Reign of Blood

Chapter One

In the night, Prince Chronos of the Lupine Territories sauntered through the back alleys of the Common World, murder on his mind. Just a few blocks away, the bar 'Morio's' was alight with sound and music as immortals mingled idly. There, he had a meeting with a few old acquaintances.

Through a musty window, he saw immortals of all species mingling. Over at the bar, old friends were catching up. In the booths, shifty deals were being made with shiftier hunters. Demons were placing bets at the pool table with lusty 'nymphs' watching from the side lines.

Chronos wasn't above their debauchery.

As nymphs teased their fingers beneath their skirts, Chronos threw them a wink. He could smell their desire as they watched him, batting their lashes flirtatiously. Chronos was quite the popular face for the nymphs. A favourite shag, or so he'd heard. As demons passed sparring comments and easy jokes, he fought to keep his head out of the gutter. He needed to keep his mind on the matter at hand. Had he not been on a timer, he might've stopped to join one of those nymphs and help her with that trouble between her legs, easing it with a vicious thrust of his fingers. He'd have that little one at the front squirming, purring sex-crazed nothings on how good he felt down his ear as he teased her pussy, his fingers pumping in and out. Once he'd done that, he'd have joined the demons for a game or two and washed it all down with a few pints.

A typical night at Morio's, really.

Tonight, he didn't have the time. He had two hours- three, tops- before he had to be back in the Territories to meet his brother- the King- for a highly important meeting.

Two guesses said what it was about.

A hand reached out for his shoulder, squeezing.

"Long time no see your Prince-liness. What brings you 'round these parts?" He slanted a glance at the redhead.

Rosa was a barmaid at Morio's bar. She was fresh and beautiful, so it didn't make a jot of sense what she was doing working here. Once upon a time, she'd been a Valkyrie up in the clouds until she'd plummeted down from the heavens. Now, she was sweeping up immortal piss for chips and pennies. Each time he'd asked her why she bothered, she said she was waiting for something. He'd only asked twice and never cared enough to ask her what.

Their fragile friendship wasn't built on heartfelt confessions.

Chronos had priorities of his own. The sad, irrelevant life of the nosy barmaid wasn't one of them.

"I don't have time for chit-chat tonight," He said, shrugging her off. "I'm looking for someone. I have a meeting."

"You have a meeting?" She snorted, grabbing dirty glasses from tables in passing. "Well damn the day. I never thought you'd start acting like a Prince. It's only taken you, what, fourteen hundred years?"

The werewolf scowled at her.

"Fuck off Rosa."

"What crawled up your ass and died? Do you need a drink that badly?"

"I don't have time to argue this with you. Go back to your tables and bother someone else."

"I'm quite happy bothering you, thanks. Clearly, you need someone on your ass right now. What are you up to, Chronos?" The barmaid narrowed her eyes. "You're not here on official business, are you?" Nothing escaped Rosa.

"Keep your mouth shut, would you?" Lest he put something in there to shut it for her.

Rosa was a notorious gossip.

"You don't want this getting out."

Another scowl. "I don't want this getting back to my brother," Chronos corrected. Besides him, Chronos didn't give a fuck who knew. He scanned the place around them for werewolves. None in sight. Good. There was no one around who cared enough to report this meeting back to Lorcan. Tonight, Chronos was going under the radar.