Everything seemed to be in place at the river. There was no sign that anything was awry. Steemer's booming laugh rolled out of the tent as he told Catch a string of dirty jokes. Zander and Colt's horses, Goliath and Jigsaw, stood in the paddock nibbling on hay while they waited for their riders to return from a night of hunting. Even the souls, both in the water and huddled along the railing on the ferry, seemed to be doing exactly what I expected—whining and moaning about their less than glorious eternity.

All in all, it was a slow, uneventful work day. There was no sign of ghouls or rogue wraiths trying to steal my veil. Everything was going smoothly. The rocky start at the portal made me extra thankful for a calm night on the river.

In my head, I had been rearranging the list of people I should talk to first about the stranger witnessing my fall through the portal. Feenix remained at the bottom of that list. Dad had always assumed that Feenix never questioned who was standing under the veil because there was no need. The ferry had been running smoothly all these years, so Feenix had no reason to put a knot in it. But I was sure the leader of the underworld had no idea a young, mortal woman had been standing at the ferry's helm for the past two months.

If Feenix found out about the clumsy mistake I'd made today, I was sure we would lose the family business and quite possibly our lives. As hard as I tried not to think about the blunder and get on with my work, it kept creeping into my thoughts, sending a cold chill through my bones. It wasn't just a blunder. It was a huge, explosive catastrophic mistake.

I'd pushed my dad to the top of the list of people to tell. Maximus was number two. I was sure once I told him what had happened, he would never speak to me again. After all, he'd spent his entire youth and adulthood keeping the mortal world free and clear of any hints of the underworld. This was going to be like a kick in the face to Maximus and all the Boys of Wynter.

Catch skipped clumsily toward the end of the dock on long, skinny feet as the souls shuffled off the ferry. "Well, doesn't this just look like the sorriest lot of dead people ever," he said cheerily. Sometimes he took just a little too much glee in his job.

For a few days, Catch had been grumpy about losing my father's coin, but he got over it quickly. The industrious goblin never brought it up to me again. I was thankful not to have to deal with a hostile goblin as a workmate.

Catch led his group of permanent tourists away from the dock. I walked back to the rudder and moved the ferry out into the river. As the bow spun around toward the opposite side, a tall, broad shouldered figure stood on the bank waiting. My heart skipped along just as Catch’s feet had done seconds before. Only this time, it wasn't all joy and excitement at seeing Maximus. A dreadful case of nerves had come with it. I wasn't sure I could keep quiet about the incident. His shift didn't start for hours. So what had brought him to the river?

Ice cold fear gripped me when I considered that he was standing there, waiting for me, because all hell had already broken loose on the mortal side of the plasma. What if the stranger in the forest had gone straight to the papers or police to tell the story of the woman who’d passed over the rocks and into a seemingly invisible dimension?

The ferry reached the underwater portal where Death left the souls for their swim in the river before being sorted for eternity. Once they surfaced through the portal, they floated across the top of the river. Then the thick current swept them down and back almost as if on a submerged conveyor belt. And they stayed on that same path over and over until they were sorted into the small reservoir just below the dock. Once the reservoir was filled, the water drained, leaving behind the stunned, confused souls who were then herded together and prodded onto my ferry by the metal arms of the reservoir. It was a harsh, cold welcome into the underworld but then they weren't in this place for being fine, kind people. They were people like my dad's Aunt Aurel.

I glanced over the railing as the ferry passed the underwater portal. Many souls had floated through in the past six hours, but now all was quiet down below. The ferry reached the reservoir side of the river. It was empty at the moment, which meant I had a short break. With the way my knees wobbled and my hands trembled from seeing Maximus on the shore, that was probably a good thing.

I tried to read Maximus's expression as I neared the dock. I saw no anger or disbelief. His eyes were a cool brown and there was a hint of a smile on his face. I nearly sobbed in relief. Maximus stepped up on the dock. I tossed him the rope to tie off the ferry as I steered it toward the pylons.

The deck tilted to one side as Maximus climbed on board.

"Ferryman," he said politely as he walked past me and sat at the bow as if he was just going across for his pay. Only it wasn't payday. It wasn't even a work day for his pack.

I glanced around. Catch had left the river area with his group of weary travelers. Steemer rarely left his tent, but he had limped out on his fake leg to light his cigar on a torch. He leaned his shoulders down and squinted at the ferry.

"Maximus, is that you? What the hell brought you here today?"

"Just thought I'd go for a boat ride," Maximus called back. "Can't get enough of the scenery out here on the river." He looked my direction and lowered his voice considerably. "Even if it's hidden behind a veil."

