Page 19

“This feels like the end of Thelma and Louise,” I said.

Clive found me in the rearview mirror. “Let’s hope not. Hold on to something, just in case, though.”

Clive floored it and we flew through the boulder like it wasn’t there, ending up on a road lined with olive trees. We were suddenly in a world of green plants and vines. Ahead was a smattering of one and two-story white buildings built into the slope facing the water, with a series of white stone stairways connecting them. The largest had a small patio in front with a café table and chairs. An elderly woman hunched beneath the bright pink bougainvillea that clung to the buildings, staring into a glass of what looked to be tea.

Stheno pointed to where the old woman sat. “That’s the Ferryman’s Rest, Inn and Grogshop.” She glanced back at us. “No one embarrass me.”

“No guarantees,” I grumbled. I was fully prepared to dive over the seat once Vlad, Bracken, and Coco had exited, but Clive opened the tailgate for me. Such a gentleman.

He pulled me into a fierce hug, kissing my temple. I’m sorry about the nightmares.

Me too.

We followed in the others’ wake. “This is so beautiful,” I said in hushed tones, worried I’d wake people. It was good that Clive still had an arm around me because I wasn’t looking where I was going. “Is it just me or does this look totally different from what we were seeing on the other side of the boulder?”

“Not just you,” Stheno replied. “This is more like the Greece of a few thousand years ago.”

Stheno walked past the old woman, through the blue door, and into the Ferryman’s Rest, the others following her. When I stepped onto the patio, I paused. The woman looked up at me and I smiled. She took a sip of her tea and went back to staring out at the moonlit water.

I’m not sure why, but I’d been expecting a dark, murky tavern. Instead, the interior walls were whitewashed like the exterior ones, and the bar was the same cobalt blue as the door. Blue wooden stools were pushed up against the side of the bar, with a few café tables and chairs on the other side of the narrow room.

A man with dark hair stood behind the bar, talking with someone on the last barstool, farthest from us. The person on the stool wore a heavy black cloak with the hood pulled up. At a guess, I’d say this was Charon, the ferryman.

Stheno motioned for us to wait while she went to the end of the bar and spoke quietly to the cloaked figure.

The only other people in the bar were two men sitting at the table by the front window. They looked remarkably alike, both wearing light linen shirts and pants, with sandals on their feet. The men had watched us enter but then had returned to their quiet conversation. I had excellent hearing but couldn’t make out what was being said. One of them seemed to notice my focus on them and looked up. My hand flew up to cover a sudden yawn.

Clive pulled me closer and whispered, “There.”

I followed Clive’s gaze to see that the cloaked figure had lifted his head and was now facing us, though I still couldn’t see his face. He seemed to be made of shadow.

“Sam, come here.” Stheno waved me over.

Reluctantly, Clive let go and I walked to the far end of the bar, giving the bartender a smile he ignored. Rough crowd.

Even when I was standing beside Stheno, I still couldn’t see anyone in the cloak. “Hello.”

“Sam, this is Charon,” Stheno said.

“I don’t ferry the living,” he told me, his voice a deep whisper that sent chills down my spine.

It felt weird talking to a cloak. “Right, and that makes complete sense, since you take people to their afterlife. As we’re still in our current life, we don’t qualify. I get it.” Nervous smiling at the shadowy Charon, I continued. “The thing is, Meg—Megaera—contacted me. She specifically asked me to come and help her. I have no desire to be where I’m not wanted, but I do want to help my friend.”

“Megaera asked for help?” His shivery whisper dripped with disbelief.

“She did.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pulled up my texts. I wasn’t sure where he was looking, so I just turned my phone to him and hoped for the best.

His cloak shifted to the side. “You believe her?”

Stheno gestured to me. “This one? A hundred percent. The old bitch? Who knows? It’s very much like her to not give any follow-up information, though. Just ask someone to come across the world and do the impossible based on a text.” She rolled her eyes.

His hood turned toward the door where the others stood. “Why are there extras?”

Stheno looked at me, her eyebrows raised. Right. This was my quest.

“To be completely honest,” I said, “we have no idea what to expect. I asked a few friends to accompany me in case there are dangers I can’t handle on my own. I mean, I’m a necromancer, so I can see and communicate with the dead, but we don’t know what else we may face.”

His cloak shifted.