I had to do everything exactly as I had when I was an Ophi. That was my only hope of her recognizing my soul. No, wait! There was something else I could do. I ran past the statue and up the stairs, straight to my bedroom. I’d left the locket here. Medusa’s locket. I’d been so angry about everything that happened between Chase and me, and I’d blamed the locket—or at least the moment when I let Chase put it on me. I searched my dresser drawers, not remembering where I’d put it. How had I lost track of something so important?

Chase had done a number on me. He’d made me question everything about myself. The only good part about this situation now was that I wasn’t around him. I hated him for making me hurt Alex, for making me become so consumed by power that I’d lost sight of Medusa for a while.

I ransacked my bed next, remembering that, in my state of sobbing, I’d taken it off there. I flung the sheets and blankets to the floor and even checked in between the mattress and box spring. Nothing. Where was it? I picked up each blanket, shaking them in case the locket was tangled up inside. When I reached the bedspread, something fell to the floor with a small tinkling sound.

I looked down to see my locket. The beautiful bloodstone, which no longer had blood in it, was now mostly green. If only Medusa’s blood was still inside. Maybe I could’ve drunk it and made her recognize me before she stopped my heart. But then again, I didn’t have Gorgon blood in my veins right now, and that meant the locket wouldn’t open for me, no matter how hard I tried. I had to hope wearing the locket would be enough. I put it on, making sure the clasp was tight. I couldn’t take any chances. My life would depend on Medusa sensing her own power lingering in this necklace.

I looked down at the bloodstone, wishing I felt something, anything, now that it was around my neck. But I didn’t.

I walked back downstairs very slowly, gathering my courage. The stairs seemed to go on forever, and the statue looked bigger than ever as I approached it. My heart raced, and my hands shook. It was surreal that I was nervous about talking to Medusa. She was my ancestor, my family.

I stood in front of her and spoke aloud, clutching the locket in my right hand. “Medusa, if you can hear me, it’s Jodi. I know I look a little different right now, but this was the only way I could come see you. I need your help to save the others. I need to connect to your statue so we can talk and figure out how to defeat Hades once and for all. If you could avoid…killing me, I’d really appreciate it. I’m sort of counting on you recognizing my soul quickly, which is why I’m wearing your locket. Our locket. We are one and the same now. Even in this body, you must be able to see me.”

I let go of the locket and inched my hands toward the statue. This was it. I might die. “Please, Medusa,” I pleaded as my hands slipped into hers.

At first, nothing happened. I thought maybe Medusa’s soul had no effect on humans. I opened my mouth to talk to her, but an intense pain shot through my hands, up my arms, and into my chest. My lungs and heart clenched as if they were being shocked. The pain traveled up my neck and to my brain.

My eyes rolled back into my head, and I blacked out.

Chapter 26

Silence. That’s all there was. The air around me was completely still. I couldn’t feel my body, and all I saw was darkness. Was I dead? Had Medusa killed me? I couldn’t move, so I spoke with my mind. It was how Medusa and I had always communicated when we were connected by the statue.

“Medusa?”

No answer.

“Hades?” I wondered if I was back in the underworld. If Medusa had killed me, that was where I’d end up.

“No, child.” Medusa’s voice filled my mind. Peace washed over me. She was here. Even if I was dead, it was okay because Medusa was with me. She’d make sure I moved on safely.

“You aren’t dead, Jodi.”

“You know who I am. You recognized me.”

“Yes, but not before I hurt you very badly. This body will no longer be able to serve as a host to you.”

What? Where was I if I wasn’t in Liz’s body?

Through the connection, Medusa read my mind. “You are still inside your host body, but you won’t be able to remain there. You need to reach out to another body nearby and put your human soul into it.”

Oh, God. She’d destroyed Liz’s body, made it so I couldn’t use it anymore. And now that I was human, I couldn’t raise my own soul. “I can’t. I don’t have any powers.”

“I know you are weak, but I can help you.”

“Help me? I won’t be able to do anything at all. You’ll have to do it for me. My Ophi soul is in the underworld. I can’t access it without going back there.”

“No, you can’t do that. I’m keeping your soul in this shell. If you return your focus to the underworld, I won’t be able to hold your human soul here. It will move on.” She shook her head, making the snakes hiss. “I can’t raise a body for you, either. Not from inside this statue.”

What else was there?

“You are tethered to the statue right now.”

Tethered to the statue. Trapped like she was.

“Yes. In a way, that is true.”

“If my human soul passes on, I’ll be forced back into the underworld.”

“Yes.”

“I can’t go yet. I don’t know how to defeat Hades. That’s why I’m here. Mason said I’d have to make a deal with him. One big enough to end all of this for good.”

“I agree.” Medusa lowered her head, giving me a good view of the snakes wriggling around.

The question was, what did Hades want?

“Me,” Medusa answered my unspoken question.

“What do you mean you?”

“You know the deal the Ophi made with Hades for my soul.”

I nodded. “Yes, they freed you from him. He can’t touch you.”

“Not while I’m locked in this statue.” She held our hands out to the sides, and I could feel an unseen force keeping our arms from extending any further.

“Medusa, I don’t understand. What are you saying?” She spoke in riddles most of the time. I needed answers, real answers, and fast.

“You must free me. Break the statue.”

She couldn’t be serious. The second I did, Hades would take her.

“Not if I’m inside another.”

All this mind-reading was really making it difficult to think. “Inside another. How?”

“Think about it, Jodi. It’s what you do, right?”

She wanted me to free her soul and then place it inside another body.

“Not just any body.” She stared into my eyes, looking into my soul. “Your body, Jodi.”

“I’m not even in my own body.”

“But you could be.” She gave me a brave smile. “You’d have to say goodbye to your human soul forever.”

“Won’t Hades torture it for all eternity? I’ll have this double vision thing forever. I can’t. It will drive me insane. You have no idea the torture I’ve gone through living in both souls.”

“We can bury your human soul under your Ophi one, but for good this time. Deeper than before. You won’t be able to access it ever again. It won’t be easy.”

Nothing I ever did was easy. “Okay, let’s say I can do that, get my human soul back in my body and bury it there. How do you expect me to get you free?”

“I can give this body—”

“Her name was Liz.” I didn’t want to treat Liz’s body like an empty shell or an old coat I was borrowing. Liz had helped me get to Medusa. Her body deserved to be taken care of and treated fairly. I hadn’t done a good job of protecting it. The least I could do now was speak properly, respectfully, about it.

Medusa nodded. “I can give Liz’s body enough power for you to remain inside it long enough to break the statue. Once my soul escapes, you’ll need to let go. That’s all. Liz’s body doesn’t want to hold you inside, and my power will wear off from the exertion. We’ll go to the underworld together.”

And Hades would sense Medusa’s soul like a big, blinking, red light flashing the words “Come and get me!”