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right?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Can you pass along that message for me?   It’s a waste of time to come to me about this.   I have no way to help you.   Find another way.”
    “I can tell them, but that won’t save you.”
    “How do you figure?”
    “Time moves differently in the Underworld.   Down there, you and Sharon left a few days ago.   The Acheron has shifted, and spirits are riding it to your realm in larger and larger groups.   By the time I get a message to the general and he passes it along to his superiors, many thousands of spirits will be here searching for you.   To be honest, you’re not difficult to find.”
    “You’ll pass them along the way, so tell them to back off.”
    “I’m a soldier, not a commander.”
    “Fine.   Just tell the general.”
    “I’ll do that, but you’ll still have thousands of spirits coming your way, using the dead to get around.   And just so you know, the waves that are coming will kill you if you aren’t helping.   If you want to survive, you should try to help.”
    “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.
    “Do more than that.”
    I looked at Brand.   “You can cut off his head now.”
    Brand grinned.   “I’d rather play with him some more.”
    “Plenty more where he came from.”
    Brand shrugged.   “Good point.”
    He placed Andy on the floor and pulled the sword free.
    Brand smiled.   “Say good-bye, Matt.”
    Andy rolled his eyes as Brand swung the blade downward.   Andy’s head rolled.
    Kelly walked over and looked at the sword stuck in one of the padded mats on the floor.   “Brand?” she said.
    “Yeah?”
    “You’re buying me a new mat.”

CHAPTER NINE
    Like Kelly’s old dojo, the new one had an apartment above it, but she used it only for storage because it was too small for two people.   For her residence, she bought a condo over in Lakewood, which was where she and Brand lived.   As my car wasn’t fit for driving at the moment, we all piled into Kelly’s SUV and pulled out into traffic heading west.
    I sat in the back with Miranda.
    “We can drop you off at your place,” I said.
    “I don’t feel safe there.”
    “Why not?”
    “All those zombie things are out there.”
    “They were looking for me,” I said.
    “So they won’t be after me to get to you?”
    “Nope.”
    “Does that mean Zach didn’t raise the dead people?”
    “It seems to me that someone else did the Lazarus-come-forth routine here.”
    “Why couldn’t Lazarus come third?” Brand asked.
    We ignored him.
    “So Greek mythology is real?   Hades and Persephone and such?” Miranda asked.
    “Let’s just say that not all of it is fiction, though it rarely turns out to be the way Edith Hamilton said.”
    “And you know Charon?”
    “Near as I can tell, Charon is an office or a rank, but yes, I’ve met two of them.”
    “My head is spinning.   Dead people rising, gods and goddesses, magic, psychic spies.   Next thing you know, you’ll tell me pizza was given to us by aliens from Mars.”
    “Different galaxy,” I said.
    She looked at me.
    “Kidding,” I said.   “Though I am a bit hungry.”
    “It’s late,” Kelly said.   “You can have an apple at my place.”
    “Thanks, Mom.”
    Miranda looked uncomfortable.
    I patted her knee.   “Things will get better.”
    “There are too many ifs that go with that statement,” she said.   “They’ll get better if my heart is still beating and if we can get it back and if it can be returned to my chest and if we aren’t overrun by dead people.”
    “What’s your gut feeling on your heart?”
    “It was still beating when he took it.”
    I nodded.   “We’ll go with that, then.   I know a healer who can put it back for you.   She’s very good.”
    “What about the dead people?”
    “Not entirely your problem.   Again, they aren’t after you.   If we can keep you clear of them, we should be able to keep you safe.   And who knows, maybe Zach can help with putting the