Face of Death

Chapter 9

Finally, I managed to stop gawking and waved them toward me. They didn’t look like the kind of people who’d end up in Tartarus—not that I thought Alex, Arianna, or the others deserved to be there, either.

The couple walked toward me, and the girl began to sob. “It’s okay. The judges won’t hurt you. They just want to evaluate your life and see which afterlife you belong in.” I put my hand on her shoulder and directed the two of them to the open space in front of the three thrones.

Once again, the judge in the middle leaned forward. “Elizabeth Roseman and Brian Gehris, you are here before us to be judged for your sins. We shall review your lives and decide how you will spend eternity. Await your judgments.”

Apparently, things were pretty scripted around here. Either that, or this guy had been giving the same speech for eternity, and he said the same thing every time without even thinking about it.

While the judges reviewed the lives of Liz—she looked more like a Liz than an Elizabeth to me—and Brian, I stared at them, trying to picture Matt and me in their bodies. I’d never visualized myself as a blonde before, and her hair was pin-straight. I was going to miss my waves. Brian was better than average in the looks department, but he had nothing on Matt. It was definitely going to be a step back for him, but I doubted he’d mind.

“It has been decided,” the middle judge said. “You both will spend your afterlives in the Fields of Asphodel. While your lives were not full of sin, they were not full of great deeds, either. Your existence in the underworld will be much the same.”

That was how they viewed it? I hardly called wandering around aimlessly neither good nor bad. It downright sucked. Still, I was glad I didn’t have to take them to Tartarus.

“Follow me,” I told them. As we left the palace, we passed Chase.

“Wow, he put up a fight.” He laughed, as if there was something funny about dooming a soul to eternal punishment.

“Go crawl in a hole,” I said, ushering the souls past him.

“You just can’t stop talking to me, can you, Jodi?” I really did try to ignore him, but something about Chase demanded attention. He was like a little child. The more you ignored him, the more he kicked and screamed.

Liz and Brian were silent the entire way to the Fields. At first, I wondered how I’d even find my way there, considering I’d only traveled by black cloud since I got here, but my body moved on autopilot. Another one of Hades’ tricks, I was sure. As we approached the gate, I saw Alex’s dirty-blond hair. My heart sped up at the sight of him. Now I knew where he was. I’d be able to see him before I raised my soul.

He was leaning over the gate and calling out Matt’s name. Crap! I’d forgotten Matt had wandered off while I was striking yet another deal with Hades. I couldn’t leave until I found him. I owed him that much. He wouldn’t be here at all if it weren’t for me.

“Alex.” He jumped down from the gate and whirled around at the sound of my voice.

“Jodi!” He rushed to me, scooping me in his arms. I squeezed him tightly, not wanting to ever let go.

“I thought Hades had sent you to guard the gates of Tartarus. I figured he’d send most of the guys there.” I leaned my head back to look at his beautiful face.

“I thought he was going to, too, but here I am.” He smiled at me and lowered his lips to mine.

As much as I didn’t want the kiss to end, I had a feeling Hades would show up and personally put an end to our reunion if we didn’t knock it off soon. “Alex.” His name was barely a whisper on my lips, proof that I didn’t really want to get his attention. I really wanted him to wrap me in his arms and…well, that would have to wait until we were out of the underworld.

He sighed, resting his forehead against mine. “Sometimes you make me forget we’re in Hell.”

Liz gasped at the word, obviously unfamiliar with the levels of the underworld.

I turned to her. “It’s okay. You aren’t going anyplace bad.” Well, not entirely bad at least. It definitely wasn’t good either. I wondered if Liz and Brian would even remember each other after they’d spent some time in the Fields of Asphodel.

Alex opened the gate and stepped aside for them to enter. They peered in, looking very unsure.

“It’s fields of flowers. They’re called asphodels. There’s nothing in there that will hurt you. I promise. It’s safe.” I left out the part about losing all sense of who you were.

As they entered the field, I whispered to Alex, “I heard you calling Matt. No luck finding him yet?”

“No. My guess is he’s doing his pattern again. He’ll find the gate eventually, but…” He looked at Liz and Brian. “I’m guessing you want to use their bodies.”

“Yeah. They’re kind of perfect.”

