Face of Death

Chapter 31

By the end, he was too weak to give me any more power, so I had to take it from him. I pulled those last traces of Ophi blood to me. I lowered to the ground with Chase. Alex supported his shoulders to keep him from slumping forward on me or accidentally breaking our connection. When it was over, I let go of Chase and nodded to Alex. He eased Chase’s body to the floor. I was proud of Alex for not just letting him fall in a heap. He must have found some sympathy for Chase after all.

“How do you feel?” he asked me.

“Amazing.” I felt guilty for saying it. I’d just taken Chase’s life, but his power was inside me, and I was ready to find Medusa.

“Lead the way.” Alex held his arm out, motioning for me to go first.

I walked out of the entryway and off to the left. That’s where I’d seen Persephone go earlier.

“It has to be around here somewhere.” We passed a few locked doors, but none of them seemed right. Hades loved Persephone, even if she didn’t love him in return. He’d give her the most beautiful room in the palace. We came to a door with a gorgeous, shiny embellishment. It was a swirly design that reflected the light in a way that almost looked like the sun. On instinct, I traced the design. It was an elaborate letter P. “This is it.” I raised my hand to knock.

“Wait! Are you just going to trust what Chase said? Hades could be in there.”

“I killed Chase. I owe him this.” I knocked.

Soft footsteps sounded on the other side of the door. I held my breath, and Alex and I exchanged a look while the doorknob turned. Persephone stared back at us, her long, white gown trailing behind her.

“Are you lost?”

“I don’t think so. We’re looking for Medusa.” I tried to peer around her into the room, but she was blocking my view.

“What do you want with her?”

“Honestly, I want to put her soul inside my body, so we can put your tyrant of a husband in his place.”

She smiled and raised an eyebrow. “Then come in.” She stepped aside, and I saw Medusa’s soul sitting on the edge of the bed.

I rushed to her. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“No, my child. I’m fine. Persephone has been a very gracious host.” Medusa looked comfortable, like she’d been visiting with an old friend instead of being held against her will. Even her snakes looked peaceful.

“Did they do something to you? You seem awfully calm.”

“Nothing of the sort. But I find Persephone to be very good company. For the moment, I’m almost content. And now that you’re here, I suspect we can move forward with our plan.”

I swallowed my guilt and told her about Chase.

“I suspected the prophecy about you two wasn’t what everyone thought. That it wasn’t even as Hades interpreted it. But this, I did not see.” She placed a hand on my shoulder. “You did the right thing. Do you not know that?”

“I do, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. I killed him.”

Persephone walked over to us with her arms crossed. “Hades was using that boy as a slave. It was awful. I don’t blame him for preferring death over that kind of existence. I’ll see to it that he is fairly judged and receives an afterlife that suits him.”

“You can do that?”

“Sweetie, I’m queen of the underworld. I can do whatever I want. Hades won’t go against me.”

A nervous giggle escaped my lips. “I don’t suppose you want to demand that he free us and leave us alone for good.”

“I rarely get involved in the lives of mortals. Souls are another story.”

“Fair enough. Thank you.” But I couldn’t help wondering if she wasn’t getting involved in our lives. “Why aren’t you with your mother? You don’t have to be down here now.”

“My father asked me to come.” Zeus? “He thought I’d be a good distraction. Hades didn’t question it. He was just happy to have extra time with me.”

“But why would you do that? You hate him.”

“Yes, but I’m not like him. I couldn’t stand how he attacked you. The judges weren’t wrong. You’re a good person, Jodi, human or Ophi. Just because Hades hates the Ophi doesn’t mean the other gods feel the same way.”

Not all the gods were against us? I couldn’t believe it.

“Jodi.” Alex tapped his wrist, even though he wasn’t wearing a watch. “We need to move a little quicker.”

“You must be trying to save your friends, the ones in Tartarus,” Persephone said.

“Yes.” I hated to ask, but I had to. “You don’t think you could buy us some time, do you? I’m not asking you to save us. I just need a little time to unite with Medusa before I—we—can go after him.”

She bit her bottom lip as she thought. “I might have an idea. Let me see what I can do.” She walked toward the door and then disappeared in a silver swirl of smoke.

I immediately turned to Medusa. “Ready?”

She stood. “Ready.”

