Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 201

Hades

Amelia remained silent for what was probably a full minute. I could hear the gears in her head turning and stopping, then turning again.

Finally, she glanced at me, avoiding both Eve’s and Kael’s anxious gazes.

"This cannot be true. This is unfathomable." Her voice was quiet, but I could tell that she wanted to exclaim.

"I would never joke about something like this," I countered.

"He never jokes," Kael quipped, trying to disrupt the tension in the room. In a more serious tone, he added, "This is very real, Lia. Ellen Valmont is truly Eve Valmont."

"The cursed twin," she whispered under her breath before she caught herself, but Eve had already flinched at the title. I wrapped my arm around her, attempting to soothe her.

"Yes, according to the prophecy," I murmured, my voice sharp, so she would get the message.

She coughed, clearing her throat. "I apologize, El— I mean Eve. This is unprecedented. I am sorry."

"I more than understand, Lia," Eve tried to keep her tone light, but the tension she was attempting to hide shone through.

Lia took a deep breath before looking around the table, the silence suffocating. "And you were imprisoned?" Empathy seeped into her voice. "You were..."

"Tortured, starved, and experimented on," Eve listed them out like a measly list.

My jaw clenched. "Ordered by her own family," I added.

"And now..."

"They are back. They want her back in Silverpine and are using the decline after Jules died as a crutch," Kael supplied again.

"Pulling shit from their asses, calling it a stipulation."

"But it’s valid."

"Very," I replied.

"The fact that they stayed shows that they are desperate, too. They want her back at all costs for the goddess knows what. It can’t be anything good. Those monsters," an edge crept into Kael’s tone.

"And when that didn’t work, their Beta decided that a diplomatic scandal would be perfect to force my hand."

Eve’s shoulders stiffened at the mention of the Beta. Her memories were still fresh, and every word felt like a wound reopened. I could sense her fighting to maintain her composure, but I also knew how much it cost her.

Amelia noticed the shift, and for a moment, her eyes softened. She leaned forward, placing her hands on the table. "Eve," she said gently, her voice calm, "do you need a moment?"

"With the Hollowing reversed, your wolf is able to return to you in full strength," Amelia continued, her tone careful and deliberate. "That’s a significant change, Eve. But there’s more to consider here. Your emotional recovery isn’t just about the Hollowing. It’s about dealing with the trauma, the psychological scars that have been left by everything that’s happened to you."

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Eve nodded slowly, her fingers tightening around the edge of the table. "I understand that, Lia. But I can’t keep running from it. It’s been my whole life, and if I don’t face it now, it will never stop haunting me."

"How does facing them alone make you feel?"

Eve didn’t answer immediately. She was silent for a long moment, staring at the surface of the table, her mind seemingly miles away. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. "Terrified. I’m terrified of facing them, of what they’ll do… what they’ll say. But I know I have to. I can’t keep hiding, not from them, not from myself."

Her words were raw and vulnerable, and it made my chest tighten with both pride and sorrow. Here she was spilling every wound and fear. But I still hid things from her, detrimental things.

I wanted her as a weapon.

I wanted to harvest her essence like some lab rat.

I wanted to wipe her kind from existence.

A lump formed in my throat, but I swallowed it down. We would cross the bridges when we got there. One thing was sure: no matter what, I would be by her side. Absolutely nothing could change that. I could never go through with my plans—not because of some far-fetched morality that I had suddenly grown, but for her. Only her.