“They’re a couple, you know.” Of course he’d notice that.

“I know, but that doesn’t really matter. They won’t be themselves. They’ll be Matt and me.”

“Right.” Was he really still jealous of Matt? “And did you notice the engagement ring on the girl’s hand?”

Engagement ring? No, I hadn’t.

“You’re not really going to pretend to be his fiancée, are you?”

That would be way more than Alex could handle. “No.” I doubted Liz would be buried with the ring anyway. At least she wouldn’t have it on in the morgue when I took over her body.

It wasn’t the best time to bring up Matt again, but we were kind of crunched for minutes here. “We have to find Matt. Like, right now.”

Alex sighed. “Seriously, I want major brownie points for this. I’m talking watching the movies I want to watch, eating the food I want to eat…” His mouth curved in a devilish grin. I knew where he was going with this.

“Yeah, yeah, but you know, you lose points when you try to tell me you deserve…certain things.” I couldn’t bring myself to say the word “sex.”

He held his hands up in defense. “I wasn’t going to say that. I was simply going to say all the alone time with you I want.” He raised an eyebrow. “But it’s interesting to see where your mind is.”

“Ha ha.” I laced my fingers through his, and we both became completely serious again. This was goodbye, and we both knew it. Even if it was only for now, neither of us wanted to be apart.

“Hey,” Alex called out to Liz and Brian, waving them back to the gate. They looked nervous as they approached us. Did they really think we were the bad guys? “Can you two look for a guy walking in a weird spiral kind of pattern? He’s tall with dark hair, and his name is Matt, but he might not respond to it. We need to talk to him. Think you can find him and bring him here?”

Liz stared at Alex like he’d just described a puppy getting hit by a car. She was horrified. “Wh-why wouldn’t he respond to his own name? And why is he wandering around?” Her eyes met mine, and she reached for my hands.

Alex put his arm up to block her. “Sorry, but once you’re inside, I can’t let you out. Not even your hands.”

Tears fell from her eyes. I wished there was something I could do for her.

“You’ll be okay. Matt’s been through a lot. He didn’t die under normal circumstances.”

“We died in a car crash,” Brian said. “Trauma to our heads, I think. Will we forget who we are, too?”

Car crash. I hoped their bodies weren’t too badly banged up. I didn’t want to put Matt and me in busted-up and broken shells. Putting our souls into the bodies would heal them to a certain extent, but not completely.

“You’ll be okay.” God, couldn’t I think of anything better to say? “Will you find Matt for us? Please?”

Liz nodded. Brian took her hand, and they disappeared into the asphodels.

I stared in the direction they’d gone. “What if they can’t find their way back? I’m afraid if I use my powers to call out to Matt’s soul, Hades will sense me doing it and stop me.” And that would be the end of our deal.

Alex didn’t answer. He just put his hand on my shoulder.

“Hey, who’s guarding this place with you?”

“Arianna.”

I looked around. “Where is she?”

“Hades said he needed to see her. Something about Abby.”

Hades wasn’t the type to reunite families, so what was the deal? “What’s wrong with Abby, and why would Hades need help from Arianna?”

“Abby did something wrong. Didn’t follow orders specifically. Hades is punishing her extra.”

No, he was making Arianna punish Abby. “That’s torture for Arianna! Abby’s her daughter. No matter how bad Abby is, Arianna still loves her.”

Alex wrapped me in a hug. “I know. Hopefully, she’ll be back soon.” He stroked my hair, trying to keep me calm, but I was like a bomb ready to explode. We had to find Matt so I could get out of here and figure out a way to put an end to all of this.

The faint scent of smoke made me pull away from Alex. A swirling cloud of black was coming our way. I prayed it was Arianna being transported here by Hades, but my history of stellar bad luck told me differently.

Hades dropped down next to us. “Well, what do we have here?”

“I was escorting two souls to the Fields,” I said, trying to stand my ground.

“Ah.” He stroked his chin. For a brief moment, I was mesmerized by him. The guy was seriously hot. Not that it overrode the fact that he was a complete jackass. “I take it the souls are inside the gate now?”

“Yes.” I hoped they wouldn’t return with Matt while Hades was still here.

