Face of Death (22 page)

“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.

Thankfully, Alex had no clue what I was doing here. If he did, we’d be over before I got back to the underworld.
If
I went back. After everything that had happened, I was doubting my own existence. Maybe Hades was right. Maybe the Ophi didn’t deserve to be alive. We caused pain for the souls we raised. We were better suited for the underworld. At least there, we couldn’t hurt the living. I couldn’t help wondering if I’d been going about this all wrong. What if I should’ve been getting Hades to agree to let us stay in the underworld and help him with the souls in exchange for no more punishments for ourselves? He just might make that deal because it would mean there’d be no more Ophi in the world, assuming he took the remaining few to the underworld with us.

It was too much to think about. I’d promised Matt four hours, and I was going to give him that much. We finished our food and drove to the park. Since it was Saturday, it was pretty crowded, but we found a place on the other side of the lake where it was quiet. Matt grabbed two towels from the pavilion and laid them on the grass. We lay on our backs, staring up at the clouds. The sky couldn’t have been more beautiful.

Matt rolled onto his side, propping his head up in his good hand. “What’s it like?”

I turned my head, wishing it was Matt’s face I was seeing and not Brian’s. “Are you asking what it’s like to be an Ophi?”

“Yeah. I mean, why do you want to go back to that? You’re human again. I’d think you’d jump at the chance to be back with your mom.” He reached his hand with the cast toward my face, brushing my cheek lightly with his fingertips. “With me.”

Right now, that
was
what I wanted. “It’s complicated. I’m their leader. If I don’t go back, I’m damning them all.”

“Can’t someone else lead them? I mean, someone must have been in charge before you got there—to that school.”

Yeah, and she was a power-crazed bitch who liked torturing the souls in Tartarus. Who liked torturing me in particular.

“Let’s just say that didn’t work out so well.” Of course, Tony or Arianna
could
lead the others. They both knew everything there was to know about being an Ophi. There was just one problem. Neither had my power. “I’m the only one, Matt. I’m stronger than the others. I’m tied more closely to Medusa.”

“Can’t you raise Medusa? Get her to lead the Ophi?”

If only I could. “Medusa’s soul is trapped inside a statue. It took a bunch of Ophi to put her there, and most of them died in the process. No way could I raise her.”

“Why’d they want to trap her, anyway? Isn’t she like a mom to all of you?”

“That’s actually the reason they did it. Hades was going to take her power and her soul. He would’ve tortured her. What the Ophi did saved her from that. It protected her from Hades. He can’t touch her.”

Matt shimmied toward me, coming onto my towel. I turned sideways so we were only inches apart. “Okay, forget being Ophi. I know at least part of you wants to stay here. Tell me why. What do you miss about being human?”

“This.” I reached for his arm. “You.”

He leaned forward like he was going to kiss me, but I kept going. “Mom, Melodie, my old life—I miss all of it.”

He sighed, obviously hurt that I’d stopped him from kissing me.

“You could have all that again. You have it now. Well, not Melodie, but you could tell her the truth. She wouldn’t go blabbing to anyone.”

I shook my head. “No. We can’t tell anyone else. It’s too risky. Besides, Melodie is going off to college in a year, anyway.”

“All right, then forget about Melodie. I’m never going to age. If you don’t stay, I’ll outlive everyone I know and love. Immortality isn’t worth it if you’re alone.”

I was trying not to think about that part. Leaving Matt would mean sentencing him to a lonely existence. “I could always check in with you, and when you’re ready to move on, I could release your soul.”

“Back to that place? Those fields? I don’t want to just wander for all eternity, either. This is my best option, Jodi, but if you aren’t here with me, I don’t want it. Watching everyone I love die while I stay like this would be a living Hell.”

His words cut through me, making my throat sting with the unfairness of it all. “Do you wish I never brought you back?”

“No. I wish you’d love me like you love him.”

Alex. Matt wanted me to look at him the way I looked at Alex. If I was still connected to my Ophi soul, my conflicted emotions would be sending my blood bubbling and mixing under my skin. I’d be raising every dead body in a ten-mile radius. But I wasn’t Ophi. I was human.

I swallowed hard and leaned forward, pressing my lips to Matt’s. He gently tipped me onto my back, holding himself above me with his elbows. His body pressed against mine, our limbs tangling. This felt right. Matt and I were supposed to be together…if I was human. Which I was now. He deepened the kiss, and I struggled to breathe, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t get enough of Matt.

I was getting dizzy from lack of oxygen. No, not lack of oxygen. I was losing my connection to my human soul. Drifting away.

Matt pulled back slightly. “Jodi?”

My eyes met his for a split second before they closed.

“No, don’t go back to him. Stay with me.” He pressed his lips to mine again, but I only felt them for a second before I was back in the underworld.

I shook my head, trying to focus on my surroundings. I was in the palace. The judges stood before me.

