Hades
The vial was ready.
Thick. Black. Burning.
"Last chance, Your Majesty," Tavin said.
I held out my arm.
The straps tightened.
The needle plunged in.
The world stopped.
The first drop hit my bloodstream and pain—blinding, searing pain—shot through my spine like lightning striking bone. I convulsed, fists clenching as the darkness raced through my veins.
And with it—
Memories.
Her laughter in the ring.
Her face, vulnerable defiant, the first time she stood up to me.
The weight of her curled against my chest the night she called herself mine.
The way she whispered Red, like it meant salvation.
The way her lips trembled the first time, she told me she trusted me.
The night I told her I did, too.
Each memory struck like a dagger.
Not piercing my body.
But my heart.
Cerberus howled inside me, his cry fractured with grief. "STOP! Please—pull it out—pull it OUT—"
