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“It’s not the dead I’m worried about,” I told him. “Cerberus, though, might be a challenge to get by.”

Stheno leaned close to Charon and said, “She was given a divine gift when we landed. The gods are aware she’s here and presumably why.”

“Interesting,” he wheezed. “Do you have your obols?”

Stheno nodded. “I’ve got them covered.”

“Only the four.” His hood turned back toward the bartender. “Get them what they need.”

The bartender didn’t bother pretending he hadn’t been listening. “For a price.”

The hood turned back to me. “There is no safe passage through the Underworld. If you die, you die, and you join the realm. It has nothing to do with me. If you make it back out, though, you better have another obol for the return trip or I’ll leave you on the far shore.” He stood and walked through a back door, out of the Ferryman’s Rest.

Chapter 9

THE CIRCUS HAS COME TO TOWN

The bartender looked between Stheno and me. “Who’s paying, and I only take cash.”

I raised my hand. “That’d be me.” I tried smiling again, even though that hadn’t been helping me lately. “How much will provisions for four be?”

“Five,” Clive said, walking toward me. “I’ll be accompanying my wife.”

Stheno just stared at him.

The bartender shook his head. “Charon said four.”

Clive glanced back at the group still near the door. “That’s fine. I’ll be one of the four.”

Shaking my head, I patted his chest. “No.”

“Darling, you heard the ferryman.” He took my hand off his chest and squeezed. “It’s dangerous and there’s no guarantee you’re getting out alive. I’m going with you.”

“Clive,” Vlad began.

Clive held up a hand. “Stop. You’d never have let your wife go into danger on her own.”

“We’ve been over this,” I whispered to him. “You can’t go and I have powerful friends who can. Trust us.”

The bartender ignored the drama. “It’s four million euros.”

That derailed my train of thought. “Four million? What?” I turned to Stheno. “What is that in dollars?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “About four and a half million. Maybe a little more.”

I stood there speechless and then turned back to the bartender. “And you expect me to have that in cash? What the hell?”

“Without the provisions, you’re as good as dead,” he said, clearly unconcerned.

Closing my eyes, I let out a long breath. “Is this even real? Are we being scammed?”

Clive took my hand and I turned to him. I felt so lost. What was the plan? Why were we here?

Why isn’t Meg here to meet us? I asked Clive, mind to mind.

Exactly my thoughts. If your being here was foretold by an oracle, why are we not being met by a party to guide you down? This favor she asks of you is not just going into the Underworld and risking your life, but also paying for it? This makes no sense.

Did she contact us, I wondered, because she knew we could afford this? Is it even Meg on the other end of those texts or is this some elaborate scheme to separate us?