Alex punched the steering wheel. “I’m going to kill him! My God, Jodi, what he’s doing to you, it’s worse than—”

“Stop. Please, don’t say it.” I didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

Alex took a few deep breaths, getting himself under control. “I found out something while I was gone.”

“Where were you? Where did you go?”

“I went to see an old friend. Mason’s brother, Ethan.”

Ethan, the guy from the email. “Mason’s brother? That would make him—”

“Chase’s father. Yeah.”

I’d never stopped to think about it before, but Chase called Mason Uncle Mason. That meant his father was Mason’s brother, and since the only way an Ophi could have a sibling was to be a twin, it meant Mason was a twin.

“Jodi, there’s something you need to know.” He pulled away, just far enough to look me in the eyes. “It wasn’t Ethan. It was Mason.”

I shook my head. “Mason’s at the school.”

“No. Ethan is at the school. He’s pretending to be Mason.”

My head was spinning. Things were falling into place. “No wonder Chase was able to convince Mason to come here after I’d spent months begging him. He wasn’t convincing his uncle. He was convincing his dad.”

Alex nodded. “Mason told me everything. He said Chase and Ethan planned the whole thing. They made sure no one knew that Ethan would be taking Mason’s place. They were going to pretend Chase had convinced him to come with the rest of the Ophi because things were going so well at the school.”

“Wait, when Mason—I mean Ethan—practically demanded that Chase and I show him how our combined power worked—”

“That was part of the plan to get you and Chase together. I’m sure of it. They staged everything.”

“How could I be so stupid? I fell for all of it. They used me. Manipulated me!” I was yelling now.

“You couldn’t have known. I wouldn’t have figured it out either if I hadn’t gone looking for Ethan. I only knew he wasn’t Ethan because Mason has a tattoo on his shoulder. He got it from Thayer. He was working out when I found him. I saw the tattoo and realized something was wrong. He confessed everything to me.”

“Why did he go along with it?”

“Because he’s got to keep Serpentarius open to keep making money. He had no idea Ethan was up to something. He thought he wanted to check things out without people knowing he was Chase’s father.”

“Now what? Do we confront Ethan and Chase? Do we kick them out?”

“We play along. We have to find out what they’re up to.” He sighed and took my hands in his. “I’m going back to the school. I’ll tell everyone I got over you and that I want to go back to training. Do my part to fight Hades.”

“Then we head back.”

“No. I don’t want you back there. Not after what you told me about Chase controlling you. You can stay at Serpentarius with Mason, the real Mason. He’ll keep quiet. All he cares about is money and his precious club.”

I looked at Alex, ready to risk everything for me, even after I’d put him through hell. I couldn’t let him do it. “I’m going back with you. If we have to play along to figure out what Chase is up to, then I’m our best shot. I’m the closest to him.”

Alex shook his head. “Absolutely not. I can’t watch him control you, Jodi. I’ll kill him. It will be hard enough not to tear him apart without you there.”

“I know, but I have to do this. We’ll go separately so Chase doesn’t suspect anything. You can drive me to the path, and I’ll walk back. You show up in the morning. That should be enough time apart to avoid suspicion.”

“I can’t let you do this. He could hurt you.”

“I don’t have a choice. I’m the Ophi leader. I have to do it.”

He knew he couldn’t change my mind. As much as we both hated it, I was going back to the school. I was going back to Chase.

Chapter 21

I leaned my head back on the seat. I couldn’t believe I was doing this. Alex was right here. My old life was right here. Yet both felt so far away. I couldn’t have what I wanted. I had to do the job I’d promised I’d do, and that meant facing Chase. Figuring out what his end game was and regaining control.

Alex brushed a tear from my cheek. I hadn’t even realized I was crying. “What are you going to say?”

He knew I was worried about seeing Chase again. I sighed and met his eyes. “That I freaked. That I didn’t like him controlling me. That if he really wants to work with me and wants my cooperation, he’s going to have to stop using his power against me.”

“You think that’ll work?”

“I have no idea.”

He shook his head. “I can’t let you go in there alone.”

“You have to. If you come with me, Chase will know we’re up to something. He’ll hurt me for sure.”

“Why don’t you let me go back first? I could beat the crap out of him, and you wouldn’t have to worry about seeing him again.”

If any other guy had said it, I would’ve laughed, but Alex was serious. “We should get this over with. The longer I’m gone, the madder he’s going to be.”

Alex grabbed me and hugged me tight. “I’m sorry I left you. Maybe I could’ve stopped this from happening.”

I knew that wasn’t true. Chase had already gotten to me before Alex left. If Alex had stayed, he would’ve witnessed everything, and he would’ve hated me for it.

I turned my face toward his and kissed him, thinking it might be our last kiss ever. I climbed over the console so I was in his lap, and I kissed him until my lungs screamed for air. I leaned back, making the horn give a short blare. We both jumped and laughed. We needed something to break the tension.

“I need you to understand that you’re going to see a lot of things you aren’t going to like.” I didn’t move from his lap. This was the only way to make sure I had his full attention. That he understood every word I was saying.

“Like him touching you?”

I nodded.

“Could you do me a favor and not play along too well?”

I fidgeted with the ring on my pinky. “That’s just the thing. It’s not an act, Alex. Chase changes me when I’m with him. My blood responds to his touch, and I can’t control it.” I lifted my eyes, forcing myself to be brutally honest. He had to know what he was in for. It was going to kill him to see me with Chase. To see me happy with Chase and craving his touch. “If he uses his blood to fill me with life, I’ll want to be with him. At least, my blood will. Inside I’ll know it’s wrong, but I’ll be powerless to stop it. The only thing that’s going to get me through this is you knowing that I love you, not him.”

“It’s really going to be bad, isn’t it?”

This was killing me. I didn’t know how to make him feel better, so I went for the one thing that never failed. I kissed him. We stayed in the car for an hour, not wanting our time together to end. As much as I didn’t want to, eventually I pulled myself away from him. If I didn’t go now, I never would. I slid back into my seat and sighed.

Alex started the engine without a word. There was nothing to say. Nothing to make this any easier. He drove me back to the trail and most of the way to the school so I didn’t have to walk too far. I looked at him through tear-soaked eyes.

“Wish me luck,” I said.

“I love you.” He pulled my face to his for one last kiss, and then I walked away without looking back. Losing Alex the first time was awful. The thought of losing him again was unbearable. Why was emotional pain so much stronger than physical pain? When I reached the school, I wasn’t crying anymore. I was ready to face Chase. Sort of.

I walked up the back steps. It was dark and I figured everyone was probably getting ready for bed, but I heard voices out in the cemetery. I crept around the school and saw candles. A circle of them outside the mausoleum. The cemetery lights weren’t at full strength yet. They took forever to really light up the place. Replacing them was on my list of things to do, but I’d kept pushing it back, not thinking it was that important.