Face of Death

Chapter 4

Hades was a burning pit of rage. His black cloud of smoke swirled around us, scooping us into the air with him and spinning us around until we couldn’t breathe. As the smoke swirled faster, it got hotter, transforming into an abyss of fire. My skin bubbled and cracked. He was burning us alive.

After a while, I realized we weren’t spinning anymore. We weren’t moving at all. I opened my eyes and saw we were back in Tartarus.

Abby’s face stared down at me. “Told you I’d see you soon.”

I looked around, finding the others not far from me.

Alex stared at his hands and arms. “We were burning.”

“Yes.” Hades paced in front of us. “I took that one from a page in the Jodi Marshall death register. Can you guess which one?” He stopped in front of me.

I knew who he was talking about. The hiker who had tried to rescue me from Melodie’s car after I’d stolen it and crashed it into a tree on my way back to the school.

“He was only trying to help you. Save the poor young girl locked inside a car that was moments from bursting into flame.” Hades’ voice was overly dramatic as he played up the memory—my memory. “If only he knew what he was trying to help. A monster. An abomination. Do you think he would’ve helped you if he had known the truth? If he had known how many deaths you were responsible for? If he had known you’d soon be the death of him, too?”

“Stop!” Alex got to his feet, but Hades knocked him down again with a simple wave of his hand.

“Boy, don’t make me kill you. I have so much more torture planned for you, and if my emotions get the best of me and I get rid of you now, I’ll miss out on seeing you suffer.”

“Leave him out of this.” I stood up, waiting to see if Hades would knock me off my feet too, but he let me stand. “Why are you making them suffer through a death I caused?”

“Because, my dear,” he stepped closer, leaning toward me, “I can.” His hot breath on my face sent chills running down my body. Hades stepped back. “I think you all should know the kind of person your leader is. She could’ve sent that hiker away, found a way out of the car without his help.”

“I tried!” I screamed. “He wouldn’t listen. I made him back off, but I got stuck on the broken glass on the window. It cut my leg, and he rushed over to help me. I tried to tell him not to touch me, but he wouldn’t stop.” Tears streamed down my face as I recalled the incident in the woods.

“Ah, yes, but it didn’t end there, did it?” Hades’ voice bellowed through the abyss. “You left his body there to burn when the car exploded in flames. You didn’t even try to raise him.”

“I couldn’t! It happened so fast. He was burned before I could get to him.” I couldn’t fight off the tears. I sank to my knees.

“Let’s see if that was true.”

I opened my eyes at Hades’ words. What was he talking about?

“Let’s rewind. Go back to the moment your blood touched his hand. It was his right hand, if I’m remembering correctly.”

At the words, I felt a searing pain in my right hand. Cries of pain rang out all around me. The rest of the group felt it, too. The pain exploded up my arm, shooting through my bloodstream. My heart seized, and I collapsed on the floor. I heard everyone else fall to the ground as well.

“This is my favorite part,” Hades said. I felt him leaning over me. “He wasn’t dead yet when the car exploded in flames.” What? No! “He felt his flesh bubble and burn off him.” God, please no! “Tell me, how does it feel?”

I screamed as every inch of me burned. Invisible flames licked at my skin. I knew it wasn’t really happening, but the pain was unbearable. My eyes shut, blocking out the sight of my bubbled flesh.

“Amazing how long he remained alive while he burned, isn’t it, Jodi Marshall? Or would you rather I ask your friends?” Hades’ voice sounded in my ears over the screams of the others.

I choked on the smoke of my own burning flesh. Then, without warning, the pain stopped. The stench of death hung in the air, but everything was silent. I turned my head to the side and saw Alex in the fetal position beside me. I’d never seen him so hurt, and that was saying a lot considering everything I’d put him through over the last few months.

“Well, that was fun.” Since Hades’ voice was getting farther away, I figured he was moving on from me—choosing the next person whose memories he was going to focus on to torture us all. “Ah, Chase. There are so many to choose from I almost don’t know where to start.”

“Please.” I tried to find the strength to talk. My throat was burning, and my body still felt like it was on fire in some places. “You’re killing us.” I hoped his desire to keep us alive might outweigh wanting to see us writhe in pain at the moment.

“Aw, come on now. Surely a group of powerful necromancers like yourselves can handle a little more.”

“Tapping into Chase’s memories and making us relive the deaths he caused would kill us all. You know that.” I was trying to keep him talking—put off the torture for as long as I could. Alex reached his hand toward me, and as our fingers touched, my blood rippled. Could I mix my blood to restore my energy? Was that possible?

I looked down at my hand in Alex’s and sent him a little life-restoring power. His hand jolted, and his eyes met mine. He shook his head. He was right. Sending only the life-restoring power to Alex would heal him and drain me right now. I was too weak. I needed to mix my blood. I let both sides of my body circulate the blood through my veins. The bubbling sensation felt amazing. Instantly, I began to feel better and from the way Alex squeezed my hand, I knew it was healing him, too.

With my left hand, I reached for Arianna. Her eyes opened at my touch. I watched the color return to her cheeks, and she smiled at me in thanks. If only I could reach the others.

Hades had been silent for too long. He was contemplating his next move. I didn’t doubt he was trying to torture us by making us wait for his decision. More torture or let us return to the Fields of Asphodel. I had no idea which way he was leaning.

Alex and Arianna were okay now, so I stopped transferring my power and let go of Arianna’s hand. I held on to Alex, though. No matter what happened, we were in this together.

