Face of Death

Chapter 21

Mom. My legs shook, and my eyes rolled back into my head. I felt Alex’s arms around me as I slipped away. When my eyes opened again, I was in Mom’s bed. I stared at her sleeping peacefully beside me. Tears dotted my pillowcase. This wasn’t fair. I wasn’t supposed to be able to hurt her now that I was in human form, but she still wasn’t safe around me. I had to talk to Medusa and find a way out of this mess in two days, or Mom was going to die because of me.

Even though it was only just past three, I stayed awake, watching Mom sleep and wondering if Mason had found out anything yet. We were going to see him at six. That gave me the day to spend with Mom. Of course, I knew Matt was going to want to get in touch with his family or, at the very least, peek in at them to make sure they were okay. Only they weren’t. Amber was dead. They were probably complete wrecks and making funeral arrangements. How was I going to explain that to Matt?

I wasn’t going to have to worry about him loving me anymore. That was for sure. Once he found out I was the reason his sister was dead, he’d hate me forever. I wondered how Hades had done it. Did he take her in her sleep? That would mean her family didn’t even know she was dead yet. Or had he tortured her and made her death painful? A car accident, maybe? I had to know.

I slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Mom, and I sat down at the desk in the corner. Mom’s laptop was open, and luckily it was still on. I brought it out of sleep mode and immediately searched the Internet for Amber’s name. Chills ran across my arms as I clicked “search.” A few seconds later—our connection was slow—a list of results came up on the screen. The very first one was what I was looking for but hoping I wouldn’t find.

“Sixteen-year-old Amber Davenport dies of a brain aneurysm.”

Silent sobs burst out of me. I turned to Mom, wondering if Hades would take her the same way. I couldn’t let that happen. I’d go to Mason this evening, and from there I was going to the school to visit with Medusa. And if all else failed, I’d give Hades what he wanted. I’d throw in my white flag to save my mom. I knew how hypocritical that was. I’d told Amber I couldn’t save her at the expense of eight others, and here I was, ready to save my mom over them. But she was my mom.

I cried until Mom woke up at seven. She rubbed her eyes and sat up when she saw I wasn’t in bed but at her desk.

“Honey, what is it?” She threw the blankets off her and rushed over to me, wrapping her arms around my shaking, tear-soaked body.

“Mom, there’s something I didn’t tell you yesterday. When I raised my human soul, my Ophi half remained in the underworld.”

“You did tell me that.” She patted my head, probably thinking I was hysterical, which I was.

“There’s more, though. I can see glimpses of what’s happening in the underworld. Hades is trying everything he can think of to make me go back there. He knows what I’ve done.”

“How?” She pulled away and looked back and forth between my eyes.

“I’m like a robot down there, going through the motions. He could tell something was wrong, and then when I focused on my Ophi soul and was actually feeling everything that was happening, he noticed. He threatened me by punishing the other Ophi. He even had Alex tell me he knew what I’d done, thinking Alex would be enough to make me return. But when that didn’t work, he…” The tears came again. I turned to the screen, which still had the article about Amber’s death open on it.

Mom’s eyes widened, and her hand covered her mouth. She shook her head. “I should’ve heard about this. I could’ve prepared you, but I don’t watch the news anymore. I don’t talk to many…” Her voice trailed off, which was good because I couldn’t listen to this. Not on top of what had happened to Amber. Mom had completely shut down because I left. She didn’t go out, except for work. I’d turned her into a walking zombie, only worse because she was alive.

“Did you see her?”

I nodded. “Hades made me take Amber to Tartarus. That’s Hell—literally. I got one of the Ophi who tried to kill me…” Her eyes were bulging out of their sockets at this point. “Long story. Anyway, I got her to agree to go easy on Amber if I freed her along with my friends. I’m going to get Amber out of there. I won’t let her die.”

“Can you do that? I mean, she’s already dead.”

