Chapter The Princess Cruor

Ivan and Antonov rushed inside past them as Anjael and Buto walked toward the vehicles. Buto turned and looked at the daywalkers on the roof, speaking to them in the language of the Cruor.

"I am going to visit Queen Anutari's territory in Las Vegas. There will be no future alliance with the Near East until they make compensation for the eggs not given and reveal the location of Queen Echidna to Queen Anutari... Follow us to the airport."

Dartanian looked surprised and quickly clicked and whistled the location. Ridge stood by the stretch SUV limo and bowed as he opened the door. Buto paused, eyeing him then sniffed him. She raised an eyebrow above the curve of her sunglasses.

Anjael gave her a slight shake of her head, clicking, "He is my uncle's willing consort."

"That's a shame... I like Lycani lovers, and he is very attractive."

A pale green Cruor male landed and immediately got into the SUV ahead of the two females. Dartanian got in last. Ridge walked around to get in the driver's position but as the engine started, the back door was suddenly opened.

Holding the door, Ivan demanded in the Cruor language, "What did you do to our queen?"

"I only shared with her the memories to prove my abuse and claim of treachery. If she isn't enjoying feeling and seeing what happened to me, tell her to take it up with Echidna," Anjael retorted then she pried his fingers off and knocked him back. He snarled but her growling hiss was fiercer. "Put your gargoyle away because my inner self has become a demoness and considers violence foreplay."

Ivan shuddered then growled and clicked, "This will not be the last time we speak, Western Queen."

Her smirk, the pronounced slit of her pupils, and her deep voice revealed her inner self was in control, "I hope not. You are very attractive, and I like to play with things that think they can hurt me." She closed the door before saying aloud, "Drive, Ridge." Looking at the unexpected male, she raised her chin. "And you are?"

"Your forgiveness, Queen Anutari. I am Amaru Naska, Princess Buto's elder brother and protector," the pale green male announced.

Anjael decided he was almost the color of milky jade and wondered what his gargoyle looked like. "Greetings. This is my clanmate, Dartanian D'Agostino."

They nodded to each other then Amaru demanded of his sister, "What happened with Queen Ilona?"

"Do not call her queen, brother," Buto hissed, "She is no more worthy of being a queen than Echidna. Mother was right, neither of them deserve any loyalty or eggs." Then she turned to Anjael. "Do you think what she said was true? That the Romani Queen is dead."

"Queen Juno hadn't had a successful mating in the centuries before I was born and none that I knew of after." Anjael contemplated her mother's memories. "It was part of the reason they attacked the night I was hatched. They were trying to steal my sister Nemesis and I. The only younger Cruors in Romani are those who hatched and were taken from the surrounding clans just before the Notre Dame Eclipse. Dartanian was the only survivor of the small Sicilia clan. His mother took the opportunity to flee with him then petrified to protect him from the dark light."

"Did you ever meet Juno?" Buto asked.

"No, unlike Echidna, Juno did not join the war against the Black Death, she only sent her males. My mother traveled to meet her a few times, mostly with my sire, and to demand for their clan mates' offspring to be returned." Anjael rubbed her forehead, hating the headache the oldest memories of her lineage caused.

"My mother also met Juno. They quarreled over eggs and that her males were helping the Romans to conquer lands around the sea unchecked. Both refused to help the Southern Clan in a war involving Burning Devas in the centuries on before the time change, and so Mother refused the call to join the war against the Black Death a thousand years later," Buto revealed. "A few centuries after, the whole clan moved to the southern tip of South America."

"You do not smell like the clans I met while traveling with Lord Ouroboros," Dartanian observed. "And your coloring is unusual."

"While many of our ancestors were considered gorgons, my brother and I am not one of those. Our sire is from the lost Naska clan, whom my mother discovered when we moved from Africa to South America in the 17th century," Buto explained.

Amaru grinned, "There are over two hundred in our clan."

Anjael folded her hands together and rested her chin on them. "Do not tell anyone of your numbers. Southern is even larger than Far East."

"How many are in your clan?" Buto asked.

"Not enough to openly fight a war with the Burning Sun Deva inciting the war among the werewolves. We have always been a small clan since the fall of the Abbey." Tapping her pinky on the side of her other hand, Anjael glanced at Amaru if he was the elder brother by the same sire then he was only four centuries at most, barely half her age. "How old are you?"

"We are both in our thirty-nineth decade. I am elder because I hatched a full moon earlier than my sister." He gave Buto a fond glance, "She always lingers in bed."

"And you always get up unreasonably early," Buto huffed.

