Stalked by Death tod-2

by Kelly Hashway

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

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

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

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

  “Goodnight, Alex,” she said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  “You don’t think that’s a good idea?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

  “I knew you would come,” Chase said.

  “I’m supposed to meet—”

  “Me,” he said. “I called you here.”

  “But—”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  “Well, he’s pleasant,” Chase said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  “His hair wasn’t wet,” Leticia said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  I mouthed a “Thank you” and he nodded.

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

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

  We nodded.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  “I didn’t die.”

  “The human part of you did.”

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

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

  “What?” I nearly stumbled back in surprise.

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

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

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

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

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

  Chapter 10

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

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

  “Fine. Everyone else good?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

  “Thanks.”

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

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

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

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

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

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