Текст книги "Stalked by Death"

Автор книги: Kelly Hashway

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Текущая страница: 5 (всего у книги 16 страниц)

Chapter 9

I had to find a way to tell Alex that he didn’t need to watch Chase and me, but was there any way to do that without looking suspicious? I was mentally preparing some lame excuse about Alex missing out on his own training to babysit me, but before I could even attempt to get the words out Arianna walked into the room. She didn’t even knock, but then again she’d said she’d meet me here and my door hadn’t exactly been closed.

“Off with you, Alex.” Arianna shooed him away with her free hand. In the other, she held a medical kit. “As soon as I get Jodi’s arm cleaned and bandaged, she’s going right to sleep. There’s nothing more you can do for her tonight, so say your goodbyes and get moving.”

I smiled, grateful for Arianna’s mothering. Not only was she taking care of me, but she was also saving me from a very awkward conversation with Alex. One I didn’t have the strength for right now.

Alex kissed me lightly on the lips. “Get some rest.”

“I will.” I squeezed his hand quickly and watched him walk out of the room. He paused at the door, but Arianna followed him and pushed him into the hallway.

“Goodnight, Alex,” she said.

I gave a weak laugh as she closed the door. “Thanks. I know he’s trying to help, but I’m exhausted.”

“Of course you are.” She sat down on my bed and rummaged through the medical kit. “Okay, let’s see that arm.” She wiped off the blood around the cut and put some ointment on the wound. “Not bad at all. Just a scratch. You’ll be fine in no time.”

She was right. The cut on my arm was the least of my worries.

“Now, tell me how you’re really doing.” Arianna put the medical kit aside and placed her hands in her lap. “You and Chase—what’s going on there?” My eyes must have widened because Arianna continued, “Oh, don’t go looking surprised. I worked at Serpentarius, remember? I saw young people catching each other’s eyes across the club every night. I know what attraction looks like, and you and Chase are attracted to each other.”

I tried to sit up more. “It’s not like that, Arianna. I swear. It’s not him. I mean, it’s more like his blood, or at least the power in it.” Here I was again, sounding like some blood-crazed vampire.

“Oh, so you haven’t noticed how handsome Chase is? I heard Leticia say he’s the hottest Ophi she’s ever seen.” Arianna waved her hand, dismissing the thought. “But you didn’t notice that because you were too busy being attracted to his power.” Her sarcasm wasn’t lost on me.

“Fine. He’s good-looking. But seriously, I’m not like Leticia. I’m not drooling over him. In fact, I don’t even want to be around him. He scares me. The way he looks at me. The way his touch—” Oh, God, what was I saying? Why was I telling Arianna about Chase’s touch?

She raised an eyebrow. “It’s worse than I thought.”

“No.” I shook my head. “You’re misunderstanding me. I only meant when he transfers his power to me…I don’t like it. It freaks me out, and now I have to train with him, according to Tony.”

“You don’t think that’s a good idea?”

“No. You see what combining powers with Chase does to me.”

“Yes, I’ve seen the physical effects, but what I’m more interested in right now are the emotional effects.” She lowered her voice even though we were the only people in the room. “Are you afraid to be close to Chase because his touch does more than transfer power to you?”

Yes, but I couldn’t say that. It was bad enough Medusa could read my thoughts. I couldn’t have Arianna figuring out what a terrible person I was for feeling this way about Chase.

“I’m going to take your silence to mean I’m on to something.” She stood up. “Well, I’ve kept you up long enough. Get some rest. Sometimes a good night’s sleep helps you see things more clearly in the morning.”

I nodded, even though I didn’t really believe that was true. I shut off the lamp on my nightstand and curled up under the covers. The last thing on my mind before I fell asleep was that I had to find a way out of training with Chase.

