Page 132 of Hades

“Yeah. She cut the zip ties, grabbed my keys off the table, took my black Harley, and was gone in under a minute.” Eros’ expression was hollow. “Didn’t look back. Didn’t say goodbye. Just ran.”

“How bad were you?” Asclepius asked.

“Bad enough that if it hadn’t been the Brotherhood riding in, I wouldn’t be here.” Eros looked at Kraken.

Kraken nodded. “He was barely conscious when we got there. Had to carry him out.”

“Alex?” Zeus asked again.

Eros shook his head. “She’s Morpheus’ problem now.”

What the fuck did that mean?

“And Poseidon?” Zeus asked.

“We ran into Satan’s Angels on the way home,” Kraken replied. “Not a full ambush. Just enough to force a split. Poseidon pulled them off, lured them away from the truck because Eros couldn’t be caught in another fight and I couldn’t abandon him.”

Kraken’s hands flexed. I saw the guilt there. The self-loathing. Leaving Poseidon behind went against everything in him.

“I kept driving,” Kraken said quietly.

“Where is he?” Zeus demanded.

“Holed up. Not captured. Not dead. He checked in two hours ago. Said he’ll be home soon.”

That reassured the room.

Partly.

Not fully.

“I’m sending riders out,” Zeus said.

“No,” Kraken said immediately.

Zeus’ head snapped toward him. “The fuck you say?”

“Poseidon said not to. He’s handling it. Sending riders could make things worse.”

Zeus stepped in closer, but Kraken didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. Just watched him with the kind of stillness that came from a man who’d already made his decision and wouldn’t be moved from it.

The room held its breath.

I felt it then. The shift. The moment when Zeus’ authority collided with Kraken’s refusal to bend. Not disrespect. Kraken would never disrespect the president. But this was something else. This was a man protecting his brother by standing immovable against an order that could get him killed.

Zeus’ jaw worked. His hands curled into fists at his sides.

Kraken met his gaze without blinking.

“He’s handling it,” Kraken repeated. Same words. Different weight. Not a suggestion. A fact.

The silence stretched. Thick. Suffocating. I could feel the violence in it. The potential for everything to crack open right here in the clubhouse.

I stepped in before Zeus could turn his fear into an order that made things worse.

“Kraken’s right,” I said.

Zeus looked at me. “You sure about that?”