Текст книги "Face of Death"

Автор книги: Kelly Hashway

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

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.

Chapter 22

I nudged Matt, widening my eyes and nodding in his mother’s direction. “What is she doing here? Amber just…shouldn’t she be at home?”

“You didn’t read the entire article about Amber, did you?”

No, I hadn’t. After I found out it was an aneurysm, I didn’t want to know anything else. I shook my head.

“Amber died a month ago.”

A month ago? “No, that can’t be. Hades took her to get back at me.”

“I don’t think so, Jodi. Amber used to get these really bad headaches all the time. I can’t help thinking she was meant to die when she did.”

“That would mean Hades had me move her.”

Matt balled his good hand into a fist. “He took her out of Heaven and put her in Hell to get back at you.”

“Those aren’t the terms he uses, but yes. That’s exactly what he did.”

Matt looked like he was about to hit something and break his other hand.

“I’m so sorry.” He couldn’t deny it was my fault now. Maybe I hadn’t been the reason Amber died, but I was the reason she was in Tartarus. “Why wasn’t she buried next to you, though? We should’ve seen her grave.”

He shook his head. “Amber always said she’d rather be cremated than buried. She was claustrophobic. She insisted she would be even in death.” That was Amber. Very quirky. “I don’t know if I can do this.” He glanced at his mom. “She never worked in the ER. She was always stationed in the maternity ward.”

“You wanted to see her, remember? This is good. You’ll be able to check on her without randomly showing up on her doorstep.”

“Tyler Gross?” she called again, looking around the waiting room.

“Here.” I stood up and grabbed Matt’s arm, pulling him up. “He’s a little out of it from the pain.”

Mrs. Davenport nodded. “Right this way, please.”

We followed her through the set of double doors and into an examination room.

“Okay, why don’t you hop up on the examination table, and I’ll take a look at that hand.”

I sat in the chair in the corner and gave Matt a small encouraging smile. He breathed out loudly, trying to get control of his emotions. I knew how he felt. I had been terrified to see my mom. He’d thought it would be so easy, checking up on our families. Now, he was seeing that there was nothing easy about it.

Mrs. Davenport flipped through Matt’s paperwork. “It says here that you did this punching a wooden bench after your bags were stolen from the bus station.”

“She wrote that on the form?” Man, that receptionist just couldn’t stop taking digs at us. If it wasn’t a flat-out lie, I’d be insulted.

“Afraid so. Clarice has a strange sense of humor. Most people don’t get her.” Mrs. Davenport smiled at us, and I couldn’t help remembering the way she’d always invited me to dinner and told me I should stop by more often. She was such a caring person.

She gently turned Matt’s hand, looking at it from all angles. “Well, I’m going to wager you broke at least one bone in there, but we’ll need an x-ray to see the extent of the damage.”

“Will he be in a cast?” If Matt had to come back to get the cast removed, it would really screw up our “mail us the bill, and we’ll get our insurance to take care of it later” plan. He’d have to find a different hospital to pull the same scam on, and he’d have to do it without me.

“Most likely. I’m pretty certain he has some broken bones.”

Matt mouthed a “sorry” to me, making me want to melt into the chair. If Hades hadn’t tried to get back at me through Amber, this wouldn’t have happened. I should be the one apologizing. Again.

“You can stay here while we go get this x-rayed and speak with the doctor and the radiology technician.”

I nodded.

Matt followed his mom out of the room. He still hadn’t said a word to her. I hoped he’d get over it enough to at least say something. He’d regret it if he blew this opportunity to talk to his mom again. Of course, there was the danger of him getting too comfortable and spilling everything to her in front of the doctor and the countless other people who were examining him.

I tapped my foot for what seemed like an eternity before they both returned, this time with the doctor, a middle-aged man with a mustache who didn’t say a word as he walked over to the sink and wrote on his clipboard. Mrs. Davenport put Matt’s x-ray up on one of those light boxes.

“Yup. There and there. Can you see the fractures?”

“Guess I won’t be punching anything for a while.” Matt gave his mom a small smile. My heart sank when I saw the way he looked at her. God, I hoped she didn’t notice. She’d think he was having some cougar fantasy or something.

“Should I go to the waiting room while he’s getting the cast put on?”

