Face of Death

Chapter 29

It couldn’t be possible. I’d seen Liz’s body fall when my soul released. How had Medusa gotten free? As I stared at her, I wondered if I’d completely lost my mind and was seeing things. After all that had happened, it wouldn’t be so unbelievable.

“Yes, Jodi. It’s me.” Her soul smiled at me, looking motherly as usual. Well, except for the snakes on her head, which were slithering about freely after being trapped in the statue for so long. No matter how much I loved Medusa, those snakes would always freak me out.

“How? My soul released before I could free you. I tried to hold on, but I couldn’t.”

“When your soul released, Liz’s body was still gripping the pliers. The force of her fall snapped the tip of the statue’s finger off. It was a small hole, and it took some time to get my soul out of it. But I’m here now, and I’m ready to move forward with our plan.”

I swallowed hard. Something had actually gone right. It hadn’t just been the pliers I’d heard hit the floor. A small part of Medusa’s finger had come off. And now she was here, which meant we might get out of here.

Alex stared in awe. “Wow, is this how she appeared to you when you connected to the statue?” He quickly covered his eyes. “I’m not going to turn to stone or anything, am I?”

I was the only living Ophi who’d ever seen Medusa. They could feel her power when they touched the statue, but that was the extent of the connection they had to her.

“Yes, and no, you won’t turn to stone.” Even though Medusa never told me, I knew her curse didn’t affect the Ophi. We were immune to it. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

Medusa smiled at us both. “I could see you all along, Alex. You’ve done well, protecting Jodi. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that.” Her snakes reached out to him, almost lovingly. Almost. They were still snakes, after all.

Alex blushed. “It was my pleasure.”

“Medusa, how are you here? Why didn’t your soul go to the palace to be judged?”

“My blood is in your veins. Part of me truly lies in you. My soul was drawn to you because of it.” I smiled, thankful that I didn’t have to rescue Medusa from Hades. “As much as I’d love to catch up, we must move quickly. It won’t be long before Hades senses the presence of my soul. This much power won’t go unnoticed.”

She was right. We had to move quickly. “How do we do this? How do we get your soul into my body?”

“Much the same as when you reunited your human soul with your Ophi soul.” She could see that just by looking at me. Amazing! “Call me to you, but be prepared.”

She’d warned me that this wouldn’t be pretty for either one of us, but we had to be strong and make it work. “Will you be able to talk through me? I mean, which one of us will be controlling my body? The two-soul thing must be confusing.”

“I will let you control your own body. I’ll only talk through you when necessary, and we will be able to communicate in your mind, just like we did when I was in the statue.” That didn’t seem so bad. “I’ll have to present myself to Hades to let him know I’m here. He won’t make the final deal with you without having proof of my presence in your body.”

That was true. I was planning to put Hades in a corner, tie his hands where the Ophi were concerned. He’d never take my word for Medusa’s presence inside me. “I’m ready when you are.”

Medusa looked over my shoulder at Chase. I hoped he was still facing the other direction like I’d told him to. “It’s not safe here. You’ll need full concentration, and if you cry out,”—in pain is what she meant—“he’ll see what’s happening. You can’t trust him, Jodi. Don’t be fooled by his feelings for you. Not every Ophi is good.”

I wasn’t going to let Chase ruin anything for me again. I hated having to write off any Ophi, but Medusa was right. Not all of them were good. Victoria and Troy sure weren’t. But what about Bristol? She was helping me by taking care of Amber. She was worth saving.

“I can’t read your mind anymore. We aren’t connected, but I know you are thinking about saving some of the others you originally banished here.” She was good. “We’ll get to that in time. For now, let’s focus on joining together.” She reached for my hand and led me into the Fields of Asphodel, closing the gate behind us. “Alex, guard that gate. Don’t let anyone in. And no matter what happens, don’t touch Jodi.” That meant I was going to be in pain, enough pain that Alex would want to help me.

I gave him a brave smile. “I’ll be okay. It’s not going to be comfortable, but we both know Medusa won’t intentionally hurt me.”

