Stalked by Death

Chapter 1

Most people didn’t spend every waking minute thinking about death, but when most of your day consisted of raising corpses, what else could you really focus on? The guy in front of me was vicious. His skin hung off his bones, and he looked like he was ready to tear me to pieces. Sure, I’d raised him from the depths of Hell, but I would’ve thought the guy would welcome a break from eternal torture.

“See, the second you raise them, they’ll come right at you.” I stared the guy down, not taking my focus off him for a second. The last thing I wanted was to lose control of the soul and have it attack me—or worse, poor Leticia, who still wasn’t used to her necromancer powers. She cowered behind Randy, peeking one eye out at the corpse.

“Have a command ready, because if you give the soul time to turn on you, it will.” The guy reached for me, but I was already mixing my blood in my veins, letting my Gorgon blood do its magic. I locked eyes with the corpse. “Don’t move.” He froze, his bony fingers extended toward my neck. His eyes showed nothing but hatred for me.

“How come they listen to you?” Leticia broke me out of my trance. “I mean, I raised the guy. My blood brought him here, so why is he only listening to you?”

Being able to command any soul, whether I’d summoned it or not, was one of my special powers, an added perk that came with being a direct descendent of Medusa. Usually Ophi were able to do it once they became adults, but I’d been able to do it from the start. “He will listen to you, Leticia. You just have to show him you are in charge. You are the one with the power.”

“I don’t feel like I’m in charge.” She stepped out from behind Randy and moved closer to the corpse. “He came right at me and tried to bite me.”

“That would’ve been the end of him if he did bite you.” Alex moved to my side. “Your blood would’ve sent him straight back to Hell.”

Leticia’s eyes widened in horror. “Great, so I have to get bit every time I raise a soul?”

“No.” I elbowed Alex for teasing Leticia. She was a sweet girl, and even though Alex wasn’t trying to freak her out, he’d managed to. “Alex just means that the corpses really can’t hurt us. They’d end up hurting themselves.” Okay, now that wasn’t entirely true. The corpses could hurt us plenty, as long as we didn’t bleed on them in the process, but Leticia was very sensitive right now, so I needed to raise her spirits.

“Come on.” I walked over to her and positioned her two feet in front of the frozen corpse. Leticia was by no means intimidating. She was only five foot four, like me, but she had a tendency to cower behind her long blonde hair, making her look even smaller. “Try releasing his soul. Send him back to where he came from.”

Alex laughed. “Yeah, Leticia, tell him to go to Hell.”

I turned around and gave him a look, but he knew I wasn’t really mad. I couldn’t get mad at him. He’d chosen me over his family, even after I’d sentenced them to servitude in the underworld. Well, that and he was gorgeous. Like all Ophi, he had green eyes. His dirty blond hair was a little unruly in an “I-just-got-out-of-bed” kind of way. Not true bed head, just… sexy. He winked at me, and before I knew it I was smiling.

“Jodi?” Leticia had apparently been talking to me, asking for instructions.

“Right. Okay, tell the soul that you are releasing him and that he should go back to where he was before you summoned him. Be firm. Make him listen to you.”

Leticia nodded, but her bottom lip quivered. The April air still had a chill, but I knew that wasn’t the problem. She was scared. Unsure of herself. And that was going to get her hurt. She needed confidence to control the dead.

“Okay, I think we need a break.” I put my hand on Leticia’s shoulder. “Why don’t you and Randy go inside and help set up for dinner?”

“No.” Leticia shrugged my hand away. “I’m tired of being the weak link here. I have to figure out how to do this. Unfreeze him, Jodi.”

“Leticia, I was—”

“Just do it!”

I’d never seen Leticia this angry. I didn’t know what I’d said to make her get so upset. Still, I hesitated. I didn’t want her getting hurt because she was determined to prove a point. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure she was ready to control this soul.

“Forget it!” She broke into sobs. “You don’t even believe in me. Some teacher you are, Jodi.” She turned and ran for the mansion that we used as a school. Randy shook his head and followed her.

“Leticia!” I yelled after her, but she ignored me.

Alex wrapped his arms around me. “She’ll get over it. She’s been overly sensitive lately. It’ll pass.”

I nuzzled my head against Alex’s neck, breathing in his scent. I’d had to give up everything to come here—my home, my friends, my mom. I was completely cut off from my old life. Alex was home to me now.

“Hey, none of that.” He pulled me back and looked into my eyes.

I hadn’t even realized I was crying. “Sorry.” I wiped the tears from my cheeks.

