I stay where I am. So does Titan.
We watch them walk away—three women moving together now, laughter echoing softly against stone and stained glass. For the first time since Rowan stepped into my orbit, she doesn’t look alone.
Titan exhales beside me, slow and thoughtful. For a rare moment, neither of us speaks.
Then he does.
“Justin,” he says quietly. “Who is she?”
I swallow. Hard.
“A student at St Augustine’s,” I reply. “Law. Journalism.”
His head turns toward me, sharp. “Jesus,” he mutters. “Thatjournalist?”
I go still.
So not everything stays buried. Goliath has ears everywhere—always has. Somewhere along the way, her articles must have rippled further than I realized, because Titan somehow knows.
I think of Rowan. Her reckless courage. That stubborn, incandescent fire in her chest. The way she refuses fear like it’s an insult.
I don’t answer. My silence says it all.
“Does she know?” Titan asks. “About Goliath?”
“She didn’t,” I say. “Not when she wrote the article. Now she does.”
“How?”
“Things happened.” I pause. “It’s a long story.”
He hums under his breath. Then, softer, “If you didn’t get the memo, I’m here for a while. Lily’s homesick.”
That catches me off guard. “Never thought she’d want to come back here.”
He snorts. “You forget she’s from bumfuck nowhere. Compared to that, this place feels like a cathedral.”
I laugh despite myself. He joins in, brief and rough, like it surprises him too.
Then I sober. “Really—why are you here, Titan?”
He turns fully toward me now, that familiar weight settling behind his eyes. “Because I had a feeling you might need me.”
A lopsided smirk cuts across his mouth—wrong on him somehow, but not unwelcome.
“And because we cleared every name in the ledger,” he adds. “Time for a new challenge. We go where we’re needed. You know that.”
“I do.”
He nods once. “So start talking. Tell me everything about Rowan Hale. Bring me up to speed.”
His gaze drifts down the aisle, to where the women disappeared, laughter bouncing faintly against stone.
“Let’s see if we can’t put another ghost to rest tonight.”
Titan letsout a low whistle once I finish. And byfinish, I mean everything—no omissions, no softened edges. Rowan. Her sister. The attack. The article. Ironreach. All of it laid bare between us.
He studies my face before he speaks. “And you don’t believe the attack on her was random.”
