Chapter 3 Chains of Desire

Selena’s fingers twitched, trying to loosen Michael’s grip, but he held on until his knuckles turned ivory. Across from them, Lucifer stood unnervingly still. He didn't look like a man; he looked like a predator marking the exact trajectory of a kill. The air in the courtyard thickened, turning heavy and stagnant.

Michael forced a smile, though a cold bead of sweat traced a path down his spine. He knew the rumors. Everyone in the city knew that to cross Lucifer Morningstar was to invite a quiet, elegant extinction.

“Mr. Morningstar,” Michael said, his voice holding steady despite the visible tremor in his hands. “Selena and I… we’re together.”

Lucifer didn’t blink. He simply snapped his fingers.

Reality shattered. The distant chatter of students and the rustling of autumn leaves vanished instantly. A suffocating, unnatural silence rushed in to fill the void. Michael’s body froze, his fingers stiffening around Selena’s like a statue.

Lucifer’s eyes bled from dark cocoa to a smoldering, hellish red. He loathed the sight of Michael’s hand on her skin. With a lazy flick of his wrist, he pried them apart. An invisible force sent Michael stumbling back in slow motion, a searing heat blooming across his palm as if he’d touched a live wire.

Lucifer didn't spare him a second glance. He stepped back to his original position and snapped his fingers again.

Time lurched back into gear. Sound flooded the air. Movement resumed as if the world hadn't skipped a beat except for the unmistakable chasm that now stood between Michael and Selena.

Michael blinked, staring at his empty hand. He looked up to see Selena already standing beside Lucifer, his mind reeling. He had been holding her a second ago. He was sure of it.

Selena’s pulse drummed against her ribs. She knew Lucifer’s patience was a razor-thin wire, and his possessiveness was a wildfire.

Michael was standing in the center of the brush, blissfully ignorant of the sparks.

Lucifer’s gaze flicked toward the boy, and Michael went rigid.

“I never acknowledged you as her boyfriend,” Lucifer said, his voice silk-smooth and lethally quiet. “And you will never have the audacity to stand before me and say that again.”

Michael’s mouth opened to protest, but the raw power radiating from Lucifer choked the words in his throat. Lucifer exhaled, a sound of pure boredom, as if Michael’s very existence was a waste of his oxygen.

“Get in the car,” Lucifer commanded.

Selena didn’t hesitate. She knew that tone the low, vibrating growl he used right before he tore a life apart. Without a backward glance at Michael, she slid into the Lamborghini Huracán. Her fingers dug into the leather upholstery, trembling.

Lucifer took the wheel, the engine roaring to life with a primal snarl. The car shot forward, the city lights becoming nothing more than neon smears against the glass.

“You’re driving too fast,” Selena whispered, clutching the door handle.

Lucifer’s grip tightened on the wheel until the leather groaned.

“Lucifer!”

A sudden, violent swerve sent her jolting forward before the seatbelt snapped her back against the seat. She gritted her teeth, her heart hammering. He was furious. And when Lucifer Morningstar was furious, the world was destined to burn.

LUCIFER’S MANSION

The iron gates groaned open, and the Lamborghini screeched to a halt in the driveway. Before Selena could unbuckle, Lucifer was out of the car, his strides long and unrelenting. Inside the mansion, the air was saturated with power. Shadows stretched like reaching fingers along the gothic walls, and the heavy scent of aged parchment and burning sandalwood clung to the air.

He stopped abruptly in the center of the foyer. Selena halted a breath behind him, the silence echoing. He turned slowly, his eyes dark and unreadable.

“Tell me,” he murmured, his voice echoing off the high ceilings. “When did you get a boyfriend?”

Selena’s throat felt lined with glass. “We’ve been together for two years.”

Lucifer inhaled sharply, his jaw flexing so hard a muscle jumped in his cheek. “And you didn’t think I had the right to know?”

“I… I thought you wouldn’t approve,” she confessed, her eyes glistening with a mixture of guilt and terror.

