The morning air was clear and bright, the kind of early sunlight that made glass gleam and coffee smell stronger. The city stretched below in clean lines of silver and green, a skyline that had long since learned to live with its gods.
Elias sat at his usual corner table on the rooftop café, laptop open, cup of warm latte cooling beside it. He wasn't working. The screen was blank. He was stalling.
The hum of ether conduits was faint even up here, a low thrum beneath the city's pulse, but he could feel it. Somewhere far below, Victor was already preparing for their "diplomatic honeymoon," which meant mobilizing half the security division, recalibrating an ocean satellite array, and probably terrifying Poseidon's envoys just by existing.
Elias sighed and rubbed at his temple. "He's going to enjoy this too much."
"You mean the part where you willingly called it a honeymoon?"
Elias didn't flinch. He didn't have to look up to recognize the dry amusement in Connor Woods's voice.
