Face of Death

Chapter 19

Stay human? How could I? I’d be stuck like this forever, or at least until Hades killed my body and my Ophi soul with it. Then maybe I really would be free. But I’d be sacrificing all the Ophi to do it. Sacrificing Alex.

“Alex, I’m not leaving you here. I can’t.” My insides crumbled, and my legs weakened under my weight. I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to do this. To fight or to flee.

He pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around me. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. I feel so weak. It’s like I’m not really me without my powers, but at the same time, I feel normal.” I lowered my eyes. “I saw my mom. I told her everything—about you, the school, my dad, Hades. She understood. I couldn’t believe it, but she listened, and she accepted this is who I am. She’s letting Matt and me stay with her while I’m there. After I go, Matt will continue to live there for a while so he can be near his family. They’re going to tell everyone he’s my mom’s nephew.”

Alex’s body stiffened. “Your mom took him in? Just like that?”

“That’s my mom.”

“I thought she was overprotective when it came to you and guys.”

“She is. I’m sleeping in her room, and Matt gets mine.”

He smiled, obviously pleased with that arrangement. “She doesn’t trust Matt to stay on the couch all night, huh?”

“Don’t look so happy. She definitely wouldn’t trust you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He looked hurt.

“That I love you. If she saw us together, she’d know we wouldn’t stay apart for the whole night.”

His frown righted itself, and he leaned down to meet my lips. His hands cupped my face, pulling me closer to him. I clutched the sides of his shirt in my fists and pressed my chest against his.

“Now that’s torture,” Abby said, walking out of Tartarus. “If I have to watch any more of this, my eyes will burn for sure.”

I shot her a look. “What are you doing out here? I thought Hades kept you guys locked up tight.”

“What, Queen of the Ophi Jodi thinks she’s the only one to get time off?”

I really didn’t miss her. I’d tried to sympathize with why she was such a bitch. I mean, if my mom and sister shipped me off and didn’t return my calls or letters, I’d be majorly pissed at the world too, but Abby didn’t let you feel sorry for her. She cut you down and made you suffer with her.

“What do you want, Abby?” Alex glared at her like she was the most vile creature in the underworld.

She walked closer. Too close to Alex for my liking. “Hmm, what do I want?” She eyed him up and down.

“Back off, Abby.” I stepped around Alex, blocking her from him. Before I could say or do anything else, I felt myself slipping away. I turned my head toward Alex and collapsed in his arms.

The last thing I heard before I was back in Liz’s body was Abby saying, “Don’t worry, Jodi. I’ll take good care of our boy.”

Damn it! Why now? I wasn’t ready to leave, and Abby’s little comment meant she knew what was going on with me, too. Did the whole freakin’ underworld know what I was up to?

“Jodi?” Matt’s eyes darted back and forth between mine.

“Yeah. It’s over.” I tilted my head back, silently pleading with the tears that wanted to come rushing out. These quick visits with Alex weren’t enough.

“You were in something like a trance. I was talking to you, but you didn’t respond. You stared back at me, and you didn’t move at all. Does that happen to your body in the underworld, too? When you’re here, I mean.”

“No. I’m stronger in my body. I kind of move on autopilot, but apparently, it’s not very convincing because Hades knows what I’ve done.”

“What do you mean he knows? How?”

“Alex said he looked into my eyes a few times. Saw my soul was split or something.” I hopped down from the counter.

“He can tell that just by looking at you?”

“He’s the god of the underworld. Souls are kind of his thing.” I checked out my reflection in the mirror for a whole two seconds before I turned away. I couldn’t even bear to look at it. I wanted the next twenty-four hours to go away. I wanted to find out how to connect with Medusa and save Alex. The question was, how long would I feel this way? The longer I was in Liz’s body, tuned in to my human soul, the more I became human. I really was going psycho.

“What are you going to do? Or should I ask what Hades is going to do?” Matt looked genuinely scared for me.

“Hades is torturing us overtime until I return. He told Alex to tell me that. He’s using Alex to try to make me go back there.”

Matt grabbed my arm. “Then you can’t go.”

“You’re kidding, right? Did you hear what I said? He’s torturing my body, and worse, he’s torturing the others. If I don’t get back there soon, he’ll kill us all.”

“But you won’t really die. Just the Ophi half of you will.”

“Matt, technically, we’re both dead. These bodies are rentals.”

He let go of me and stared at himself in the mirror. “Then why’d you bring me back?”

“What do you mean? I wanted to give you a second chance. Make up for all you’ve been through because of me.”

“But you said it’s only temporary.”

“You don’t have to be. You can stay here for as long as you want.”

“This body…” Matt held a hand up, examining it like it was something completely foreign. “Will it decay on me?”

“No. It won’t change at all.”

“Ever?” His eyes widened.

I shook my head, seeing where he was going with this.

“So, while everyone else around me is growing old and dying, I’ll be in this never-aging eighteen-year-old body?”

I hadn’t thought about that. I was just so concerned with bringing him back, giving him more time. I looked away, ashamed of myself for not thinking ahead.

“I can’t stay here. You know that, right?”

I did now. “Matt, I’m so sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing for you. I’m still pretty new at all this necromancer stuff. I didn’t think this through.”

