Chapter 127 No father would
Chapter 127 No father would
Celeste POV
“No, Vuk, don’t listen to her—she already took my eyes!” Maureen screamed hoarsely behind me, her voice cracking under the weight of panic and desperation. Even blind, even trembling, she still tried to hold onto control, still tried to sway him before I could tighten the noose properly. I rolled my eyes slowly at her outburst, unimpressed, her frantic shouting doing nothing but adding noise to a situation that demanded precision.
“Think carefully, Vuk…” I said calmly, lifting my hand just slightly, letting the invisible thread of magic tighten around Lauren’s small body. She rose higher into the air, her tiny limbs moving weakly as confusion stirred inside her fragile mind. Not crying yet—just startled, sensing danger without understanding it. “Lauren… or a tiny little blood offering. Your choice.”
“And an oath,” I added quietly, tilting my head as I studied his face with slow calculation.
Nyxara moved sharply beside him, her tail flicking with barely restrained rage, her gaze burning holes straight through me. “What do you want the blood for?” she snapped harshly, suspicion dripping from every word. “You think we’re just going to hand you something like that without knowing what you’re planning?”
I couldn’t help the low chuckle that slipped from my throat, roughened slightly by the pain still burning deep in my ribs from Vuk’s earlier attack. Gods, that bastard had hit hard—but pain never stopped a determined mind. Pain sharpened it.
“Did you really think,” I replied slowly, wiping the faint line of blood from the corner of my lips, “that I would tell you what I plan on doing with devil’s blood?” I let the silence stretch just long enough before flashing a sharp, mocking grin. “Bitch, I’m not snitching on myself.”
Nyxara’s eyes flashed dangerously, her claws flexing at her sides as if she were seconds away from lunging at me, but Vuk stopped her with a single sharp movement of his hand. He didn’t take his eyes off me—not once. Not even when Lauren shifted faintly in the air between us.
Good.
That meant he understood.
This wasn’t about pride anymore.
This was about survival.
I let out a slow breath, allowing a faint tremor to slip into my voice—not weakness, but something carefully crafted to sound like it. A reminder of reality. Of odds. Of truth.
“Look at me,” I said quietly, spreading my free hand slightly. “Look at what I’m standing against. A devil. An incubus. A Luna.” My lips curved into something bitter, something raw and honest enough to feel believable. “Do you really think I walked into this expecting victory?”
Lauren drifted another inch higher into the air.
Just enough movement to tighten the tension in the room like a drawn bowstring.
“I accept defeat,” I continued slowly, my tone shifting into something heavier, more grounded, something edged with dangerous sincerity. “Go ahead. Kill me. Tear me apart. Rip my body into pieces if that’s what you want.” My eyes locked directly onto Vuk’s burning gaze, unflinching, unafraid. “You can save your wife. You can save your pride.”
I paused deliberately, letting the next words sink in before speaking them aloud.
“But before any of that happens,” I added softly, tightening my fingers slightly in the air, “Lauren dies first.”
Maureen let out a broken scream behind me, the sound slicing through the room like shattered glass.
“NO—!”
I ignored her completely.
My attention stayed fixed on Vuk.
Always Vuk.
Because he was the one who mattered here.
“Pick,” I whispered quietly. “Keep your pride… your strength… your Alpha dominance… or give me a little blood and let’s go band for band.” I exhaled sharply, frustration slipping into my tone now, but not uncontrolled—never uncontrolled. “Even though I know I’m going to lose… fuck… I knew from day one this was always going to end like this.”
I shook my head slowly, letting out a low, bitter laugh that echoed faintly against the stone walls.
“This was never a fair fight,” I muttered quietly, almost to myself. “Never me and you on equal ground.”
My gaze shifted briefly toward Nyxara, then back to Vuk.
“Just a witch,” I said softly, tapping lightly against my own chest. “And a bad devil.” My lips curled faintly at the corner. “I have no stand.”
The silence that followed felt suffocating.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
Vuk’s entire body trembled with barely restrained violence, his fists clenched so tightly that veins bulged visibly beneath his skin. The power radiating from him filled the air like heat before a storm, thick and suffocating, threatening to explode at any second.
Good.
Let him feel that fury.
Let it choke him.
Because rage clouded judgment.
Fear forced surrender.
I shifted Lauren slightly again, letting her hover just enough to remind them how fragile she truly was. Her tiny fingers moved weakly through the air, reaching instinctively for something familiar—something safe.
Maureen sobbed harder behind me.
Blind.
Helpless.
Listening but unable to act.
Perfect.
“You think I don’t understand how this ends?” I continued slowly, lowering my voice into something deeper, something threaded with quiet fury. “You think I don’t know that the moment she’s safe, you’ll tear me apart?” My lips curved into something sharp and fearless. “Of course you will. You should.”
I took one slow step backward, keeping Lauren suspended firmly in place as my gaze remained locked on his.
“But at least this way,” I whispered quietly, “I walk away breathing.”
Nyxara shifted slightly, her voice lowering into something dangerously calm. “You’re buying time,” she said quietly. “You’re stalling.”
I smiled faintly.
Of course I was.
Every second mattered.
Every breath mattered.
“Maybe,” I replied lightly. “Or maybe I’m surviving.”
Then I lifted my chin slightly, meeting Vuk’s burning stare with steady defiance.
“So what’s it going to be?” I asked quietly. “Your pride… or your daughter?”
The silence that followed felt endless.
But I knew.
Deep down—
I had already won this moment.
Because no father chooses pride over blood.
Not when his child hangs between life and death.