Part 12 (1/2)
Matt had no idea Jared was an Ophi. Just great, another thing I'd have to break to him. ”Matt, your cousin isn't really your cousin by blood, right?”
”How did you know?”
”Because Jared is an Ophi. He's with the others in the underworld.”
He looked like he'd been sucker-punched. ”Wow.”
”He was one of the few Ophi who worked when humans were allowed in the club. He never used his powers, and he was really careful. That's why he could be around you and your family without hurting any of you.”
”This is so crazy. All my life I had no idea Ophi existed, and now I find out I know two of them, my cousin and my girlfriend.” He lowered his eyes. ”Though I guess he's not technically my cousin, and you're not my girlfriend anymore.”
The pain on his face made me think I deserved the torture my Ophi soul was being put through in Tartarus. I didn't have the strength to address the issue of Matt and me, so I focused on Jared. ”He's a great guy. The longer I stay here, the guiltier I feel.”
”Jodi, look-”
”No.” I returned the paper to the shelf and walked back outside, nearly getting run over by an old lady pus.h.i.+ng a shopping cart. ”I promised I'd help you get settled. Besides, if we go to Serpentarius, you could try to get info about your parents while I talk to Mason and figure out how to break the others out of the underworld. It's a win-win.”
”Great, except it's morning. The club won't open for hours.”
True. I could go back to the school in the meantime and talk to Medusa. Would I be able to touch the statue in my human form? Medusa might not recognize me in Liz's body. Panic rushed through me. I needed to talk to Mason before I tried to talk to Medusa. He might know something, like how I could connect to the statue without being fried in the process.
”Want to check out the school?” I didn't know where else to go, only that I wanted to avoid seeing my mom. It would be too hard to leave her again.
Matt looked away, and I knew exactly what he was thinking.
I tugged on his sleeve. ”Let's go.”
He tilted his head in surprise. ”Really? Just like that? You're not going to warn me about how dangerous this could be for me? How it might screw me up forever if things aren't the way I want them to be?”
”If you say you can handle it, and it's something you need to do, then I trust you. But...” I waited for him to stop smiling and made sure he was listening. ”We have to make a stop first.”
”Where?”
”You'll see. The question is, how are we going to get there?”
”Steal a car?” Matt laughed, but when he saw I didn't, he stopped. ”No way. Who are you, and what have you done with Jodi Marshall?”
”Shh!” I pushed him away from the door and the people walking out of the store. ”No one can hear you call me that.”
”Sorry.” He looked down at me. I was pressed up against him in an alcove next to the cart return. I could feel his heart race as we huddled together. I cleared my throat and backed away.
”Okay. We just have to remember to be more careful. That's all.” Yeah, more careful not to get that close again. I said Alex's name over and over in my mind.
”Right, but are you serious about the car thing?”
”What choice do we have?” I scanned the parking lot, looking for a clunker, something I wouldn't feel bad about taking. ”There.” I pointed to a beat-up sedan that looked older than me.
”Are you kidding? The person driving that thing obviously can't afford a new car. If he could, he wouldn't be caught dead in that.” Matt looked over the cars. ”That one.” I heard the smile in his voice as I followed his gaze.
”No way. Matt, that's a BMW.”
”Exactly. That guy's got money.”
”Unless he blew it all on an expensive car during a midlife crisis.” He shrugged. ”Might teach him a lesson to have it stolen.”
It was my turn to stare at him in disbelief. ”You've changed since...” I didn't want say ”since coming back from the dead.”
”Desperate times, I guess. So, what do you say?”
”Do you know how to hotwire a car?”
”If I said yes, would you judge me for it?”
Was there another side to Matt? A reason why he ended up in the Fields of Asphodel instead of the Elysian Fields, where all the good souls went?
”Let's get this over with.” The memory of stealing Melodie's car was all too present in my head. This wasn't as bad. I didn't know this person, and I hoped Matt was right about this guy having a lot of money.
We crouched down between the rows of cars, staying out of view. Matt tried the door. Locked. Of course. No alarm, though. That was surprising.
”How are we going to get in?” He looked at me as if I had the answer.
I didn't have anything to pick the lock. Could you even pick a lock on a car? There was only one thing I could think of.
”Any chance there is an alarm on this but that we didn't trip it?”
”Sure. All we did was try the door. That's not enough to set off an alarm.” He studied my face like he was trying to read my thoughts. ”But why would you want to set off the alarm?”
”If we trip the alarm, one of the store employees will announce that the car's alarm is going off. Then the owner will come out to reset it. When he unlocks the doors, we'll jump in.”
”Please, tell me you're kidding.”
”Not even a little bit.”
Matt threw his head back and stared at the clouds. ”I really am starting to think we're completely different people.”
”Does that mean you don't want to do this?”
”No.” He looked at me again. ”It means I do.”
Matt motioned for me to go around to the other side of the car. We couldn't be sure the owner wouldn't come inspect the car when the alarm sounded. If he did, we'd have to move fast.
Matt started tugging on the door handles and b.u.mping the car with his body. The alarm blared in my ears. I peered through the window, watching the grocery store doors for someone coming out with keys in their hands to disable the alarm. It felt like an eternity before the doors opened. A man in his late forties with a really bad dye job-I must have been right about the midlife crisis-came out. He stood on his toes, trying to see the car over the others in the lot.
”Get ready,” Matt said in a loud whisper.
The man was about four cars away when he unlocked the doors and shut off the alarm.