“Can I help?” Not waiting for a response, he leaned down and kissed me.

I lost myself in him. No thoughts of corpses, Hades, or Ophi. Just Alex. The kiss went on forever—at least it could have if Tony hadn’t interrupted.

“Ahem.” He cleared his throat. I pulled away from Alex to see Tony looking out past the mausoleum. “Sorry to interrupt. I thought you were training Leticia and Randy.”

“I gave them a break. Leticia needed it.”

Tony nodded. “She has been very sensitive lately.”

It was understandable. Two months ago, Victoria had raised Leticia’s parents, and they came back horribly wrong. Nothing more than zombies. That was a lot to ask Leticia to put behind her. I had no doubt she saw her parents’ faces every time she raised a corpse. I knew what that was like.

“She’s been distant in class,” Tony continued. I might be the one teaching about the actual raising of the dead, but Tony taught us all about our race, our powers, and where we came from. I couldn’t run this school without him.

“She needs more time,” I said.

“I know, but the reason I came to get you is that you have a call from Mason.”

My eyes widened, and I smiled. “Great! I’ve been waiting for his call.” Mason ran Serpentarius, an Ophi club back in my hometown. I was trying to convince him to bring his group to the school. I’d promised Hades I would teach all the remaining Ophi to use their powers in a way that wouldn’t disrupt the underworld too much. I was trying to end a war, but so far, just about every Ophi I’d talked to wasn’t listening. No one was worried about Hades coming after them anymore. Because Hades wasn’t coming after them. He was coming after me. Or at least he would be if anyone got out of line.

“Let’s go,” I said to Alex.

“What about him?” Tony pointed to the corpse standing behind us.

I’d completely forgotten about him. “Right.” I faced the body, allowing my blood to bubble under my skin, combining the powers of both sides of my body—the right side with the power to restore life, and the left side with the power to kill. The sensation was still a rush, even though I’d done it so many times now. The only bad part was that using too much power gave me headaches and left me drained of energy. But releasing souls was easy. They didn’t fight you because they wanted to be released.

“Go back to where you were before Leticia called you. Go now.” My tone was serious, commanding. The corpse’s eyes flickered slightly, and I felt his soul release. A second later, the body slumped to the ground.

Back when Victoria and Troy ran the school, there were servants to clean up after messes like this. But the servants had all been raised souls, and I’d promised Hades we wouldn’t use his dead for our own purposes anymore. That meant I’d be digging up a grave this evening.

“I’ll take care of the body after my call with Mason,” I said.

Alex and I ran back to the school, leaving Tony way behind. I’d already kept Mason waiting, and I couldn’t have him in a bad mood when I needed a favor. I went straight to Victoria’s old office. My office now. The phone was lying on the desk. I threw myself into the chair and grabbed the phone. Alex stood behind me with his hands on my shoulders for support.

“Hello, Mason? I’m so glad you called. I—”

“Yeah, listen, Jodi, before you get too excited, I’m only calling to tell you that we’re happy where we are. We don’t see the need to come out there. We’re all responsible with our powers. We aren’t causing any trouble.”

“I know, but—”

“I’m sorry, Jodi, but I really need to get back to work.”

“If you’d just hear me out. I need more Ophi on my side. It’s the only way to keep Hades off our backs.”

“We’re not against you. We just don’t want to join you. We’ve got a good thing going on here.” Mason sighed. “Look, this is my business. I have a family to support. I can’t just walk away. I’ll have nothing to come back to.”

My face fell. “I understand. But listen, if you hear of anyone doing anything they shouldn’t be, would you at least let me know? Give me a heads-up?”

“You got it, kid. I wouldn’t want Hades breathing down my neck, either. I’ll do what I can.”

“Thanks, Mason.” I hung up the phone feeling completely defeated. How was I supposed to lead the Ophi if I couldn’t even get them here? I put my head down on the desk.

Alex knelt down beside me. “Hey, you need to get some rest. You can’t fix everything in a day.”

I raised my head to meet his eyes. “In a day? Alex, it’s been two months, and all I’ve accomplished is getting one new student.”

He rolled his eyes. “When’s good old Chester getting here anyway?”

I shook my head at him. He knew the guy’s name wasn’t Chester.

“Chase,” I pronounced the word slowly, “will be here in the morning.” I stood up, pulling Alex to his feet with me. “And you’re going to be nice to him. He’s Mason’s nephew, which means he’ll be reporting back to Mason about what’s going on here.”

“Tell you what—I’ll be really nice to Chester if you stay away from him.”

