Chapter 46
Elara's POV
She couldn't shake the feeling of Erebus's presence, even long after the shadows had swallowed him whole. The air he left behind clung to her skin, heavy and unsettling, as though the dark itself had marked her.
But what lingered more was the way Hades had stood in front of her—unyielding, protective, furious.
And something else.
Something she wasn't ready to name.
As they walked in silence through the corridors back toward the safer part of the palace, her steps were unsteady. Questions gnawed at her until finally, she couldn't hold them back.
"Who was he?" she asked quietly. "Erebus."
The shift in Hades was subtle, but she felt it. His shoulders tensed, his jaw set, his power prickling faintly in the air.
"He is... ancient," Hades said at last, his tone clipped. "Older than Olympus. Older than me. He is the darkness before there was light."
Elara shivered. That was no small description. "And he..." she hesitated, voice soft, "...he wanted me."
The words tasted bitter on her tongue.
Hades stopped walking. Slowly, he turned, his dark gaze cutting into her. She'd seen him angry before, but this—this was different. Possessive. Raw.
"He cannot have you." The words came out sharper than he intended, edged with something that made her pulse skip. His own chest tightened as he realized what he had said.
Elara blinked at him, wide-eyed. "I didn't say I wanted—"
"I know," Hades cut her off, dragging a hand through his hair as though frustrated with himself. His voice lowered, controlled again. "I know. But he... he will try. He enjoys getting under my skin. And you..." His gaze lingered on her, burning. "...you make it easy for him."
Her breath caught. She wanted to ask what he meant by that, but he was already walking again, his long strides forcing her to hurry to keep up.
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Hades's POV
He cursed himself for letting the words slip. For letting Erebus shake him enough to show even a crack of the storm inside.
It wasn't just anger. It wasn't just rivalry.
It was the thought of Erebus's eyes on her. The thought of her laughing at his smug words, or worse, seeing something in him that Hades himself wasn't giving her.
Jealousy. The emotion burned through him like acid, and he despised it. Elara was not his. Not bound to him. He had no right to claim her, no right to even think of her that way.
And yet... when Erebus had stood there, his words coiling around her like chains, Hades had wanted to tear the shadows apart with his bare hands.
The worst part? Erebus wasn't entirely cruel. Beneath all his arrogance, Hades knew his brother still held a sliver of care. He had seen it in the way Erebus's eyes lingered—less with malice, more with a warning.
But that didn't matter. Erebus would use her to provoke him.
And Hades was already falling into the trap.
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Elara's POV
Back in her chamber, she sank onto the bed, heart still racing. She should hate Erebus. She should despise everything about him—his arrogance, his smirk, the way he had looked at her as though she were prey and prize all at once.
But she didn't hate him. Not entirely.
He scared her, yes. But she had seen it—just for a flicker—when his gaze shifted toward Hades. Something softer, buried deep. Something almost protective.
And that confused her most of all.
Still, when she closed her eyes, it wasn't Erebus she saw.
It was Hades, standing in front of her, shielding her without hesitation.
And the echo of his words, low and sharp, refusing to leave her mind:
He cannot have you.