Hades
The chaos around them seemed to quiet, if only for a moment. Guards began forcing the panicked crowd back, forming a rigid perimeter as if to ensure that no one could look away. Their movements were too smooth, too deliberate—not for protection, but to make sure everyone watched. They had to watch, or this deadly ploy would have been for nothing.
Their audience was the icing on the cake.
I stiffened, jaw tightening.
This wasn't containment.
It was a show.
A message.
A slow murmur rippled through the crowd as Ellen stepped down, stair by stair, to ground level. She moved forward, her steps eerily calm against the blood-slicked stone. A guard approached, presenting her with a weapon.
A machine gun.
But not an ordinary one.
