"Hubby, what happened to your face?" Evadne asked in alarm as Hades and Casadin approached her hospital bed. Her eyes widened in concern the moment she saw Hades' battered face. She instinctively glared at Casadin, who sat on her right, while Hades took the left side of the bed.
"Princess, don't look at me like that," Casadin said, raising his hands in surrender. "My conscience is clear. Dad and Uncle Gideon did that to him."
Evadne gently cupped Hades' bruised face, her own expression contorting in pain as if she were the one hurting.
"Why would Casey do this to you?" she whispered, though she didn't really expect an answer. She squinted at his nose. "I think your nose is crooked."
"Baby…" Hades groaned slightly when she pinched it without warning. "Are you even sorry for me? It kind of feels like you're trying to break it even more."
"Sorry, sorry… does it hurt?" Evadne asked quickly, guilt slipping back into her voice.
Hades looked into her eyes for a long moment before giving her a soft smile. "Yes. But I can handle it. This is nothing."
Because now, he knew... nothing would ever hurt more than the moment he thought she had died.
"We'll fix that broken nose once I'm discharged," Evadne promised with a playful glint in her eyes, then leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on the lips... just a quick press, careful not to aggravate his split lip. "Honestly, you're the one who looks like you need to stay in the hospital longer than me," she teased.
Hades groaned at her joke.
Evadne turned to Casadin next and reached out to pinch his nose too. "And you, Prince Charming," she said, narrowing her eyes. "You should have helped him. Why didn't you stop your dad?" Then she leaned in and gave him a kiss on the lips as well. "You were supposed to rescue him."
"Well, Princess," Casadin replied with a grin, "Hades was the one who stopped Dad. I was holding your body down under the water while Dad was charging at us. Hades had to keep him back, and… well, that's the result."
He took Evadne's hand and pressed it gently against his cheek, as if needing proof that she was warm and alive and real.
Earlier, the adults had all left after checking in on Evadne and confirming she was stable. They were now dealing with the fallout from her birthday party the night before... trying to control the press frenzy.
After all, the grandest ball in New York had ended in chaos when the celebrant collapsed, vomiting blood in front of hundreds of guests.
Every vendor associated with the event was under fire, accused of negligence.
But since the doctors still had no explanation for what had happened to Evadne... and the test results had come back clean... they couldn't reasonably blame the caterers or anyone else.
So, following the advice of Hades and Casadin, the Monteverdes released a statement... Evadne had likely contracted a rare virus during their month-long road trip across Europe... possibly during a spontaneous camping trip through a virgin forest in Iceland.
To support the story, Casadin and Hades were also admitted to the hospital for "testing."
"Did I really die?" Evadne asked in a quiet, disbelieving voice, looking between the two boys.
"Yes, baby. You flatlined," Hades answered softly. His voice cracked a little, like just remembering it made him sick. He couldn't bear to relive it.
Growing up, Hades had always been compared to his late older brother, Zeus. He died rescuing animals from a fire at a local shelter. But behind closed doors, those closest to the family knew the truth... it was suicide.
The night of the fire, Zeus had sent a message to their parents, saying he could no longer go on... not after losing Ceres. He told them he loved them, and that he was sorry.
Hades had never understood it. He hated being compared to someone who, in his eyes, had simply given up.
But last night, when Evadne flatlined…
He understood.
He couldn't imagine breathing in a world that didn't have her in it. They hadn't even been together for a year. How much more unbearable must it have been for Zeus, who had loved Ceres for four years... most of it from afar, before she ever even acknowledged him?
Now, Hades finally understood.
And he wouldn't wish that kind of pain on even his worst enemy.
For the first time, he truly understood why Zeus chose death.
"I'm so sorry if I worried you," Evadne said softly. "But thank you, too. I know I can always count on the two of you."
She lifted both hands and lovingly held Casadin's and Hades' cheeks, one in each palm.
"Of course, Princess," Casadin said with a proud smirk. "But honestly? You should be proud of me more. I was the one who connected what was happening to you with the Bloodletting... because this asshole right here was completely losing his mind and his brain short‑circuited. I had to literally shake him just to get his thoughts working."
"The fuck!" Hades snapped, glaring at Casadin. "You're really stepping on me right now? Look at my face. I'm black, blue, and purple, while all you got was a cold!"
He turned to Evadne immediately. "I got punched by Caspian and choked by Gideon, baby. I really put up a fight, you know."
"That he did," Casadin said with a laugh. "For the first time ever, he said 'no' to Gramps. He kicked, clawed, and bit Dad. That's why his face looks like that. Gramps even told Uncle Gideon to knock him out already."
Evadne smiled, her eyes shining.
"I'm equally proud of both of you," she said, kissing each of them on the cheek again. Then she turned to Casadin. "And I know you would've gone feral just like him if the roles were reversed."
"Of course, Princess," Casadin replied, his usual smugness gone. His voice softened, vulnerable, his eyes misting. "I've never felt so weak… so helpless… so scared… like I did when we thought we lost you. Let's never go through that again, okay? I don't think my heart could survive it a second time."
Tears formed in Evadne's eyes. She cupped Casadin's face in her hands and kissed him gently.
"I'm sorry for putting you through that."
Then she turned to Hades and held his hand tightly.
"I'll try my best not to put you through that again," she said honestly. "But I can't promise."
"Baby?" Hades said immediately, anxiety tightening his chest. "What is that supposed to mean? We're not even sure if we did the Bloodletting right. Technically, there was no blood when we submerged you in the water. Does that mean it wasn't successful?"
