He stared at me, letting me get this out in my own time.

I felt my blood bubbling under my skin. God, how could I ever give up that feeling? The power? Alex? All of this? “I’m like two people. When I’m here with you, I want nothing but you. I want to be Ophi for the rest of my life.” Tears trickled down my cheek, and Alex raised our hands to wipe them away. “But when I’m human, I can’t help having human emotions. I feel what I felt before all this happened.”

“You feel what you felt for Matt.” His voice was soft and full of hurt.

He knew? “How did you—?”

“Tony told me. He said all your feelings for Matt would resurface. That the longer you two were together, the more you’d remember how you used to love him. And when he saw you with Matt’s sister…”

“I didn’t love him, at least not like that. I think I could have. No. I know I could have if I hadn’t met you. But I did meet you, and I love you, Alex.”

“It’s okay, Jodi. I’m not mad. That’s not who you are anymore. This is you. Right here, with me.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. I melted into him. This was what I wanted. I deepened the kiss, wanting to lose myself in him.

He gently pulled away, looking off into the distance. “Unless you want to take Hades up on his offer. You’d be free from all of this. He’d leave you alone.”

“No. I don’t ever want to be free from you. Not having you would be worse than being in Hell.”

He pulled me to him again, wrapping his arms around me. “You’re running out of time. The longer you’re away, the more pissed-off Hades gets.”

“I know. I’m going to Mason and then straight to Medusa. I’ll have an answer tonight.” I had to. Otherwise, Mom was dead. Hades would take her, and I’d be parentless.

“I wish there was something I could do to help you. Do you think there’s any way you could raise me? I mean, I’ve died before.”

“No way. It would probably kill you, and in a way I wouldn’t be able to fix.” I rubbed his arms. “I refuse to lose you, too.”

“I can’t imagine Matt’s really been a help to you.”

No, it was more like I was helping him, and he was confusing the hell out of me. “He’s trying to get used to being human in someone else’s body. While I’m waiting to hear back from Mason, I’m getting Matt set up for his new life.”

“Does he understand you won’t be in it?” That was the million-dollar question.

I lowered my eyes. I couldn’t lie to him.

“That’s what I thought. Even the nice guy can become that guy when the girl he loves is on the line.” He sighed, trying to stay calm.

“He feels lost right now. He’s scared, and I understand that. He’s going to outlive everyone around him. It’s depressing. I can’t help wondering if I made a mistake bringing him back. Maybe he doesn’t want this for himself. Maybe I’m just torturing him more.”

Guilt welled up inside me. Here I was in the underworld, where Alex and my friends—no, my family—were suffering. They were in real pain, and I was worried about making my former human boyfriend immortal.

Alex didn’t say anything. He was trying to handle my feelings for Matt the best he could, but it was tearing him up inside. Once again, I was hurting him.

I leaned into him and pressed my cheek to his chest. “This will all be over soon, and then we’ll be together again.”

I wasn’t sure if he believed me. He didn’t agree or disagree. He didn’t stroke my hair or try to kiss me.

I stepped back, studying his face, trying to judge what he was feeling.

He nodded over my shoulder. “Chase is coming this way with a soul. You should go.”

I knew he meant back to my human soul. Tune out everything here and return to my plan to free us all. Of course, that meant returning to Matt and all those feelings, too.

Chapter 25

I wasn’t in any condition to deal with Chase right now, so as I stared at Alex, I let myself slip out of my Ophi soul and back into my human one. Back into Liz’s body.

“Jodi?” Matt shook my shoulders. “Can you hear me?”

I opened my eyes and sat up. The sun was lower in the sky. How long had I been gone? “What time is it?”

“Six-thirty. I was getting really worried. You haven’t moved in hours. Were you back there…with him?”

“Six-thirty?” I jumped to my feet. “We have to go. We’re late. Mason is waiting for me, and I have to figure this all out tonight.”

“Slow down.” Matt was on his feet now. He grabbed my hand, holding me back. “Tell me what happened.”

“I’ll explain in the car. Come on. We need to go!” I ran for the car, willing my legs to move faster than they wanted to. Luckily, Liz was in good shape. I flung the door open the second I heard the car unlock. I was in my seat with my seatbelt on before Matt even got his door open. “Seriously, step on it!”

I started the car and peeled out of the parking lot. We raced to Serpentarius and I prayed we didn’t run into any cops along the way. For once, luck was on my side.

“Now tell me what happened.” Matt flashed me a stern look.

“Hades took Melodie, and he’s going after my mom if I don’t agree to his latest deal by tomorrow night.”

“Melodie?” Matt choked out.

“I know. It was awful. I brought her to the Fields of Asphodel, and I told her the truth about me. She blames me for everything, and she should. She died because of me.”

“Don’t do that. This isn’t your fault.”

I really wished people would stop sticking up for me. This was my fault. “Please, don’t defend me.”

He shook his head, not happy that I wasn’t taking his word for it. “What was the new deal?”

God, I really didn’t want to tell him. “He wants me to give him my Ophi powers and go back to being human for good.”

Matt’s eyes widened, and a hint of a smile crossed his lips.

“Don’t.” I turned away from him. “I’m not discussing it. I can’t let Hades take all those Ophi just to save myself. I won’t do it. And if you ask me to, I’ll only end up resenting you for it. Besides, I still have to go back to get Amber out of Tartarus.” I knew he wouldn’t argue with that last part.

He stayed quiet for the rest of the drive. I pulled into the club’s designated lot around the back, and I jumped out of the car as soon as it was parked. I ran for the back door and knocked, hoping that was where I’d find Mason. The door had to be outside his office.

I pounded on the door, yelling, “Mason, it’s Jodi! Open up!”

Matt had caught up when Mason opened the door. “You’re late. I thought…never mind. You’re here now.” He stepped aside and ushered us in.

We headed straight to his office so we could talk without a bunch of Ophi ears listening in on the conversation. Mason had recruited a new group of Ophi after the others came to the school with me. I didn’t even sit. I stood at his desk with my arms crossed.

“What did you find out? I’m on a serious time crunch.”

Mason’s eyes flew to mine. “Did he threaten Carol? Is she hurt?”

“She’s okay. Hades killed my best friend—my human best friend, and he’s going after my mom if I don’t end this by tomorrow night.”

Relief washed over Mason’s face. He sat down and formed a triangle with his hands. “The only way out of this war is to make another deal with Hades. But you need to come up with something so huge and airtight that he can’t get out of it. There can’t be loopholes.”

“What could I possibly offer him that he’d want badly enough to give up the other Ophi souls and promise to stop coming after me?” It seemed impossible. I needed something solid, not more cryptic Ophi garbage.

“I don’t know. No one’s been able to come up with anything big enough. But we all did come to the same conclusion.”

“What’s that?”

“You have to connect to the Medusa statue.”

I had to suppress the urge to scream at Mason. Why had I given him a day, when he hadn’t come up with anything I didn’t already know?