Текст книги "Face of Death"

Автор книги: Kelly Hashway

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Chapter 7

Matt led us in a spiraling pattern that had us backtracking almost as much as we moved forward. We were all losing hope until I saw a gate up ahead.

“Look!” I ran toward it, not waiting for the others. This had to be the way out of the Fields. Matt had done it. He’d found the exit.

“Yes!” McKenzie cheered, running up behind me. “Now, maybe we can find a way out of the underworld all together.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Tony said as we slowed down. The gate was only a few feet in front of us, and we all stared at it like it was the most beautiful sight. “There are very few ways to get out of here. I’m sure Hades has them all well guarded. He’s not going to let us walk out.”

“Check it out. Three-Heads is watching us.” Lexi pointed to the three-headed dog, Cerberus, standing on the other side of the gate.

“He must have smelled us coming,” Tony said.

“That means we aren’t going to get past this gate.” I looked around. I had no idea how to distract a hellhound.

Matt had finally caught up with us. His spiral pattern had led him to the gate. He looked down at it with his head cocked to the side. Cerberus growled as Matt reached for the latch on the gate.

“Matt, no!” I rushed to him and grabbed his hand. He stared past me at something beyond the gate. I couldn’t see it, but I had a feeling the Elysian Fields were in that direction.

Lexi kicked the gate, getting more snarls from Cerberus. “We’re stuck. All this way just to get trapped by that thing.”

“I’m not giving up.” I reached for the gate, slowly releasing the latch.

“Jodi.” Alex stopped me. “You aren’t going out there. That dog will tear you to shreds.”

“I think he guards the souls. Makes sure they stay where they belong. But we don’t belong here, and neither does Matt.”

“Did someone spike her fruit punch?” Lexi asked. “She’s talking crazy again.”

“Look, Matt belongs in the Elysian Fields. I think Cerberus knows that.”

“Fine, so let him go. See what happens.” Lexi raised one shoulder, making it all too clear that she didn’t value Matt’s soul.

“We don’t belong here, either. Hades brought us to Tartarus. That’s where Cerberus thinks we should be.”

Tony stepped between me and the gate. “What if he tries to bring us back there? He could corner us and make us return to Tartarus. We wouldn’t be able to scout out new souls from there. Your plan would—pardon the expression—go to hell.”

Alex sighed. “He’s right, Jodi. Besides, Matt wouldn’t be with us anymore, and you’d have to raise your soul and figure out how to save us on your own. I’m not crazy about you and Matt getting close again, but I’d feel better knowing you had someone to protect you. You won’t have your Ophi powers anymore while you’re human.”

I’d kind of forgotten about that part. I was so focused on not being able to hurt anyone anymore that I hadn’t stopped to think about how powerless I’d actually be. Matt was a strong guy. I could use his protection. Especially since we were most likely going to be staying in sleazy motels and riding buses on our way back home.

I stared at Alex, hoping he could see I didn’t have a plan. I didn’t know how to get us out of here without running into Cerberus.

“What if we strike another deal with Hades?” he said.

I squinted at him, wondering what he was thinking. “Go on.”

Lexi scoffed and threw her arms out. “Haven’t we had enough deals? I mean, that’s what got us all in here in the first place. Jodi making a deal with Hades that she couldn’t keep.”

“The kind of deal I’m talking about doesn’t have consequences,” Alex said.

“Then Hades will never go for it,” Tony chimed in. “He likes big payouts for winning.”

Alex smiled. “That’s the beauty of this deal. He’s going to win from the start.”

“Alex—” Before I could ask him what he meant, I figured it out. The deal I’d made with Hades earlier, when he’d taken Victoria and the others…he’d liked that because it gave him Ophi servants. People to do his dirty work and free up some of his time. “We could offer our services. Help Hades run this place and make his life easier.”

Alex nodded. “Exactly. Victoria and the others have Tartarus under control, but Cerberus is left to guard the rest of this place. We never see Hades unless he’s making us suffer, so what is he doing?”

