Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 266

I turned sharply, instinct on edge. Felicia's voice echoed down the corridor, loud and panicked—her heels a staccato beat against the floor as she came into view, hair windblown, face flushed with fear.

"Elliot!" she shouted again, skidding to a halt when she saw him in my arms.

I felt him startle. He quickly pushed the papers back down. Hiding it again as well as whatever he thought I was finally trusted enough to show me.

Not like a child who'd been found—but like a creature caught. His little body went rigid against me, his earlier emotions—frustration, confusion, plea—sealed behind a wall of practiced stillness.

He didn't move. _{freewēbnoveℓ.com}

Didn't sign.

Didn't cry out.

He just… shut down.

My grip tightened slightly, protectively, and I looked down at him. His face had gone blank in that way only children who'd learned to hide too young could manage.

Felicia's eyes widened when she reached us. "Where did you find him? He wasn't in his assigned wing! I've been searching—gods, I've been searching everywhere—"

"By the holding sector," I said, voice low.

She blinked. "What?"

"He came here. Alone." I kept my voice steady.

Her face paled instantly. "No."

Elliot didn't react. He didn't even glance at her.

And I saw the guilt in Felicia's eyes, fast and sharp, before she buried it beneath a strained smile. "You shouldn't have run off like that, darling," she said, reaching for him.

He didn't reach back.

Didn't even blink.

I didn't hand him over immediately.

His little fingers were still curled in the front of my coat, not in trust—but in fear. And I realized then—

He hadn't run to find comfort.

He'd run because something in him knew… someone needed saving.

Even if he couldn't say it out loud.

I finally lowered him into her arms, and only then did he move—curling into her side with a practiced obedience that made something inside me twist.

Felicia kissed the top of his head. "Don't ever do that again," she whispered. "You scared me."

He didn't nod.

Didn't smile.

Just rested his head against her shoulder.

I watched them, silent.

And for the first time, I wondered…

And why Elliot had come all this way—not to her, but to the very place she hadn't wanted him near.

The place she'd sworn to shield him from.

> "Children don't lie," the flux murmured. "But adults do. Even the ones who grieve in red lipstick."

I didn't answer.

I had a sudden sinking feeling. I recognised that flinching. I flinched like that when I was with my father after the night the twins were born.

Felicia narrowed her eyes, still rocking Elliot absently against her shoulder. "What could he possibly be doing here? By the holding sector of all places? That's restricted—he could've been hurt."

I watched Elliot's face.

The flicker.

Barely a breath.

His eyes darted up to mine—a flash of green so vivid it almost hurt. A silent question. A plea wrapped in fear and hope.

Please don't tell.

It wasn't Eve he was protecting anymore.

It was himself.

And I saw it.

All of it.

The fear, the restraint, the quiet desperation that didn't belong in a child his age.

I knew that look.

I'd worn it myself.

Once.

Long ago.

"He was looking for me," I said flatly, the lie slipping out so easily I didn't have time to regret it. "He got turned around. Saw the guards, got scared. That's all."

Felicia froze.

For a split second—just one—I saw her jaw tighten. Her smile strained like over-stretched thread. "Is that so?" she murmured, smoothing Elliot's hair back like she was trying to hide her reaction. "That doesn't sound like him. He's usually so… obedient."

My gut clenched.