I knew this would still be painful, even with Chase’s power inside me, but I also knew I could handle it. I wouldn’t let Chase’s death be in vain. I took a deep breath and called Medusa’s spirit to me. Like last time, she fought me as I brought her into my body. I didn’t want to be forceful, but the gentler I was, the more her soul fought.

“Jodi, you have the power in you. Use it,” Alex said. “I can tell you’re holding back. Medusa will understand, and you’ll end the pain for both of you sooner if you just get it over with.”

I hadn’t thought of it that way. I allowed the power to take over and shove Medusa’s soul inside me. It was like being suckerpunched by a giant. All the air escaped my lungs. I fell backward into the dresser, but I kept pushing her soul down. It wanted to find a way out—that or take over. I had to show it I was in control. I pushed it down, sandwiching it between my Ophi soul and my human soul. Finally, it settled in.

Alex reached for me as I pushed off the dresser and stood up tall. “Is she—?”

“Yes. I feel her.” Medusa had said she’d be able to hear my thoughts, so I spoke to her in my mind.

Medusa, are you okay? In any pain at all?

I’m fine. Thank you for making that as quick as possible.

Thank Alex for that. I was trying to do it slowly until he pointed out I was only causing us both more pain.

I’ll thank him later. For now, let’s go save the others.

“Let’s go.” I took Alex’s hand in mine. Part of me wanted to tell him to stay here. I might be all juiced up on the power of not one but three Ophi right now, but Alex was still himself. If Hades attacked him…

“I can handle myself, Jodi.” Damn him for knowing me so well.

“I know.” Total lie.

“Then quit gripping my hand so hard.”

I eased up as we passed the judges. They stared at us knowingly, but they didn’t say a word or try to stop us. Maybe they weren’t exactly happy with how Hades had been running things either.

I really wished I had a swirling cloud of silver or black smoke to carry us to Tartarus right then. Running was too slow. Hopefully Persephone had bought us the time we needed.

“What’s the plan? Run in there and…” Alex waited for an answer.

“Save the others. That’s as far as I got.”

You can stop Victoria’s group from torturing your friends. Medusa’s voice in my head made me jump. It wasn’t like when she appeared in my mind. I couldn’t see her at all. I only felt her presence, and when she spoke, it was like I was thinking in her voice.

What if Hades is there? I mean, he must be, right? He won’t stand there and do nothing while we save the others.

Medusa was silent, devising a plan. It was odd that I couldn’t hear her thoughts. We were nearing the entrance to Tartarus, and she still hadn’t said a word.

Medusa, do you have a plan? What do we do about Hades?

Still nothing. I stopped running and looked down at my body. I hadn’t felt Medusa leave me. She must still be inside my body, but why couldn’t I sense her?

“What’s wrong?” Alex reached for my arm. “Did something happen?”

“I don’t know. I can’t hear Medusa in my mind anymore. I’m not sure she’s still here.”

“Have you tried calling to her?”

I raised an eyebrow. Of course I’d tried that.

“Do you think her soul escaped?”

“I didn’t feel anything. I would know if it had, wouldn’t I?”

Alex shrugged. “I’ve never had another soul sharing my body, so I have no clue what that would feel like.”

“I can’t go in there without her. Even with Chase’s power, I won’t be strong enough.”

“You don’t know that, and we can’t just stand here while the others are in there suffering.”

“What if I fail?” I couldn’t bear the thought, not after all I’d gone through to get here.

“Then we’ll figure something else out.”

I stepped forward, determined to do something—even something stupid—but my head swam with shrieks and screams. I pressed my palms to my ears to block them out, but that didn’t help. “Ahh!”

“Jodi!” Alex grabbed me by my arms before I fell to the ground. “What is it? What’s happening?”

I could barely hear him over the screams. “I don’t know. The screams, they’re awful. So much pain.”

I’m sorry, Jodi. I tried to focus on their pain to block it from you, but there’s too much. I couldn’t shield you from it all.

Medusa was back—or really, she’d never left.

You mean there’s more? You’re experiencing some of this, too?

Yes. I tried to take it all so you could focus better on stopping Victoria and her followers, but I couldn’t hold it all.

How was I supposed to save everyone with this mind-numbing shrieking in my head?

“Hey, can you hear me?” Alex asked, gently touching my cheek.