Evadne sighed and glanced past Casadin toward the door, making sure it was closed.
"I'm not even sure if what happened to me has anything to do with my Narf blood and human blood fighting," she said in a low voice, whispering just enough for the two of them to hear.
"Did you lose your mermaid powers?" Casadin asked.
"No," Evadne said, shaking her head. "If anything, I think they're stronger than before. And I can feel and see something around us... something I know I've never seen in my memories of Solmara."
She swallowed. "After I threw up blood, and I think I lost consciousness… I found myself in a place called the Veil."
"The Veil?" Casadin and Hades said at the same time.
"It's a place where everything looks like white smoke or clouds," Evadne explained. "Like fog... but thicker. And it's not cold."
"A purgatory?" Casadin asked cautiously.
"No," Evadne said firmly. "I don't think so. Uriel once told me that when someone dies, their soul goes to one of the chambers in the Celestial Hallway... the Chamber of Judgment. That's where life is judged. Heaven or hell. There's no in‑between."
She paused. "Unless there are special circumstances... like what happened to me in my past life, when I made a deal with Lucifer. Or what I believe happened to Big Sis and Zeus, when they were sent to Solmara."
She continued quietly, "In the Veil, I didn't see anyone at first. Until I heard the sound of flowing water. I followed it… and that's when I saw a waterfall with no beginning and no end. And inside it… there was a woman, suspended in an endless sleep."
"How did you know it was the Veil?" Hades asked. "Did she tell you?"
"No," Evadne replied, rolling her eyes at him. "Like I said, hubby... she was in eternal sleep."
"Listen properly," Casadin muttered, earning a groan from Hades, who felt ganged up on again... and honestly didn't mind, as long as Evadne was smiling.
"Continue, please," Hades said instead, shooting Casadin a glare before turning back to Evadne with an indulgent smile.
Evadne kissed Hades on the jaw with a smile before continuing.
"So… the woman was suspended in the water. I called out to her, hoping she could hear me, but there was no response. But then... someone else answered. Another woman appeared. She's the one who told me the place was called The Veil. It's where God casts the souls He wants forgotten... even by the Archangels."
She paused, her voice dropping slightly.
"And that second woman… she looked exactly like Big Sis Ceres, except she had black hair like mine, and eyes black as obsidian. So I asked her... will I be forgotten too, now that I'm there? But she said no. She said I left that place a long time ago… though not all of me left."
Evadne's voice turned more thoughtful.
"She said she was actually an extension of me. And I wanted to ask her so many questions, but she told me I would have my answers when the time is right. That for now, once I wake up, I have to embrace the other part of myself. And that I need to bury her... in the deepest part of my memory. Because remembering her too soon would put the people I love in danger."
Casadin's eyes widened in disbelief. He looked around the room nervously, then leaned closer and whispered, "Then Princess… why are you telling us about her?"
He lowered his voice even more, glancing toward the corners of the room. "Shouldn't you be keeping that to yourself? Why did you tell us?"
"Because I don't want to hide anything from you anymore," Evadne replied gently. "Remember when I hid being a Narf from you before? You got mad at me."
"I wasn't mad at you," Casadin said quietly. "I was just… a little hurt. That you told Hades... who was technically our enemy back then... before you told me. But I wasn't angry."
He stood from the bed, beginning to pace. "But this is different, Princess. There's literally an Archangel cosplaying to be human in our circle right now. And I'm pretty sure angels can read human thoughts. That's a given, right? And you just told us something you're supposed to keep to yourself to keep you safe... oh my God I'm panicking."
He looked up at the ceiling as if expecting divine punishment, then bent forward, hyperventilating.
"I think it's okay," Hades said calmly. "As long as we don't talk about it out loud anymore. Vee can't hear my thoughts, so I doubt the angels can, either."
"She can hear my thoughts, you asshole," Casadin shot back. "Did you forget that?"
"Well… that sounds like a you problem," Hades smirked. "You should do what I used to do when I didn't want Vee hearing my thoughts."
"What? What did you do?" Casadin asked, now genuinely curious... and desperate.
"He used to scream All Things Bright and Beautiful in his head," Evadne said, trying not to laugh at the memory.
"Seriously?" Casadin grimaced at Hades. "That's what you screamed in your mind? Not Hamlet?"
Evadne burst into laughter. "I told him that, too! I said, 'I thought you were a Shakespeare kind of guy!'"
"Baby, please. Can we not dig up old shame?" Hades said, with a dramatic sigh and a trace of mock irritation. "Let's move on."
He glanced between the two of them and added with a touch of pout, "I think the reason you can still hear his thoughts and not mine is because the two of you must be on the same brain wave. I hate that. Sometimes I wish you could hear my thoughts... so you'd know how much I'm sulking inside right now."
"Awww… Sorry, hubby," Evadne said sweetly, gently pinching the unbruised side of his cheek.
"Okay, back to serious mode," she said, glancing at Casadin. "Let's forget I said anything. I just… wanted to tell you what happened to me. Maybe Michael won't stay in New York. The Heavensblade Clan is based in California, right? He might leave soon. I don't think he has a reason to stay here."
She took a deep breath.
"So from now on, just to be safe… we're not going to talk about the Veil. And you, my charming prince," she added, turning to Casadin, "should start memorizing Hamlet, just in case someone tries to get inside your head."
Casadin groaned. "Do I look like a Shakespeare fan? I'd rather recite All Things Bright and Beautiful like a monologue. Maybe that's why you couldn't hear Hades' thoughts anymore... your mind probably gave up from all the cringe."
He and Evadne burst into laughter while Hades just rolled his eyes.