“No? Does the name Achilles ring a bell?” The smirk fell off my face. “It’s okay to feel frightened. It’s not okay to let that fear run your life. You obviously want to talk to this girl, to try and find some of the spark that you had in the past.”

Just then, the timer that she set at the beginning of each of our sessions went off. She frowned.

“Okay, that’s all for this week, but you have homework. Reach out to the girl’s uncle and try to find her. Allow yourself to be happy.”

I nodded as I got out of my chair. I made my next appointment with the receptionist and then I stopped at a taco stand outside and ate a couple as I thought about what Joan said.

Later that night, I was petting Sheba as she sat purring in my lap. Joan’s words kept running through my mind. Persephone wouldn’t be home for another five months. I got up, much to Sheba’s dismay, and I walked over to my desk. I flipped open my phone book and scanned through the O’s. Osiris was the fifth name down. My hands trembled as I picked up the phone and started dialing. Then I laughed. What was the worst that could happen? I was already in the underworld.

I stopped laughing just as a haughty voice answered the phone. “Hello?”

“Hey Osiris it’s H, long time no see. Listen, I had a favor I wanted to ask.”