GODSFALL

The War God Wakes

Three years, he'd been dormant. The world hadn't returned the favor.

Ethan walked through the city in the hour before sunrise. His collar was up, and his hands were in his pockets. He walked at a pace like someone who did not have a particular place to be and therefore no reason to hurry. This was how Ethan always walked. The people who trained him taught him this on: the key to blending in was not to hide; it was to belong. Ethan moved with a confidence that made people look right past him still searching for something that seemed out of place.

Ethan was never out of place. He had spent a lot of time making sure of this.

The city of Evergreen was a place that rewarded people who understood how it worked. At this time the city was slowly coming to life. The last of the nightclubs were letting people out onto the sidewalk the first bakeries were turning on their ovens, and the garbage trucks were making their way through the streets that would be crowded with people in four hours. Ethan knew all of this. He had walked these streets at all hours of the day and night.

Ethan's satellite phone had been ringing at intervals since two in the morning. Not his phone. That one was turned off. It was the phone that The Temple used to contact him. The Temple was waking up. Getting ready to do something. Cells that had been waiting for three years were now getting the signal to start. Ethan had not answered most of the calls. He was still thinking about what to do.

Ethan turned onto the Meridian Overpass. Stopped near the middle of it. He looked down at the river. The water level was low for this time of year. On the side of the river the industrial docks were faintly lit up and the big cranes looked like huge birds that had forgotten to fly away.

Ethan thought about his mother. He often thought about her when he was in high places, at the end of the night. It was not because he was feeling sad. It was more like he was checking in with himself, reminding himself of something he had been carrying with him for long that he had gotten used to it. Ethan thought about his mother and The Temple and what they wanted him to do.

His earpiece clicked.

"Bao is inside, " Iris said. "He ate all your noodles."

"I do not have any noodles," he replied.

"He brought his noodles and ate them in front of you. It is the thing, " Iris said. There was a pause. "Zeph is online. He has sixty percent of the Vane information ready. The other forty percent requires access to government systems that need permission."

"Zeph has never needed permission," he said.

"He needs it to look like he needed permission. For his sake " Iris explained.

"Tell him to pretend he had permission," he said.

There was another pause. "It is done. Iris out."

He stood on the bridge for a few minutes. The river below was dark. Did not seem to care.

Then he pulled his collar down straightened his jacket and walked back into the city.

Over the three hours, his lieutenants found him. They did not find him at any planned meeting spot not at any of the houses or secret centers around the city. They found him on the streets one at a time like they always did when things were serious. Either walking beside him or waiting for him at a corner. He had set up this plan himself years ago. Would not change it even when Zhou said it was not a good way to do things. It was not about being efficient. It was about seeing his people in the world not behind closed doors. He wanted to make sure they were still the same.

Iris was outside the pharmacy that was open all night on Chandler Street. She handed him a cup of coffee without saying a word. Walked with him.

Zeph was sitting on a bench in Meridian Gardens with a laptop and three phones, and he looked very tired. He looked up when Ethan sat down beside him. "The shadow council has seventeen groups in the city " he said. "Vane answers to a group of six people. I have names for four of them. I will have the two names by morning " Zeph said.

Bao came out of a side street with a thermos in hand. A huge scarf on. Ethan didn't ask why he was wearing it.

"The building across from the Aurora Palace has four spots to watch from," Bao said like they were already talking about it.

"I used two of them. The other two are not safe. Someone else was watching your wedding from the east building."

Ethan stopped walking. "Someone else."

"Not Vanes people. They did it differently. They used equipment."

Bao looked at him with interest.

"Someone who’s been watching you for a lot longer than Marcus Vane has."

Ethan made a note. "Send me everything."

"Already sent." Bao started walking

"Also, the noodles in your suite were really good. Whoever did the wedding food has taste."

They kept walking.

At the corner of Meridian and South Grand a black SUV turned out of a side street. Slowed down to walk with them.

It wasn't Iriss car. Ethan didn't recognize it. The windows were very dark.

Iris moved a little. Bao stopped drinking from his thermos.

The SUV slowed down more. The back window went down a little. A voice came out. Calm, a bit amused, and very relaxed:

"You're harder to follow than you were at twenty-three. Just a little bit."

Ethan looked at the face in the window. He felt something

He knew that face. He hadn't seen it in nine years. For seven of those years he thought the man was dead.

"Get in, " the voice said. "I have something that belongs to you."