Jory took the clothes and set them on the bed before carefully taking her hands and leading her to a chair to sit. Her hands shook as Jory gave them a gentle squeeze.
She gave a broken laugh. "He said he was sorry and sent me a dozen of my favorite flowers—daylight roses."
"How nice." He hoped his voice had the right level of warmth. He didn't want to make her any more nervous. It took her a lot of courage to admit to abuse. Jory knew her boyfriend's type.
"Are there any other injuries?"
Lila lifted her shirt to expose her stomach. Ugly marks crisscrossed her pale flesh. They looked like whip marks. Keeping his voice steady, Jory told her she needed to go see a healer. "Those could get infected."
Lila nodded. "Try on your clothes and send back any you don't like. Britson said he'd only bill you for the ones you kept."
"Will do." Jory kept his eyes averted as he escorted her out, making sure she agreed to go see a healer, without alerting her to his anger. There was nothing he hated more than bullies. Hands shaking with fury, Jory ripped open the packages and put on a pair of dragon hide pants, a blue mesh shirt made out of something metallic, and a pair of buttery soft boots with steel tips that made his previous ones look like dumpster rejects. Before leaving his room, he slid his knives into their custom sheathes and covered them with his long jacket.
It was time to pay Wesland a visit.
His little dragon would find him when she was ready.
* * * *
It only took two stops for directions and three gentle rejections of dating requests to find the weapons' training area. He stopped the first soldier he found.
"I'm looking for Wesland."
The man gave Jory a curious glance, but he offered no explanation. After a moment of silence, he pointed towards a group of soldiers practicing maneuvers.
"The one in blue with the silver bracelet."
Jory gave him a nod. "Thanks."
As he got closer, Jory saw why Lila liked the guy. Wesland had a badass appeal with long black hair and a soldier's build, but his handsomeness didn't cover the flash of cruelty Jory saw in the other man's eyes when he slammed his fist into his opponent's face without warning.
Jory waited to see if the other man was going to get back up. When it looked like Wesland's opponent was down for the count, he approached.
"Are you Wesland?" Jory asked for form's sake. He didn't want to pound the wrong person.
Glacial blue eyes look him up and down before he sneered, "What's it to you?"
"This." Using the advantage of surprise, Jory slammed his fist into the other man's face, watching with no emotion as the powerful body hit the ground with a resounding thud. Surprisingly, there was no movement from the other warriors to protect their comrade.
Jory ignored them as he slammed the steel pointed toe of his new boots into the ribs of the bastard on the ground. The crunch gave him a bit of satisfaction, as did the man's screams.
Before Wesland could move, Jory whipped out his knives, placing one to the man's neck and the other just beneath his balls.
"If I find out you've hurt that pretty girlfriend of yours again, next time you won't be able to get up."
Jory saw fear in the man's eyes as he felt the pinpricks of Jory's blades, and the large body beneath him trembled. He let the shaking vibrate along his knife. "You'll remember that won't you, Wes?"
"Y-y-yes."
"Good, because Lila is a friend of mine, and I look out for my friends."
Rage was still pulsing through Joriah even with the man cowering at his feet. It didn't stop the fact that his pretty friend lived in terror of this asshole. There was a soft thump and a tongue licked his cheek.
"Hello, Precious."
Who.
"This is Wesland; he beat my friend Lila," Jory said in his calmest voice while inside he still shook with rage. "He didn't think she waited on him fast enough. Do you think she'd still want him if I carved him into little pieces?"
