Damon POV
I knew the change.
Of course, I did. Elena wasn't wrong to sense it. How could she not? I wasn't the same man—no, not even the same creature—I had been before the heat.
Hades had settled deeper in me since then, his voice louder, his hunger sharper. Where once I only heard him as a distant growl, now he spoke like a constant shadow beside my thoughts. Every decision I made, every breath I took, carried his echo.
And truth be told, I didn't fight it.
Why should I?
The world bent faster when his power threaded through my veins. Vampires who once spat at my name now bowed. Witches tore out their own sisters' hearts to prove loyalty. Wolves followed because their instincts recognized dominance.
What had resisting ever given me? Chaos. Weakness. Doubt.
No—I embraced him. And in doing so, I embraced the version of myself that wasn't Damon the man but Damon the ruler. Damon the inevitable. Damon, vessel of Hades.
But Elena…