Their good sibling relationship made Anjael miss something she had never enjoyed, so she turned and looked out the window until they arrived at the airport. After sending most of Buto's escort back to her yacht, they all boarded the private jet.

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By the time, Anjael's plane landed at the private airport outside Las Vegas, she and Princess Buto had come to an agreement. The Princess of the Southern Clan would egg for Ouroboros first and, when things settled in the Lycani war, Anjael would egg for Amaru. He vowed he would return after escorting his sister home for her pregnancy and egg watch. Angel tried to refuse, but he worried because Romani Cruor had already tried to abduct her once. She knew keeping Amaru close would provoke Beast's jealousy and she still needed Lazarus to father at least two pups so the line of Lycaon could continue.

While her pilot and the two human soldiers talked, she ordered Ridge, "Take the Princess and her brother to Ouroboros' lake house."

The beta tensed after receiving the order so Dartanian tried to soothe him, "Ridge, you know it has to be this way if the Western Clan is to survive," Dart reminded then said calmly, "When the war your Delphi fears ends, you and Heather will also need to find choice mates to give your pack new betas."

Swallowing his anxiety, Ridge murmured, "I know, but my sister is reluctant to have another pup. She won't listen to me and still believes the Cruor are demons."

"Ouroboros' tales have kept the remaining Bibre Cruor safe, after the church declared us to be profane during the purges... Queen Udo was wise to move her clan away from the empires of men." He turned and bowed as Udo's children approached him "Princess Buto and Lord Amaru, better bridge will drive you to your destination. I will bring Lord Ouroboros for the introductions after sunset."

"Thank you, Lord Dartanian," Amaru bowed his head slightly in return. As they drove away he glanced at Angel arguing with Lazarus, and went to talk to the humans.

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"Are you purposefully provoking my wolf?" Lazarus complained.

"I don't have a choice. We need allies among the clans. "Angel rubbed her forehead near her hairline. "I have to..."

"I do not care." He shook as he fought to contain his wolf that wanted to attack the tall, pale green outsider. "Do what you will, succubus." He stomped over to one of the pack pickup trucks, the one he usually drove, and left.

Dartanian looked after him before he approached his queen, "We are going to get dinner at my club. Do you want to come?"

"No... thank you. I am going to see how much work my new building needs." Angel spread her wings and flew away as the humans, now change into civilian clothing, returned.

"Her social battery empty?" Rick asked in concern.

"Dealing with the Near East Clan is not easy. They stand with Ukrainian mafia and support many things Angel opposes," Dartanian revealed.

Retired Colonel Deckland nodded, "I am glad she is keeping them away from Vegas. The Southern Clan seems interesting. Do they have any cartel connections?"

"None that the Princess knew of. It seems Queen Udo and Anjael's mother Nixx were very similar and do not believe in the supporting criminal activities of other species. The Southern Clan are mainly miners and ranchers." Dartanian chuckled, "And Lord Amaru wants me to thank Lord Oroboros for leading the cartels to believe the Bibre Cruor are demons and unkillable."

"More like demon adjacent," Rick taunted, and they all laughed. "Come on, Dart, dinner is on you."

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Circling the top of the building she bought back from the Las Vegas coven survivors, Anjael dropped into the open atrium on the roof. The black and white marble floors were very vampire chic, but Anjael planned to fill the space with plants suitable to the desert climate. She wanted a succulent garden with a path and a small waterfall feature or fountain. Her hands ran over the bare walls, imagining them covered with soft wood panels and framed art. The floors would be too much work to tear out so she would decorate to minimize them and cover them with rugs. She pulled her phone out of its pouch and began taking notes. Her degrees in art and architecture suited her needs.

Prying open the elevator doors, she climbed down to the lower floors. She measured the wall forms framing the different suites. Sketching the layout on her phone, three to five apartments in each of the six stories between the top two floors and the two bottom floors which were set aside for retail spaces. Finally reaching the bottom two floors, Anjael's sensitive nose twitched at the odor of construction dust. Standing in the retail area, she considered whether she wanted to add restaurant space or keep the entire area for boutique shopping and high-end luxury goods. Restaurants brought traffic but could also disturb the residents with their extended hours, and there would also be the constant odor of food lingering about the building. She decided no on the restaurant idea, there were plenty of places to eat close by.

