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She finished her wine. “Try harder. We’re flying across the world to sneak into Hades’ realm. The threat is real. It’s not a myth in a book.”

Stheno may have relented and come with us, but she was clearly pissed off about it.

“I’m sorry, Stheno. I know you didn’t want to come in the first place and now we’re irritating you. It’s not intentional. It’s nervousness and ignorance.”

She gave a little head shake and then pointed at Bracken. “That one hasn’t annoyed me yet.”

“Give me time,” he murmured, which broke the tension and made Stheno smirk.

She rubbed her forehead. “I told you I didn’t want to go on this cursed trip.” She looked up at me. “But your big, sad puppy-dog eyes got me on this damned plane. I’m the idiot.” She leaned to the side to see around me. “Sorry for being a bitch,” she said to Coco.

Deciding it was safe to sit, I did just that. “Maybe you could just show us where the entrance is and then fly home. You don’t have to go in with us.”

“She doesn’t?” Coco asked, disbelief heavy in her voice. “The one person here who actually knows the players and can speak to them doesn’t need to come?”

I turned to Bracken. “I feel like this is really getting away from me.”

He leaned over and patted my hand. “Emotions are high. We’re all nervous. Perhaps we should close the window coverings and try to get some rest.”

“Good idea,” Stheno said, moving the tray and standing up. “I’m going to hang with the dead guys.” She went to the back of the plane. Before she touched the doorknob, it opened. Vlad was, no doubt, listening to us bicker.

With Stheno gone, the tension in the room drained away. Bracken and I closed the blinds most of the way, leaving a soft glow in the cabin, instead of pitch black.

“Coco, are you sure I can’t get you something?” I waited at the entrance to the galley kitchen.

“Well, as I’m now rethinking every decision I’ve ever made in my life, sure. Do you have anything chocolate?”

“You bet,” I said. “Bracken?”

He unbuckled and stood. “I think I’d like some tea, if you have it. I can make it myself, though.”

Bracken followed me in and then flicked his fingers toward the doorway. “Are you all right, my dear?”

I glanced back at the entrance. “Did you just do something?”

He nodded. “I muffled our conversation. You can speak freely now. There will be no judgment from me.”

Tears sprang to my eyes, and I shook my head, trying to make them go away. “Sorry. Sorry. It’s just a lot.”

He rested his hand on my shoulder. It felt like a hug.

“I’ve done crazy, dangerous things before,” I told him. “I don’t know why this one is scaring me so much. We’re flying across the world on the basis of a short text. What if this is a setup? And I feel like I’m drowning in guilt. Meg—I hope it was Meg and not some fae assassin—asked me to come, and I talked three other people into going with me. Am I leading you all into an ambush? At the very least, I’m probably putting you in harm’s way. I’ve read the myths. Those gods are amoral and capricious. I have no idea what we’re walking into. Clive is going nuts, worrying about me, and I keep assuring him I’ll be fine.”

I took Bracken’s offered hand and squeezed. “But I don’t know that. We’ve only been married a few months, and I could be making him a widower.”

“We could turn the plane around,” he suggested.

“I know.” I wiped at my face when I felt a tear break free. “And I would if I didn’t feel in my gut that I had to do this. It’s almost like I wouldn’t just be letting down Meg, but… I don’t know who.”

Nodding, he moved to the counter and began making himself a cup of tea. “I’d like to remind you that you didn’t twist my arm. I asked if I could please accompany you. As for the others, like you, they had a choice and they chose to be here.”

I pulled two brownies from the pastry box and put them on a plate. “I’m not sure which will be harder for me to live with: ignoring Meg’s call for help or being responsible for what might happen to you all in the Underworld.”

He placed a hand over the cup, like Owen sometimes did, brewing the tea. “I think you’re underestimating us. As your friend Stheno said, you’ve put together a good team. Have faith in us.”

He flicked his fingers, unmuffling our discussion and walking back to his chair.

I looked through the narrow refrigerator and found a bottle of iced tea. I brought that to Coco with the brownies. She smiled her thanks and then we all quietly decompressed in the dim light.