“I’m a necromancer, so I can bring her back. Or at least my Ophi half can. But I don’t want her to be like this.” I held my arms out. “I want her to be human again. Alive. I’m going to make Hades do it. He’s the only one who can.”

“What makes you think he’ll do it?”

“I have to talk to Medusa. Hopefully she’ll know how to stop Hades for good.” Mom started to protest, but I shook my head. “I know it’s a long shot, but what else can I do?”

She hugged me, and I felt her body shake as she began to cry. She was worried about me. Worried I wouldn’t survive this fight. I was, too.

Mom and I finally managed to compose ourselves enough to shower, get dressed, and head downstairs for breakfast. As we neared the kitchen, the smell of pancakes filled the air. Mom and I looked at each other and smiled.

Matt was at the stove, placing the pancakes on plates. “Hope you’re hungry. I made way too many.”

Mom and I took our plates, still smiling. Mom even kissed Matt’s cheek. Great, now she chose to like him, after I’d killed him and we’d stopped seeing each other. “This is such a nice surprise. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Ms. Marshall.” Matt leaned his cheek toward me, waiting for me to kiss it, too. I laughed and shoved a pancake in my mouth, pointing to it and shrugging. Better luck next time, Matt.

Breakfast was so nice, I almost forgot about Amber and having to tell Matt that his sister was dead because of me. Now I wished I had kissed his cheek before I lost him forever. Mom kept glancing at me while I ate. She was waiting for me to break the news.

“So,” Matt said after polishing off his large stack of pancakes. “I was thinking I’d try to meet up with Amber. She always hangs out at this art gallery on Saturdays. They feature local talent, and she’s dying to get her stuff in there.”

Mom reached for my hand as I struggled to breathe.

“What?” Matt looked back and forth between us. “Did I miss something?”

“Matt.” That was all I had. His name. I couldn’t think of what else to say. I brought your sister’s soul to Tartarus last night was just too awful.

“Jodi was able to see herself in the underworld last night,” Mom said, trying her best to help.

Matt’s eyes flew to me. “Is Hades messing with you still? Did he hurt you?”

Of course he was worried about me. That was Matt. He had no idea he should be worrying about himself and his family.

“I don’t know how to tell you this.” My voice shook.

“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” He slumped back in the chair.

“No.” Man, I wished I could mix my blood and get up some courage right now. “I saw Amber.”

Matt’s brow furrowed. “No, you must have been dreaming. You couldn’t have seen Amber. She’s not…” The horror must have been all over my face because Matt stood up, knocking his chair over, and stormed upstairs.

Mom reached for my hand, but I pulled away.

“I have to go talk to him. He needs to hear this from me.”

She nodded.

I raced up the stairs, taking them two at a time. The light was on in my room, and I knew exactly where I’d find Matt. At my laptop.

He already had the article up on the screen. Why didn’t the connection work that quickly for me?

“Matt, I’m so sorry. I know that sounds like the stupidest thing to say right now, but I’m going to fix this. I’ll bring her back. I have one of the Ophi taking care of her while I’m here, and as soon as I figure out how to stop Hades for good, I’m going to bring Amber back here, to you.” The words spilled from my lips. I wanted to get them out as quickly as possible to ease Matt’s pain.

“Is she…like I was…in that place wandering around without a clue who she is?”

That would’ve been heaven compared to Tartarus. When I didn’t answer, he turned to look at me.

“Jodi, where is she?”

“Tartarus.” The second I said it, I burst into tears and reached for him, but Matt stood up and punched my desk.

I pulled away in horror as he cried out. He’d definitely broken his hand. Mom rushed into the room. She took one look at Matt cradling his hand and said, “I’ll get my keys. You need a doctor.”

“I’ll take him.” Being around Mom was risky. If Hades wanted to find me, he’d definitely come here. He was giving me two days—and I hoped he meant two days in this time and not in the underworld where time moved more quickly—before he took Mom. As long as I wasn’t here when he showed up—which I was sure he would today, hoping he’d find me—she’d be okay for a little while longer.

“I’ll go with you. You’re both upset, and neither one of you should be driving.”

