Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 284

Hades

The words felt too small, too late, but they were all I had.

Elliot watched me.

Silent.

Unmoving.

I held my breath, afraid to even blink. Waiting.

Waiting for something—anything—that would tell me it wasn't too late.

But then—

Elliot's gaze flicked over my shoulder.

Past me.

Searching.

Hope flared in those green familiar eyes, sharp and desperate.

Searching for her.

For Eve.

And when he didn't find her—when the doorway stayed hollow, silent, empty—

his face crumpled.

Not with tears.

But with a hollowness that split me open.

He looked back at me, and there was nothing warm in that look. No forgiveness. No trust.

Only the fragile, shattered remains of a child trying not to hope anymore.

I moved without thinking, reaching out a hand—slow, careful, like taming a wounded animal.

But the moment I got close, Elliot flinched.

He recoiled so violently it was as if I had struck him.

My hand froze mid-air, fingers trembling.

Gutted didn't even begin to cover it.

He didn't trust me.

He was afraid of me.

The realization carved itself into my chest, deep and ugly.

He was just a child.

A small, traumatized child who had endured more betrayal, more abandonment than he could even put into words.

And now—

I was just another monster in the long, endless line.

I lowered my hand slowly, pressing it to my thigh to stop the tremor.

I opened my mouth to speak—to beg—but before I could, the Flux stirred.

>Rude little mutt.

The voice slithered through my skull, oily and cold.

>Ungrateful, filthy pup.

My vision blurred at the edges, black creeping in.

My fingers twitched at my side, the muscles spasming against my will.

>Discipline.

>You need to discipline him.

>Show him fear before he forgets who you are.

No.

I clenched my fists until my nails broke skin.

>Weak. You let him disrespect you like a sniveling mortal.

The whisper grew louder, crowding out the silence.

I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting it, fighting it—

>You should have learned from your father.

The world tilted. I felt myself slipping.

Falling.

A red haze descended over my vision.

Before I could think—before I could stop it—the thought rose:

Hurt him.

Teach him.

"No!" The roar tore from my throat, ragged and broken, reverberating off the sterile walls.

I grabbed at my hair, tearing, yanking, anything to drown out the voices, anything to keep the monsters clawing inside me at bay.

Elliot scrambled back at the outburst, his eyes wide with terror.

I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the voices to stop, the Flux to quiet, the damage to undo itself.

"Get out," I hissed, the words scraping my throat bloody.

"You don't own me," I growled, teeth gritted so hard my jaw ached. "I took you in. I used you. You don't get to control me."

The Flux only chuckled.

>You didn't take me in, it whispered silkily. I chose you.

I filled the hollow places you carved yourself.