knights have doubled their watch,” Cyn said. “Four of them are just outside our door, and the rest are guarding our windows from outside. We are perfectly safe.” He took my hand and drew me into the bathroom. “Come, Mate. I've wanted to do this for a long time.”
“Do what?” I frowned at the magnificent bathroom. It kind of annoyed me that it was bigger than my apartment.
Cyn let go of my hand and went to the bathtub—a bowl-shaped behemoth large enough for four men. Four Dragon men. He turned on the taps—golden things attached to a faucet that emerged from the floor to hang over the tub's rim—then went to a shelf to the left of the tub and selected a bottle.
“I want to bathe with you in this tub.” He poured some of the bottle’s contents—a bright purple liquid—into the water.