A cold, humorless smirk curled his lips. “So you knew,” he echoed, taking a slow, predatory step forward. “And yet you still chose him.”

Selena backed away until her legs hit the edge of an antique velvet couch. “I didn’t want to upset you.”

Lucifer leaned in, his breath ghosting over her ear, sending chills racing down her spine. “And yet, you did.”

Her fingers twisted the hem of her dress into knots. “I’ll break up with him,” she whispered desperately. “Just… please don’t hurt him.”

“Then don’t make me.”

Lucifer tilted his head, studying her. He saw the desperation and the pleading in her eyes, and he hated it. He hated that her heart beat for anyone but him. His jaw clenched.

“You’re lucky I like you,” he murmured. “But don’t think I won’t follow through on my threats.”

Then, Lucifer snapped his fingers.

A surge of dark magic wrapped around Selena like invisible, heated chains. A wave of artificial desire bloomed in her chest, seeping into her marrow. Her limbs grew heavy and soft; her lips parted as a haze settled over her mind. She stumbled forward, losing her balance.

Lucifer caught her effortlessly, his large hands curling around her waist to pull her flush against his chest.

“Don’t call me uncle,” he hissed, his lips grazing her skin. “Call me Daddy.”

He pressed a thumb against her lower lip, forcing her mouth open before replacing it with his own finger. He watched her with hooded eyes, commanding her with a silent, magical pressure. Selena, lost to the spell, let out a broken moan, her senses overwhelmed by him.

A whimper escaped her throat as his mouth finally claimed hers. The kiss was a collision demanding, absolute, and burning with a dark hunger. Her body melted into his, the magic clouding her judgment and making her forget Michael, the school, and the world outside these walls.

It felt wrong. It felt like a betrayal of her soul. So why did it feel so devastatingly right?

Her hands clutched his shirt, bunching the expensive fabric. “It hurts,” she whispered against his lips.

Lucifer bit her lower lip, marking her. He pulled back just an inch, watching her through heavy-lidded eyes. “It’s your punishment.” His thumb brushed the sting he’d just created. “No man owns you. You belong to me.”

The magic pulsed harder, a rhythmic throb in her veins. The haze in her mind deepened into a thick, golden fog.

“I’m all yours, Lucifer,” she whispered, her voice unrecognizable.

Lucifer stared at her for a long, silent moment. Then, his expression hardened. With a sharp flick of his fingers, the spell shattered.

Selena gasped, her lungs burning as if she’d just surfaced from deep water. She blinked rapidly, the fog vanishing instantly. She looked down, horrified to find her dress slipping off her shoulders. Her face erupted in a feverish blush as she yanked the fabric back up, her mind screaming in confusion.

“I—I’m sorry,” she stammered, her voice trembling.

She turned and bolted, her bare feet slapping against the cold marble as she disappeared up the grand staircase.

A slow, mocking clap echoed through the hall. “Well, well.”

Lucifer didn’t turn. He knew that honey-thick, dangerous voice.

Morgana.

She stepped out from the shadows, her crimson lips curved into a sharp smirk. “The mighty Lucifer, King of Hell, in love with his own goddaughter?” She let out a sultry, melodic laugh. “That’s a new low, even for you.”

Lucifer exhaled sharply. “Why are you here, Morgana?”

She sauntered forward, her hips swaying with practiced grace. “Shouldn’t I be in Hell?

Perhaps. But I missed my King.” She trailed a sharp fingernail along the mahogany banister. “I came to check on you. Imagine my surprise when I found you casting compulsions on your precious little Selena.”

Lucifer’s expression remained a mask of stone.

Morgana’s smirk deepened. “Why play these games? Why not just claim her and be done with it?”

Lucifer’s gaze darkened, looking toward the stairs where Selena had vanished. “It’s not time.”

Morgana raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“There’s something about her,” Lucifer muttered, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous frequency. “Something I despise.”

His fingers curled into a tight fist. “I need to know if she’s connected to him.”