My whole body turns toward the wall between us.
Órhal.
She's in there. Ten feet away. I could open the door. Stand over her—
I dig my fingers into the desk until something cracks. War's coming. That's the point. War's coming and nobody's going to pay for it and Death thinks he gets to stay gone while the world burns again.
He doesn't.
Renan appears in the doorway twenty minutes later. I didn't send for him.
He takes one look at my face and his weight shifts forward. "What are we doing?"
"Finding someone."
"Who?"
I watch the threads around him. Silver-white. Clean. No lies. Just Renan—the only person in this rotting city who doesn't make my skull ache.
"Death."
He goes still. Then the corner of his mouth twitches. "The Titan you've been pretending doesn't exist for a thousand years."
"That one."
"The one you said—and I'm quoting—'chose peace and earned it.'"
"Memory's very impressive. Yes."
"So what changed?"
"Nobody paid." I move toward him. "Faith butchered us. Coin funded it. The whole thing almost collapsed and they just—walked away. Like there's no price. Like endings don't exist anymore."
I'm too close now. I can see the pulse in his throat. "The cycle's broken. They need reminding."
"And if he doesn't want to come?"
The laugh comes out wrong. Too pleased. "He buried himself to protect the mortal plane. From us. From what gods do when nobody stops them. And now they're about to do it again, and he thinks he gets to stay hidden? He thinks walking away means he's finished?"
I'm gripping Renan's shoulder, knuckles white. His expression doesn't flicker.
"I was happy to let him rot. The world forced this. Not me."
"Kosh." Renan's voice is flat. "You're smiling."
Am I?
I let go and step back. My face is doing something and I can't feel what.
"I need a team. Discreet. No divine presence. Nothing that traces back to Discord."
He nods once. "Timeframe?"
"No rush. He's been gone this long. He's not going anywhere."
"And when we find him?"
"Then we have a conversation."