He sighed. “Let’s go home. I need something to eat, and then I’m calling it a night. We’ll figure things out in the morning after we’ve both had time to sleep on this.” I reached for him, but he shook his head. “Please, Jodi, let’s just go. I really don’t want to talk about it anymore tonight.”

What could I do? I followed him out of the bathroom. The line outside was about a mile long, and a bunch of drunk girls started cursing at us and making rude comments about why Matt and I had locked ourselves in there. On the outside, I ignored them, but inside I couldn’t help thinking how ironic it was that girls were thinking Matt and I had been hooking up in the girls’ bathroom, just like some random girl had thought about Alex and me in this very same bathroom months before.

Yeah, my life was a little confusing.

The drive home was completely silent. Matt didn’t say a word, and I was too upset to even put on the radio. I cracked my window, letting the coolness in the night air sting my damp cheeks. Up until then, I hadn’t even noticed I was crying. Human emotions were killer.

Mom opened the front door as we pulled up in the driveway. For the first time since I’d known him, Matt didn’t open my car door for me. He went straight to the house and to the kitchen.

I threw my arms around Mom and rested my head on her shoulder.

“Oh, baby.” She kissed my hair. “I take it you didn’t find out what you needed to?”

I pulled away, and she motioned to the couch. I sat down while she went to the kitchen, returning with two steaming cups of tea and handing one to me. “Here you go. Matt said he’s having a quick snack and heading to bed.” More like he was avoiding me.

“Mom, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, sweetie. What is it?”

“Is it better this way? Getting to spend a little more time with me, even if you know I can’t stay?”

She held her teacup in her lap and sighed. “I know it’s going to hurt like hell when you leave, but I wouldn’t trade these few days for anything. I get to see my baby girl again.” Her eyes filled with tears. “When you left, I had no idea if you were okay. All I wanted was to see you again. And then you sent me that email saying you were safe, but when I tried to reply, the email account had been closed. I was devastated. When Melodie told me she saw you, I kind of fell apart.”

Hearing her recount all the awful things I’d done made me lose it all over again.

She reached for my hand and squeezed it. “But now you’re here. I can see you’re okay. You’re stronger than I ever imagined you’d be.”

Funny, because I didn’t feel strong at all.

“Even if this is the last time I get to be with you, I’m grateful for it.”

I put my cup on the coffee table and curled up in a ball with my head on her lap. She moved her tea to the table as well and stroked my hair.

“Maybe now that you know about me, we could see each other sometimes. We’d have to be really careful, but we could do it.”

“Sweetie, I would love that. I’ll even promise not to touch you if I have to.”

“Then it’s settled. Even after I go back to my Ophi body and soul, we’ll still get together. We could do holidays.”

“I do make a mean turkey.” Mom laughed.

“Yes, you do. And I promise to stay away from any knives. I’ll strictly be the stirrer or flipper or whatever else you can do to food while it cooks.”

“Taste tester?” Mom asked.

“No. Too risky. My saliva is poisonous too. I’ll have to be in charge of loading the dishwasher, too. Oh, and taking out the garbage after I use the napkins.”

“Now, that I’m not going to argue with.” Even though I was facing the coffee table, I could hear the smile in Mom’s voice. She was doing her best to make me feel better. To prove we could still be a family even though I was an Ophi.

“You’re the best. You know that?” I tilted my head to see her face.

“Yeah, well, it’s a tough job and the pay sucks, but I love you, so what can I say?” She smiled, and it felt so much like old times.

We hung out and talked about everything—Alex, the school, Alex, the underworld, Alex—until midnight. By then, we were both exhausted, and we dragged ourselves upstairs to bed. Mom took the side of the bed closest to the door. Even after all that talk about Alex, she was still worried about me and Matt. He’d gone to bed hours ago. It was strange to think about him sleeping in my bed. No guy had ever been in my bed before, and a week ago, I would’ve thought the only guy to occupy my bed would be Alex. But somehow, I was being magically transported back through time, to months ago when it was Matt who appeared in all my dreams.

I still wasn’t sure what to do about Matt, and because he wasn’t speaking to me right now, I had no idea if he even wanted to stay here anymore. If he asked me to release his soul and let him return to his afterlife, it might destroy me. I’d already sent him there twice, and each time it got worse. First he was in Heaven. Then he was in the Fields of Asphodel, totally oblivious to every emotion. If I sent him back to Hades a third time, would he end up in Tartarus?

That thought haunted me as my eyes finally closed, and it stuck with me all night—mostly because I was back in the underworld delivering another soul. My body suddenly stopped moving on autopilot as my focus came crashing back to my Ophi soul. I staggered for a moment before I felt the searing heat of the Phlegethon, the river of fire that surrounded Tartarus. Somehow, Hades had made it so we could pass through it. Of course that was only when we were delivering souls. If we tried to escape during torture time, we’d be burned alive.

My eyes came into focus as I got my bearings.

“Are you okay? You look like you freaked out for a second.” I knew that voice. But, no. That was impossible. It couldn’t be. I must not have adjusted from the switch, from returning to my Ophi soul.

I turned to face the soul I was escorting.

Amber! Matt’s sister. Immediately I knew what was going on. Hades had sent Alex to try to reason with me earlier. He’d even increased the torture for me and the group. When both of those didn’t get immediate results, he’d decided to play really dirty. He’d gone after Matt’s sister.