"No. Now they will find it more difficult. Because now there is something you want, here." They would offer a templar the family he could never have, a teenager the beautiful partner, ready to fulfill every whim, a wealth of knowledge maybe to a knowledge hungry scholar.

"You know it is the Fade. That is why you are in less danger than ever. Because you can come back here." And Cole would be there, waiting, adoring him.

"For as long as I know. But I don't know how long that is." Time, the Fade, mutuable things. He could've been a spirit for a hundred years. He could have been merely weeks old when he forced his way through.

Though the latter was far more likely.