Eve
For a moment, nothing moved.
Not a blink.
Not a breath.
Even the Flux seemed stunned into silence.
Then—
A sound split the air like a scream beneath the surface of the world.
It wasn't a growl.
It wasn't human.
It was the war between them—Hades and the thing inside him—breaking loose for a heartbeat of truth.
His hand trembled. Not from weakness. From refusal.
From restraint.
Blood poured freely now, but he didn't falter.
"You…" His voice fractured. The human one.
He took a step toward me.
"You are my wife," the Flux hissed through him.
"And you…" Hades choked, still gripping his eye, "are not hers to command."
He dropped to one knee with a grunt, breath stuttering as if he'd been stabbed.
A ripple of unease threaded through the council. Kael lurched forward instinctively but froze when Hades raised his free hand.
Not in surrender.
But in consent.
"So be it," he rasped. "Let it be written in blood and stone. If we are to bind by Fenrir's Chain…"