He nodded, but the fear was written all over his face. He reached for my free hand through an opening in the gate. “I love you, and I’ll be right here.”

I squeezed his hand before letting go and turning back to Medusa. “Okay, let’s do this.”

She took both my hands in hers. “If we have a connection to start, it should make this easier. And just remember that, once I’m inside you, it won’t hurt anymore. It’s only the initial forcing of my soul into an unfamiliar body that will be painful for us both.”

I gathered all my strength as I mixed my blood. This was it. I couldn’t put it off any longer, or Hades would find Medusa’s soul and stop us. I reached forward with the power surging through my veins. “Come to me. Join me, and we will work as one.” I said the words in my mind and aloud, hoping they would be more powerful that way. Commanding a soul as powerful as Medusa’s was going to take major strength.

Even though she wanted to do this as much as I did, her soul fought me. I remembered how painful it was to enter Liz’s body. This was ten times worse. Having another soul invade your own body while you were still using it felt like trying to shove a sumo wrestler into your skin with you. I fell to my knees the second her soul entered my body. My screams were loud enough to…well, wake the dead. Hades would no doubt be here soon. My arms and legs shook uncontrollably, and my blood made my skin bubble. I must have looked like I was possessed, which I sort of was.

Alex screamed—not the scream of someone who was watching his girlfriend writhe in pain. It was the scream of someone being tortured. Despite the torment I was in, I forced my eyes to him. Hades had him by his neck, and his hands were aglow with flames. He was burning Alex to get my attention.

“I’d stop right now before he dies.”

Medusa would want me to keep going, but I couldn’t sacrifice Alex. Not Alex. I gathered all my strength and pushed Medusa’s soul back out of me. She appeared on the ground next to me, staring at me in horror, her snakes biting at the air.

“Jodi, what have you done?”

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t let him die.”

Hades released Alex, who slumped to the ground. His neck was burned and peeling.

“Alex? Are you okay?”

He choked in response. He’d be all right.

Hades waved his hand, and the gates to the Fields burst open. “Medusa, my dear, how lovely to see you.” His voice was laced with hatred. The kind that sounded sweet enough to kill. “I’ve waited a long time for you.” He turned to me. “I guess I owe you some thanks, Jodi Marshall. You’ve brought me the one thing I’ve wanted more than anything else. The origin of the Ophi line.”

“Don’t touch her!” I blocked Medusa’s soul with my body, but Hades waved his arm, sending me flying into a row of asphodels. He advanced on Medusa. “I’m going to enjoy stripping you of your powers and torturing your soul for eternity.”

“No!” God, I’d screwed up. I’d ruined everything. By saving Alex, I’d sentenced Medusa to eternal hell.

“What are you waiting for, Hades?” Medusa’s voice was strong, not intimidated in the least. How did she manage that?

“I like to enjoy my triumphs, savor every moment.”

“Hades, you can’t touch her. The Ophi sacrificed so much to protect her soul from you. You swore to it.”

He turned to me, glaring like I was a pesky little bug that wouldn’t stop buzzing around him. “That deal is over.” He stepped toward Medusa, towering above her. “You broke it the moment you stepped out of that statue.”

“No. Our deal was that I remain inside the statue as long as it was there to hold me. It broke, and my soul could no longer be held inside. I didn’t break any part of our deal.”

“And that means you can’t touch her, Hades.”

A smile crept across Hades’ lips. It didn’t look like it was ever going to stop widening. “You’d think that, wouldn’t you? But the way I see it, the deal was contingent upon your soul being trapped inside that statue. Look where you are. Even your soul recognizes that this is where it belongs. You came right to me.”

“No, she came to me.” I stood up, finding courage I didn’t know I had.

“That’s laughable.” Hades crossed his arms. “How do you think you can protect her?”

I wasn’t going to tell him. I’d show him instead. I willed my blood to mix, but he knocked me down again with a flick of his finger. “I don’t think so. You aren’t putting her soul inside you. Though I see you’ve managed to restore your human soul to its former place.” He glared at me, like he was looking deep inside me. I felt violated by the stare.