“Judging souls, making sure no one escapes, going back to the land of the living.” I listed off things I remembered Tony teaching us. “What if he’s going after the other Ophi while we’re down here?”

“Mason.” Carol’s voice was small and shaky.

I bit my lip, thinking of how I could approach this. “Okay, Hades obviously needs help down here. We can offer him that. We can help judge the souls. That way we’d know who was coming into the underworld. And when the next couple comes…” I paused, realizing that was a poor word choice on my part. Alex wasn’t going to want Matt and me to use the bodies of a couple. It would only make his mind focus on how Matt and I used to be together. “Well, when the next two souls whose bodies Matt and I could use arrive, we can get my plan going.”

Arianna and Tony smiled, obviously happy with this idea. Carson, Ethan, and Carol weren’t as enthusiastic, but they were willing to try it. Lexi shrugged and gave me a “What the hell? Why not?” Coming from her, that was good. I knew the others wouldn’t challenge me. They never had. And since we’d broken off from Chase, it looked like we all could agree on something as a group.

Leticia looked petrified. “Does this mean we have to get Hades’ attention? Bring him here to make the deal?”

I took a deep breath before saying, “Yes, it does.”

“Any idea how to do that?” Alex asked.

I looked at the gate in front of me. “I’m pretty sure trying to break out of here will get his attention.”

Lexi rolled her eyes. “And royally piss him off. He won’t make a deal with us if he wants to cause us pain.”

“Then I won’t let him get angry with all of us.” I turned to Alex. “Keep everyone else back. Guard Matt. Don’t let him wander off or try to follow me.”

He grabbed my arm. “No. You aren’t going out there alone.”

“I’m not putting anyone else in danger.”

“I’m going with you. End of story.” He met Tony’s eyes. “Watch Matt and the others.”

Tony nodded.

This was the best I was going to get. There was no arguing with Alex when he was like this. I kissed him lightly on the lips, just in case my plan backfired and Hades decided to burn me in hellfire instead of making a deal with me. I wanted to make sure I got one last kiss. Then, I unlatched the gate and pushed it open.

Cerberus growled, sending spit flying out of his mouths from the vibration.

“Easy.” I held my hand out in front of me. Alex tried to pull me behind him to shield me, but I wasn’t having it. I stood my ground. “Can you call Hades?” I asked Cerberus, keeping my voice as steady and non-threatening as possible. “Call your master here. Tell him I need to talk to him.”

“Our fearless leader, everyone,” Lexi said. “Talking to a three-headed dog from Hell. We’re all screwed.”

“Can it, Lexi,” Alex yelled, and Cerberus snarled at the outburst. He charged at us, and Alex and I lunged to the side. Cerberus rammed into the gate. While he was stunned, I reached for him and shot him with a dose of poisoned blood from the left side of my body. He whimpered and went down.

I removed my hand from his fur and stared at it, unable to believe that had worked.

“You dosed him?” Alex was breathing heavily and staring wide-eyed at Cerberus’ still form on the ground.

“I didn’t think I could hurt him like that. I just wanted to stun him a little.”

“My dog!” Hades’ voice boomed from above us as he came swirling down in his black cloud.

Alex rushed to me, ready to face Hades.

“I didn’t mean to hurt him,” I said. “He attacked us. I just reacted.”

Hades’ eyes burned into me, but not enough to kill me. He wanted to make me suffer. My eyes watered from the flames, but I wasn’t about to cower before him.

“You tried to escape. Of course Cerberus attacked you. He was doing his job.”

“No.” I held my hands up. “You don’t understand. We weren’t trying to escape. We were trying to find you. We need to talk to you.”

“It’s true,” Alex said. “Look for yourself.” He pointed at the others beyond the gate. “Would we have left them behind if we were looking for a way out of the underworld?”

Of course, my plan was to leave everyone behind while I found a way out, but Hades couldn’t know that.

