Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 294

Hades

I didn't speak.

Couldn't.

There was nothing in me but a stunned, reverent silence as I watched her.

Eve.

A name I had spoken in fury, in prayer, in grief—but now I couldn't say it at all.

Because there she stood.

Because she dared.

Because she claimed her place not with a scream, but with a sentence that turned the air in this chamber electric.

And I was rooted. Watching. Breathing her in like smoke I had no right to inhale.

Kael was the first to break the spell. "She deserves the seat," he said, voice steady, jaw tight. "You all know it."

Silas scoffed. Loudly. The sound jarred against the quiet like metal grating over bone.

"Deserves?" he spat. "She's not even a Lycan. She holds no crest, no title, no claim. She isn't Obsidian, nor royal, nor anything but a... genetic advantage."

Gallinti folded his arms. "We're not a council of mercy. Our chamber is blood-forged. There are legacies in these seats, not pity projects."

Eve didn't flinch.

She let them speak. Let them sneer.

And still—didn't look at me.

Silas leaned forward, eyes narrowing at her like he was trying to incinerate her with disdain. "You now understand, I hope, why you were married off to him," he said, gesturing toward me. "It was never for an alliance, Never even strategy. You were a pawn. A temporary creature. Never meant to wield power—especially not in a room soaked in centuries of bloodline."

And I—I wanted to gut him.

The words rose unbidden. I slammed my hands on the table, rising so fast the room tilted.

"She bears my name," I growled, each word trembling with something darker than rage. "She is my wi—"

"He's right," Eve cut in.

My voice died.

Just like that. Like she'd reached into my chest and stilled it herself.

She turned to Silas, not bothering to acknowledge me. "You're absolutely right. I am no one in your eyes. No council seat. No lineage. No right to speak here."

I wanted to break something. Wanted her to look at me. Wanted her to care that I was defending her.

>"Narcisistic much?" The perpetual voice of the flux slithered through my mind.

But she was calm. Pragmatic. Cold in the way only truth could be.

"I'm not here to pretend to be what I'm not," she continued. "I'm here because you want something only I can give. I'm offering a deal, not a delusion. I don't want your throne or your titles. I want influence. I want to ensure I don't become a tool the next time this tower gets nervous."

The dagger slid between my ribs. But between bated breath, I made my way to her but as tried to cross the threshold, past Kael, a hand latched unto mine.

I tore my gaze from Eve, my eyes snapping her him, ire rising like a tsunami.

Plastered on his face was an unreadable expression, his grip tightened as he gestured to Eve, where she stood, staring a Governer and Ambassador down.

"I have no allies within this tower. Everyone of you have your goals and loyalties alike. Same as me, mine is as simple as yours; I want my people to live."

>"Our toy has lost her mind. Mutts must die." Lost was the teasingly mocking lilt to its voice.

>"You mate was one of them." I drawled in my mind.

>"Elysia was the only of them that mattered. She is dead because of them. I have no empathy for their kind.

Silas scoffed at Eve's statement, his lip curling like he was already bored.

"So that is your reason for trying to join the council?" he sneered. "You think you have a say in the outcome of our foes? In war?"

Eve tilted her head, just slightly. Her face remained unreadable.

"I think I have a say in what you do with me," she replied. "And if I'm the weapon you want to wield, I get to choose where I aim."

Montegue's brow twitched—approval. Silas turned red.