Текст книги "Face of Death"

Автор книги: Kelly Hashway

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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

Chapter 17

We sat in silence for a moment, unsure of what to do next. I knew Matt was going to get my room. The house only had two bedrooms. Of course, he didn’t have any stuff to move in or anything, and I wasn’t about to ask Mom for money. She’d always struggled to make ends meet.

“We’ll have to find a job for you,” I said to Matt. Since he had no ID, birth certificate, or anything, we’d have to hope for finding someone who’d pay him off the books, which wouldn’t be easy. “And you can’t call yourself Matt, either.”

“Should I use this guy’s name?” He held his hands up, looking at Brian’s body.

Liz and Brian had lived four hours away, and it wasn’t like Matt would be using Brian’s last name. It could work.

“It’s up to you. You could even name yourself if you want.”

“Hmm.” He drummed his fingers on the table as he thought.

Mom gave me a weak smile. She was handling all of this really well. Offering to give Matt a home, even temporarily, was more than I could’ve hoped for. Leaving wasn’t going to be easy, but knowing Mom and Matt had each other made things almost bearable.

“Tyler.” Matt nodded. “It’s my middle name. Using it will make me feel more like me.”

“I like it.”

“Me too,” Mom said, wrinkling her brow as she made a mental note of the name. Slip-ups couldn’t happen.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. We’d been here all afternoon. “We should get going. Serpentarius is opening soon, and I want to get there before the crowd.”

“Wait.” Mom reached for my arm. “You both must be starving. Let me make you some dinner before you go hunting down information.”

Matt was already drooling.

“Mom, we can grab something at the club. Really. Don’t worry about it.” I didn’t want to impose on her any more than we already had.

“Nonsense. Come on, we can cook together just like old times.” She was already heading to the refrigerator and taking out carrots. She hesitated and looked at me around the door. “You did say you’re human now, right? You can’t, you know…”

Yeah, I knew. “Totally human. In this body anyway.”

“Good. Then slice up the carrots and get them cooking while I fix us some steaks and mashed potatoes.”

I walked over to her and lowered my voice. “Where did you get the money for all this?”

She lowered her eyes as she put the steaks on the counter. “I don’t have anyone to support anymore. It’s just me. I was going to invite the neighbors over, just for some company, but this is much better.”

She was going to invite the Sandersons to dinner? Things really were bad. I got started on the carrots, and Matt helped Mom with the grill. In no time, the house smelled delicious. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was. I hadn’t eaten at all in the underworld, and since coming back, I’d been too busy to think about food. Other than the tea, Liz’s stomach was completely empty.

We ate dinner almost like a normal family. Mom kept smiling at me, but every once in a while she’d glance at the clock, and then her smile would fade. She knew we had time constraints. I tried to eat quickly without seeming like I was rushing to get out of there, but really, I was. I needed to talk to Mason. I had to let him know I was here and that I needed some information in order to save the others. He must be missing Carol like crazy.

I cleared our plates and loaded them into the dishwasher. Mom leaned against the counter with a dishtowel in her hand. Our eyes met, and she started crying.

“Mom, don’t do that.” My voice was shaking already. I’d be sobbing with her in a matter of seconds.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, and even though you don’t look like yourself anymore, I can still see you inside. I don’t know how I didn’t see it right away. I’m sorry it took me so long to believe you.”

Long? She’d handled it really well. “You’ve been amazing.” I hugged her and rubbed her back. “If you don’t mind, can Matt and I stay here until I—?”

“For as long as you need. The longer the better, as far as I’m concerned. You can bunk with me.”

I couldn’t help laughing. There was the mom I was used to. The one who made sure I kept my distance from boys. “I’m with Alex, Mom, not Matt, but I’d love to bunk with you. It’ll be like a sleepover.”

“Good, because you’re still my daughter, which means I make the rules here.” Mom turned to Matt, who was putting the steak sauce back in the fridge. “That goes for you, too. I get that you’re almost eighteen, but this is my house, so you’re going to have to follow my rules.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Matt nodded. “I’m just happy you’re letting me stay. I plan to get a job and help out around here. I won’t be a problem at all.”

“Well, I guess we should go.” I wanted to run upstairs to my room and put on clothes that were actually mine, but Liz’s body would drown in them. I did grab the little money I had stashed in my desk drawer. We wouldn’t get into Serpentarius without paying the cover charge.

Mom pulled me in for another hug, squeezing me like she was afraid that, once I walked out that door, I’d never come back. This couldn’t have been easy for her. I was asking her to accept so much without any proof at all.

