Chase clenched his jaw, holding back the urge to lash out at me.
“Listen, I’m willing to talk this through with you, so why don’t you take a seat at my desk, and we’ll figure this out.”
“Only if he waits outside.” Chase nodded toward Alex.
I sighed. “Please, Alex. I’ll be fine. I just want to end this.”
He shook his head, but instead of refusing he said, “The door stays open.”
“Deal,” I said, before Chase could object. Alex kissed me and glared at Chase before grabbing his shirt off the floor and leaving.
I leaned against my dresser, the farthest point in the room from Chase. “Okay, so the prophecy says we’re destined, but I don’t think that means we have to end up together.”
“What the hell else could it mean?”
“That we’re supposed to work together. Use our powers to do something great. Maybe to finally get Hades off our back.”
Chase sat up straighter in the desk chair. “You want to attack Hades?”
“No. We’d never be able to defeat him. He’s a god. I think we could use our powers to force him into an agreement, though. Show him that fighting us is using too much of his time and energy. That it’s not worth it.”
Chase nodded. “And you expect me to go along with this plan that could get us both killed, and gets me nothing in return? And on top of it, I have to watch you with Alex?”
I thought about what Medusa had said about Ophi going bad. “Chase, what happened to you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You weren’t always like this. I know you weren’t. Medusa knows you weren’t.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He crossed his arms, guarding himself from my question.
I walked over to the bed and sat down, closing the distance between us. “Every once in a while, I see a different side of you. You’re nice. Medusa seems to think that’s the way you used to be, but something bad happened that made you lose control of your emotions. Now, your anger fuels your power. It makes you act crazy, mean.”
He laughed. “So, I’m some loony Ophi who couldn’t handle life and turned evil?” He was mocking me.
“I’m trying to understand you, to work with you, but if you’re going to laugh in my face I’ll stop. We can part ways and never speak again. I’m fine with that.”
“Are you threatening me now?” He sat forward and reached for my hand, but I pulled it away. “Looks like I’m not the only one whose anger is getting the best of them.”
He was right. I was changing. I had been since he’d arrived. That was why I had to figure out what had happened to him. I had to try to make him go back to the way he used to be. Before his anger destroyed both of us.
“I’m not playing games, Chase. Tell me what happened. Or you and your dad can leave.” His dad. Of course! Why hadn’t I put it together sooner? Chase was here with his dad. They’d both lied to us, and for what? There had to be a goal. I didn’t know what it was, but I had an idea why they were doing it. “It was your mom, wasn’t it? The awful thing that happened, it happened to her.”
“Don’t try to psychoanalyze me, Jodi.” He tried to dismiss it, but I could tell by the pain on his face that I was right.
“What happened to her?” I wasn’t letting this go.
“Why do you care? You don’t want to be with me. You chose Alex, so why bother trying to make me get in touch with my feelings and be good like you seem so sure I used to be?”
“Because you weren’t wrong about us.” I lowered my voice, hoping Alex wouldn’t hear me. I caught a glimpse of him leaning against the wall by the open door. I knew he was trying to listen in, but I couldn’t give up on Chase. Not when my future, and the future of the Ophi, depended on it. “I am drawn to you, Chase. There’s a part of me that does want to be with you. But I can’t be with a monster, and right now that’s what you are.”
He leaned closer to me again. “Is this the portion of the conversation where you try to lie to me and tell me that you really do care? That you only want to help me so we can have a future together?” He laughed. “I thought you said you weren’t playing games.”
“I’m not. I love Alex. I’m not going to deny that. But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel something for you. That I don’t see what the prophecy is saying about us.” I reached for his hand. “Please, tell me what happened to your mom.”
“She’s dead. End of story.” He pulled his hand away and laced his fingers behind his head. He wasn’t making this easy. I could tell he was hurting, but he insisted on putting up this wall.
“Do you love me? Or am I a game to you? A prize you win if you can get me away from Alex?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Jodi. I’m here because of the prophecy. Together, we can be the most powerful beings on this planet. That’s what I want.”
Finally, some honesty.
“Of course, you’re nice to look at, so there are other perks. Like all those times you couldn’t keep your hands off me.”
I caught a glimpse of Alex’s black shirt. He was coming into the room. I put my hand up to stop him. “Not yet.” I glanced at him briefly.
He was majorly pissed. I hadn’t exactly come clean about the number of times Chase and I had made out. Alex punched my open door, which slammed back into the wall. I jumped. Alex went back into the hallway, but this time he leaned on the doorframe, staying in complete view.
Chase laughed, and I smacked him. “Knock it off. Can’t you act somewhat human?”
“No,” he said. “Because I’m not, and neither are you.”
Not anymore. “That doesn’t mean we have to act like monsters. Ophi weren’t meant to be monsters.”
“So you say.” Chase leaned back in his chair.
“Tell me about your mom,” I pressed.
“Dump loser boy over there.”
“That’s it!” Alex was in the room faster than I could turn around. He slammed into Chase, tackling him to the floor.
I’d had enough. I didn’t want to do this, but I didn’t have a choice. I summoned the blood on the left side of my body and sent each of them a small dose of poison. They immediately let go of one another and curled into the fetal position on the floor.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “But I’ll do it again if you two don’t stop this. Fighting isn’t helping.”
Alex looked at me in disbelief. “It was one thing when it was an accident, but this…”
“I didn’t know what else to do.” I tried to let him see how sorry I was. I didn’t want to hurt him. I reached out to him. “Here, let me help you.”
He swatted my hand away. “No, I’m fine.” He got up and walked over to my dresser without looking at me.
“Alex—”
Chase got up, too. Except he came over to me and tried to take my hand.
“What are you doing?” I pulled away.
“I’ll take a little power boost. Or was the offer only for Mr. Cheap Shot over there?”
Alex ignored him, which could only mean he was beyond mad.
I glared at Chase. “Believe me, if I give you anything right now, it will be more poison.”
“I doubt that, but I get that you have to hide your feelings seeing as he’s here. Still, I’m proud of you for using your powers on us. That’s what you should do.”
“No, it’s not,” I said. “I was desperate. I’ve had to pull you two off each other enough.”
“So end it. I can’t give up because of the prophecy, but he can.”
“You’re right.” Alex turned around. “I can.”
I stared at him, my eyes wide. “What? Please, tell me you’re not going to.”
“I never thought you’d hurt anyone on purpose. I get that your emotions are out of control and that he does that to you, but this—what you just did, you stooped to his level.”
That hurt. My heart felt like it was being squeezed to death. Alex thought I was like Chase. I couldn’t