Hades looked at the group. Once his eyes were off me, the burning stopped. I stepped closer to him. “We have a deal for you.”

He turned back to me and laughed. “What could you possibly have to make a deal with? I have you. You’re in my world now. You have nothing to bargain with.”

“That’s not true. You’re swamped down here. We almost never see you because you’re too busy running this place. And I’m willing to bet Persephone is around here somewhere, right?” I looked to Tony for confirmation that my mythology was correct. He nodded.

“Leave her out of this.” Hades’ voice shook the ground, and I grabbed Alex to keep from falling.

“Fine. She’s your wife, and actually the deal has nothing to do with her. Not directly, at least. Though it might give you more time to spend with her, if you wanted.”

Hades narrowed his eyes at me. “Two minutes. Talk fast.”

So, Persephone was his weakness. Good to know. “The other Ophi have a handle on Tartarus for you, but what about everything else you have to do here? You must be going crazy trying to handle it all on your own. Let us help. We could…” I paused, pretending I didn’t have this all planned out already. “I don’t know…maybe help you judge the souls, place them in the proper afterlives.”

“I suppose you want to do this to avoid your own punishments?”

“No. We understand that you won’t allow that. We aren’t asking to avoid punishment. We are asking to simply cut down on the amount of time we spend in Tartarus each day.” I knew the others were cringing at this, but Hades would never entirely release us from punishment. This was the best offer I was going to get us.

“I don’t need all of you,” Hades said. “I already have three judges.”

“Rhadamanthus, Minos, and Aeacus,” Tony said.

Damn it, Tony! Couldn’t he have told me this earlier? My mind scrambled to find a new job for us, one that would still keep us in contact with the new souls arriving each day.

“They must be very busy, too busy to judge and take the souls to the proper places. We could do that. Usher the souls into their afterlives.” I looked to Tony, seeing if that sounded reasonable. He nodded.

“That still wouldn’t require the services of your entire group,” Hades said. “I think your two minutes are up as well. Time to return to Tartarus.”

“Wait!” I was desperate. “Just today we found some souls wandering to this gate.” I pointed to the gate guarding the Fields of Asphodel. “That’s how we found it. The souls remember where it is. They might seem mindless and lost in themselves, but deep down that knowledge is there. We stopped some souls from escaping. I think that proves you could use some of us as guards. Here, as well as at the entrances to the Elysian Fields, and Tartarus even.”

Alex raised the corner of his mouth in the tiniest of smiles. I might have just saved us all.

“Who were these souls who tried to escape? Show them to me. They need to be punished.” Hades advanced on the gate. Advanced on Matt.

Chapter 8

Crap! Matt! “No!” I ran to Hades and nodded my head to the side, hoping Arianna would read that as get Matt away from the gate. “It’s not their fault. The souls don’t know they aren’t supposed to leave. They aren’t sure of anything here.”

Hades stopped and faced me again. “You think you know my souls better than I do?” His glare was filled with hatred and the threat of more hellfire coming my way.

“That’s not what I’m saying, but you can’t deny that necromancers know souls really well. I can see what they’re doing, what they’re thinking even.” Totally not true, but he couldn’t prove I was lying. “We could help you control them. They aren’t trying to disobey you, and if we can show them how they are supposed to exist here, things would be easier for everyone, especially you.”

“I can’t help but wonder why this is so important to you.” He walked around me, eying me up and down. “Are you trying to save your friends and yourself from torture, or do you have some other endgame, Jodi Marshall?”

I had to be careful what I said next. The wrong thing could blow this plan entirely. “I want something we all can live with. I’ve seen how Victoria and the others help you. You’re more lenient with them, and I can’t help wondering why, since they caused you so much trouble. Remember the reason you brought them here?”

“Yes, because you made a deal with me: them for your safety. Only you broke our deal, which made your souls fair game.”

“Fine. Well, if we’re talking about what’s fair, then why aren’t you punishing them?”

