“I am your grandfather’s brother, your great-uncle.” He winked. “Which does indeed make your father a warlock too. Tell me, why do you think he didn’t turn you himself?”

I’d thought about the reason why Dad hadn’t turned Tad and I, even though he was a warlock. I didn’t hesitate to answer Merlin; I knew the answer. “My mother.”

“Ah, your mother. Right, right. I remember all that mess now. Shame. She was feisty once too, before fear got the better of her and she let Hera’s supposed curse control her choices.”

Ernie swept around between us. “Wait, you’re actually related to this douche? He’s been jerking you around the whole time, and you two are family?”

I shrugged. “Not any worse than the rest of the pantheon now, is it?”

That came out a bit wrong, like I was part of the Greek powerhouse, which I wasn’t. But he seemed to get the gist of what I was getting at.

Merlin laughed. “Another time we can discuss the family tree and exactly why I had no problem throwing you to the wolves. That is in the past, we are here now, and we”—he pointed at me and then back at himself—“have an issue. You noticed the people dying outside?”

I shook my head. “Dead, not dying.”

He grunted but didn’t seem upset by the change in status. “Interesting. Most of them fell ill within the last few days. The virus has been set into overdrive, Alena. If you fell sick now, you wouldn’t have weeks.” He smoothed a hand back over his dark-brown hair. Looking at him, I could see the resemblance here and there to Tad, and more so to my dad. I gave myself a mental shake.

“How do we stop it? You obviously aren’t bothering to turn them.” I didn’t hold back on the heat in my words.

“You obviously don’t know what it takes to turn someone. It’s draining. That’s why I only turn one or two people in a month. That’s the real reason why your father couldn’t turn you. He’s not strong enough.”

I blanched, thinking of my request for Dad to go and turn as many people as he could. Merlin stared hard at me as if he could read my mind. Maybe he could. “You didn’t,” he growled.

I grabbed the foot of the bed to steady myself. “I didn’t know. I was trying to help everyone.”

He slammed his hands into the bed and pushed off. “I’d better go help him, then, before he kills himself.”

“Wait, I need to get to Hades; he’s behind the virus. How do I get to the underworld?” I stepped in front of him, stopping him from getting to the door.

Merlin shook his head, exasperation flowing over his face. “You don’t. Zeus could have taken you there, but the rumor is that he’s somehow gotten trapped. He’s too cocky for his own good.”

“Hermes? Could he take her?” Remo asked.

Both Ernie and Merlin shook their heads at the same time.

“Not possible, not to the underworld or Olympus,” Ernie explained. “Those two places are off limits for him to carry anyone.”

“Merlin, I have to try. Can you try to understand that?” I spread my hands wide in front of me, ready to beg if I had to. “I can’t just let people die if I can help.”

He tucked a hand into the inside of his jacket and pulled out a silver-and-gold feather. A Stymphalian bird feather, either Sandy’s or Beth’s, I wasn’t sure. He rolled it over his hand once.

“You sure you want to go to the underworld? Because as far as I know there is only one way that is certain to get you there.” His brown eyes met mine, and there wasn’t a single glint of jokester in them. Nothing like the man I’d first met only a few short weeks ago who’d teased me about being a Firstamentalist.

“Yes.” My voice was steady.

“There will be no do-overs, Alena. You will have one shot, and you will need more bravery than I think even you have.” Merlin continued to roll the feather in his hand, over and over, the metal catching the light in flashes.

“Alena.” Remo breathed my name in a soft warning as I nodded to Merlin.

“Yes, I’m ready.”

“Oh, I doubt that very much.” Merlin did smile then as he glanced at Remo beside me. “You don’t think you’re going with her, do you?”

“Yes. If anyone can handle the underworld, someone already dead should do the trick,” Remo said.

Merlin shook his head. “No. She goes alone. Trust me, it is for your own good. Both of you. The undead are not what you think in the underworld.”

That made no sense, but I was ready to agree to his terms. Remo, on the other hand . . .

“I’m with her, so you send us both or not at all.” Remo closed the distance between Merlin and himself. The two men were almost nose to nose, or would have been if Remo hadn’t had a good six inches on Merlin. He stared down at the warlock, but Merlin didn’t seem bothered at all.

“I’m telling you, vampire, it’s a bad idea.”

Remo glared at him. “I’m going with her.”

Merlin shrugged and put a hand on Remo’s chest, pushing him away. “Your funeral.”

“I can get there on my own,” Ernie said, “but I’ll be behind you if he’s sending you fast.”

Merlin nodded and faced me. “Fast, it will be. You ready, then?”

I swallowed, a sudden knot of anxiety filling my throat like a too-big candy gone down sideways.