The dream hit me sometime near morning. I was walking down the stairs, heading to breakfast, but I stopped when I saw Chase leaning against the Medusa statue. He smiled at me and held his hand out. Without a word, I went to him, feeling the pull of his power in my blood. My body tingled at the sight of him; as I got closer, my blood bubbled uncontrollably.

“I knew you would come,” Chase said.

“I’m supposed to meet—”

“Me,” he said. “I called you here.”

“But—”

“Shh. You’ll understand soon.” He pulled me closer and placed both his hands on my face. Blood rushed to my head, making me dizzy. Chase lowered his face to mine and kissed me. Softly at first. My lips tingled in response. His kiss got hungrier. My body felt like it was on fire, but I kept kissing him, unable to stop. I lost myself in the power. In Chase.

“Jodi?” Alex’s voice was small and full of hurt. I pulled away from Chase and turned to see Alex staring at me. His face twisted in pain and confusion. “Why? How could you do this to me? To us?”

“Because this is her true nature.” Chase wrapped his arm around me. “She belongs with me.” His touch sent waves of power through me, making me hungry for more. I reached for his arm, wanting to pull him closer, but all the time my eyes were locked on Alex. While I relished in Chase’s power, Alex was falling apart.

I shot up in bed, breathing heavily. For a moment the dream lingered in my mind, and instead of seeing my room, I still saw Alex’s face filled with pain. Slowly, the dream vanished, and I was facing a room full of zombies.

“Ah!” I screamed, not because I was afraid of the zombies—although I knew I couldn’t take them all on alone—but because I’d used my powers while I was sleeping again. In less than twenty-four hours, I’d raised the entire graveyard twice.

Leticia ran into my room. I could barely see her over all the zombies, but her scream rang through the room.

“Leticia, run!” She couldn’t release souls yet. If she stayed here, she’d get attacked. I couldn’t save her and myself at the same time. I heard her footsteps pounding down the hall, and I hoped she was going for help. If fear sent her running straight out the door of the mansion, I was screwed.

My blood was still boiling in my veins. The effects of the dream hadn’t worn off. I started giving commands, releasing some and telling others not to move. Releasing took more time than a simple command of “Stay.” I kept my focus and worked through the group. I wasn’t sure I was strong enough for this yet, but what choice did I have?

Alex ran into the room, followed by the others. “What happened?” He looked around, and I couldn’t help wondering if he was searching for Chase.

“I was asleep, and when I woke up, they were here.”

“Did you have a dream? About me?” He obviously thought this was exactly like last night, after we’d kissed in his room.

“Yeah.” Alex had been in my dream, so it wasn’t a total lie. He stepped over the bodies of the souls I’d released and came to me. Arianna and Tony were already releasing the other souls.

“Jodi, you need to figure this out. Hades is going to come after you if you don’t stop this.”

“I know. I’ll figure it out. Something is going on with my powers. Maybe they’re increasing. I’ll have to learn to control them better. I’ll talk to Medusa some more about it.”

The room shook with a loud rumbling. Sounds of glass shattering and wood splintering filled the air. The entire mansion was going to come down. The floor split open. Alex grabbed me and pulled me toward the bathroom and away from the crack. Bodies toppled into the darkness. Arianna and Tony huddled in the doorway. I couldn’t see Randy or Leticia in the hallway, but I hoped they were safe.

Black smoke swirled out of the crack in the floor. This was it. Hades was coming for me. I’d broken our agreement, and he was coming to collect my soul.

Hades emerged from the smoke and stared directly at me. “I think it’s about time we had a talk, Jodi Marshall.”

He was every bit as gorgeous as I remembered. Gorgeous in a completely terrifying way. After my first meeting with Hades, I’d discovered where the term “tall, dark, and handsome” came from. Why he chose to appear to me in this form, I didn’t know, but he certainly knew what my type was. Physically at least. His personality was horrifying.