“If you’d like. Completely up to you and Tyler.” When she said his name, her eyes lit up for a split second. “I always liked the name Tyler. I wanted to name my son that, but my husband insisted on Matt.” She lowered her eyes. “Tyler was his middle name.” She was still grieving.

Matt opened his mouth, but I jumped up and said, “You know, I think I’ll stay if that’s okay with you, Tyler.” He looked at me, coming out of his trance. “I figure you could use the emotional support.”

“Yeah.” He reached for my hand and squeezed it. Alex would’ve hated it, especially since Matt still had strong feelings for me. But Matt needed me right now, and I wasn’t about to deny him something so small as holding my hand for support.

“You two make such a cute couple,” Mrs. Davenport said, eying us.

Oh well, I went with it. “Thank you, Mrs. Davenport.”

She wrinkled her brow. “How did you know my name?”

Damn it! “Oh, um, you told us when you called Tyler into the examination room.”

“I did?” She shook her head. “I must be tired. I always introduce myself as Emily. Mrs. Davenport makes me sound old. But then again, I don’t usually work in the ER. Someone called out sick, and I got stuck working a double. They pulled me from the maternity ward.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here,” Matt said, on the verge of sounding like a cougar hunter again.

“Yeah, you’ve been really nice.” I jumped right in, trying to make this better. “Some people, like the receptionist, weren’t exactly nice about how this happened.”

Mrs. Davenport looked over her shoulder at the doctor, who was washing his hands at the sink, and then she leaned closer to us and whispered, “Don’t let Clarice get to you. A few months back, she slipped off the toilet in the ladies’ room after insisting that she only uses the bathroom after the janitors wash the seats.” She giggled. “Apparently, the seat was so slippery clean, she shot right off it.”

We all laughed, breaking the tension that Matt had caused. I had to keep him under control. If he couldn’t hold it together, how was I supposed to leave him here when I went to save the others from Hades?

“You all ready to get plastered?” Mrs. Davenport asked.

Matt and I looked at each other like we’d both lost our minds—or she had.

She laughed again. “I mean your cast. God, I haven’t laughed like this in months. I’ve been going through a rough time, but you kids have really cheered me up.”

Being around Matt was making her happy again. Maybe this visit would turn out all right after all.

“Come on. You can pick your color of cast wrap. We have red, blue, green, yellow… I’m guessing you don’t want pink, but some guys do like purple.”

Matt and I exchanged glances. He wasn’t the purple type. My smile faded when I realized why Matt disliked purple so much. Amber’s entire room was purple. Matt always said it looked like a grape exploded in there. He must have been thinking the same thing because he lowered his eyes.

Mrs. Davenport gazed out the window. “You know, my daughter loved purple. My son hated it. She always tried to get him to wear purple shirts. He never would. And now…” She turned back to us. “Well, I don’t need to bore you with my drama.”

“I’ll take purple,” Matt said.

It took all my strength not to cry. I clenched my teeth and fought the tears as Mrs. Davenport put a cast on Matt. She had no idea her son was sitting in front of her. My heart ached, and I wanted to tell her the truth. I wanted to let her know she hadn’t lost both her children. I wanted to make up for taking Matt from her and for sending her daughter to Hell. But I couldn’t. If we even tried to explain this, she’d think we were crazy, and she’d call security. That would be the end of Matt’s time with her. We had to stick to the original plan. He was my mom’s nephew. At least he’d be able to see his parents that way.

After the doctor finished wrapping Matt’s hand in a purple cast and made a quick exit, Mrs. Davenport took a black permanent marker from the table behind her and handed it to me. “Want to do the honors?”

I looked at Matt and knew what he wanted. “Actually, I think you should sign it, Nurse Davenport.”

“Oh, please, call me Emily, and I don’t think Tyler wants me to sign it. He doesn’t even know me.”

If only she knew how wrong she was.

“I would like you to sign it,” Matt said. “You’ve been really nice, almost motherly.”

Oh, God, Matt. Please, don’t slip up. Don’t say anything suspicious.

“All in the job description, but if you insist.” She took the marker and signed her name across the back of his hand. She held his hand while she did it, and Matt’s bottom lip quivered a little. I held my breath until she let go of him. “There you go. Now, since you aren’t from around here, I guess this is goodbye.”

