More than anything, I wished I could get back inside my body, but Hades was keeping me frozen here. I wished I’d succeeded in freeing Medusa. I wished I could rip Hades’ head off and feed it to Cerberus.

Everyone was yelling around me, but I heard Alex’s voice above the others. “You can’t send her to Tartarus. She hasn’t done anything to deserve that kind of punishment.”

Hades burst out laughing. “Now, that is the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time. She’s a necromancer.”

“We have reached our decision,” the middle judge said, leaning forward in his seat again.

If a soul could gulp, I would have. This was it. They were sentencing me. Would I really go to Tartarus?

“Jodi Marshall, we have reviewed your life and you will be sentenced to an afterlife in the Elysian Fields.”

“What?” Hades and I both said, only he was on his feet and flames were sprouting from his dark hair and hands, sending plumes of black smoke into the air.

“This is impossible! She’s done terrible things. She’s tortured souls. She’s killed humans. She belongs in Tartarus, being punished for her wrongdoings!” The flames on his head soared higher.

Persephone shook her head. “You are thinking of her Ophi soul. This is her human soul being judged. I’m not even here all the time, and I can see that.” She turned away, resting her head on her hand on the armrest. “Idiot,” she mumbled.

Hades’ flames went out. He really did love her. She was awful to him, yet he loved her.

“That’s your punishment,” I said. “You kidnapped her, forced her to come here and leave her mother, so while you love her, she despises you.”

He glared at me. “No one is free from punishment.”

“Consequences.” I used the word Medusa had. “Our actions have consequences.”

“As unorthodox as this sounds,” the middle judge said, “you may escort your human soul to the Elysian Fields.”

“No!” Hades roared. “She will not be rewarded for her life, not even her human life.”

“It is a fair judgment,” the middle judge asserted. He waved his hand and an image of me floated in the air. “Watch and you will see.” It showed me standing up for my mom when kids at the bus stop were making comments about how young she was to have a baby. I hadn’t known it then, but Mom had witnessed the entire thing. Her face was streaked with tears, but she was smiling. She was proud of me. The image changed to Mom telling me she’d decided to homeschool me. I didn’t argue. I hugged her, knowing it was best for her.

The next image surprised everyone. It was me in Liz’s body. Hades slammed his fist down on his throne, most likely because he hadn’t guessed what body I’d taken over. Had he been paying attention, he would’ve guessed it was Liz and her boyfriend. But he’d been too preoccupied with getting Persephone back here, however he’d managed to pull that off.

In Liz’s body, I told Mom the truth about me. I put her mind at ease, explaining that I was okay. I’d given her peace of mind. The last image nearly tore me apart. I was in Mason’s office with Matt. I turned to Alex. His face fell as he watched me say goodbye to Matt. As he watched me grant Matt’s request to let him go. As he watched me give Matt the last thing he wanted from me—a kiss.

The image dissolved, and the middle judge spoke again. “Jodi put her own feelings aside for those she loved. She sacrificed herself when she thought she could help others. She deserves an afterlife in the Elysian Fields.”

Alex didn’t look at me. His eyes were glued to his shoes. Maybe the judges thought I’d acted admirably, but I’d definitely hurt Alex.

Hades stood. “I won’t have it. You are missing one big part of Jodi’s life. Her human soul is only half of her.”

“Then allow her to return her human soul to her body, and we shall judge all of her when her time comes.” The middle judge sat back as if that was the end of it. I knew differently.

“That soul is mine. She took it from me months ago. I will claim it now.”

“Then our judgment stands.” The judges fell silent. They were done. They couldn’t overrule Hades. They’d given their judgment, but Hades didn’t have to follow it.

“Chase, throw her in Tartarus!” Hades yelled.

Chase faltered. He looked at me, and I saw a glimpse of his former self again. Had Medusa been right? Did that part of him actually love me?

“Send her to the Fields of Asphodel,” Alex said, stepping forward. I stared at him, wondering what he was doing. “If the judges believe she should be rewarded, and you think she should be punished, then compromise. Send her to the Fields of Asphodel. She’ll soon forget who she is, and you won’t have to worry about her anymore.” Was that what Alex wanted, to not have to worry about me anymore? He didn’t meet my eyes. “I’ll take her there myself.”

Hades stepped forward and stared into Alex’s eyes. “You expect me to believe you don’t have a plan in the works here? You’re in love with her.”

“Did you see that last image?” Alex’s voice was full of rage.

“Alex, I—”

He held his hand up. “Don’t. Just don’t. It’s over.”

Hades smiled. “Well, isn’t this interesting?” He rubbed the five o’clock shadow on his chin. “You know, I think I’m going to allow this. I’m feeling suddenly amused. You may escort your former girlfriend to the Fields of Asphodel.”

“The human half of her was never my girlfriend.” He emphasized the word never, and the full impact of it hit me like a knife to my chest.

Hades laughed. “I love it. I have to say this is probably the best punishment after all. Being sentenced by the one you love—no, no, being denied and condemned to losing all sense of yourself by the one you love.”

There was nothing left for me to do. I turned to Persephone. “I’m sorry you’re stuck with him. Your consequence for eating food while you were here was way too harsh. If he wasn’t such a selfish prick, he’d let you go. Maybe one day he’ll learn that when you love someone, you have to put your own feelings aside and do what’s best for that person.”

Persephone met my eyes and smiled. She agreed.

“Don’t talk to her!” Hades threw his fist forward and grabbed my human soul. The palace door flew open. He leaned in close and said, “For your information, Persephone came here willingly.” With that, he flung me out of the palace. As I soared through the air, I saw Alex following, ready to escort me to the afterlife he’d sentenced me to.

Chapter 28

Hades had thrown me with enough force to send me straight to the gates of the Fields of Asphodel. If I wasn’t so upset that Alex had seen me with Matt, I would’ve hated Hades even more for denying me the time with Alex on the walk to my afterlife. But as it was, I was grateful that I didn’t have to see the hurt on his face or figure out what to say to make things better.

My soul stopped at the gate, and I stared out over the fields, wondering how long it would take for me to forget everything. Being Ophi, seeing Mom again, getting tortured in Tartarus. But most of all, I wondered how long it would take to forget Alex. Somehow I knew that would take the most time.

At the sound of Alex’s footsteps, I placed my transparent hands on the gate.

“Don’t go yet.” His voice wasn’t angry or hurt. It was pleading.

I turned to see him smile at me. “You’re not mad?”

“No. I had to make Hades think I was, though.” He moved toward me, reaching his hands out to touch me, but that was impossible thanks to my lack of form. “I couldn’t let him send your human soul to Tartarus. You’d never be able to reunite with your body from there.”

“I don’t think I can go back to my body. Hades is blocking it or something. I couldn’t get close to it.”

Alex shook his head. “He wasn’t doing anything. You were.”

This was too weird. First Alex wasn’t upset with me for kissing Matt, and now he was telling me I was stopping my soul from going back to my body. “What do you mean I was doing it?”