“Hades, please, let me explain.” I put my hands up in surrender. “I didn’t know I was raising those souls.” I pointed to the bed. “I was asleep. Something is going on with my powers. I don’t know how to control them. But I released the souls. We worked together to get them back to you as soon as possible.” I had to get it all out before he interrupted. Before I lost my nerve.

“It’s not her fault.” Alex came to my rescue. “She’s trying to figure out what’s going wrong with her powers.”

Hades narrowed his eyes, and I felt them burning into me. Literally. My entire body felt like it was on fire, and I knew it would be that easy for him to kill me. I tried to cry out, but the pain in my throat wouldn’t allow it. I crumpled in Alex’s arms.

“Stop!” Alex yelled. “You’re killing her!”

Chase ran into the room, pushing past Tony and Arianna. My eyes burned, and I actually saw flames. I was looking at Hell, but I could sense Chase’s blood. He came closer, and the fire went away. Hades stared at Chase, no longer interested in burning my soul. Chase didn’t say a word, and neither did Hades. They just stared at each other. Finally, Hades turned back to me. I cringed, afraid he’d pick up where he’d left off, but he only spoke.

“Figure out what’s happening, and learn to control it. Soon. I won’t tolerate much more of this.” He waved his arm around the room, and a whirlwind of black smoke swept most of the bodies into the crack in the floor. He glared at me one last time before disappearing into the ground. The floor sealed up behind him, but my room was still a mess.

“Well, he’s pleasant,” Chase said.

“Thank you,” I said. “If you hadn’t come in here and broken Hades’ stare…”

“Any time. I won’t let anyone hurt you, Jodi.” Chase gave Alex a look before he turned and left the room.

I shivered even though I was still burning up from Hades’ stare. Chase had declared war on Alex. He’d openly shown his feelings for me in front of everyone. Alex was shaking with rage. I buried my face in his chest, squeezing him tight. I wanted to show him that I’d chosen him, regardless of how Chase felt.

Randy finally stepped into my room. “Hey, where was Chase during all that?”

Leticia let go of his arm. “What do you mean?”

“When we heard you scream, we all came running. Everyone but Chase.”

We all looked back and forth between each other. No one had an answer.

Alex pulled away from me. “I’m going to find out.”

“No, please. Let it go. Maybe he didn’t hear Leticia. Maybe he was in the shower.”

“His hair wasn’t wet,” Leticia said.

Randy smirked. “And if you hadn’t already raised them, the dead bodies in the cemetery would’ve heard Leticia, too.”

Alex stared at me. “Why are you defending him, Jodi?”

“I’m not. I just don’t think we should all go storming his room, making accusations. We’ll never get an answer out of him that way.”

“He does like to avoid answering questions,” Randy said.

“What do you mean?” I’d experienced this about Chase, but I wasn’t aware he was keeping things from the others. I mean, what would Randy ask him that Chase wouldn’t want to answer?

“The other day I asked him about his parents. I was curious if either of them had more powers than other Ophi, because Chase had to get it from somewhere, right? But he wouldn’t answer. He changed the subject, and when I tried to bring it up again, he made up an excuse and left.”

“He’s hiding something,” Alex said. “More reason to make him talk. He’s got a lot of things to explain.”

I looked to Arianna for help, but she shrugged. Tony saw us exchange a glance and said, “Let me talk to Chase. He’ll only feel threatened if we all go asking questions.”

I mouthed a “Thank you” and he nodded.

Alex noticed, and he gave me a questioning look, so I changed the topic. “We’ll have to rebury these bodies right away. Hades took several bodies with him, which means we have fewer corpses to train with. We can’t afford to lose any more.”

“I’ll get started on it now,” Tony said. “You all can help me after breakfast.”

We nodded.

“Oh, and, Jodi, if you don’t mind, I’m going to leave the bodies here until we get the graves dug, okay?”

“Sure.” Unfortunately, I was getting used to having corpses in my bedroom.