Steemer seemed to accept Maximus's comical excuse, and with cigar properly lit, he hobbled on his ill-fitting leg back into his tent.

The coast was clear. I walked to the bow. "What are you doing here? And don't bring up scenery."

"I decided that since a certain wickedly hot ferry boat captain insisted on working today, then I would sit on board her vessel and watch her."

I grunted in frustration. "You are incorrigible. I told you I'd be fine."

Maximus sat forward on the crate he was using as a seat. "Uh, you should probably lower that sweet honey voice of yours, Trex. "

I moved closer and lowered it to a near whisper. "I'm fine. You don't need to be here. Besides, people will notice and there will be talk."

His laugh and the cocky smile that went with it made me want to slap him . . . or kiss him . . . one of the two. I just wasn't sure which.

"People?" he said with another laugh. "What people? I pretty sure Steemer could give a damn and the nosy goblin is off in the other realms."

"What about Rafferty and Tracker and the others?"

"They won't be out of Wynter for hours. Just in time for me to be here for my work shift." He sat back with a smug grin and rested his elbows on the railing.

"Well, have fun then. I need to fill in my log book." I circled around to the captain's helm and tried hard to concentrate on my task, but the large passenger at the bow made that a challenge.

"Hey, ferryman," he called.

I lifted my head and tilted it, hoping he could imagine the annoyed expression I wore under the veil. "What?"

Maximus leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs. "Whatcha wearing under that sexy cloak?"

I was glad he couldn't see my smile. I glanced around. No one was in earshot, so I skipped the gravelly voice that always left me with a sore throat. "The same jeans and shirt you saw me in just a few hours ago."

"That's kind of disappointing."

"What were you expecting, a silk baby doll nightie and crotch-less underwear?" My suggestion left him stunned speechless, which was my goal. "You're thinking about me wearing that right now, aren't you?"

"Hell yeah I am."

The metal arms of the reservoir clanked open signaling that it was filling up with souls. I dropped my voice low again. "I've got passengers." I hoped that souls coming on board would encourage him to leave the boat, but he looked unmoved.

"That's fine. I'll just sit right here. I'm sure they will hardly notice me."

"Right. Why should they notice the man up at the bow who is causing the deck to tilt toward the starboard side just by sitting on a crate?"

Maximus leaned his head and looked down the deck to see if I was telling the truth. It was no exaggeration.

"I can remedy that." He stood up and slid the crate so that it was exactly in line with the center of the bow. Then he sat back down and crossed his arms.

I had the advantage again. I could watch him from underneath my disguise and he had no idea. He was a magnificent sight in the mortal world. In the underworld, he was power and life and courage, the exact opposite of our grim surroundings.

And he was there on the river for me. That thought nearly sent me into a fit of nerves. At the same time, I choked up thinking about how he'd given up his hours of freedom away from this wretched world to make sure I was safe. It took all of my strength not to run up to the bow and throw my arms around him. Wouldn't that be a sight for Catch or Steemer to see, I thought with a smile. The ancient, deformed ferryman heartily embracing one of the Boys.

I waited for my dazed, dripping wet passengers to board and took a moment to look up toward the front of the ferry. Suddenly, guilt gripped me. Maximus had done so much for me in the past few days, and I was keeping a huge secret from him. His pack was in charge of keeping the mortal world shielded from the knowledge that the underworld existed, so my secret affected him directly. I had to tell him.

I'd wound myself so deep into my thoughts, I'd temporarily forgotten my reluctant cargo. A howl of anger startled me. I spun around just as the soul of a large, angry-looking man lunged at me. No longer propelled by bones and muscles, souls moved slowly. That seemed to surprise the man. Confused, he looked down at his feet as they moved in slow motion. His stunned white face lifted and he stared at me through terrified, dead eyes.

His body fell forward as if it was being lowered down by pulleys. I stepped to the side as he reached for my neck. A solid fist plowed through the mist, sending the disembodied man back to the railing with the other moaning passengers. The terror still hadn't left his hollow face.

I lowered my voice to a hoarse whisper and leaned my head toward Maximus. "That doesn't count as saving me because souls are virtually harmless. I could have easily ducked out of the way."

Maximus nodded his agreement and turned to head back to the bow. I reached over and took a secret hold of his hand. He stopped and tilted his ear back to hear me.

"I have something I need to tell you, Max. Something important."

He turned his face to look at me, forgetting that he wouldn't see anything more than a black veil.

"Not here," I said quietly. "Later."