Reign of Blood

Chapter Nine

They kept him awake to escort him back down to the cells. Flanked by vampires, Chronos was vying to try his chances. To kill them. To make another grab for that witch bitch. But with a band of witches at the very back, he knew he didn't stand a chance.

These ones would've been carefully selected for their fighting powers, like Annaliese's. The Queen was a lot of things, but she wasn't stupid. With that in mind, he imagined she'd picked them out to escort him back to his cell herself.

In other words, if the werewolf tried anything, he was going to get splattered.

At the front of their werewolf entourage, a short, stubby witch was leading their crew, blabbering the ears off of the vampires.

Chronos couldn't figure out what his power was, but he carried himself with a meagre importance. There was something about him that almost seemed like arrogance. Some misplaced sense of extreme importance. Chronos got the impression that he was weak. For the arrogance, he must've been protected by powerful people.

That, and he reeked of Annaliese. Even with his senses at an all time low, Chronos could smell the Queen around him.

Unfortunately, Chronos found that listening to him came in handy. The little man didn't know how to keep a lid on it.

To the witches, he said, "And then my Mistress closed the book. She was ready to murder someone, but you couldn't see any disappointment on her face. But, knowing her as well as only I do, I could feel her anguish. I don't know how she does it. Sometimes I forget she was trained in the arts of deception. My Mistress really is incredible. Do you understand how blessed we are to be living under her rule? To be breathing the air that she breathes? To be living in her time?" It didn't take Chronos long to realise he was speaking about the Queen. Once he got past the adoring remarks and pointless awe, Chronos found there was much to be learnt from what the little man had to say.

Something told him that if the Queen knew about this, the bald, little man wouldn't still be standing.

"Do you think Evette's ignoring her?" One of the witches asked him.

"No. Not at all. My Mistress doesn't think Evette's in control of the book anymore. My Mistress considers herself and Evette bonded somehow. I wish I knew more, but the roots of their connection go back to times before my arrival. From what I can gather, she's been using her communication book to communicate with the werewolf King."

A few gasps came from the gathering of witches, though the vampires remained unamused.

Chronos knew they were pawns. Pawns that had no control of their situation, so long as Annaliese remained in charge.

He managed no sympathy for them. If there was a species he hated almost as much as the witches, then it was the vampires.

"But my Mistress sent me to the Common World yesterday," The bald witch continued. If he says my Mistress one more time... Chronos might not have wanted his mate but hearing the possession here was irking him. In fact, from the feel he was getting from Annaliese, he was surprised she put up with this at all. "We've had heated sulphur compound blasters installed into the werewolf's cell. My Mistress has big plans for him. My wonderful Mistress has such a wonderful mind."

A low growl rumbled from his chest. Too low for the witches to catch it, but the vampires slanted him a cautious glance.

They knew.

And one looked contemplative.

He grew tired of these games. The witches were eyeing him up again, just like those ones had done in his cell. It didn't help that their Queen had left his bollocks blue. As he walked, his crotch was still stiff, his hands bound to force him to feel the pain.