Everyone left, going back to their own rooms to finish getting ready for the day, but Alex stayed behind with me. I hugged him, loving how safe I felt in his arms. I wanted to only want Alex, but something inside me was screaming for Chase, and I didn’t know how to make it stop.

Alex pulled away. “I saw that little exchange between you and Tony. What was that about?”

I sighed and sat down on the bed. “Listen, I know you hate Chase, and I know he gives you a hard time, but we’re short on numbers. Hades was in my bedroom threatening me. He could’ve killed me, Alex. If Chase hadn’t—”

“No! Chase did not save you from Hades. He showed up late because he was doing God knows what.” Alex was yelling now. “He’s not the good guy. I mean, did you see the way Hades looked at him? It was like he recognized evil.”

That was crazy. Hades and Chase had locked eyes, but I figured it was only because Hades hadn’t seen Chase before. He wasn’t here at the school when I’d made the deal with Hades two months ago. “I’m sure Hades was surprised to see a new face around here. That’s all, and really—whatever it was, I don’t care. All I know is I’m alive right now. Can’t we take two minutes to be thankful for that?”

Alex pulled me to him and kissed me lightly on the lips. “You know I’m thankful you’re alive. I watched you die once, remember? After you drank Medusa’s blood.”

“I didn’t die.”

“The human part of you did.”

Sometimes, I forgot there was a difference between being human and being Gorgon. But Medusa’s blood had transformed me, made me fully Gorgon. Hades hated me for that. I’d killed the human in me, and there was no soul to show for it. As far as Hades was concerned, I owed him my soul.

“I think you should leave the school,” Alex said.

“What?” I nearly stumbled back in surprise.

“I’ll go with you. We’ll go somewhere Hades can’t find you. Just until you get your powers under control.”

“I can’t leave. I have a job to do. The Ophi from Serpentarius will be here tomorrow. It took months to get them here. How would it look if they came and I’d taken off?”

Alex started pacing. He was determined to find a way to save me. I didn’t say a word. Just let him think. Finally, he stopped. “Did you ever consider that Hades might want you to get all the Ophi under one roof so he can take us out in one shot?”

I was starting to wonder about that. We were sitting ducks here. Hades could kill us all in our sleep if he wanted to. But I had a feeling Hades was a god of his word. We’d made a deal. Sure, he was hoping I’d screw it up so he could kill me. But if I didn’t, we’d be okay. Hades would honor our deal—I hoped.

Except I was screwing up, and Chase was a big part of that.

Chapter 10

Breakfast was quick. We had bodies to bury, and I couldn’t exactly sit and enjoy my pancakes knowing Tony was digging graves on his own. I hurried the group along, giving Randy a long hard stare when he reached for a second helping of pancakes.

“I’ll take a few to go.” Grabbing a handful, he got up from the table.

“Fine. Everyone else good?”

Leticia stood up. “I’m ready. I can’t eat a thing after seeing Hades. He scared the appetite right out of me.” I was with her there.

Arianna shooed us out the door. “You all go help Tony. I can handle clean-up on my own today.”

“Ari, you’re a life saver.” I gave her a quick hug and followed the others out to the cemetery. Tony was dirty, sweaty, and dead tired. He’d managed to dig up seven graves already. I wasn’t sure how he’d done that many so quickly, but then again, he’d had a lot of practice.

“Take a break,” I told him. “Go shower, get something to eat, and put your feet up. We’ll take over from here.” Thanks to Hades, there weren’t that many bodies left. Most had fallen into the earth when he came out of it. And since we didn’t know which body belonged in which grave, we could simply dig them all up in a straight line. We’d be finished by lunchtime.

Tony stuck his shovel in the fresh dirt and wiped his brow. “Sounds good to me. Any of Arianna’s pancakes left?”

“Yeah, I stopped Randy from polishing them all off.”

“Thanks.”

“No, thank you. It was my mess, and you’ve been—” I didn’t know what to say. How did you apologize for raising an entire cemetery of corpses, drawing Hades’ attention, and nearly killing every Ophi in existence?

