Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 263

Eve

My head lolled as my thoughts spun in slow, nauseating circles. The darkness around me felt familiar—like my old prison—but heavier. Tighter. Sleep came in fits, broken by cold sweats and Rhea's restless muttering in the background of my mind.

She was back… but quiet. Exhausted. Distant.

And then the footsteps came.

Slow. Heavy. Purposeful.

My spine straightened against the wall before I could stop myself. The chains around my wrists clinked as I sat up on the bed. Light flooded the cell as the door groaned open, sharp and sudden, making my eyes water.

By the time I blinked away the sting, he was already in front of me.

Hades.

Or… what was left of him.

He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, posture rigid, too perfect. His skin was paler than I remembered, like moonlight carved into stone. His face looked untouched by time—smooth and sharp—but harder somehow. Harsher. As if every softness in him had been whittled away.

I couldn't imagine his dimples showing anymore, even if he smiled.

And his eyes… gods, his eyes.

They were grey still, but tinged now with something darker. A red halo around the iris that turned them into something unnatural. Something wrong.

He said nothing for a while.

Just stared at me.

"What do you want?" I asked finally, my voice rough from disuse.

His expression didn't change. "The password."

I blinked. "What?"

"The passphrase. Seven words," he said flatly. "The encrypted file on the memory card. I need it."

I blinked again, confusion flooding me. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

He didn't react at first. Just stared harder, as though he could pull the truth out of my skin with his eyes alone.

Then he took a step forward.

And I recoiled.

The smell hit me before the sound of his boots did—something sickly, almost sweet. Like rot. Like death.

Rhea stirred with a sharp hiss. "Don't let him touch us."

"I don't know it," I said quietly.

He tilted his head, just slightly. "Try again."

"I'm not lying," I said, brow furrowing. "I never even knew what was inside that card."

There was a beat of silence.

Then a bitter laugh escaped me before I could stop it. I shook my head.

"Of course," I muttered. "You think I'm lying because it would hurt your pride more to believe I simply didn't know. That I never even mattered enough to be given the truth."

His jaw tensed.

My voice grew quieter, but sharper. "Men always think they're smarter than they are. That every move a woman makes is part of some master plan they just haven't figured out yet."

He flinched—barely—but I caught it.

And then he stepped closer again.