“I love you, Mom,” I whispered before I pulled away. “We’ll be back later tonight.”

She blinked back tears. “Not too late.”

It was great to see glimpses of how things used to be.

Matt and I said goodbye. Mom insisted we take her car. Matt drove since I’m not very good with a stick. I couldn’t help thinking about the last time Matt and I had gone to Serpentarius. I’d thought Alex was some psycho stalker. I’d thought Matt was the one for me. Now, my mind was a jumbled mess.

“Everything okay?” Matt snuck a glance at me. “I’m not used to you being so quiet.”

“Still processing, I guess. I’m not sure I’m going to get used to wearing someone else’s face.”

“I know what you mean.” Matt checked out his reflection in the rearview mirror. “He’s not better-looking than me, is he?”

“No.” I answered way too quickly. It was stupid slip-ups like that—comments that made it all too obvious my feelings for him were still there—that made being around him so difficult. Maybe bringing him along for all this had been a mistake. I should’ve raised his soul, explained what had happened to him, and moved on. Only, I couldn’t. He deserved better than being dumped in a strange body and left to fend for himself.

“Any more flashes of what’s going on with your body in the underworld?” He smirked as he said it. “That’s never going to stop being weird for me. Talking about the underworld.”

“Luckily, no. And after the last one, I’m not sure I could handle another. At least, not any time soon. I’ll have to check in on the others eventually, though. Especially once I figure out what I’m going to do, how I’m going to get them out of there.”

Matt was silent for the rest of the drive. I couldn’t help wondering if he was waiting for me to change my mind about all of this. I couldn’t help wondering if I actually would change my mind about all of this.

We parked, and Matt came around to open my door. He couldn’t stop being a gentleman. “Thanks.” I stepped out and stared at Serpentarius. All the answers I needed might be inside those walls. Nervous energy surged through me, feeling vaguely like the power I used to have in my blood. I missed that feeling.

“Hey, it’s Jack, right?” Matt said as we approached the door. I recognized the guy from around town. He worked at the gas station on most days.

I tugged on Matt’s arm and gave him a look that said, “What are you doing?” No one would recognize Matt in this body.

Jack narrowed his eyes at Matt and me. “Do I know you?”

“Um, yeah,” I said, trying to play it cool. “We were here about a month ago. You gave us directions to—” Crap! Where was I going with this? I sucked at lying. “Um, what was that place called again?” I looked to Matt for help.

“The museum. The one with all the interactive science stuff.”

“I did?” Jack’s brow wrinkled as he struggled to remember something that had never happened.

“Yeah. We found it. Had a great time, too. And since you were so helpful and friendly—I mean you told us your name and everything—we decided to come back here. This place is awesome.” Did that sound believable?

“Right. Glad I could help.” Jack took our cover charges and waved us inside. “Have a nice night.”

“Thanks.” I gave him a small wave and ducked inside.

Matt put his hand on the small of my back and led me over to the bar. It wasn’t crowded yet, so we ordered two bottles of water—using the last of my money—and sat down in the corner. “Sorry. That was stupid of me.”

“It’s okay.” I took a sip of water to avoid lecturing him. After all, I’d just spilled everything to my mom.

“Maybe this was a mistake. Me coming along. Me being around people from my old life.” At least he recognized that it was his old life. It couldn’t be his life anymore.

“No. It’s fine. You’ll get the hang of it.” I looked around, wanting to go straight to Mason, but I was worried about leaving Matt. What if he saw Amber or someone from school?

“Go.” It was like he was reading my mind. “I’ll be fine. I’ll sit here and drink my water. No one will recognize me, so we don’t have to worry about that. And I promise I won’t talk to anyone I used to know.”

I trusted him. Really I did, but there was so much at stake here. I couldn’t help thinking I should bring him with me to see Mason.

“Jo—I mean, wait, what am I supposed to call you? We only came up with a name for me.”

“Jodi is fine. In this body, nobody is going to question the name.”

He nodded and took a big gulp from his water bottle. He’d almost downed the entire thing already. “Seriously, I’m good. You can trust me.”

“I know I can.”

“Then what is it?”

“Nothing.” I stood up. “I’m going.”

“Good luck.” He sounded sincere and sad at the same time. He cared about me, so he wanted me to get the answers I needed. But that would also mean I’d be leaving soon, and he didn’t want me to go.

I gave him a weak smile before heading toward the office in the back.