Tony put his hand on my shoulder. “No one blames you, Jodi. Whatever is going on here isn’t your fault.”

“Of course it is. It’s my powers that are screwing things up, and I have no idea how to fix it.”

“We’ll figure it out. I’m going to cancel lessons this afternoon. I want to do some research and make a few phone calls. Someone has to have some idea what’s happening to you. I can’t believe you’re the first Ophi this sort of thing has happened to.”

Why not? I was the only Ophi who was part human—or at least I used to be. The only Ophi who could raise our own kind without turning them into zombies. The only Ophi who was answering to Hades. Being the only anything was nothing new to me.

Tony must have taken my silence as a protest. “I mean, if that’s okay with you. You’re in charge, and if you don’t want me cancelling lessons, I can do my research this evening after dinner.”

“No. Cancelling lessons is a good idea. We’ll be digging graves and burying corpses all morning. I could use the afternoon to train these guys some more.”

Tony nodded. “We’ll figure this out. I promise.”

“Thanks, Tony.”

He gave me a small smile before walking away. Everyone else was busy digging already, so I grabbed a shovel and got to work helping Alex.

“He’s right, you know.” Alex didn’t look at me. He was focused on shoveling, and his tone was completely serious. “You have to stop blaming yourself. It’s not like you know what’s wrong with your powers.”

Sure. Except I did know what was wrong with them. I was conflicted. I liked Chase. As much as I wished I didn’t, I liked Chase. I didn’t know how long I could keep lying, especially to Alex.

He stopped digging and looked at me. “Hey, you don’t think it’s us, do you?”

“What do you mean?” Did he know something?

“Well,” he stepped closer and lowered his voice, “your powers keep going all crazy when we’re together or you’re thinking about me.”

I smiled at him. “No, I don’t think we’re the problem. You’re the only thing in my life that’s right.”

He wrapped one arm around my waist and pulled me to him. He kissed me as if we were the only two people in the cemetery, and in that moment, we were. I forgot about the others. This was how I wanted things to be. Why couldn’t it be this simple?

“Seriously you two.” Randy flung dirt at us.

“Hey!” I jumped back, trying to avoid the dirt.

“Hey, yourself. If you two don’t stop making out in front of me, I’m going to throw myself in this open grave just so I don’t have to see it anymore.”

“Funny.” I rolled my eyes.

Leticia leaned on her shovel and stared at Chase. “I think it’s romantic the way they can’t keep their hands off each other, don’t you?” But Chase wasn’t paying any attention to Leticia. His eyes were fixed on me.

Alex glared at him. “You got a problem, Chase?”

“I was just thinking.”

“About what?” Leticia was drooling a little.

“About how every time I see these two it’s something different. One minute they’re kissing, and the next minute they’re fighting. I’m waiting for their relationship to implode.”

“That’s it!” Alex lunged at Chase, and the two fell backward into an open grave.

“Alex!” I yelled.

“Chase, are you okay?” Leticia called down into the grave.

Luckily, it wasn’t deep, so they didn’t fall far. But there wasn’t a lot of wiggle room, and since they were intent on beating on each other, dirt was spilling from the sides of the grave right on top of them.

“Stop!” My blood was going crazy. My skin rippled, and my heart raced. Sweat poured down my face. I wanted it to stop. I begged my blood to stop mixing, but it wouldn’t.

Leticia screamed. “Guys! Stop! It’s Jodi. Something’s happening to her!”

Alex and Chase climbed out of the grave, clawing at each other in the process. Chase reached me first, and he placed his hand in mine.

“Don’t touch her!” Alex yelled, ripping Chase’s hand away from me. “Every time you touch her, you almost kill her.”

Randy grabbed Chase’s arm before he could take a swing at Alex. “He’s right, man. The last thing Jodi needs is an extra power boost from you right now.”

