The Heir of the Fallen

Chapter 29

Horseman of War, Ares

"Whoa," Ares muttered under his breath, taking in the view. He had taken a few steps out of an alley, and there were skyscrapers in front of him, with the sun pouring down on his skin. Being paler than ever due to the lack of sunshine in the realm, he had to blink at the sun before his eyes adjusted. Before he exited the alley, he took a look out on either side.

There. Were. So. Many. People.

Luckily he had been in simple climbing gear and not his classic War outfit. Instead his wavy brown hair was tied up in a bun on top of his head, and he was wearing athletic pants, hiking boots and a dark, long sleeve shirt that was decal-less. He was not used to the clothes, but had known climbing a mountain in metal clanking armor was probably not the wisest choice, if there were other options.

Was... was he in the mortal realm? How had that happened?

He cast a look back over his shoulder. He was still standing in the alley's exit, not quite in the way of any pedestrians that were on the sidewalk, not quite in the alley anymore. He looked back at a solid brick wall. How in the world had he gotten here?

That cave... it felt like it had been dripping in magic. How had no one discovered this in all this time?

He knew the answer to that. Someone had, and her name was Joan. Somewhere Joan and Aamon were in the mortal world, and Ares was going to find them.

But first, why couldn't Beelzebub cross over with him? Did he try? He turned, and headed back to the end of the alley, and touched the brick wall. Nothing. He pushed onto it, trying to call into his magic. Absolutely nothing. And his magic did not respond either. It felt like trying to pull from an empty well. No blue mist, nothing.

He swallowed hard. How was he going to get back to the other realm? How could he communicate with Beelzebub?

He hoped Beelzebub would do that creepy stalker thing with the cameras and find him. Because it was nearly 500 years since he had been in the mortal realm, and Ares had started to lose his shit in the alleyway.

Horseman of Famine, Adelaide

"So, what do you think of his findings?" Letum said, looking over Adelaide's shoulder at the journal she was holding in her hands. "Do you agree that there is more once we fade away than simply not existing?"

Adelaide was in the midst of perusing the journal pages when Letum's voice broke her thoughts. "I don't know," she admitted. "He seemed pretty adamant in that... and Famine might have been misled by his heart, but he doesn't seem to have been stupid in his findings."

"How interesting to think we might have a way back. I know I would do things differently next time," Letum said morosely.

Adelaide looked over at Letum. She still did not know a whole lot about his time as a mortal, other than he had been Egyptian royalty and not really a good guy. "It's hard to believe you were anything but kind."

He shrugged. "I've learned a lot from my mistakes, and Beelzebub has done a lot for me. Speaking of Beelzebub... I wanted to talk to you about him."

Adelaide bit her lower lip, and looked away. "What did you want to talk about?" she asked.

"I wanted to talk about how much of a fuck up he is, especially when it came to the two of you," Letum said, leaning back on the couch. "He cares deeply about you, and he said the wrong thing at the wrong moment."

Adelaide couldn't suppress a small burst of laughter. "Yeah, that's for sure. It couldn't have been worse timing." Her heart hurt at the mention of Beelzebub, as well as thinking about the closeness they experienced together. She could still feel his lips on hers, and his hands roaming her body. She swallowed, and looked at Letum. "But he should be the one bringing that up. Not you. No offense."