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Charon’s hood turned. “Keep your hands in,” he wheezed.

I tapped my great-uncle’s arm. When he looked at me, I asked, “Is the emotion grief? Because I’m drowning in that right now.”

He shook his head. “It feels more like anger, hate even.”

“Someone say something in English, so I know what you’re talking about.” Coco looked between Bracken and me.

“Did that do it?” I asked her and she nodded. I replayed the conversation for her in English.

Her mouth turned down and she moved to the center of the bench she was sitting on, moving herself as far from the water as she could.

As we neared the far shore, more of the dead took form. There were far fewer on this side of the Styx, but all of them were gazing across the divide at the ones they’d been separated from.

The ferry hit the platform and the boat rocked from side to side. Charon pointed at the shore, indicating we should get the hell out, so we did.

Stheno stepped out first and her glamour fell away. Coco gasped. Stheno turned at the sound and found us staring up at her. Gone were the long corkscrew curls. Snakes wreathed her head, sliding against one another. Her eyes were a bright copper color with dark horizontal irises, like a snake.

“What?” she asked, sounding irritated. When her mouth opened, two sharp fangs became visible.

I jumped out next and rested my hand against her elbow. I wasn’t sure how long the snakes were. Hopefully my touching her wouldn’t piss them off. Then again, this was a glamour. The snakes had always been there. I just hadn’t seen them.

“Your glamour disappeared,” I told her.

Brow furrowed, she lifted a hand. Her fingers were tipped with long, vicious-looking claws that appeared to be made of bronze. She flinched at seeing herself.

“You’ve always been gorgeous, Stheno. You still are, only now you’re extraordinary too.”

She hid her own shock, glaring at Coco and Bracken. “Is this going to be a problem for either of you?”

Bracken stood. “I’m afraid that would be quite hypocritical of me, considering.” He stepped onto the platform and his glamour dropped as well. It was just as Clive had guessed. He’d thought Bracken moved too lithely for one as old as he appeared.

My great-uncle stood at least six inches taller than before, his shoulders broader and more muscular. His silver hair had darkened to a gleaming reddish brown, his eyes lightening from moss green to a bright spring leaf. And if I wasn’t mistaken, there was now a slight pointing of his ear tips. At a guess, I’d say his father was a warrior elf.

Stheno shook her head. “Why the hell have you been hiding that?”

“I don’t look anything like a Corey wicche, do I? I recognized when I was quite young that my reflection bore no resemblance to my family. I didn’t know then what it meant, but I knew my mother and father hated me, so I tried to make myself more like them. I studied my family, the pictures on the walls, and experimented in the mirror until I looked a great deal like my uncles.”

He shrugged. “I may only be half fae, but from my research, we seem to be as long-lived—or nearly so—as full fae.” He ran a hand through his shiny hair. “As others aged, I altered my glamour to mirror their changes.”

I took his hand and squeezed. “You’re still my great-uncle. This just means we get to spend more of our hopefully long lives together.”

He struggled a moment with his emotions but then swallowed, kissed my cheek, and said, “I’ve been blessed with two wonderful grand-nieces.”

Charon, who apparently had a schedule to keep, pounded his pole against the bottom of the river.

Coco popped up and hopped out. As soon as she did, Charon was moving his pole and drifting away.

Bracken’s blue ball of light seemed to be tethered to him. Where he went, the light floated along. No one accosted me on this side. What would be the point?

“So no glamours, but magic still works?” I asked.

Bracken paused. “Good question.” He glanced up at his ball of light. “It appears so.” He flicked his fingers and a great wind blew through, almost knocking me off my feet. “Yes. It appears so. Thank goodness, or I would have lost my usefulness.”

Grinning, I patted his arm. “You’d still be useful, just not as useful.”

We’d now traveled farther than Stheno had ever gone. We were in uncharted territory. Bracken pointed ahead at what appeared to be an entrance into another cave. As none of us had a better idea, we followed him.

Cautiously, we stepped into the adjoining cave, unsure of what we’d find. We needn’t have worried. It turned out to be a kind of anteroom, serving as the juncture of multiple tunnel openings.