“Melodie Chambers, you will spend your afterlife in the Fields of Asphodel.”

Melodie? I stared at the girl, taking in every feature. Brown hair, blue eyes, athletic build. My blood simmered. She turned toward me, seeing me for what must have been the first time.

“Jodi?”

My blood boiled now, making my skin ripple. She stared in horror.

“Escort her to the afterlife,” the middle judge said.

I stepped toward Melodie, stopping two feet in front of her. “Mel.”

“It
is
you.” She stared at my arms, still rippling with the power of my blood. “What’s happening to you?”

“It’s a long story. Mel, I’m so sorry. For everything. For waving you down that day. For taking your car and leaving you stranded without a phone. For being the reason you’re here.”

“What do you mean, the reason I’m here? I died, didn’t I? You couldn’t have been responsible for that. If you’re here, then that means you’re dead, too.”

“No. It’s different for me. But forget about that. How did you die?”

“This truck came out of nowhere. I was at a traffic light, and it turned green. But when I drove through it, this truck barreled right into me.”

Oh, God, Hades had made it painful. I was going to kill him. Could you kill the god of the underworld?

“I said, escort her to the afterlife,” the middle judge said, his voice so loud it shook the palace walls.

I turned to him, allowing my blood to surge and bubble in my veins. “No. She shouldn’t be here. If you’re going to judge souls, then you should know how they arrived here. You don’t have all the information. Hades isn’t playing by the rules. He’s taking people. People I care about, just to get back at me. You can’t let him do that. You’re here to fairly judge people.”

I couldn’t see their faces under their hoods, but since they weren’t stopping me, I went on. “Did you know he took a soul out of the Elysian Fields and had me move her to Tartarus?”

The hooded judges turned their heads back and forth, checking with each other.

“What proof do you have of this?” the middle one asked.

“I took her there. She was my human boyfriend’s sister. She died a month ago from a brain aneurysm. You determined she belonged in the Elysian Fields, but he overruled your judgment to punish me.”

They murmured among themselves for a few minutes. Hades was in charge here, so maybe appealing to these three was pointless, but it seemed like I’d struck a nerve.

Finally, the middle judge spoke. “Hades is the ruler here. We are meant to pass judgment. That is all. If Hades desires to have a soul moved, he has that right. While we stand by our decision, we will not speak against our lord.” He motioned to Melodie. “Now, please escort this soul to her afterlife.”

“You don’t even care that Melodie wasn’t supposed to die? That Hades killed her?”

“We do not determine who dies or when they die. We only judge the life they lived and decide what afterlife would be most suitable.”

This wasn’t working. If I wanted Hades to bring Melodie back, I was going to have to talk to him directly and be prepared to offer something big in exchange.

I took Melodie by the arm and led her through the palace doors.

“Jodi, what’s happening? Where are you taking me? What are the Fields of whatever they called it?” Her voice was riddled with panic.

“Don’t worry. I’m going to get you out of here. You weren’t supposed to die. Hades was looking for me, but he found you first. He’s using you to get to me. I’ll talk to him, make him fix this.” I wasn’t sure I could, but what else was I supposed to say to her?

“Is the place I’m going bad? Did I do something wrong to end up here?”

I stopped walking and hugged her tightly. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re a good person. I’m going to make this right.” I still wasn’t sure how, but I wasn’t going to stop until she was out of this place. Maybe Amber’s time really had come, but Melodie’s hadn’t. I’d find a way to fix this.

Her tears wet my shoulder, but I let her cry. She had every right to be upset, and I wasn’t going to rush her off to the Fields of Asphodel where she’d forget who she was. When she finally pulled away and wiped her eyes, she gave me a questioning look.

“Why did you steal my car that day at the park? You were acting so strange. Not at all like yourself.”

“I know. A lot’s happened. I’ve changed. I’m not the same person anymore. I didn’t mean to steal your car, but you wouldn’t keep away from me, and I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“You don’t think stealing my car and abandoning me in the park without a cell phone hurt me?”

“I know it did, and I’m so sorry. But believe me, Mel, I saved your life that day. I can’t explain how, so I need you to just take my word for it. I love you. You’re my best friend, and I did what I needed to do to protect you.” I look down at my shoes. “I’d do it again if I had to.”

“Was I supposed to die sooner or something? Did you take my car so I couldn’t get into a car accident? Are you psychic?” She wasn’t going to stop questioning me.

“Remember I said I found my dad?”

She nodded.

“Well, I found out he’s not quite…” I took a deep breath, and on the exhale, I blurted out, “…human.”

Her head jerked back like someone punched her in the jaw. “Is this a joke?”

“Look where we are. Do you really think I’d joke at a time like this?”

She sighed. “Okay, explain.”

“My dad is something called an Ophi. It’s a type of necromancer descended from Medusa and born under the thirteenth sign of the zodiac.”

Her eyes widened. “Do you mean what Mr. Quimby was teaching us about?”