I got up from the floor. The effects of Chase’s touch had worn off. “Why don’t the rest of you go out to the cemetery? I’d like to talk to Alex for a minute.”

Everyone headed out. Everyone except Chase. I gave him a questioning look.

“What, you thought I was going to leave you two to patch things up?” Chase walked back over to me. Alex moved like he was going to stop him, but he pulled back. He wasn’t supposed to defend me. He was supposed to be angry with me for having feelings for Chase. “Something you wanted to say, Alex?”

“Yeah.” Alex crossed his arms, probably to keep from punching Chase in the face. “I don’t like you. I get that you’re with Jodi now. I can’t change that, but I don’t have to like it. Or you.”

“Good. That’s the way I’d prefer it.” Chase stepped between Alex and me. “Because you were right about Jodi and me being together. We make a better pair than you two ever did. We have more power. More chemistry.” Chase turned around to face me. Oh God, he was going to show off to Alex. I backed away.

“Chase, there’s no need to act like a caveman. Alex gets it. Let’s not rub it in his face.”

“No, I think we will. I want to make sure he really gets it.”

Alex’s fists were clenched. He was ready to let loose on Chase. If he did, everything we had planned would be ruined. Chase would figure it all out, and we’d get no information out of him.

“Fine,” I said, “but he should hear it from me. I owe him that.”

Chase smiled and stepped back so I was face to face with Alex. I tried to say more with my eyes than I could ever say with words. Alex’s face remained steady. He was doing his best to stay in control of his emotions. Instinctively, I reached for his hand.

“Not necessary,” Chase said, before I could touch Alex. “Just because you went around holding my hand when you were with him doesn’t mean I’m going to tolerate you holding his hand when you’re with me.”

I could hear Alex grind his teeth. He was reliving every reason why he’d left. I had to get this over with and make it as painless as possible.

“I’m with Chase now. You coming back doesn’t change that. I don’t love you anymore.” My breath caught in my throat. Even knowing it was a lie, it was still difficult to say.

“That’s right. She’s in love with me now.” Chase reached his hand out and touched my arm very lightly. The tingling sensation inched through my body. I tried to fight it, to resist the urge to pull Chase to me and take more of his power. The more I fought, the more power Chase teased me with. In seconds, I was turning away from Alex and throwing my arms around Chase. He smiled and kissed me long and hard while Alex watched.

Chapter 23

Chase got so into kissing me that he stopped using his power. That was all I needed to pull away from him. I pushed my hand against his chest and backed up. I gasped for air, and my eyes instantly flew to Alex. He was looking away, but I could see his jaw was clenched. I couldn’t even imagine how I’d feel if I saw him kissing another girl, even if he did hate her the way I hated Chase.

“I guess we should go train.” Chase’s smile was much wider than necessary. He put his hand on my back and I jumped, not knowing if he was going to use his powers on me again, or which power he’d choose if he did. Alex jerked his head in my direction, ready to defend me if Chase hurt me, but Chase only pushed me toward the door. He’d done what he’d set out to. Alex was trying to put on a strong face, but I could tell he was dying inside. I had a feeling Chase knew it, too.

Training was nothing short of awful, and not just because the Serpentarius Ophi were struggling to get control over the souls. Chase wouldn’t let go of me. He didn’t use his powers—unless being an overbearing wannabe boyfriend was a power. Alex trained with Jared, mostly to avoid Chase and me, although he said it was because Jared was the most advanced of the newcomers. The worst part was that I was forced to combine powers with Chase and work on making our connection stronger and more manageable.

“Can we please try something less evil this time?” I stepped out from under Chase’s arm, which had been draped across my shoulders since we’d walked out of the school.

“Evil?” Chase laughed. “Jodi, we’re necromancers. What we do isn’t exactly pretty, but it’s not evil. These souls aren’t alive. Besides, we’re giving most of them a break from Hell. I think it’s actually pretty nice of us.”

Of course he did. “Yeah, well it makes me feel evil torturing them like that.”

“Like what? Making them dig their own graves? Would you rather spend valuable training time digging?”

When he put it like that, it didn’t seem so bad. “Okay, but no more making corpses stab themselves. That’s cruel, and I don’t want anything to do with it.”

Chase smiled at me and cupped the side of my neck in his right hand. “When are you going to realize that what I do is a direct reflection of the way you are making me feel? When you get me angry, I do bad things. So, don’t make me angry.” He looked over my shoulder, and I assumed Alex was watching us because Chase pulled me to him and kissed me. It wasn’t a long kiss, just enough so Alex would notice.

I didn’t object even though Chase kept his power to himself. He’d made it clear that, if I upset him, he was going to make me torture more souls. I didn’t want that.

“What should we start with?” he asked me. I was taken aback. Sure, I was the one in charge of the Ophi, but Chase was used to controlling me and calling the shots. Why was he asking me for direction here?

I couldn’t waste this opportunity. I had to push the limits of our connection, but in a way that wouldn’t get us in trouble with Hades or cause too much pain to the souls we raised. “What if we tried to raise a soul and put it in someone else’s body?” I wasn’t even sure where that idea had come from. Maybe it was my way of seeing if I could raise my dad again now that Hades had his body.

“Put them in the wrong bodies? That’s kind of sick.” Chase smiled. “I like it, babe.” He put one arm around me and squeezed. “See, when you cooperate, we make an awesome team.”

I stared at his hand on my arm. I hated how he scared me so much. I looked up and met Alex’s eyes. He was watching me so intently. He had to stop, or Chase was going to get pissed—and I’d probably be the one he took it out on.

“I want to try to raise my dad,” I said, “but I’d rather start with another soul that Hades took first. I want to make sure we can do this right before I put my dad’s soul through this.”

Chase looked at me, and for a second I thought he actually sympathized with me. Like he cared about me and understood why I wanted to get my dad’s soul back. He took my hand in his, and this time I didn’t cringe in fear.

“You’re different right now,” I said.

“I get that you don’t want Hades to have your dad’s body. It makes sense. I’ll do what I can to help you get him back.”

“Really?” I searched his eyes, trying to see if this was a trick, but he looked sincere.

He let go of my hands. “I’m not faking my feelings for you, Jodi, and I was serious when I said that if you choose me—really choose me—we’ll make the greatest Ophi team ever.” He leaned into me, and even with no power surging between us, I reached up on my toes and kissed him lightly on his lips.

“I wish you were always like this.”

“That’s really up to you.” He turned his head slightly, and I followed his gaze to Alex, who was staring at us with hatred in his eyes. “And him.”

I looked away from Alex. He’d seen me kiss Chase, and since Chase hadn’t been touching me, Alex must have known I wasn’t being controlled. The action was completely my doing. I wasn’t even sure why I’d done it. Chase was right, though. Something about us made sense. At least in an Ophi way.