“Jodi, look at me.” Alex was holding my face in his hands. “Focus on me. Don’t worry about him or anyone else. Look at me.”

My body was on fire, and my blood wouldn’t stop bubbling. If I didn’t stop this soon, the power was going to consume me.

“Oh, God!” Leticia yelled. She pointed toward the school.

Alex let go of my face, and we both turned to see what had Leticia so scared. The corpses from my room were walking toward us. My blood had called them to me.

“Well, at least we don’t have to carry them all out here,” Chase said.

Alex squeezed his fists and turned toward Chase. “Alex.” I reached for him, but he wasn’t going to listen to reason. He was determined to pound on Chase. I did the only thing I knew would make him stop. I pretended to faint. I let myself collapse on the ground, which, considering how much energy my body was using to summon all those corpses, was more than easy to do.

In seconds, Alex was at my side, cradling my head in his lap. I opened my eyes and tried to look as helpless as I could. I needed him to feel bad enough for me that he’d forget about Chase. “I need your help,” I said in a soft voice.

“Anything.”

“Lure the corpses into the graves. I’ll release them after they’re in the ground.”

“Are you strong enough? I could have Leticia get Tony and Arianna.”

Damn. Playing the damsel in distress wasn’t the easiest thing to do. Yes, I was tired, but I was still strong enough to release the souls. Hell, I was silently commanding them all to obey the others right now, knowing the others couldn’t control them on their own.

I nodded. “I think I can do it.”

Alex stood up and motioned to Randy. “Come on. We have to get them in the graves.”

Randy stepped back. “Me? You want me to control them? I didn’t summon them. You know I can’t do that.”

“I can.” Chase walked past Alex and closer to the zombies. They were almost to us now. He stopped for a moment and stood absolutely still, tapping into his power. “Get in an open grave.” He repeated the instructions several times. I was right. Chase did have more power than the average underage Ophi.

Alex followed Chase’s lead. Well, almost. When he got to the last zombie, he stepped close and whispered something the rest of us couldn’t hear. I watched in horror as the zombie approached Chase from the side and swung at his head. Chase turned as the zombie’s fist connected with his cheek. He went down hard.

“Chase!” This time Leticia wasn’t the only one worried about Chase. I was at his side, too. Alex stared at me, no doubt wondering where my sudden burst of energy had come from. He knew I’d been faking. He knew I’d tricked him. Worse, he knew that I definitely did have some sort of feelings for Chase. Alex grabbed the zombie by the arm and flung him into the last open grave.

“Make sure Chase is okay,” I told Leticia, but she was practically cowering behind Chase now.

Everyone stared at Alex. His jaw was clenched, and his nostrils flared. He didn’t look like the same guy who’d had my back since I came here.

“Alex, you need to get a hold of yourself.”

“Don’t tell me what I need, Jodi. What I need is—” He stopped, meeting each pair of eyes on him. “Screw this.” He headed for the house.

“Um, Jodi,” Randy said. “The zombies aren’t exactly staying in their graves.”

I wanted to go after Alex, but I couldn’t leave the others to deal with the zombies. I watched Alex for another second before I turned to the graves and started commanding my blood to mix. I was instantly lightheaded. I’d spent most of my energy already. Chase came up next to me and started releasing the souls, too. I was thankful for that, and I was especially thankful that he was doing it on his own instead of trying to transfer his power to me.

Once all the souls were back where they were supposed to be, I headed inside for a much needed visit to Medusa, but when I opened the front door, I saw Alex was already holding Medusa’s right hand. His brow was furrowed, and he looked like he was concentrating on something. Normally holding Medusa’s right hand was a power rush, almost euphoric. So, why did Alex look so strained?

I waited for him to release her hand before I spoke. “Alex.” My voice was soft and almost pleading.

He met my eyes without saying a word.

“I’m sorry I tricked you out there. I didn’t know what else to do to make you stop attacking Chase.”

