Chapter 11 When Darkness Answers
“We need to inform her brother. It’s been a full day and the police still can’t find Selena!” Lilith snapped, her voice trembling with panic.
Michael slammed his palm against the hood of his car, the metal ringing out in the quiet street. “I don’t know what her uncle’s capable of anymore! I just I left her for a few minutes, Lilith. Just a few minutes!” His breath came in ragged bursts. “I called her name, over and over, but she didn’t answer. All I found was her bag lying on the ground.”
Lilith’s chest tightened. “What if she was kidnapped?” she whispered, her mind racing through every possible horror. Then, more fiercely, “No. I can’t sit here and do nothing. I’m telling Lucifer. He has to find her.”
Before Michael could stop her, she flagged down a taxi and jumped inside, her heart pounding against her ribs.
The ride to Lucifer’s mansion felt endless. When the cab finally stopped at the towering iron gates, the place looked even more haunting than she remembered dark windows, no lights, the air thick and cold. Every instinct screamed at her to turn back. But this was for Selena. She couldn’t.
Taking a deep breath, Lilith pushed the heavy gates open. The hinges groaned in protest.
Inside, the mansion loomed like a living shadow. The courtyard was eerily silent. No guards. No maids. Not even the sound of wind. Just as she took a cautious step forward, a voice slid through the air behind her.
“Aren’t you afraid to be here?”
Lilith spun around with a startled scream. Standing there was a woman dressed entirely in black, her eyes gleaming like molten gold under the dim moonlight. Her beauty was breathtaking and terrifying. Power radiated from her like heat.
“I—I’m here to see Lucifer,” Lilith managed, her voice barely above a whisper.
The woman’s lips curved into a smirk. “What business does a mortal have with Lucifer?” She circled Lilith slowly, her long black gown brushing against the marble floor like smoke.
Lilith could feel her knees weakening. Her voice trembled. “My friend Selena. She’s missing. The police can’t find her. Please… he’s the only one who can help.”
Morgana’s smirk deepened, though her eyes flashed with something unreadable. “You can go,” she said at last. “I’ll inform Lucifer.”
Lilith didn’t need to be told twice. She turned and fled through the gates, her heart hammering so hard it hurt.
“Who was that?” Lucifer’s deep voice rolled from the shadows as he stepped out of the main house, his presence commanding and cold.
Morgana bowed slightly. “That was Lilith, Selena’s friend. She says Selena is missing.”
Lucifer’s jaw clenched. The air around him shifted, heavy and charged. “I knew this would happen,” he growled, his eyes flashing a violent shade of crimson. “But I didn’t think anyone would dare take what belongs to me.”
“Master… do you know who took her?” Morgana asked carefully.
“I don’t know,” he started, but his words faltered. His eyes darkened, and his body went rigid. The air trembled. A whisper low and ancient began echoing in his mind, calling his name. A pull from another realm.
“Master? What’s happening?” Morgana’s tone turned sharp.
“The vampire realm is summoning me,” Lucifer said, his voice deeper, layered with fury. “It seems it’s that time again… their yearly sacrifice.”
Morgana’s expression flickered with curiosity. “Shall I come with you?”
“No,” he said, his eyes burning brighter. “Meet me in Hell. I’ll deal with them myself.”
He looked toward the dark sky, his wings unfolding behind him in a blaze of fire and shadow. “How dare they summon me like a servant,” he hissed and vanished.
IN THE VAMPIRE REALM
The air was thick with the stench of blood and damp earth. Selena hung limply from the dead tree, her wrists bound so tight the ropes bit into her skin. Every shallow breath scraped her throat. Around her, shadows moved like living things.
The clearing pulsed with a strange, red light. Ancient symbols glowed across the soil, veins of fire winding in circles around her bare feet. Each line burned faintly, the heat licking at her skin.
King Luca stood before the altar, his crimson cloak brushing the ground. His eyes were voids cold and endless as he drew a dagger across his palm. Blood slid down his fingers, thick and dark, sizzling as it hit the glowing runes. The smell of iron filled the air.
Selena flinched when he reached for her hand. His touch was cold, too steady, too calm. The blade grazed her skin, and pain burst through her arm. Blood welled up, dripping onto the altar to mingle with his. The fire beneath her feet flared brighter, spreading outward like a heartbeat.
The vampires around the altar began to move, their low hum rising into a chant. It started soft almost a whisper but grew, voices weaving together into a haunting rhythm that seemed to come from the earth itself.
“O dark one, ruler below,
Keeper of flame, hear us now.
Blood to bind, soul to claim,
Lucifer, come by blood, by name.”
Their words rattled through Selena’s bones. The forest around them shivered, the trees groaning as if alive. The night air grew colder, sharp enough to sting her lungs. Her vision blurred, but she forced her eyes open forced herself to stay awake.
The ground trembled beneath her feet. The runes split open, releasing a burst of black smoke that spiraled upward, thick and twisting. The chanting grew frenzied, desperate. Lightning flashed across the sky, red instead of white.
Then silence.
The smoke gathered, folding into a shape that blotted out the moon. Wings. Horns. Eyes like molten gold. Lucifer emerged from the darkness, towering, his power pressing against the air until even the fire dimmed in his presence.
Selena’s breath caught in her throat. The force of him was unbearable heat and cold colliding in a single heartbeat. Her knees gave way, but the ropes held her upright.
Every vampire in the clearing dropped to their knees, heads bowed.
King Luca’s voice was low, reverent. “This,” he said, gesturing toward Selena, “is your sacrifice, my lord. Accept it from us.”
Lucifer’s gaze fell on her. It wasn’t just a look it was a pull, a fire searing through her veins. His eyes glowed brighter as they traced the blood on her skin, the trembling in her shoulders, the raw fear she tried so hard to hide.
The air shifted. Rage pure, ancient, and cold rolled off him in waves. The ground cracked beneath his feet.
Selena could feel it his power, his fury and she knew in that instant that whatever he was, whatever he wanted, it wasn’t mercy.