Reign of Blood

Chapter Forty-Four

In finding their footing, Chronos first wanted to see how well the Queen could adjust to his crowds. Really, there wasn't a better place to go to get that done than Morio's.

Morio's was a hobby of his. When life got dead up in the castle, he'd come down here and pick up bounties. In their world, everyone wanted something. If you were looking for work, the best place to go to was a bar.

"You remember what I said, don't you?" He asked her, leading her down the stairs. "Anyone asks, your name's Anna and you're a—"

"Yes. I remember. Don't remind me."

"It's just one night Leese." He squeezed her hand. "Just play nice for a few hours."

"Hmm."

"And if it makes you feel any better, you're much sexier than a nymph."

"Chronos, there's little sense in telling me things I already know."

When they reached the bar floor, the place was alive with people of all species. At the back, she spotted a few demons and werewolves. Unsurprisingly, there were no aqua demons. There were some Amazons over by the bar with nymphs milling all about. Mostly what she'd have expected of an immortal bar.

She tried not to turn her nose up too much at the scene. At all the debauchery. She kept an open mind.

If this is how Chronos likes to live...

On her rounds to collect used glasses, Rosa stopped beside them.

"Alright your prince-liness." She looked them up and down again, failing to meet Annaliese's hard eyes. "You know the rules. Don't let your Queen over here start any trouble and everything will be fine."

"My mate's quite the actress. We'll be alright."

Annaliese kept her mouth shut, but she didn't like this already. Chronos' world demanded her to be someone else. The people he knew would never accept her for who and what she was. Hell, it had taken Chronos half a year to do it and he had a supernatural bond pushing him along.

Above that, Annaliese didn't like the way those nymphs were looking at him. They sat in a cluster in the centre of the room, unabashedly feeling around beneath their skirts. Even as they pleasured demons, their eyes seemed to stray back to Chronos.

She tried not to let those lusty looks they sent his way get to her. Chronos didn't seem to notice them.

He led her over to a couch and told her Rosa would bring them drinks over. Not even a minute of them sitting had passed before a crowd of werewolves made their way over to them.

"Prince Chronos," One of them said, shocked to see him. "How are you here?"

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "What do you mean?"

"Last we heard, the bitch Queen was keeping you captive in Veneficus. Everyone's been talking about it. That's why the King's gone over to set you free."

Annaliese pursed her lips. Did everyone he knew refer to her as such?

It was a good job she had thick skin.

She didn't see why the werewolves were so judgemental anyway. None of them were perfect.

"I got out," Chronos said. "And Lorcan's fine. They're still there—on friendly terms—so Evette can catch up with Annaliese."

"What happened to the plan?" Another one of them asked. "Fenrir said you were going to kill her. Why's she catching up with Evette when she's supposed to be dead?"

Annaliese shuffled uncomfortably, waiting for more lies to fall from Chronos' lips. Another sore reminder of their situation.

"The plan changed," Chronos said. "We got there, sat around Annaliese's war rooms and found she's not as unreasonable as we thought."