Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 342

Chapter 342: For Him

Hades

I watched them sleep.

Or maybe I just watched her.

Eve lay curled around Elliot, one arm slung over his tiny frame, her other hand still tangled loosely in mine—as if letting go would undo everything that had happened. Her breath was soft, measured, but her brow still furrowed slightly in sleep. Even now, she didn’t rest easily.

Elliot had fallen asleep almost instantly, warm and boneless between us like the world had finally allowed him peace.

I didn’t deserve this moment.

And yet I couldn’t stop staring.

At the rise and fall of her shoulders.

At the slight wrinkle in Elliot’s nose when he dreamed.

At the faint burn in my chest that wasn’t pain—but something older. Something... alive.

The silence pressed in, thick and sacred. I didn’t want to disturb it. Not with words. Not with movement. Not even with breath.

But I remembered everything now.

The Black Room. The purge. The shadow of Vassir coiled through every crack in my soul.

I remembered what I had become.

What I had done.

What she had done—to bring me back.

And I remembered the boy. My son. His voice, small but defiant, reaching me when nothing else could. Not rage. Not power. Not even her.

Only him.

"Daddy..."

I closed my eyes.

That word had cut deeper than any blade.

Because it had meant something. Because he had meant it.

I’d spent so long trying to sever my humanity to become what the kingdom needed... only to find the one thing that saved me was the softest part I’d buried.

Elliot.

And Eve.

I turned my head toward her again, taking in the curve of her lips, the smudge of dried tears on her cheek.

She looked so strong when awake.

So tired now.

So breakable.

And yet, she had held the world together in my absence.

She had chosen me—even when I was monstrous. Even when the Flux was rotting me from the inside out.

Even when it nearly cost her everything.

I swallowed hard, the lump in my throat thick with everything I hadn’t said, couldn’t say—not yet. Not like this.

But I would.

I would.

Because she came for me.

And because he called me Daddy.

Because this—this was our second beginning before the end to come.

I shifted just enough to brace myself on one elbow, careful not to wake either of them. Eve stirred but didn’t wake—her lashes fluttered against her cheek as though she were still fighting something even in sleep.

She was always fighting. For me. For him. For everyone.

And I—gods, I had done nothing but take.

I brushed a stray curl from her face. Her skin leaned into the touch like it remembered me. Like it forgave me.

I didn’t deserve that either.

Still, I let myself look at her longer than I should have. Let myself want something I had no right to want. Her warmth. Her trust. A version of us that existed beyond blood and prophecy and the poison of our past.

The bond between us was ticking now.

Not in agony, but in inevitability.

Every second we had was a borrowed one, sand slipping through the neck of a narrow hourglass. The Fenrir’s Chain had sealed more than just power. It had sealed our time.

And yet, somehow... this moment was soft.

I wanted to keep it.

Even if it wasn’t mine to hold.

"I’ll be what you need," I whispered, my voice nearly catching. "For as long as you’ll let me."

Support.

A shield.

A friend.

A lo--

The word caught in my throat before I could finish it.

I reached out again, tucking another strand of hair behind her ear.

She looked peaceful now. Almost innocent. It broke something in me.

"You deserve more than this," I murmured. "More than fate’s shackles. More than me."

More than a man who almost became a monster.

I swallowed hard.

"When the time comes," I said softly, more to myself than to her, "I’ll let you go. If that’s what you want. If that’s what sets you free."

Even if it kills me.

Especially if it saves her.

Because if this was all I ever got again—one night beside her, one whispered promise, one miracle in the shape of a boy curled between us—I would carry it.

Even into the fire.

And when I looked down again...

Eve was awake.

Her eyes were open.

And she was watching me.

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Eve