Chapter 144 A Father’s Greed
“What do you want from me?” Selena screamed.
The words tore out of her throat as agony slammed into her from all sides. The air itself turned hostile, crushing her downward with merciless force. Stone groaned beneath her body, spiderweb cracks spreading across the floor as dust burst upward in choking clouds. Her limbs shook violently, muscles screaming as she fought against a power that refused to let her rise.
Above her, Luca stood unmoving.
Untouched.
His presence filled the chamber like a looming shadow, ancient and suffocating.
Power rolled off him in slow, deliberate waves, tightening around Selena’s body until it felt less like magic and more like chains forged from her own bones.
A smile tugged at his mouth.
Not wide. Not cruel.
Amused.
“Now,” he said, lifting his hand with careless grace, as though conducting an invisible orchestra, “you’re ready to talk.”
His fingers curled.
The force multiplied.
Selena’s body was hurled back into the floor with bone-rattling violence. The impact shattered the remaining air in her lungs, a sharp, broken cry ripped from her chest as fire tore through her veins. Pain flooded her senses hot, blinding, merciless.
She gasped, dragging in shallow breaths, every inhale burning. Her palms scraped uselessly against stone as she tried to push herself up, nails biting into the floor, but the pressure only increased, flattening her completely.
Her heart thundered in her ears.
Slowly inch by trembling inch she lifted her head.
Dust clung to her skin, her hair plastered to her face with sweat, but her eyes found his.
Locked onto him.
There was no panic there.
No pleading.
Only something cold.
Something final.
Luca clicked his tongue, the sound sharp in the silence. He crouched in front of her, lowering himself to her level, studying her expression as though she were a curiosity.
“That look,” he murmured. “Why give your own father such hatred?”
He leaned closer, invading her space, his voice dropping until it brushed her ear like a threat wrapped in silk.
“And don’t bother hoping,” he added softly. “Lucifer isn’t coming. It’s just you and me in this chamber.”
Selena’s jaw tightened.
“No matter how much they trained you,” Luca said softly.
His fingers slid into her hair without permission, damp strands slipping between them as he brushed it back from her face. The touch was intimate in the worst way slow, claiming, deliberate.
Selena’s body stiffened as revulsion crawled up her spine, her skin prickling beneath his hand.
“You will always be weak,” he continued, his thumb grazing her temple. “Human blood stains you.”
A shudder ran through her not fear, not pain.
Disgust.
“And right now,” he whispered, lowering his mouth closer to her ear, his breath warm against her skin, “I need something from you.”
Selena twisted sharply, wrenching her head away. Her hand came up with what little strength she had left, striking his wrist aside.
“What do you need?” she spat, the words raw, edged with venom.
Luca straightened slowly.
The satisfaction in his eyes was unmistakable, bright and hungry, like a predator that had finally cornered its prey.
“Your blood,” he said. “Hemilune blood.”
For a heartbeat, silence swallowed the chamber.
Then a laugh escaped Selena’s lips.
Soft.
Broken.
It trembled at first, as though even she hadn’t expected it. Then it grew, echoing off the stone walls, sharp and unhinged.
“You could’ve said that earlier,” she said between breaths, lifting her head to meet his gaze. “I would’ve given it to you willingly.”
Luca’s smile faltered.
Before suspicion could fully take hold, Selena raised her hand.
The air rippled, bending inward as if reality itself obeyed her. Light folded, and a silver cup formed in her grasp, gleaming faintly in the dim chamber.
She clenched her fist.
A thin line split open across her palm. Blood welled instantly dark, rich, alive. It dripped slowly into the cup, each drop heavy, pulsing with power. The air thickened, charged, humming with something ancient and dangerous. The scent of it filled the room, metallic and intoxicating.
When the cup was full, Selena held it out.
“This is what you want,” she said evenly.
“Take it.”
Greed won.
Luca seized the cup, lifting it without hesitation. He drank deeply, desperately, as if afraid it might vanish if he paused.
Not a single drop spilled.
“Yes,” he breathed when he finished, a wild gleam igniting in his eyes. “I can feel it. The power… it’s mine. No one can stop me now. Not even Lucifer.”
The words had barely left his mouth when his legs betrayed him.
His knees buckled violently. The cup slipped from his fingers, striking the floor with a sharp clang before rolling away.
Luca staggered, arms flailing as the world spun out from under him. He collapsed hard, gasping, clawing at the stone as dizziness consumed him.
“What” His voice shook, thin and panicked. “What have you done to me?”
Selena stood.
The crushing force pinning her down vanished as if it had never existed. She stepped forward, slow and unhurried, her footsteps echoing softly as she closed the distance between them.
“Your greed did this,” she said, looking down at him. “Did you really think you could claim Hemilune blood as your own?”
She knelt beside him.
Her eyes were empty. Cold. Final.
“It is my blood,” she continued quietly. “It answers to me. I command it. And I commanded it to destroy you.”
“I’m still your father,” Luca whispered, terror finally breaking through his weakening voice.
Selena didn’t flinch.
“The day you stopped being my father was the day you sacrificed me,” she said. “Your kingdom is gone. And you will die here.”
She rose and lifted her hand.
The air tore open.
Seraphine stepped into the chamber.
Her gaze fell on Luca’s broken form, and laughter spilled from her lips low, cruel, satisfied.
“So it’s true,” she said as she walked toward him. “When Selena told me she would hand you over to me, I thought she was lying.”
She crouched, gripping his chin and forcing his face up. “Look at you now. I haven’t decided how I’ll kill you yet.”
“I’m your husband,” Luca rasped. “How did you side with her?”
Seraphine leaned close, her lips brushing his ear.
“How could I turn against the one favored by Lucifer?”
Steel flashed.
The dagger slid into his chest.
“Your selfishness killed you,” she whispered.
Hidden in the corner of the chamber, unseen, Morgana let out a slow breath. “I can’t believe Selena handled it like that.”
Beside her, Lucifer smiled.
“What do you think,” he murmured, eyes fixed on Selena, “about making her a demon?”