I sighed. Ever since Alex saw the picture Chase had emailed me, he’d been worried. Chase looked like a male model. Tall and well toned, with dark hair and green eyes. The green eyes were to be expected, but the rest of him—well, I understood why Alex would feel a little intimidated. Not that Alex was lacking in the looks department, but still.

“What makes you think Chase will show any interest in me?”

Alex turned away, pretending to look out the window. “Jodi, stop fishing for compliments. We’ve been through this before. I’m not going to tell you how hot you are, but aside from that, you are the most powerful Ophi. You’re our leader now. What Ophi wouldn’t show an interest in you?”

“Okay, fine, but it doesn’t matter anyway.” I stepped between him and the window so I was inches from his face. “There’s only one Ophi I’ve ever been interested in.” I tugged on his arm, making him face me again. I reached up on my toes and pressed my lips against his. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer to him. His kiss was hungry, like he didn’t want to let go. Finally, I pulled away, completely breathless. Alex just smiled, clearly impressed with himself.

“I bet you weren’t thinking about Chase at all during that.”

“Don’t you think it’s kind of odd that the first thought in your mind after a kiss like that is Chase?” I playfully swatted at his arm, but I was hit with a wave of dizziness. My legs gave out, and I fell forward. Alex caught me and lowered me to the floor. I was in his lap, barely conscious. The only thing I was really aware of was my blood mixing in my veins.

I tried to speak, but I couldn’t. Alex was talking, but I didn’t hear a sound. I only saw his lips moving. My eyes rolled back and everything went black.

I heard someone calling my name, and I realized it was Medusa. I was used to seeing her image and talking to her in my mind, but I was usually connected to the Medusa statue in the foyer when it happened. The statue contained Medusa’s spirit.

“Jodi, your power is unstable. You must not put so much pressure on yourself. You are splitting your focus and allowing your abilities to get out of control. Find yourself.” Medusa’s image faded, and I felt Alex tapping my cheek.

“Jodi? Can you hear me?”

I opened my eyes. My blood had stopped mixing, and I felt a little more normal. “I hear you.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. I got dizzy, and then my blood was mixing. But I don’t know why.”

“How do you feel now?”

“Like I used up too much energy. I need to connect with the statue.” The statue always gave me a boost of energy. It would help me make it through the evening, at least until bedtime.

Alex helped me up and walked me to the statue. I didn’t want to tell him I’d seen Medusa or that she’d said I was putting too much pressure on myself. I knew that already. Alex had been saying it for months, but what else was I supposed to do? I had to make all the other Ophi follow me, do things my way. Hades’ way.

The second I reached the statue, I joined hands with Medusa, feeling her power surge through me. I hadn’t needed to connect to the statue since drinking Medusa’s blood from the bloodstone locket she’d given me. I hadn’t thought I’d need power boosts like this anymore, but that was just one more thing I’d been wrong about.

I was careful not to stay connected to the statue for too long. Otherwise it would have the reverse effect, draining me completely. I took only what I needed and let go. “Thank you.” I knew Medusa’s spirit would hear me.

“Any better?” Alex asked.

“Much. Let’s go bury a corpse.”

Alex grabbed my arm. “You go have some dinner. You should eat something to get your strength up. I’ll take care of the body.”

I shook my head. “Really, I’m fine. Good as new, and the corpse is my problem. If I hadn’t been such an awful teacher to Leticia, I would’ve had more help digging the grave.”

“Hey, you’re not an awful teacher. You’re doing a great job. Leticia is just having a tough time. Randy’s really shown improvement over the past two months, and that’s thanks to you.”

I walked outside and started for the cemetery. “He is getting better. He’s a hard worker.”

“It’s not all him, Jodi. Take the credit you deserve.”

We walked through the cemetery gate, and I stopped to smile at Alex. “You’re good for the ego, you know that?”

“Nah. I’m honest.”

That was true. He was the first person to call me out when I was wrong. Not in a mean way. He just kept me firmly grounded in reality.

We paused at the mausoleum. It had become our spot. Plus, we kept some shovels leaning against it. The shed was at the other end of the cemetery, and this way we had access to shovels no matter where we raised the bodies. Alex pulled me to him and kissed me. His stomach rumbled loudly, making me pull back with laughter.

“I guess we better hurry up and dig this grave before we miss dinner.”

He smiled, looking a little embarrassed.

We walked around the mausoleum to where we’d left the body. The ground was bare. I looked all around. “Where’s the body?” Alex didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to. It was obvious. The body was gone.