Alex was still trapped on the other side of the gate. He looked better now, but he couldn’t get to us. He pulled on the gate, but Hades had it locked firmly. Alex wasn’t even a threat to him. Hell, I wasn’t a threat, either. Medusa was the only one strong enough to fight him—maybe, and if I hadn’t thrown away the entire plan to protect Alex, we might be on our way back to the school right now.

“Rethinking things?” Hades asked, enjoying the moment. “If you’ve found a way to defeat me, please do tell. I’m very interested to hear what you’ve come up with.” He laughed like it was the most absurd notion. Maybe it was.

“What are you planning to do with her?” I had to keep him talking. Maybe he’d get overly confident and say more than he should.

He tapped his finger against his elbow as he stood there with his arms crossed. “You would like to know my plans, wouldn’t you?”

“What I’d like is for you to leave us all alone.” I said it before I had time to even think about the words coming out of my mouth. Medusa was in trouble, and it was my fault. Anger was fueling my actions. Of course, it might get us all killed, too.

Hades laughed. “See, that’s the thing about the underworld. I rule. I get what I want. Everyone else, well, let’s just say if you aren’t in the Elysian Fields…” He waited for me to fill in my own ending. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.

“What do you want? Enlighten us.” I stood up again, tempting him to put me back on my ass for the third time.

“You have spunk. I have to give you that. If we weren’t enemies, I might actually like you.”

I doubted that. “No, I think Chase was always more your style.” Chase. Was he still out there? I doubted he’d be of any help if he was. He was petrified of Hades, even more than the rest of us were. I was sure it had to do with Hades taking his mom. That, and the fact that Chase was a power-crazed idiot.

“I bet there’s something you didn’t know about Chase.”

Great. More surprises. “What’s that?”

“I have access to all his thoughts.”

“What?” How could that be possible?

“You and Chase have more in common than you think. You were both missing part of your souls at one point. I’ve had a piece of his since he got here. I took it. It allows me to see what he sees.”

No wonder Chase was terrified. He was a spy for Hades, and he knew it. That also meant he didn’t want to be. Damn it. When was I going to stop feeling sorry for that creep?

“Why? If you wanted answers, you should’ve taken a piece of my soul.”

“Because I needed a willing participant.”

Willing. So Chase had agreed to this. My guess was that he’d thought it was a good idea, but Hades’ control over him became too much. Maybe this would teach him something about letting power go to his head.

“You heard everything Chase and I said on the way here, didn’t you?” I stepped closer to Medusa, hoping to get close enough to call her soul to me without Hades noticing.

“Actually, no. I wasn’t watching. But when I felt Medusa’s soul enter the underworld, I tuned in. Convinced Chase to look for the both of you. What a happy coincidence he was still nearby.”

Alex let out a guttural cry and lunged at Chase. A whoosh of air left Chase’s lungs as Alex slammed him into the ground. The sickening sound of breaking bone followed.

“Alex!” I rushed for the gate, not caring about Hades or what he might do to me. “Stop! He isn’t worth it.”

Chase had blood running down his face, and his nose was bent to the left.

Alex shoved himself off Chase and started toward the gate. I reached my hand through and touched his cheek. “Don’t become like them.” I couldn’t help worrying that Alex would wind up like his parents—evil. He was a great guy, despite their terrible influence, but when situations like this came around, I worried he’d lose it and give in to that darkness that seemed to overtake so many Ophi.

He pressed his hand against mine. “What are we going to do? He’s been spying on us, Jodi. We have to get rid of him.”

“But not like that. Not by beating him to death.” I swallowed hard. “I won’t lose you just to get rid of him.”

His jaw clenched. “I’ll be okay. I won’t become either of my parents, and I definitely won’t stoop to his level.” He glanced back at Chase, who was holding the bridge of his nose and cringing.

“Good, because we have bigger problems right now.” I nodded back over my shoulder.

Alex peered around me, and his breath caught in his throat. I yanked my hand back through the gate and whipped around.

Hades was gone, and he’d taken Medusa with him.