“Yeah, sorry. Medusa, she’s back.” I struggled to form sentences with everything going on inside my head.

“That’s good, right?”

“Yes, but she can hear the screams, too. They’re hindering both of us. I don’t know if we’ll be strong enough to push through them.”

Alex lifted my chin, raising my eyes to his. “Listen to me. I know how strong you are. You were able to block the sounds of the tortured souls from your mind when you learned to raise them. Remember?”

Yes. When I’d first arrived at the school, I’d felt every emotion and physical pain the souls went through when I raised them. I’d learned to block that out. I’d have to do the same now. “But this is so much more than one soul. It’s all our friends, Alex.”

“Then you have even more reason to do this.” I’d always wondered how Alex could go from caring to serious and disciplined so quickly, but now I was grateful for it. He was keeping me grounded, pushing me to do what I had to.

Medusa, are you ready?

Ready when you are.

Then we’re going in.

I nodded to Alex, and he kissed my cheek. I closed my eyes and pushed the pain and screams out of my head. I forced them away. Once I could think straight again, I stepped into Tartarus. I kept myself positioned in front of Alex, hoping he wouldn’t notice that I was acting as an Ophi shield. Alex’s hands flew to his ears as we got closer to the others. The screams were eardrum-shattering.

His face scrunched up in pain. “That was in your head?”

“Not so easy to tune out, but I’m doing all right.”

I heard Hades’ laughter echoing off the walls. He was enjoying every moment of this. I wasn’t surprised. If only Medusa and I were strong enough to overthrow a god. I would’ve loved to torture him for the rest of eternity. Hades stood in the middle of the group. All my friends were on the ground, writhing in pain. Smoke was actually coming from their mouths, eyes, and ears. They were burning from the inside out.

Don’t focus on Hades, Medusa said. Go for Victoria and the others doing the torturing.

Easier said than done. My blood was boiling, more than it ever had before. My skin was taking on a reddish tone, and it shimmered.

Alex pointed to my arms. “What’s happening to you?”

Tell him not to touch you. You’ll burn him.

“Don’t touch me. My blood is making me hotter than fire right now.”

“Can you handle all this power?”

“We’re about to find out.” I reached my hands forward in Victoria’s direction. I wanted to take her down first. She’d pretended to be like a mother to me. She’d lied to me and stolen Medusa’s locket from my room. She’d ruined Alex’s life and treated him like a worthless stranger. I let my hatred for her fuel me.

I’m with you, Jodi. Simply command your blood to reach her soul.

But she’s alive. I can only reach souls of the dead.

All you need is to touch her. Your power will take her down instantly.

How do I get to her without alerting the others that Alex and I are here? The only thing I could think of was charging at her like a linebacker. Did linebackers charge?

The element of surprise is never a bad thing. Try commanding some souls first. Get them to attack Victoria and bring her down. Then you can charge her like you just pictured. Of course she could read my mind. Hers was a mystery to me, but being Medusa and having her blood in my veins gave her access to all my thoughts.

Got it. I focused on reaching out to the other tortured souls in Tartarus. I commanded them to listen to me alone, to disconnect from the pain they were feeling and come to me. One by one, they stood and walked toward me. Bristol was the first to notice them—and me. She met my eyes, and a small glimmer of hope flashed across her face. She pretended everything was as it should be, and I realized she wasn’t torturing Amber or anyone else. She was faking the entire thing. Tony was on the ground like the others, but he wasn’t in pain.

We will save her, too, Medusa said. She’s worth saving.

Yes, she was, and I hoped that, once I started attacking Victoria and her followers, Bristol and Tony would do what they could to help.

The souls were getting closer and drawing everyone’s attention. Abby turned first, doing a double take. Then Hades narrowed his eyes. He didn’t turn toward the souls, though. He was searching—for me. He knew I was here.

“Come here, Jodi Marshall.” A smile crossed his lips. “Let me see you. I’m sure we can find a place for you among your friends.”

I stayed in the shadows until the souls reached Victoria, who had stopped torturing Arianna and was backing away. She tried commanding them, but they wouldn’t listen. They were obeying me alone.

Hades flung his arm out to the side, sending the souls flying into the black abyss behind them. So much for taking out Victoria. I was on my own.