“Do you really want a boyfriend you have to protect?” His words were filled with anger.

“What are you talking about? You’re my boyfriend.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Are you breaking up with me?” The words came out slowly and painfully.

“Do you want to break up?”

“Alex, I don’t want to play games. Please, just give me a straight answer.” I stepped toward him, wanting to be as close as possible.

“Then stop playing games, Jodi. You’re the one who’s doing this. Not me. You’ve changed since Chase got here. You’re different, and I’m not sure I like it.”

I felt like someone was squeezing my insides. Alex didn’t like me? Was that what he was saying? “Alex, I love you.”

“What about Chase?”

“What about him?”

“Do you love him?”

“No!” I didn’t. I barely knew him.

“Then what is it? Why does he make you act so differently? Why do you stick up for him?”

“I—” How could I explain what was happening to me without destroying my relationship with Alex?

“You like him.” Alex turned away.

I couldn’t let him leave like this. It would be the end of us. “Wait! Please, let me explain. It’s not what you think.”

He stopped but didn’t turn toward me, so I went to him. I was going to have to be the one to hold onto what we had. “Alex, ever since Chase contacted me and said he was coming, something changed in me. In my blood. It’s like my blood recognized the power in his blood. But that’s it. I don’t like him. I promise. To be honest, he scares me a little. The power he has—that he transfers to me—scares me. But I know I have to figure out how to use it if I’m going to save the Ophi.”

Alex stared at me with his arms crossed, guarding his emotions. “So, you aren’t attracted to him? You don’t think he’s hot, like Leticia does?”

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks, and I knew I was turning red. Not good. I couldn’t lie my way out of this. “He’s not ugly.” It was the closest to the truth I could get. “But that doesn’t matter. I’m sure you find other girls attractive. It doesn’t mean anything.” I stepped closer and put my hands on his forearms, uncrossing his arms. “It doesn’t change how we feel about each other.”

“Are you sure about that?”

I stepped into him, resting my face on his chest. “Yes. You are the only Ophi I want.”

He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed tight. “You have to set Chase straight. I’m not putting up with his comments. I don’t like the way he looks at you or the way he openly shows his feelings for you. You can’t expect me to sit back and take that.”

I leaned my head back so I could look at him. “I know. I’ll talk to him. Tell him that I’m not interested and he needs to stop or—”

“Or what?”

“I’ll ask him to leave.” Why was that so hard for me to say? I had Alex. He was perfect for me. Yet, I didn’t want Chase to leave. As much as he scared me and caused trouble for me and Alex, there was a part of me that wanted Chase here. God, what was wrong with me?

Alex smiled. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.” He leaned down and kissed me. The kiss was so passionate I felt my legs shake. Good thing Alex was still holding me tight. We only stopped when the front door swung opened and Leticia rushed in, bumping right into us.

“Sorry,” she said.

Alex looked annoyed by the interruption, but I said, “It’s okay. Is something wrong? You look like you’re in a hurry.”

“Jodi.” Leticia’s voice shook. “We finished burying the bodies, but there’s something you should know.”

“What is it?” I wasn’t sure I could take any more bad news right now.

Leticia lowered her head and stared at her feet. “We lost a lot of corpses to Hades.”

“Yes, I know.” Why wouldn’t she spit it out already? How bad was the news?

“Well, we think one of the bodies he took was…” She stopped and looked at me.

“Leticia, you’re killing me here.”

“Your dad.”

I tried to swallow, but there was a lump in my throat the size of a baseball. How hadn’t I noticed my dad’s body was gone? I’d seen his corpse before, and I’d never forget it. Even though I’d only met him that one time in the cemetery, when Victoria raised him to torture me, I’d recognize him anywhere. I’d been too preoccupied with all the drama of Chase and Alex, and now my dad’s body was in the underworld with Hades. Who knew what torture Hades was putting his soul through? And now that Hades had his body too, I couldn’t raise him. I’d never see him again.