“Very well.” Hades stared down at me. I hadn’t even realized he’d left Chase and come back this way. I was lost in Alex’s eyes, pretending I was anywhere but here. Hades waved his hand, and a cloud of black smoke swirled around us, lifting us in the air. Leticia and McKenzie clutched onto each other, and even Lexi looked scared, reaching for Arianna’s hand. Somehow, I knew Hades was returning us to the Fields. He wasn’t ready to let us die just yet. He had other plans. I just didn’t know what they were.

As we were placed in the asphodels, I thought about how to reach the human part of my soul. I had to find a way to rip it from my body, and I had to find a new body to put it into.

“So, what, do we pretend we’re inches from death every time Hades tortures us? Is that the new plan?” Lexi was near hysterics. I was used to her being so sure of herself. She’d once told me Abby was nothing compared to her. That she was the real bitch in the family, but I could see glimpses of what Arianna was holding onto. Lexi wasn’t all evil. The power had consumed her, but not to the extent it had consumed Abby.

“We’ll figure something out,” I said. “For right now, I have to work on tapping into the human half of my soul.”

Tony put his hand on my shoulder. “Can you communicate with Medusa from down here? Maybe she can tell you how to do this.”

“The last I spoke with her was when we first got here. She said she couldn’t help me.” I sighed. “We’re on our own.”

“Okay.” Tony nodded. “Then you need to mix your blood. Tap into your powers and try to reach out to your own soul.”

Alex stepped closer to me so our shoulders were touching. “No way. Until she has a body to put her soul into, this is too risky. I mean, what if she sends her soul floating into the nearest body? As far as we know, that could be inside Tartarus.”

The bodies Hades took from the cemetery at the school. Alex was right.

“All right. New plan. We have to convince Hades to let us serve him. To cut the time we spend in Tartarus down even more and let us help him with the other jobs he has in the underworld.”

“Why would he do that?” McKenzie asked.

Leticia was the one to answer this time. “Because he’s too busy. He’s overseeing this whole place. Judging souls, keeping souls from escaping, punishing souls—that’s a lot for one person, even if he is a god.”

I smiled at her. She may not be great in the actual raising and controlling of souls, but Leticia was smart. I needed that right now.

“Good. We can work with that. I mean, look what he did with Victoria and the others. They were supposed to be suffering down here, but instead they’re working for Hades.”

“And enjoying it way too much,” Lexi said.

I looked back and forth between her, Arianna, Leticia, and Alex. They all had family here. They were all being punished by those family members. I couldn’t even imagine how much this was hurting them.

“We didn’t cause Hades anywhere near as much trouble as they did.” I was grasping at any argument I could use to prove we could be useful, that we deserved a little break from the punishments.

Alex crossed his arms and glared at Chase, who was standing on the outskirts of our group. “That’s not entirely true. I’d say he’s a lot like Victoria and the others.” That was saying a lot coming from Alex. Yes, he hated Chase, but those were his parents he was comparing him to.

Chase laughed. “Oh, and Jodi is an angel? You all felt the pain she caused that hiker. Are you going to deny she’s done her share of—”

Before Chase could finish the sentence, Alex was on top of him. “Don’t you ever talk about her like that. Jodi never would’ve met that guy if it weren’t for you. You started all of this, you son of a bitch.” Alex punched Chase in the face and showed no sign of stopping. It took Tony, Carson, and Ethan to pry him off.

I stared at Chase’s bloody face, finding it hard to feel sorry for him. Everything Alex had said was true. Chase coming to the school had been the turning point. He’d brought us all down—way down to the underworld. Even Ethan stared at his son like he was to blame. After Chase had made it clear he was willing to sacrifice his own father, Ethan had turned on him, too. Or maybe he just finally saw Chase’s true colors.

Arianna had told me that some Ophi are corrupted by the power in our blood. Her husband, Abby and Lexi’s father, had been. Part of me understood why it was so easy to give in to that power and turn off all emotions. We weren’t human, after all. Maybe that was why I was so desperate to move forward with my plan and reconnect with the human that once lived inside me.

“What should we do with him?” Ethan asked, surprising us all. I knew he wasn’t happy with his son, but I didn’t think he’d ask a group of necromancers who hated Chase to decide his fate.

“Leave him. Let him handle things on his own. He’s not one of us, and he never will be.” I stepped toward Ethan, searching his face for the truth. A sign that he really was abandoning Chase and joining us. “Whether or not you’re one of us is yet to be seen. Understand I’m giving you one chance. That’s it. The second you blow it, I’m done with you. We’re done with you. Got it?”

He nodded.

I motioned for the group to follow me, putting some distance between us and Chase. I could’ve used the life-restoring power in my blood to heal him in seconds, but I didn’t want to. He needed to feel pain. He needed to know he couldn’t mess with us. I’d let him control me for too long, and I was done.

We moved through the Fields, walking off the events of the day—or days. I wasn’t sure how long we’d been here. I would’ve killed for a hot shower. It was the only thing that really calmed me down. Since learning I was an Ophi, I’d taken more showers than I probably had my entire life.

Leticia grabbed my arm, bringing me to a sudden stop. “Jodi.”

“What?” I looked at her, but her eyes were focused off to my right. “Did you see something?”

I figured it could’ve been any one of our victims. Someone she’d accidentally killed and now they were roaming these Fields for all eternity. I knew, if I saw the hiker or any of the other poor people I’d killed, I’d need more than a moment to freak out and regroup.

“I’m not sure, but isn’t that—?” She pointed to a group of souls, wandering aimlessly. At first I had no idea what she was trying to tell me. There were two women and an older man with them, but none of them looked familiar.

“Leticia, I don’t see—” They parted, and I saw who Leticia was talking about.

Matt.