“Hang on,” came a voice behind the bar. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Oh, um…” I didn’t even think that getting to Mason’s office would be a problem. Now I was wishing this place was more crowded. No one would notice me if the bar was full of people waving bills in the bartender’s face. “I’m a friend of Mason’s.”

The guy eyed me suspiciously. “I’ve never seen you before, and Mason didn’t say he was expecting anyone.”

“Can you tell him Jodi is here to see him? Trust me, he’ll let me back there.”

The guy sighed and tossed a dishtowel onto the bar. “Wait here.”

“Thanks.”

I watched him go, hoping Mason wouldn’t ask the guy to describe me in order to make sure it was really me. If he did, I’d never get into his office. It seemed to take forever, so I glanced back at Matt. A guy was walking over to him. Oh, please be a worker just busing the tables. Matt’s water bottle was empty, and he’d finished mine, too. I tried not to panic. It was probably nothing. I was just on edge and reading too much into everything.

Matt’s eyes rose, and he looked up at the guy approaching. I debated going over there, but it was too risky. The bartender had told me to stay put, and if I acted suspicious, the guy walking over to Matt might think we were up to something. I had to wait this out. See what happened.

I couldn’t hear anything, but I saw the look of recognition on the guy’s face, and I swore I read the word “Brian” on his lips. Oh, God! Someone recognized Brian!

Screw staying put. I rushed over to Matt, weaving through people coming into the club and heading for the bar. Of course it would start to fill up in here now.

“Hey.” I grabbed Matt’s arm. “I love this song. Let’s dance.”

Matt jumped up from his seat and followed me, but the guy came, too.

“Hang on!” He called after us. “I know you, too. You’re Liz.”

I stumbled as we reached the dance floor. This wasn’t good.

Matt flashed me a look, not knowing what to do. I wasn’t sure either. I took a deep breath and turned around.

“Sorry, you must have us confused for someone else.” I took Matt’s hands and started to dance, hoping the guy would take the hint and walk away.

He didn’t. He stood his ground, staring at us.

“Seriously, buddy, sorry if you lost your friends, but it’s kind of dark in here. These lights play tricks with your eyes. Maybe try checking the bathroom.”

He shook his head. “Trust me, they wouldn’t be in there. Corpses don’t need to use the bathroom. Of course, they don’t dance, either.”

I stopped dancing.

“One of you want to tell me what the hell is going on?”

Chapter 18

We had two options. Bolt out of here, looking totally guilty and drawing suspicion, which meant I wouldn’t get to talk to Mason, or make this guy into the bad guy by accusing him of trying to freak us out. I was going with option two.

I twisted my face into a horrified expression. “Do you think this is funny? How dare you come up to us and say these things? We’re just trying to have a good time here.”

Matt suddenly found the ability to speak again. “Yeah, go away, before I get your ass tossed out of here.”

The guy glared at us with such contempt. “I don’t know how you did it. Did you stage the accident? Was it because your parents objected to you guys getting married?” He wasn’t letting this go.

“I don’t know who you think we are, but I’m Jodi and he’s Tyler. I’m telling you, you’ve got the wrong people. I’m sorry if you’re confused.”

“I’m not confused. We were in the same business classes at Eastern University. I heard all about your accident before I got home for summer break. You guys died in a car crash.”

Crap. He’d gone to school with Brian and Liz, and just our luck, he lived nearby. “Obviously, you lost two people you knew, but we aren’t them.” Since going on the offensive wasn’t working, I figured appealing to his emotions might.

He stared at us for several seconds, not saying a word.

“Look, we need to go. We have an appointment with the owner.” I took Matt’s hand and pulled him toward the back office, leaving the guy gaping after us.

“Wow, I didn’t see that one coming,” Matt said. “Does this mean I can’t stay here, in this town?”

“I don’t know yet. Let’s not jump to any conclusions. You could always dye your hair or something. We’ll figure it out.”

The bar was crazy now, littered with people shouting drink orders over the music. The bartender must not have been able to find me in the crowd after I ran off to help Matt. Maybe that was a good thing. Sneaking back to the office was probably the better way to go. I waited until the bartender had his back to us, and then we ducked down the hallway that led to Mason’s office. I silently thanked Alex for telling me where it was. I’d never actually been in it before.

The door was shut and locked, so I had to knock.

“What?” Mason called from the other side, and by the sound of it, he wasn’t happy about the interruption.

“It’s Jodi, Mason.”

