Still nothing. I stopped running and looked down at my body. I hadn’t felt Medusa leave me. She must still be inside my body, but why couldn’t I sense her?

“What’s wrong?” Alex reached for my arm. “Did something happen?”

“I don’t know. I can’t hear Medusa in my mind anymore. I’m not sure she’s still here.”

“Have you tried calling to her?”

I raised an eyebrow. Of course I’d tried that.

“Do you think her soul escaped?”

“I didn’t feel anything. I would know if it had, wouldn’t I?”

Alex shrugged. “I’ve never had another soul sharing my body, so I have no clue what that would feel like.”

“I can’t go in there without her. Even with Chase’s power, I won’t be strong enough.”

“You don’t know that, and we can’t just stand here while the others are in there suffering.”

“What if I fail?” I couldn’t bear the thought, not after all I’d gone through to get here.

“Then we’ll figure something else out.”

I stepped forward, determined to do something—even something stupid—but my head swam with shrieks and screams. I pressed my palms to my ears to block them out, but that didn’t help. “Ahh!”

“Jodi!” Alex grabbed me by my arms before I fell to the ground. “What is it? What’s happening?”

I could barely hear him over the screams. “I don’t know. The screams, they’re awful. So much pain.”

I’m sorry, Jodi. I tried to focus on their pain to block it from you, but there’s too much. I couldn’t shield you from it all.

Medusa was back—or really, she’d never left.

You mean there’s more? You’re experiencing some of this, too?

Yes. I tried to take it all so you could focus better on stopping Victoria and her followers, but I couldn’t hold it all.

How was I supposed to save everyone with this mind-numbing shrieking in my head?

“Hey, can you hear me?” Alex asked, gently touching my cheek.

“Yeah, sorry. Medusa, she’s back.” I struggled to form sentences with everything going on inside my head.

“That’s good, right?”

“Yes, but she can hear the screams, too. They’re hindering both of us. I don’t know if we’ll be strong enough to push through them.”

Alex lifted my chin, raising my eyes to his. “Listen to me. I know how strong you are. You were able to block the sounds of the tortured souls from your mind when you learned to raise them. Remember?”

Yes. When I’d first arrived at the school, I’d felt every emotion and physical pain the souls went through when I raised them. I’d learned to block that out. I’d have to do the same now. “But this is so much more than one soul. It’s all our friends, Alex.”

“Then you have even more reason to do this.” I’d always wondered how Alex could go from caring to serious and disciplined so quickly, but now I was grateful for it. He was keeping me grounded, pushing me to do what I had to.

Medusa, are you ready?

Ready when you are.

Then we’re going in.

I nodded to Alex, and he kissed my cheek. I closed my eyes and pushed the pain and screams out of my head. I forced them away. Once I could think straight again, I stepped into Tartarus. I kept myself positioned in front of Alex, hoping he wouldn’t notice that I was acting as an Ophi shield. Alex’s hands flew to his ears as we got closer to the others. The screams were eardrum-shattering.

His face scrunched up in pain. “That was in your head?”

“Not so easy to tune out, but I’m doing all right.”

I heard Hades’ laughter echoing off the walls. He was enjoying every moment of this. I wasn’t surprised. If only Medusa and I were strong enough to overthrow a god. I would’ve loved to torture him for the rest of eternity. Hades stood in the middle of the group. All my friends were on the ground, writhing in pain. Smoke was actually coming from their mouths, eyes, and ears. They were burning from the inside out.

Don’t focus on Hades, Medusa said. Go for Victoria and the others doing the torturing.

Easier said than done. My blood was boiling, more than it ever had before. My skin was taking on a reddish tone, and it shimmered.

Alex pointed to my arms. “What’s happening to you?”

Tell him not to touch you. You’ll burn him.

“Don’t touch me. My blood is making me hotter than fire right now.”

“Can you handle all this power?”

“We’re about to find out.” I reached my hands forward in Victoria’s direction. I wanted to take her down first. She’d pretended to be like a mother to me. She’d lied to me and stolen Medusa’s locket from my room. She’d ruined Alex’s life and treated him like a worthless stranger. I let my hatred for her fuel me.

I’m with you, Jodi. Simply command your blood to reach her soul.

But she’s alive. I can only reach souls of the dead.

All you need is to touch her. Your power will take her down instantly.

How do I get to her without alerting the others that Alex and I are here? The only thing I could think of was charging at her like a linebacker. Did linebackers charge?

The element of surprise is never a bad thing. Try commanding some souls first. Get them to attack Victoria and bring her down. Then you can charge her like you just pictured. Of course she could read my mind. Hers was a mystery to me, but being Medusa and having her blood in my veins gave her access to all my thoughts.

Got it. I focused on reaching out to the other tortured souls in Tartarus. I commanded them to listen to me alone, to disconnect from the pain they were feeling and come to me. One by one, they stood and walked toward me. Bristol was the first to notice them—and me. She met my eyes, and a small glimmer of hope flashed across her face. She pretended everything was as it should be, and I realized she wasn’t torturing Amber or anyone else. She was faking the entire thing. Tony was on the ground like the others, but he wasn’t in pain.

We will save her, too, Medusa said. She’s worth saving.

Yes, she was, and I hoped that, once I started attacking Victoria and her followers, Bristol and Tony would do what they could to help.

The souls were getting closer and drawing everyone’s attention. Abby turned first, doing a double take. Then Hades narrowed his eyes. He didn’t turn toward the souls, though. He was searching—for me. He knew I was here.

“Come here, Jodi Marshall.” A smile crossed his lips. “Let me see you. I’m sure we can find a place for you among your friends.”

I stayed in the shadows until the souls reached Victoria, who had stopped torturing Arianna and was backing away. She tried commanding them, but they wouldn’t listen. They were obeying me alone.

Hades flung his arm out to the side, sending the souls flying into the black abyss behind them. So much for taking out Victoria. I was on my own.

Chapter 32

Now what? I may have had the power of three Ophi inside me, but I was up against Hades and a bunch of pissed-off Ophi who would love to see me dead.

Hades laughed. “Is that the best you can do?”

Alex stared at me, waiting for my next move.

Now what, Medusa?

I have to make my presence known.

You want to talk to Hades? He didn’t seem like he was in a talking mood. More like a “rip-the-head-off-the-Ophi” mood.

No, I want to show him what we can do. Go for Victoria.

Football-player tactics—that was what we were left with. I felt my body temperature lower and my blood calm, like it was preparing for the biggest battle of all. “Stay here,” I told Alex. “This is going to be crazy, and I need you playing backup, okay?”

“You mean you want me staying out of harm’s way.”

Exactly, but his male ego wouldn’t be able to handle that. “If I fail, our hope rests on you. That’s hardly staying out of harm’s way.”