"Because it's true. Heaven is upstairs. Pretty girls play pretty games up there. Down here, little lamb, we play for keeps."
She doesn't flinch at the threat.
Instead, she says the words that seal her fate: "I belong in the dark. I've been living in it for eight years. The only difference is that down here, everyone admits it."
Eight years.
Since the night I killed her parents.
I created this creature standing before me.
Something shifts in my chest—a feeling I don't recognize and don't like.
Interest? Possession? Something darker?
I stand, towering over her, and she has to tilt her head back to maintain eye contact.
This close, I can see the pulse racing in her throat, see her pupils dilated with arousal rather than fear.
I can see the small scar on her neck—from that night?
From trying to save her parents?
"What's your name?"
"Selene."
Of course, I already know, but hearing her say it, here in my domain, makes it real.
Makes this moment real.
The judge's daughter is in Hell, looking at me like she wants me to destroy her.
I can work with that.
The next minutes are a test.
I make her watch the woman's punishment—real punishment, real pain, real humiliation.
Adriel is brutal, efficient.
The woman who betrayed me takes him in every hole while she sobs apologies that don't matter.
Selene watches, transfixed.
Her thighs press together.
Her breathing quickens.
A flush spreads down her chest.
Perfect.
She's absolutely perfect.
When I pull her onto my lap, when I wrap my hand around her throat, she melts into me like she was made for this.
Like she's been waiting eight years for my hand around her throat.
