Chapter 193: Vampire Luna

The old hunter’s head snapped backward from the sheer force of my fist, his jaw absorbing the full power of my hybrid strike. He froze for a lingering second, his neck turned to the side as a thin trickling line of dark blood appeared at the very corner of his cracked lip.

I shook out my throbbing knuckles, flexing my fingers to shake off the sting before resetting my stance into a sharp, deadly pose. "Don't you ever dare call me your daughter," I hissed, my raspy voice trembling with pure, unadulterated venom. "You and I have absolutely nothing in common! I am not your flesh and blood, I am not your child, and I will never, ever be your damn daughter!"

The Butcher slowly brought his large, calloused hand up to his face, wiping the thin smear of red from his mouth with the back of his thumb. He turned his head back to face me, and to my absolute fury, a slow, deep chuckle began to rumble from the very depths of his broad chest.

"Nice punch," he grunted, his dark eyes crinkling with genuine, unbothered amusement. "That hit was surprisingly hard, girl. You've got real power behind those small fists... I can't even lie to you, I definitely underestimated your physical strength just a little bit. But I still won't fight you."

My top lip curled back in sheer disgust as I took another step toward his chair.

"I am not going to brawl with a child," he continued smoothly, picking up a cloth napkin to dab at his lip without a single trace of fear or anger. "You and I are nowhere near age mates, hybrid. It would be a complete insult to my own honor and pride to trade blows with a young girl like you."

A sharp, mocking scoff tore from my throat as I cracked my neck from side to side. "An insult to your pride, huh? Well, don't you worry your graying head about that, old man. You don't have to raise a single finger to fight me back. Just sit right there in that wooden chair and keep your head still while I shatter your ugly nose into a thousand pieces with my fists. You don't have to do any of the hard work at all... I can handle all the beating entirely by myself."

"Luna Amanda, please stop!" Ava suddenly shrieked from the side of the dining table.

She scrambled out of her seat, her face completely pale with shock and panic as her hands reached out toward me in a desperate plea. "Please don't do this! He just helped you pass the test, please just calm down—"

I spun around to face her so fast my hair whipped through the air, my eyes flashing with a terrifying, bloodthirsty rage that instantly cut her off mid-sentence.

"Shut the absolute fuck up, Ava!" I roared, my voice booming off the walls of the parlor like a thunderclap. "Shut your mouth and learn your damn place right now!"

Ava flinched violently, taking a frantic step backward as if I had swung an iron blade straight at her chest.

"Just because we are close does not change the cold, hard fact that we are not on the same level!" I spat out, my breathing heavy as I glared down at her trembling frame with icy hostility. "You are just a maid, Ava! Never in your life forget that simple fact! You serve me!"

The air in the room grew suffocatingly heavy as my hybrid aura flared up, filling the narrow space with dangerous tension.

"And completely apart from my title being miles higher than yours," I growled, taking a slow, menacing step toward her, "I could break every single fragile bone in your weak body before you could even scream for help. If you dare open your mouth to address me like an equal again, I swear I will do something truly horrific to you. Being familiar with me for a few months does not make me any less dangerous to your life!"

Ava froze completely in place, her lips parting in utter horror as if every drop of blood had been drained from her face. Her chest heaved with shallow, frantic breaths, but she didn't dare utter another single syllable. She stood like a hollow statue, trapped in sheer terror.

Satisfied with her silence, I turned my back on her and shifted my burning gaze back to the Butcher. I brought my hands together, slowly cracking my knuckles one by one with loud, sickening pops that echoed off the stone.

"So, what do you say, old man?" I purred bitterly, my eyes narrowing into dangerous slits as I hovered over his side of the table. "Are you going to keep holding your head up like a brave hunter, or are you going to let me decorate the rest of your face with my knuckles?"

The hunter sat back calmly, crossing his thick, scarred forearms over his chest. He looked up at my enraged face with an unreadable, weathered expression.

"I won't fight you," he repeated firmly, his rough voice carrying a deep, heavy weight that didn't shake for a second. "Like I already told you, I don't have a single reason to raise my fists anymore. I only used to fight back when I was your age and much younger... back when I actually had a purpose waking me up early every single morning. I used to have something real to protect. I had something worth fighting for."

His broad shoulders dropped slightly, a dark, hollow shadow flickering across his old eyes before he let out a low, weary sigh.

"But now... I have absolutely nothing left," he murmured, his gaze dropping to the wooden table for a brief second before locking back onto mine. "I already told you straight to your face that I am just sitting here waiting for my death to come claim me. I have no valid reason to be alive, and I certainly have no reason to waste my remaining energy fighting. So no... I am not going to throw punches at a bitter little girl who has seen practically nothing and knows absolutely nothing about how brutal life truly is."

A mocking, lazy smirk returned to his lips as he tilted his chin up, daring me to make my next move. "So... what are you going

to do now, princess?"