A chair screeched across the floor and hard footsteps followed. The door swung open and Mason glared at me. “This isn’t funny, little girl.”

“Wait.” I held my hands out so he couldn’t slam the door in my face. “Mason, it’s really me. I raised my human soul, and I needed a new body.”

He looked past me at Matt. “Alex?”

Matt lowered his head.

“No. This is my friend Matt. I raised him, too. Look, it’s a long story. Can we please come inside and sit down? I need to talk to you about something. About Carol.” I hoped the mention of his wife would get him to let us in.

He stepped aside without saying a word. I walked past him, taking a seat in front of his desk, and Matt followed, standing next to me.

Mason walked around the desk and sat in his chair. He folded his hands, resting them on the accounting records sprawled out in front of him. He’d kept right on working while his family suffered in Tartarus. I wasn’t sure how he’d managed it. “Tell me. How bad is it?”

“What have you heard?” I needed to know what he knew before I got into the gory details.

He let out an extra-long and loud breath that smelled strongly of coffee. “You raised a bunch of souls from the depths of Tartarus, and Hades came to claim what you had promised him according to the deal you’d made.”

He blamed me for all of this. No wonder he wasn’t happy to see me.

I swallowed hard. “You have to understand that I was set up. Chase was sent to the school by Hades to try to get me to end the Ophi race. Ethan, your own twin brother, helped him do it. They were trying to save Chase’s mom.”

“Charlotte.” The name was barely a whisper on Mason’s lips.

“Yes. I was set up. Hades made that deal with me, the one where I thought I was saving the Ophi, knowing he was going to send Chase after me. Knowing Chase was going to overpower me.”

“You take no responsibility?” Mason raised an accusing eyebrow at me.

“Of course I take responsibility. I’m the Ophi leader. I should’ve figured it out sooner.”

He leaned back in his chair. “I suppose I didn’t help any, agreeing to let Ethan take my place. I should’ve at least told Carol what was going on.”

Yes, he should have, but I wasn’t about to agree to that. I couldn’t risk making him angry when I needed his help.

“Look, we all made mistakes, and now the others are trapped in the underworld. My body’s still there with the Ophi half of my soul.”

“You split your soul.” He nodded. “I didn’t think that was even possible.”

Not what I wanted to hear. He was supposed to know more than me, not less.

“Tony and Arianna talked me through it. Believe me, it wasn’t easy. I have to tune out one part of my soul, and still I see glimpses of the underworld when I fall asleep or when—” Was he ready to hear about how we were being tortured?

“When what?” He leaned forward, almost halfway across his desk. “Is Hades…is he torturing you all?”

I nodded.

“My God. I thought he took your souls to strip your powers, but this is worse.”

“Wait, he can do that? Take our powers?”

“If he takes your souls.”

“But we’re all alive down there.”

He sat back again. “I’d assumed you were dead.”

He thought Carol was dead. That was why he’d moved on. Because he’d thought there was no hope.

“No. We’re all alive. I worked out a deal with Hades to get him to let us work for him in the underworld in exchange for being punished less.”

“Another deal?” He shook his head. “Jodi, when will you learn? Hades doesn’t make deals that don’t benefit him.”

“We’re giving him more time with Persephone. He loves her.”

Mason laughed, not a joyful laugh. More like a “God, Jodi’s an idiot” laugh. “Persephone hates Hades. He’s not using the time to be with her. She’s not even in the underworld right now. This is her allotted time with Demeter. You’ve been played.”

“What do you mean? What do you think he’s doing?”

“I don’t know, but you can be sure it’s not good for the Ophi. You may have cut down on the torture, but you’ve put the rest of us, those of us still here,” he tapped his finger on his desk, “in great danger.”

No. Could I really have walked right into another one of Hades’ traps? My throat closed, and I couldn’t speak. I’d come here for help, but all I’d gotten was more bad news. I was in over my head.

“You think Hades is coming after the Ophi here?” Matt asked.

Mason looked at him, studying him hard. “Who are you, anyway?”

“He’s human. I knew him before all this happened.”

Mason scoffed. “Tell me you’re kidding. Tell me you didn’t bring a human along for the ride.”

“Look.” I stood up. “I came here because I promised the Ophi in the underworld that I’d find a way to free them. I promised Carol. So, you can either decide to keep bashing me for the crappy job I’ve done leading the Ophi, or you can help me save them. Make up your mind fast because you’re wasting my time, and you’re putting Carol through more torture in the process.”

Matt stared at me. “I’ve never seen you like this. When did you get so strong?”

