Chapter 194: Vampire Luna

I let out a sharp, frustrated breath, lowering my hands to my sides. "Fine," I growled, my dark eyes cutting into his calm face with unwavering bitterness.

I whipped my head around toward Ava, who was still standing completely frozen by the counter. "Go pack up every single thing we brought with us. We are leaving this house immediately. We can only pray that our absence hasn't been noticed by anyone out there while we were stuck in this place. And move fast, Ava—don't you dare waste another second of my time."

Ava flinched at my hard tone, nodding frantically before turning on her heel and rushing out of the dining room to grab our belongings.

A deep, appreciative laugh echoed from the old hunter's throat as he watched her hurry away. He turned his gaze back to me, a proud smirk spreading across his weathered features. "Now that is the spirit," he rumbled, tilting his head with a slow nod. "That true, commanding spirit... I like it. That is exactly what I wanted to see. I needed that dormant beast inside you to finally unleash itself. Only when you learn to embrace that ruthless fire can nations truly crumble at your feet."

He paused, his jovial expression gradually softening into something far more serious and calculated. He leaned forward, resting his thick forearms against the table as his piercing gaze locked directly onto my eyes.

"However, I did notice something back when you were drinking that blood bag," he warned, his voice dropping into a heavy, deliberate rumble. "I saw the intense, dangerous pleasure you took in every single drop. Pay close attention, girl, because this may very well be my final warning to you. You have to remain completely disciplined at all times. You must stick strictly to the path you have just started."

He tapped his thick, calloused finger against the wooden tabletop to emphasize his point. "If you allow your discipline to break even a single time, starting over from scratch will be infinitely harder. You would have to drag your body through that exact same agonizing, hellish process all over again. You fought hard to pass this trial today—don't ruin it by letting your hunger control you."

Before I could snap back at him, heavy footsteps echoed down the wooden hallway. Ava reappeared in the doorway, carrying two large, worn travel bags slung over her shoulders. She hurried straight over to the corner of the room where the storage box was kept, unzipping the top compartment of her main bag. She reached down and began grabbing the remaining sealed blood bags, carefully arranging and packing them neatly into the padded interior.

The Butcher watched her swift movements, counting the clear pouches in his head as she stacked them up.

"There are exactly forty-five blood bags left in that stash," he noted calmly, shifting his dark eyes back to my face. "That means forty-five days from this very morning, I will be expecting the two of you to walk back through my front door. By then, I will have hunted and gathered as many fresh blood bags as humanly possible for your next stage. You can return here, and I will be genuinely excited to see just how far you have grown and progressed by that time."

His eyes narrowed into a firm, unyielding stare as he added, "But do not bother showing your face here if the forty-five days are not fully complete."

I crossed my arms over my chest, letting out a cold, sharp scoff. "Fine. See you soon... and I truly hope you manage to drop dead before then."

The old man didn't take offense at all. Instead, a genuine, soft smile touched his lips, his eyes twinkling with quiet amusement. "Hopefully so, princess... hopefully so. But it seems death and I have been intimate friends for far too long now, and he isn't in any rush to claim me just yet."

Ava adjusted the heavy straps of her oversized school backpack over her shoulders, pulling the zippers tight. Once every single pouch was secured and accounted for, she stepped up beside me and looked toward the exit.

We turned and walked out of the parlor, stepping through the front threshold of his house into the crisp, cool morning air. We turned around and stood on the wooden porch, waiting by the open doorway.

The Butcher followed us out, stepping onto the porch with slow, heavy strides. He reached out his broad arms and pulled Ava into a warm, fatherly hug, patting her back gently.

"Have a safe journey, girl," he whispered softly, pulling back just enough to look into her eyes. "Take good care of her out there... and make sure you keep her fiery temper in check."

Ava kept her hands wrapped tightly around his thick back, a wide, affectionate smile breaking across her face. "Don't worry about a thing," she replied warmly, her voice full of genuine gratitude. "I promise you I will."

The old hunter turned his attention toward me, stepping forward and extending his broad, open arms to offer me the exact same embrace.

I instantly took a sharp step backward, my top lip curling into a look of absolute disgust. "Eww... get away from me. I am definitely not hugging you."

The Butcher simply chuckled under his breath, shaking his head with a light, fond smile as he let his arms drop to his sides. Ava and I offered him one final nod of farewell, turning our backs on the cabin and beginning our long trek down the narrow, winding dirt trail.

As we walked away into the dense treeline, I cast a quick, subtle glance over my shoulder. The old hunter was still standing completely still on his front porch, watching our fading figures with a deeply wistful, heavy expression on his face—looking for all the world like a lonely father standing in the silence, watching his own children leave home fo

r the very last time.