“Who says I’m not?” Hades smiled and laced his fingers behind his back.

That was it. He was punishing Victoria and the others. “We’re taking turns. When we come to the Fields of Asphodel, you’re busy punishing them. That’s where you go!”

“Very good.”

This was good. I could use this. “Wouldn’t you rather be doing something else? Spending time with Persephone, maybe?”

He stepped forward, getting right in my face. The heat radiating off him burned my skin. I cringed as he practically spit in my face. “I told you not to speak of her!”

“I’m sorry.” The mere mention of her name got him worked up. “I thought you’d be happy about that suggestion. I really didn’t mean to offend you.”

He backed off, and the pain in my face eased. I must have been as red as a cooked lobster.

Alex gently touched my arm. “Are you okay?”

I nodded.

“Honesty is your only chance, Jodi Marshall.” Hades stared off in the distance. I remembered Tony saying something about the part of the underworld where Hades lived with Persephone. I didn’t doubt that was what he was gazing toward, even if I couldn’t see anything.

“What do you want to know?” I hoped he was becoming more open to the idea of another deal.

“What do you get out of this?”

“I thought that was obvious.” By the way he glared at me, I knew that was a stupid thing to say. I’d just insulted his intelligence. “What I mean is that I’m not looking for anything more than what you’re thinking. I don’t want my friends to be tortured twenty hours a day. If I could lighten our sentence by helping you in other ways here, then I want to do it.”

We all waited in silence while Hades contemplated my deal. It was killing me to watch him think. He narrowed his brow a few times, which meant he was considering something—whether it was good or bad, I didn’t know.

Alex took a step back, pulling me with him. He must have been afraid Hades would turn me down and lash out at us. I was afraid of the same thing.

“I’ve made my decision.” Hades continued to stare off into the distance, avoiding our eyes. It was comforting. I figured if he was about to dismiss my idea, he’d want to see the disappointment on my face. “I’m going to allow this. For now.” He finally turned to me. “You and your friends will be stationed at different places throughout the underworld. As it turns out, I like the idea of splitting you all up. There will be no chance for you to conspire against me.”

Alex grabbed my hand, and I realized Hades would probably send us to opposite ends of the underworld—if this place had ends. Even though I wasn’t planning on staying in this body—not fully, anyway—I wanted Alex to be the one to watch over my body while I was gone.

“Here are my conditions.” He waved his hand and the gate to the Fields of Asphodel opened. He motioned the others forward. I sighed, realizing I was going to have to find Matt all over again. No way would he stay put with no one watching him.

I pulled myself together. “We’re ready. Name them.”

Hades snickered. Apparently, he found my comment amusing. “I hadn’t realized I needed your permission to continue.”

“Sorry. I just wanted you to know we were all listening.” Not a great cover, but it would have to do.

“First, when you are on duty, you answer only to me. You may fulfill the judgments made by my three judges and escort souls to their afterlives, but beyond that, you listen to me.”

“Done.” I’d figured as much.

“Second—and I have a feeling you’ll like this one—for four hours each day, you will report to Tartarus to administer punishment to your former Ophi allies.”

Punish Victoria and the others? As much as I hated them for everything they’d put us through both at the school and down here, I didn’t know if I could put someone through that kind of torture.

“I—I don’t know if—”

“Done,” Alex said.

I turned to him, wondering how he could go along with this. Victoria and Troy were his parents. Yes, they were awful, and Troy had even killed Alex once, but still. “Alex, no, you can’t.”

Hades cocked an eyebrow. “Very interesting. I thought you’d jump at the chance to exact vengeance.”

“We aren’t evil,” I said. “Notice Chase isn’t with us anymore. He didn’t belong. He was consumed by power. We aren’t. Alex is only going along with this because he thinks we have to.”

One side of Hades’ mouth curled up. “Are you sure about that? Maybe your boyfriend has a dark side after all. What’s that expression humans love so much? The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, I think it is.”

