Stalked by Death

Chase turned to me. “Well, I bet Jodi and I could get the bodies to crawl right back into the ground. No digging required.”

“I wish you’d crawl into the ground,” Alex said.

“What’s the matter, bro? Worried your girl and I will make too good a team?”

Before Alex could answer, two cars pulled up. The Serpentarius Ophi were here. Mason got out of the first car and came right over to Chase.

“Hey, Uncle Mason.”

“No time for small talk,” I said. “Where’s Carson? Randy’s been hurt, and he needs a doctor.”

“I’m Carson,” said a short blond guy with glasses.

“Great. He’s right inside. In the living room. Arianna’s taking care of him.”

“I’m on it.” He headed inside, but the others stayed.

“So,” Mason said, “before we get settled here, I want to see this amazing power you and my nephew have perfected.”

I looked at Chase, my eyes the size of golf balls.

“Sure thing, Uncle Mason.” Chase took my hand before I could stop him, and the second our skin made contact, I felt the rush of power go through me. More power than any person, Ophi or not, should have.

Chapter 15

“What are you doing?” My voice was barely a whisper.

Relax. Chase’s voice ran through me. He wasn’t speaking out loud. He was speaking through our connection. Through our blood. If I wasn’t already so freaked out, this would’ve totally thrown me. He rubbed the back on my hand with his thumb. Give in to me, Jodi. It’s that easy. Our connections have only failed because you’ve fought them.

Could that be true? Had I been the problem all along? Mason and the others were watching, expecting to see something truly phenomenal. If I didn’t make this work, they’d get right back in their cars and go home. I couldn’t screw this up. I had to listen to Chase and figure this out quickly.

Okay, what should we try to do? I asked, speaking through the connection like Chase had.

Let’s get Mr. and Mrs. Nasty Corpse back in the ground.

Normally, I didn’t approve of treating the corpses or the souls we raised like they were beneath us, but this guy had taken a chunk out of Randy.

Let’s start with him.

You got it.

I took a deep breath and let go of my anxiety. I let the walls come down and allowed Chase’s power to flow into mine. Chase was right. When I stopped fighting it, the power was incredible. My body tingled like an electric current was running through me. I’d never felt so alive—so good.

Go ahead, Chase said. Raise him again and give him a command.

I focused my attention on the corpse. The one who’d attacked Randy. I let my power reach out to his soul. I felt it, heard it crying in agony as I ripped it from Hell. I stuffed him back in his rotting body. “Get up!” I was talking aloud now, so the others could hear. I had to make them see and hear what I was doing. Show them how Chase and I were working together.

The corpse rose and stood before me. Even though I was using Chase’s power, too, the corpse only acknowledged me.

“Grab a shovel and return your body to the earth you dug out of. Once you’re buried, you may release your soul back to where it came from.”

I heard gasps from some of the new Ophi and Leticia. Then Alex’s voice cut through all of them. “That’s torture, Jodi. You can’t make him do that. What’s gotten into you?”

I ignored him. I tuned into my power and reached out for the woman’s soul. Her screams were ear-splitting. She tried to resist me, to fight, but she was no match for Chase and me. I wrenched her soul back into her body, still half-stuck in the ground.

“Dig your way back into your grave. When you get there, you may return your soul to Hell.” My voice didn’t sound like my own. It was deeper and filled with hatred.

Chase squeezed my hand and our connection intensified. I had a feeling the more we connected physically, the stronger our powers would be. I turned toward him and reached for his other hand. Instantly my hair whipped behind me, even though there was no wind. I wasn’t aware of anything but Chase. I stared into his eyes, and he smiled at me.

“You and me. This is how it’s supposed to be.”

“This is amazing.” The power was intense, but in a good way. I wasn’t afraid of it anymore. It felt right being with Chase like this. I wanted more. More of the power. More of Chase. I squeezed Chase’s hands tighter. “Hold me closer.”

“Anything you say, Jodi.” Chase stepped toward me so we were toe to toe, and there was barely any space between us.

I could smell him and almost taste his minty breath. I breathed him in, and my eyes closed in response. The connection between us was intoxicating.

The souls releasing broke my trance. I looked down at the ground. The corpses were buried and the shovels lay next to the graves again.

“Well done,” Mason said. The smile on his face was wide with satisfaction. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

“Hey, you can let go of my girlfriend now,” Alex said.

I looked down, realizing I hadn’t let go of Chase. I avoided Alex’s eyes as I tried to slip my hands from Chase’s, but Chase smiled and squeezed my hands, sending tingling sensations through my body. I closed my eyes in response.

“I don’t think she wants me to let go,” Chase said.

Chase’s hands were ripped from mine. I opened my eyes to see Alex shoving Chase in the chest.

“Stop!” I yelled, not sure who I was trying to protect.

“Well, well,” said a red-haired girl with long legs. “Looks like they’ll be plenty of entertainment around here.”

“Lexi, why don’t you and the others go see if Carson needs any help with the injured boy.” Mason nodded toward the school.

“Sure.” Lexi smiled at me, but it was the most unfriendly smile I’d ever seen. As she walked past me, she said, “I think I’ll take my sister’s room. I believe it’s right across the hall from yours.”

No way! Lexi was Abby’s sister? Ophi could only be born between the dates of November 29 and December 17, under the sign of Ophiuchus, and the child’s parents had to be 25. It was this strange way that the gods controlled how many Ophi there were in the world. Since Abby and Lexi’s parents were only 25 once, that meant Abby and Lexi had to be unidentical twins. This was not good news for me. Lexi must have hated me for sending her twin to the underworld as Hades’ slave.

I stood there speechless.

Chase smoothed out his shirt and stepped away from Alex. “I’ll show you guys to your rooms.” He winked at me before heading toward the house. The others followed. All but Alex. He stayed behind with me. I could barely look at him.

“I tried to tell myself this was all one-sided. That it was just Chase being a dick. But after seeing you touch him like that—”

“We were only connecting our powers. That’s all.”

“No, that’s not all. You couldn’t get close enough to him. You were clinging to him. And the look on your face.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “You loved every second of that. Whatever it was.”