Speak, cry, or even blink.
Silence overcame us, thick and endless, and I knew—he couldn’t speak either.
We were being pulled under, dragged to Hades-knew-where, and I should have been angry.
And I was.
But as the dark became familiar—less of an absence and more of a blanket—I acknowledged something else.
Luke had unleashed devastation across worlds to get his hands on me.
But he never stepped through the crossover. He let it close… and then pulled me into this place with him.
He had every opportunity to destroy my family. He didn’t.
Instead, he removed our curses. He chose imprisonment in Hell. And he dragged me with him.
But he was always going to choose me.
He told me—again and again—-there was no choice beyond his.
My mate was cruel.
I knew that.
And yet…
I loved him.
Hades, I loved him even in anger, in sorrow, in confusion.
In the darkness, where I couldn’t smile or speak, my heart bled out the truth.
I was where I wanted to be.
But that didn’t mean I wasn’tfurious.
There was a war inside me.
A constant clash between heartbreak and glee.
I knew what being in purgatory meant.
Stuck. Unable to move.
Beside Luke.
When he pulled me in, I became imprisoned with him.
I knew what my family must be thinking.
When I reached out through the bond, I felt…nothing. As if the connection had been severed completely.
My heart cracked down the middle. And yet—knowing I was here with Luke, knowing I could torment him for eternity with my irritation and love—
That brought a flicker of elation.
A strange, twisted joy.
