“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.
“Hades, 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.