“Mom, Hades is looking for me. Alex told me last night. He’s going to come here, and if he finds me, he’ll hurt you to get me to do whatever he wants me to. I can’t put you through that. I’ve hurt enough people already.”

Mom grabbed me by the shoulders. “None of this is your fault. Do you hear me? None of it.”

If only that were true. Maybe I hadn’t asked for any of this, but it still had happened because of me. “I need to take Matt, and I need to distance myself from you. I love you, Mom, and I already lost you once. If Hades takes you…” I shook my head. “I’ll never forgive myself. Please, let me do this.”

Mom hugged me tight. “Okay, you can go. Take my car. But don’t stay away. I just got you back, and I’m not ready to say goodbye yet.”

“I’ll make sure we get some more time together. Somehow.”

Mom released me. “Keys are in my purse.”

“I love you.” I kissed her cheek before taking Matt’s good hand and leading him downstairs.

“I understand if you hate me.”

“I don’t hate you. Your mom was right. This isn’t your fault.”

Why did everyone have to be so understanding? It made me hate myself more. I grabbed Mom’s keys, and we headed out. The hospital wasn’t far, so we got to the emergency room in record time, mostly because I wanted to get away from Mom as quickly as possible, but also because Matt coached me on when to shift.

The receptionist barely looked at us even though we were standing directly in front of her. “Fill these out and take a seat.”

I took the clipboard and scanned the papers. Damn it! Matt didn’t have insurance. He didn’t even have an address anymore, unless we counted Mom’s, but I didn’t want any bills showing up there. She didn’t need to be burdened with Matt’s medical expenses.

Matt stared at me and sighed. He tugged me away from the receptionist, not that she’d given us a second thought. She was already deep into her crossword puzzle again. I didn’t think anyone still did those.

“We should go. I can’t pay for this.”

“We’re not leaving. You’re hurt. I’m sure you broke something. You’re going to need a cast.”

He pointed his good hand at the papers. “So what, we lie our way though all this? They need to see my insurance card.”

True. Unless he didn’t have insurance. No, they overcharged people who didn’t have insurance.

I held up a finger to Matt and walked back to the receptionist. “Excuse me, ma’am.”

“Fill these out and take a seat.” She held out another clipboard without looking up.

“No. I already have one.”

“Then take a seat.”

“There’s a problem.” Finally, she looked up at me. I hoped this worked. “You see, we’re from out of town. We got here this morning on the bus, but when we went to use the restrooms at the bus station all our bags were stolen.”

“You left your bags unattended in the bus station.” She said it like we were the two stupidest people on the planet.

“Dumb. I know. But you see, Tyler,” I motioned to Matt, “got so upset that we’d been robbed that he kind of punched a wooden bench.”

The lady shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I’d give you a lecture, but I think the broken hand kind of sums it up.”

Matt nodded, playing along.

“All right. Fill out your address and all the information you can. If you don’t remember all your insurance information, fill in what you know and leave the rest blank. We’ll mail you the bill—I’m assuming you don’t have cash on you.”

Matt and I shook our heads.

“Of course not.” She rolled her eyes again. “We’ll mail you the bill, and you can fax us your new insurance card when you get it. We’ll bill your insurance at that time, and you can settle your co-pay.”

“Thank you.” I gave her a huge smile and led Matt to some empty chairs. I started filling in bogus information. “Hmm, Tyler Gross.” I giggled. There were very few times I was able to laugh anymore. I was going to enjoy this.

He groaned. “Come on. Really?”

“It’s funny.” I continued. “Address. 666 Hades Junction.”

Even Matt laughed at that one.

After I finished filling out the paperwork and turned it back in to the receptionist, who rolled her eyes at me for the third time, we waited while everyone else was called in before Matt. Finally, a woman came into the waiting room.

“Tyler Gross.”

We both turned at the sound of Matt’s fake name. Only neither one of us laughed this time. The nurse who’d called Tyler’s name…was Matt’s mom.