Evangeline was flustered, her thoughts tangled into a mess she couldn't untie fast enough. She had nothing clever to say, nothing prepared. She didn't know what Hades was thinking anymore, and that frightened her far more than his anger ever could.
Was he upset because she had shown too much care for Aestus? Because he thought that her concern meant she wanted to serve him instead? More than she served Hades?
How could such a thought even exist?
The idea alone made her chest tighten painfully. Panic rushed through her as she imagined the distance between them stretching further, pulled apart by a misunderstanding she never intended to create. That distance, quietly stretching until they were both nothing but stranger, was something she could not bear. Not with him.