“Then you have somewhere else to be, Jodi Marshall.” Hades’ glare zeroed in on me. “Don’t make me have Arianna torture another person she loves today. You’re like another daughter to her, you know.”

I glanced at Alex quickly, communicating a silent goodbye for now, but said aloud, “I’m going.” Without even looking at Hades, I turned and walked away.

Chase was coming out of the palace with a young girl in tow. “Hey, Jodi. What do you think? Can I make this good girl go bad on the way to the Elysian Fields?” He laughed.

“Don’t you ever get tired of hearing yourself talk?” I glared at him before reaching for the girl’s hand. “I’ll take you there. Trust me, you don’t want to be anywhere near this guy.” The girl was more than happy to go with me and get away from Chase.

“Be sure to tell her all about our history together on the way. Start with how you couldn’t keep your hands off me!” Chase yelled after us.

I stopped. I knew I should ignore him, but I couldn’t. “Your mom would be so proud.” My voice was laced with sarcasm. His mom was his weakness.

His jaw clenched, and for once, he didn’t have a snappy comeback. Satisfied, I smiled at the girl and walked her to the Elysian Fields.

The gate to Heaven was beyond words. It glowed a brilliant shade of yellow, with a hint of pure white mixed in. The warmth that came from beyond the gate was intense, but in a completely peaceful way. Happiness. That’s what awaited this girl. She was one of the lucky ones.

I was so in awe of the Elysian Fields that I didn’t even notice Carol and Jared standing next to us.

“Hey, Jodi.” Jared smiled at me. “Thanks for working this out for us. It sure beats those asphodels and, of course, Tartarus.”

I nodded. Couldn’t argue with that.

Carol gently put her arm around the girl and walked her to the gate, which opened immediately for her. “Go ahead in.” The girl smiled as she disappeared inside and the gate closed behind her. Yup, she was lucky.

I motioned for Jared and Carol to come closer so I could whisper. “I found the two souls I’ll be using. They’re in the Fields of Asphodel looking for Matt right now. I’m going to sneak over there before I head back to the palace. If they’ve found Matt and brought him to Alex, then I’m going to try to raise our souls.”

“So, this is goodbye?” Jared reached his hand out to me.

“You want to shake? Really?”

“I didn’t think I should hug you. I mean, you’re Alex’s girl, but you used to be with Matt, and even though he and I aren’t cousins by blood, I appreciate you looking out for him.”

Jared and Matt had been close. I’d always envied the Serpentarius Ophi and how they seemed to have such control over their powers. They were around humans a lot more than the rest of us. “See you soon, Jared.” I gave him a quick hug.

“Just so you know, I’m telling Alex you hugged me.”

I smiled. “Got it.”

Carol hugged me, too, and I started back toward Alex and, hopefully, Matt. I still didn’t really know how to raise my human soul. I figured it would be pretty much like raising any soul, except I’d be feeling broken in two after I did it. That was the part I was worried about.

As I got closer, I saw that Arianna was back. I couldn’t help it. I ran to her and threw my arms around her. “Are you okay?” I asked, my head buried in her hair.

“I’m okay.” Her voice was still shaky. She was trying to put on a strong face, but she was shattered inside. She pulled away from me. “Someone’s here to see you.”

I looked up to see Liz and Brian, and my shoulders sank. They must not have found Matt.

Liz fidgeted with her hands. “We wanted to say thank you for being so nice to us.”

Brian nodded. “And we wanted to let you know we found Matt. Well, actually he found us. He was on his way back here, and he bumped into us. He’s walking kind of funny, but he should be here any minute.”

They’d found Matt! This was it. We could leave. I could save Matt. I could save Alex and Arianna and everyone.

Tears spilled from my eyes. I waved to Liz and Brian as they walked off into the Fields.

“Jodi?” Alex gently took my arm.

“I’m going to miss you.” I could barely say the words. Alex and I had been through so much in the past few months. It seemed wrong to leave him behind.

He pulled me to him and kissed me. To hell with Hades. I had to say goodbye to Alex. When he pulled away, Alex turned to Matt, who was now at the gate. “Take care of her, or I’ll send you to Tartarus myself.”

Matt stared back at him, not comprehending a thing.

“So,” I said, “I guess now I rip my soul apart.”