Slowly, I shake my head.

"What the hell was that?" I whisper.

"That is why I'm not allowed to go out on my own." She sighs. "Gahh, where is Cer when I need him?" She stomps her foot on the ground.

But not a second after she utters his name, Cer appears in front of us. He looks us up and down, his nose wrinkling in disgust.

"I cannot leave you alone for one moment, can I?" He shakes his head.

"You could have come to get us! We just ran into an addict."

"You did that?" He raises a brow as he points to what's left of the man on the ground.

"No." She frowns. "He just exploded."

"Hm." He narrows his eyes. He scans the surroundings and notices the amassing crowd, as well as the glares he's receiving from the other people. "We need to leave."

Without waiting for us to reply, he grabs our hands and teleports us out.

Just like going through the portal, one second we're in the middle of the road, the next we're in a lush foyer the likes of which I've seen only in museums.

Marble columns are on each side of us, flowers in all shades of yellow and red curling from the ground up to the ceiling.

"Mother and Father don't know you're here yet. Make yourself presentable before you meet them," Cer says, turning to leave.

"Wha—" Thea blinks, grabbing his sleeve. "Where are you going?"

"I am needed. Aethon has gone missing."

"What do you mean?" She frowns.

Cer purses his lips.

"I don't know. It's not like him not to respond to summons."

"But he's Aethon. How could he have gone missing?" Thea pales.

"I aim to figure it out. Ze sent him to look into the demon incursions into the intermediary realms you witnessed." He nods at me. "Something is going on, and I don't like it."

"You don't think he's... dead?" Thea whispers.

He doesn't reply, his features taut. Removing her hand from his sleeve, he takes a step forward before he disappears.

Thea is left staring at the spot he's just vacated, her expression one of sorrow.

"Who's Aethon?" I ask, curious why she reacted like that to the mention of his name.

She takes a deep breath.

"He's Cer's best friend." She gives me a sad smile.

"I'm sorry," I try to comfort her.

"I'm sure he's fine. He's one of the most powerful deities I know. There's no way some demons could hurt him." She closes her eyes, her lips trembling. "Anyway." She blinks as she smiles forcefully. "Cer is right. My parents can't see me like this. Let's go inside and wash up."