Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 379

Chapter 379: Final Beats

Hades

It should have taken a minute for it to sink in that we had just been trapped in. But nothing, I meant nothing, not even shock. would let me stand by and let Kael die here.

He was barely conscious, scared, and in pain.

Knowing him... he would blame himself as he slowly faded, believing that it was only because we came to save him that we found ourselves in this situation. That would be his final thought as he slowly, painfully slipped away.

Not relief...

Not a softer, more tired version of his usual bright, stupid smile...

Or a final joke, one that would forever haunt me, one I would be forced to share with Eve when I came home carrying his corpse.

None of that...

It would be guilt. Guilt would be the final emotion before he was stolen by the darkness that is death.

Another fucking layer of sorrow. Another anvil on his already crushed chest.

No...

"Hades..."

Kael’s fading voice made my heart clench, just as I slammed into the barrier.

The impact rattled through my bones like thunder against brittle glass. Pain shot down my shoulder, but I barely felt it. My fingers clawed at the surface, only to meet resistance that wasn’t earth or stone.

No... this wasn’t natural.

I scraped harder, knuckles bleeding against the dark sheen until I saw it...metal. Seamless. Reinforced.

Titanium.

I cursed under my breath.

"Shift!" I barked at the others, voice cutting through the rising panic. "Now!"

Snarls erupted behind me. The cavern pulsed with heat as bodies snapped and twisted, fur splitting through flesh, claws scraping against the floor.

They lunged at the barrier, one after another, tearing into it with feral rage.

And the cave... it answered back.

A low growl rolled through the earth like a sleeping god stirred. Dust fell first. Then pebbles. Then stones cracked free from the ceiling, crashing around us in jarring bursts.

Cerberus snarled as a boulder landed a breath from my foot.

"Stop." My voice was low, deadly.

No one listened.

"I said STOP!"

A sonic snap echoed as I let loose a partial shift, my own power flaring with the command. The wolves froze, claws still buried in the titanium. Their breathing was ragged, eyes wild.

But the cave didn’t care that we’d paused.

The groaning deepened; long, slow. Cracks spread like veins across the ceiling, threatening to split wide and swallow us whole.

"If we keep this up," I said coldly, "the cavern will bury us before whoever locked us in even gets the satisfaction."

The silence that followed was louder than any growl.

Cain shifted back first, panting, blood on his lips. He looked up at the crumbling ceiling, then down at Kael’s motionless form.

"We’re out of time," he said.

"I know."

I stared at the titanium. No heat signature. No bolts. Nothing to pry or blast through. It hadn’t been placed. It had been designed.

A shift echoed; but it wasn’t one of ours. None of us were moving. We were on defense.

It rippled through the cavern like a warning bell; foreign and cold and every muscle in my body tensed, my ears twitching.

The others sensed it too.

Snarls flared again, this time quieter. Controlled. Focused. We turned as one, heads angling toward the far wall.

Another opening.

Where I had just run out of.

It hadn’t been there before. And yet, it was there now. I sensed the hum of the change, it was like the earth had opened up. It had been hollow before, but whatever had been on the other side was no longer willing to stay hidden.

We didn’t move.

Then...

Footsteps.

Slow. Measured. Echoing through the dark like the ticking of a death clock.

Then they stopped.

Abruptly.

Like it was waiting. Calculating. Feeling the air the same way I was.

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