War's delegation has been observed meeting with representatives from—
Set that one down too. My eyes keep sliding off the words. The pressure in my chest is worse now, this physical weight that makes it hard to breathe, and my cock won't stop responding to the memory of her face, her voice, the way she bled and didn't break.
"So we're not going to work," Renan says. "We're going to sit here and think about her."
"I'm not—"
"You've picked up three reports. You haven't turned a single page."
I look down. He's right. The third report is in my hands and I don't remember reaching for it.
"Fuck." The word comes out rough. I shove back from the desk and stand.
"There it is." Renan doesn't move from the wall. "You want to tell me what's happening, or should I guess?"
"Nothing's happening."
"Bullshit."
"It's—"
"Bullshit." He pushes off the wall. "You've been doing this job for centuries. You don't beat men half to death in Concord sessions over nothing. You don't get hard in the middle of formal proceedings over nothing."
"Renan."
"You don't remember some random mortal's name and track her direction through the city over nothing."
I don't answer. I can't answer, because he's right.
I want her here. In this room. Where I can see her breathing, where I can make sure no one's touching her, where the pressure in my chest might finally ease.
The thought surfaces and I don't push it down. Can't. She should be here. Not in Coin's gilded cage, not being pawed at by their handlers. She should be—
"I want to know who's touching her right now," I hear myself say. "I want their names."
Renan's eyebrows go up. "So you can do what you did to Daiven? Because that was satisfying to watch, but the paperwork is going to be annoying."
"I don't care about paperwork."
"I know. That's why I do it."
My hands are shaking. I look at them with distant interest. They shouldn't be shaking. I'm a Titan. Older than most of them know. I've lived for millennia.
And a mortal woman with blood on her mouth is making my hands shake.
"Well." Renan's voice is strange. Almost amused. "This is new."
"I'm aware."
"No, I mean—this is new. I've known you for centuries. You've never—" He stops, recalibrates. "You really want to go after her."
"Yes."
"Tonight."
"Yes."
"Koshin." He's grinning now. "Coin's not going to hand her over because you want her. Especially after what you did to Daiven."