“He’s nothing like them!” My blood was mixing in my veins as the anger coursed through me. Alex wasn’t a monster like his parents.

“Jodi.” Alex kissed the side of my head. “It’s okay.”

“You’re not evil. You never could be. I know why you’re doing this, but I can’t let you become something you’re not just to protect me.” Tears spilled down my cheeks.

“How touching.” Hades tapped his foot. “Now, do we have an agreement on this term, or should we dismiss the deal right now?”

“We’re in agreement,” Alex said. His eyes pleaded with me. I knew we had to go along with whatever Hades wanted if we were going to get out of here, but I hated what this might do to Alex.

“Agreed.” I tried to keep my voice from shaking too much.

“Good. Then my final condition is that none of you will enter the Elysian Fields or the Fields of Asphodel when you escort souls to their afterlives. You are only permitted to enter the place of judgment, which coincidentally is located in the forecourt of my palace, and of course Tartarus, since you will be both administering and receiving punishment there.”

The palace and Tartarus were the only two places we could enter? That meant I couldn’t get Matt from the Fields of Asphodel. I’d be raising my human soul alone.

“I’m sensing hesitation,” Hades said. “My terms are final. I will not negotiate any of them. So, as the humans say, ‘Take it or leave it.’”

I looked around the group, making sure the others were okay with the terms of the deal. I wasn’t going to force them into anything. Each of them nodded back to me. They wanted me to accept. I squeezed Alex’s hand, wondering if this was going to be goodbye for a while. Hades would most likely separate us as soon as I agreed to the deal.

“I love you,” Alex whispered.

“I love you, too.” My voice shook. I wasn’t ready to leave him yet. He nodded toward Hades, waiting for me to give our answer. I reached out my hand, thinking we’d shake on the deal, but Hades laughed.

“I don’t shake hands. Your word will bind this deal.”

No loopholes there. He was going to make me say it. I trembled as I breathed in, and on the exhale I said, “Deal.”

Hades’ grin stretched across his face. “Then I shall send you all to your new stations. Remember, we serve the dead with a smile.” He laughed at his own bad joke, and since none of us were laughing, he waved his hand in the air and sent us all off on our own swirling clouds of smoke.

Alex’s hand was ripped from mine. I hadn’t been able to say goodbye or kiss him one last time. I was thankful that the last words I’d said to him were “I love you.”

I couldn’t see where I was going, and it made me wonder how I was supposed to take souls to their afterlives when the only way I’d traveled down here was by a swirling cloud of smoke. Had Hades set me up to fail again?

I wasn’t surprised at all when I was set down in front of the palace. I knew I’d be assigned here. I wasn’t the guard type. Ethan, Tony, Carson, and—would Hades let Chase in on this deal, or would he honor our decision to leave Chase behind? Seconds later, a cloud of smoke landed next to me.

“Surprise,” Chase said as the smoke disappeared.

My heart sank. I’d been hoping Alex would be with me. As much as I knew Hades wouldn’t keep us together, the naïve little girl in me was still praying it would happen.

“Happy to see me?” Chase moved toward me, but I started up the steps to the palace.

“Don’t talk to me. We’ll escort different souls. As far as I’m concerned, you don’t exist.” I stormed up the steps and to the front door. I opened it just far enough to slip inside and let it slam in Chase’s face. Thank you very much, Hades, you son of a bitch.

The palace was dark. Everything was black and made of cold stone. I didn’t know where to go, so I headed straight forward. Hades had said the judges were in the forecourt, whatever that was. At the end of the entryway stood two tall black vases filled with asphodels. I was so busy looking at them and thinking about how I was supposed to get to Matt that I didn’t notice Chase walk up behind me.

“Pretty awesome. You know, if we play our cards right, I bet Hades will give us our own thrones like that.”

I was about to tell Chase to shut up, when what he’d said fully registered. Thrones. I looked up and saw a narrow little hallway leading to a throne room.

Chase bowed and held out his hand to me. “Ladies first.”