Strong? I was terrified.

“She has to be stronger,” Mason said. “But at least this is a start.” He looked down at his desk. “I need some time to look into this.”

“I want to talk to Medusa, but I don’t know if I can connect with the statue at the school while I’m human. While I look like this. She won’t recognize me.”

“She might kill you is what you mean.” Well, if he wanted to be blunt about it, yes.

“Whoa, you could die?” Matt reached for my arm. “I don’t like this.”

Mason’s eyes traveled back and forth between Matt and me. “Well, this is interesting. Does Alex know about this?”

“Yes, he does. Alex knows Matt.” I left it at that. Mason didn’t need to know the details of my screwed-up love life.

“Like I said, I’ll need some time to look into this. Contact a few people and see if this sort of thing has ever been done before.”

“How much time?” I couldn’t sit around doing nothing while the others suffered, and who knew how badly I was suffering, too? I couldn’t hold off the double vision forever. I might be in agonizing pain when it hit me again.

Mason put his hands on his hips and bit his lip. “A few days at least.”

“We don’t have that long. I can give you twenty-four hours, tops.”

“Jodi—”

“It’s for Carol, Mason. Carol.” I had to make him understand. “You don’t know what Hades is doing to us. She can’t hold on much longer. Can you really make her wait another few days?”

His eyes closed as he took in a deep breath. “Twenty-four hours. I’ll have your answer.”

“Thank you.” I turned and started for the door.

“Jodi,” Mason called after me.

I looked back at him, noticing the worry lines creasing his forehead. “Be careful. The longer you’re human, the more you’ll distance yourself from being Ophi and from the people who care about you.” He glanced at Matt, and I knew exactly what he meant.

I nodded and left the office before he could judge me any more.

Matt rolled his eyes. “He’s a fun guy.”

“He’s under a lot of pressure. We all are.”

“What now? We have twenty-four hours to wait.” He looked toward the dance floor and playfully nudged my elbow.

“I can’t. With everything going on, I can’t dance my cares away. I’m sorry.”

“I understand.” He couldn’t keep the hurt tone from his voice.

Suddenly the lights dimmed, and I felt weak in the knees. My breathing was labored. “Matt.”

He grabbed me as I stumbled forward. Scooping me into his arms, he carried me to the ladies’ room, locked the door behind us, and placed me on the counter by the sink.

“What is it? What’s happening?”

“Tartarus,” I said, before slumping forward on him.

Pain surged through every part of my body. I heard Victoria’s laugh, but the searing heat that was attacking me kept me from seeing anything.

“Time is up!” Hades yelled.

My body slumped to the ground, motionless. Relief washed over me. At least I’d only checked in for the end of the torture session. A dark figured loomed over me as my vision returned. Hades. He stared into my eyes.

“Interesting.” He turned to Victoria and the others who administered our punishment. “Increase their punishment by two hours each day.”

What? We had a deal. “Why?” I managed to choke out.

“Come, come, Jodi Marshall. What kind of fool do you take me for?” Hades laced his fingers in front of him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He leaned down toward me, and the heat coming from his body made me flinch. “You’re a smart girl. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” He disappeared in a swirling cloud of black smoke.

We all got to our feet and walked out of Tartarus. Alex stayed close to me, looking at me like he hadn’t seen me in days, which, considering how time moved down here, was probably true.

“Jodi?”

“It’s me.”

“When did you get back?”

“It happened during the torture. I was pulled out of Serpentarius. I was just talking to Mason, trying to get answers about the statue and connecting to Medusa.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Mason’s going to work on finding out if I can see Medusa without dying.”

“That wasn’t what I meant.”

I knew that. He was worried about me, not how I was doing with the plan. “I’m fine, but what was with Hades just now? Did I miss something?”

Alex lowered his head. “He knows. He knows you’ve split your soul, and he’s increasing the torture until you come back. We’ll all die, Jodi. He’s looked into your eyes a few times, and he saw you weren’t fully here. I’m the only one who knows. He came to me. He’s only letting me talk to you now so I can tell you this. So I can convince you to return.” He stopped walking and kissed my lips. The emotion behind the kiss was overpowering. It ripped my soul apart…again. “Don’t come back. Stay where you are. Be happy. Live the life you could’ve had if you hadn’t come into your powers.”

What? He couldn’t mean that. “Alex, you don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Yes, I do. I love you, Jodi. If this will save you,” he spread his arms out wide, “from all of this, then I want you to do it.”