“You might see him again. His aunt lives here. He’s going to be staying with her for a while.” He couldn’t stay forever because he wouldn’t age, and people would definitely notice that, but at least he’d have some time before it got risky to be here.

“Oh, really? Who’s your aunt? Maybe I know her.”

“Laura Marshall,” Matt said.

Mrs. Davenport’s face lit up. “I know Laura well. Our kids used to…” Her smile melted away. “They used to date.”

Neither Matt nor I knew what to say, so we stayed silent.

“I’m sure Laura is happy to have you. She’s been through a lot since Jodi disappeared. Not that I need to tell you. You know all about that, I’m sure.”

Matt nodded.

“I can imagine how she feels. I’ve lost both my children. But poor Laura, she never had any closure. She doesn’t know if Jodi is alive or…” Her voice trailed off. Her eyes watered, but she forced a smile. “There I go again. Telling you two about my troubles.”

“It’s no problem, really,” I said. “We appreciate how nice you’ve been.”

“Well, it was really nice meeting both of you. You made me smile for the first time in a long time.” She took one of my hands and Matt’s good hand in hers. “Thank you for that.”

I swallowed hard, afraid if I said anything I’d start bawling.

She let go and turned to Matt. “And, Tyler, I do hope I’ll see you again. We should all get together for dinner sometime after you’re settled.”

“I’d really like that.”

We said goodbye and left. Matt walked slower than a tortoise. He didn’t want to leave his mom. I glanced at the clock in the waiting room. It was mid-afternoon already. We’d spent most of the day in the hospital.

“Hungry?” I asked.

The thought of food seemed to perk him up a little.

“Oh, wait. No money.” I reached into my pockets, hoping to find a twenty stuffed in there, and to my surprise, I did. Attached to it was a pink Post-it note. Buy yourselves some lunch. Mom must have snuck it into my pocket when she’d hugged me. I held the bill up to Matt. “It’s on my mom.”

We drove to Alberto’s. Matt’s idea, of course. It was the place we went on our second-to-last date, back when I thought Alex was stalking me, and I referred to him as Green Eyes because I didn’t know his name yet. I wasn’t sure how Matt was feeling about me right now. He had to have a little resentment toward me. I’d killed him and sent Amber to Hell. He was a great guy, as perfect as anyone could get, but that was too much to get past. Wasn’t it?

“Bagel and vanilla milkshake?” he asked.

“You remember that’s what I had when we came here?”

“Of course. I wasn’t lying when I said I was in love with you.”

Was. So, he wasn’t anymore. That was good. I loved Alex. Things would be easier if Matt didn’t have those feelings for me. But then why did I feel bad about it?

“You had a foot-long sub and ate all of it.” I was suddenly feeling nostalgic.

“I’m surprised you remember.”

“Why? I cared about you a lot. Wasn’t it obvious?”

The waitress came to take our order. I recognized her from school. Wendy Something-or-Other.

“Hey, Wendy,” Matt said with a big smile.

She cocked her head to the side.

“Um, your nametag.” I pointed to the big block letters.

“Right!” She laughed. “You had me for a second.”

I forced a laughed and nudged Matt under the table with my foot.

“Just a little game I play when I go out to eat. It’s funny how many people think I’m psychic or something.” He placed our orders, and once Wendy was out of earshot, he said, “Sorry. I promise I’ll get used to this.”

“It’s okay.” After all my screw-ups, Matt’s were nothing major. “So, back to my question. Did I not make my feelings for you clear?”

“You did, but you were so distracted the day we came here. That guy—” He tapped his finger on his cast and avoided my eyes. “Alex was following you, and there was the whole thing with the school nurse.”

There had been a lot going on. I’d come into my Ophi powers and was suddenly dangerous to every living thing around me.

“I was thinking.” He raised his eyes to mine. “We’re going to see that Mason guy again tonight, and I’m guessing you’ll be going back to…” He swallowed hard and before he could continue, our food arrived.

“Anything else I can get for you?” Wendy asked.

“No, I think we’re good,” I said.

Matt took a sip of his milkshake before he continued. “I’ve only got a few hours to convince you that you’re better off here with me. I want you to allow me to do that. To give me four hours to prove I’m the best guy for you. That this is the life you should choose.” He reached his good hand across the table and laced his fingers through mine.

As much as I wanted to protest, to tell him I loved Alex, I couldn’t. I squeezed his hand.