“Don’t even think about touching me. In fact, don’t talk to me either. I don’t need much encouragement to send you flying on your ass with my poisoned blood.”

“Feisty! I like it. This place is really improving your edge.” He winked and had a stupid smirk plastered on his face.

God, I wanted to hit him! I turned on my heel and walked into the throne room. Two of the thrones, the biggest ones, were empty. I guessed they were reserved for Hades and Persephone. The other three thrones were occupied by three guys. Hooded guys. All I could see of them were their hands, draped over the edges of their armrests. Judging by the wrinkles, I figured it was a good thing their faces were covered in shadows.

“I’m Jodi Marshall. Hades sent me to escort the souls to their afterlives once they’ve been judged.” I don’t know why, but I bowed. Why piss off the guys who would ultimately decide your fate? I’d have to face my own judgment some day.

The judge in the middle nodded slightly, and I assumed that meant they accepted my position. I stepped off to the side, not knowing what I was supposed to do. I didn’t see any souls waiting to be judged.

Chase stepped up and waved two fingers in the air. “Hey. Name’s Chase Baxter. My deal’s the same as hers. Just tell me who to bring where.” He didn’t bow.

“You would do well to show us the same respect Miss Marshall showed us,” the judge in the middle said.

Chase mumbled something under his breath, but he bowed and met me at the side of the thrones.

“What the hell was that?” I asked him.

“I thought you weren’t talking to me.” He said it like he wasn’t surprised at all that I was speaking to him.

“I’m not. Forget I said anything.”

The doors of the palace creaked open, almost as if announcing the soul that was walking through them. Funny, but I didn’t remember the doors making any noise at all for me or Chase. An older man walked in. I still couldn’t get over the fact that souls looked exactly like the living. You couldn’t tell they weren’t whole beings with regular bodies. Hell, I’d even touched Matt. I knew there was a word for that. Tony had used it in a lecture once when he was explaining how souls looked in the underworld. Corporeal. It meant they could touch things and be touched in return. They weren’t the same as when we raised them. Something happened down here to make them more lifelike. Ironic.

This guy had to be pushing seventy. He had a slight limp on his left side. Something told me he walked that way more out of habit than necessity. No way would his limp follow him into the afterlife. He just couldn’t change the way he walked after limping for so long.

When I stopped to think about it, I realized my little lie to Hades about knowing what the souls were thinking and feeling wasn’t really a lie after all. I could tell a lot about this guy just from being near him. It was like my necromancer blood was tuning in to the soul. Reading it.

The judges sat forward in their thrones, and the middle one spoke. “Justin Mercer, you are here before us to be judged for your sins. We shall review your life and decide how you will spend eternity. Await your judgment.”

I made a mental note to figure out who was who as far as the judges were concerned. If I was going to be working with them, even without being fully in my body after I raised my human soul, it would be easier to know which judge I was addressing. We waited while they deliberated. All three lowered their heads as if watching mini television screens in their laps. I wondered if they were streaming this guy’s life on their smartphones. Of course, I had a feeling all of the methods of communication and transportation down here were light years ahead of what we had up top.

After several moments of silence, they raised their heads and nodded to one another. The middle judge spoke again. “Justin Mercer, you will spend eternity in Tartarus paying for the wrongful doings in your lifetime.”

“Sweet!” Chase said. “I got this one.” He walked forward and grabbed the man by his arm. The guy was crying and begging for his soul, but the judges waved their hands. The palace doors opened, and Chase dragged the man out, looking way too happy to do it. It was almost too much to watch.

I was still trying to get my heartbeat back to normal when a couple walked into the palace. They were young. Only about eighteen, if I had to guess. She was blonde and tiny. He was blond, too, and average height. By the way they clung to each other, I knew they were definitely a couple, not brother and sister.

They looked at me strangely, and I felt my mouth curve into a smile. I must have been totally creeping them out smiling at them like that, but all I could think was that they were perfect. They were Matt’s and my way out of here.