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.
