Eli read Kellan’s name before he read the condition a second time.
The private message did not promise him an ordinary rescue. It offered a return through Heir, another regression if he cooperated. It implied that Kellan’s death belonged among the choices he could repair. The words were quiet on the small display. He had expected a temptation, if it came, to feel like a shout. Instead it sounded like someone setting a key beside an unlocked door and leaving him alone to imagine the room.
He thought of Theo asking whether everyone from the school had been confirmed. Of a shift ending when it was supposed to end. Of the people who had continued living after Kellan died, each carrying something no plan had returned to its earlier shape.
He put both feet flat on the floor.
“What would it cost?” he asked the receiver.
The answer praised his concern for consequences. It spoke of an exceptional opportunity available through the bond he carried. Cooperation would make a path possible that ordinary human and dungeon methods could not provide. It did not name a cost in terms he could check.
Eli waited until the response ended.
“What happens to the people here if I return?”
