Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 206

Hades

"With three casualties and one survivor, it was a complete disaster. And then Silverpine took responsibility."

Eve stiffened, and guilt flashed across her face.

I cupped her cheek, my thumb brushing lightly against her skin. "Don’t you dare blame yourself. You were not part of their insidious plans. We had to find the traitor."

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. "Did you?"

Her voice was tight with anticipation, anxiety laced beneath it.

I exhaled slowly. "No. Because, unlike what we first believed, there was no traitor. Only trackers."

Her brows knitted together. "But the trackers would have been detected during security sweeps. I’m sure of it."

I sighed, the weight of the truth pressing against my ribs. "Not if the tracker wasn’t placed on a person. Not if it wasn’t a simple piece of technology."

Eve’s eyes sharpened. "Then where was it?"

"In the gasoline," I murmured. My voice was low, dark with realization. "It was in the fuel itself."

She inhaled sharply. "They tagged the fuel?"

I nodded. "A tracer. Embedded at a molecular level. A failsafe."

Her fingers dug into my arm. "That means… there was never a traitor. The convoy was doomed the moment they filled their tanks."

A bitter chuckle left my throat. "Clever, wasn’t it? We spent months interrogating, searching for an informant that didn’t exist, only to realize we were looking in the wrong direction."

Her expression darkened. "Who supplied the fuel?"

"Our pack," I admitted, my voice hollow. "But we later found a breach within the distillation system. Underground. Undetected. Everything checked out on paper. Nothing looked suspicious. But when we ran molecular scans after the attack…"

She inhaled sharply. "You found it."

"A signal. Embedded in the chemical compound of the gasoline itself. No traditional tracker. No physical bug. Just a coded marker that broadcasted our coordinates the moment the fuel combusted." I exhaled sharply. "That’s how they found them. That’s how they knew exactly when and where to strike."

Eve’s hands curled into fists. "And Silverpine… took responsibility?"

I gave a sharp nod. "It was their victory. They had to relish it. The first successful assassination of not just the king but his father. Danielle was caught in the crossfire, but her death only fed their ego."

A tense silence stretched between us before I spoke again.

"After the burial of my brother and father, Montague still hadn’t let go of her body."

Eve’s brow furrowed. "Danielle’s?"

I nodded, my jaw clenching. "He kept her. Refused to release her remains. I was not allowed to lay her to rest."

She inhaled sharply, anger flashing in her eyes. "Until you gave her justice."

"Yes," I murmured. "I needed the head of the Beast of the Night."

Eve studied me, her expression unreadable. "And then you let her go."

I hesitated. "I have but…"

She shook her head. "You haven’t."

My fingers tightened around the edge of the sheets.

"You can’t let her go until you have closure," she said softly.

I exhaled slowly. "Closure comes with…"

"Letting her rest," she finished for me.

I nodded, my voice quieter this time. "Knowing that she’s at peace."

Eve studied me for a long moment, then shook her head. "No, Hades. That’s not closure."