Her phone chimed with a text from Ridge that Buto and Amaru were settling in and he was going grocery shopping for them. To keep them from knowing how small her clan really was, she had purposely isolated them. She worried about exposing the Lost Mine pack to the other clans. Anjael decided to make the top two floors of this building her clans home away from the pack. Her uncle had his lake house hidden in the cliffs above Lake Mead, and the entire third to top floor of the Luxor was his private residence, but he rarely visited either now. She was uncertain if he would leave the Lost Mine pack house and Ridge. Remembering how she resisted his want to make the pyramid shaped hotel she wanted to laugh, because it had become very profitable and returned her investment many times over. The Italian-style Bellagio based on Dartanian's memories had also fared well profit wise. If she handled this building properly, the apartments would pay for the building, the renovations, and leave her with another substantial source of income. She was one of the wealthiest individuals on this continent but her name would never appear on any list. She called Dartanian.

"Yes, my queen." He answered on the first ring and in the background, she could hear the laughter of their human allies.

"Tell Deckland I want his best construction crew here in the morning. I'll have the plans ready to go for permitting."

Dart sighed into the phone, "Perhaps you should take some time to get to know Lord Amaru before he leaves with his sister."

"I'm not ready," she snapped then hung up on him. She climbed up the elevator shaft to the top floor, sitting in the shadow of the atrium of the empty building she remembered.

Thaumus slithered up to her and bowed. He looked like his elder sister Echidna but colored more like gray-green granite than malachite slate. His face was scarred, and she knew the injury had happened during the war against the Black Death. He introduced himself so she took his hand and held it.

"I'm grateful that you survived."

"Thank you for trying to save my sister's consort. She was devastated by his death."

Anjael nodded and wiped away a tear, "The principality wounded him with an emerald encrusted spear, I killed it with it and a Unicorn horn."

"I remember your shout to use the horns. Echidna told me later you had ripped off the unicorn's head?" Thaumus asked for clarification, he seemed impressed.

Anjael would have blushed if she possessed the ability, because Thaumus was very attractive to her. The first of her kind she had found so. "I was desperate for a weapon and the Unicorn was dead. It didn't need its head any longer."

Her revelation made Thaumus laugh then his smile faltered, "I am glad you were with him when he died."

"Typhon was a great warrior and a devoted mate. He hated to leave Echidna and the other gorgons to fight, but those of us with wings moved ahead of the front lines and into the battle... The dawn was coming so fast, and we were desperate to end the fighting... His last thoughts were of her."

"My sister misses his devotion... Thank you for lying and saying that he said he would love her till the end of time. It makes me regret this more, I know you only meant to comfort her." Thaumus looked away and, before Anjael could ask how he knew she lied and what he regretted, another gorgon entered with Echidna.

The large male was carrying a chain that smelled of emeralds. Echidna waved her hand at it as she explained, "Because winged Cruor have the advantage in the mating chase, our clan requires that their wings be chained before they go into the thermal caves where the meeting chase and egg watch take place."

"I am strong enough to carry both of us for our mating flight," Anjael objected because her inner queen feared that chain.

"Have courage, Princess l Anutari, you are to be a queen," Echidna slithered closer and cupped Anjael's face in her hands. "Once you and Thaumus are mated our clans will share blood and we will never be separated." She put on leather gloves, lifted the chain. "Please for my mate who died by your side. For Typhon, let me wrap your wings."

Her inner queen did not want their wings to be chained, but Anjael suppressed her and folded her wings tight against her body. She held up her arms as Echidna wrapped her torso just below her ribs. It was loose enough that in her larger form she would not be able to free her wings.

"Does it hurt?" Echidna asked.

Anjael squirmed, "It burns slightly but I have endured far worse pain."

"The war hurt all of us." Echidna turned and ordered some servants forward, "Feed the princess of the West, give her blood, and take her to the chamber into the thermal caves." Echidna turned back and smiled at her showing all her pointed mother of pearl teeth. "Remember, Anjael, this is for my consort."

For hours, Anjael evaded and was chased by Thaumus, before he tackled her into a pool of hot water. She embraced and kissed him as she had once done with Lycaon. "You caught me."

With his serpentine tail wrapping her lower body, Thaumus grinned at her and asked, "Are you ready, my lover?"

Before she could answer, her wrist were seized and shackled behind her while a bar was forced into her mouth. That began her three years of torture. It was only later that she realized Thaumus was asking Invictus, and not her.

Fingering the faint scars, discoloring her pale as marble skin, Anjael shuddered as she returned from the memories. If only she had known what Echidna really meant when she said it was for Typhon. That the other queen intended to take revenge for her consort dying at Anjael's side, rather than to create an alliance with the West. Echidna intended to turn Anjael into a breeder before handing her over to the Romani. Typhon has warned her and also told Arthuros to not let her to go east, but she had been swayed by Echidna's lies. She knew she had been a naive fool in her belief in the affection of the other queen. Her demoness growled within that there would be a day when their flesh would be painted with the blood of Echidna and Thaumus.