Part 25 (1/2)

”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 p.r.i.c.k, 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?”

”Only your Ophi soul can put your human soul back in your body. You have to put your focus back on your Ophi soul and call this,” he waved his hand in front of me, running it the length of my ghostly form, ”back to you.”

Of course! Why didn't I think of that? ”I'm such an idiot. I could've called my soul back to me right away.”

”It's better you didn't.” Alex looked around, making sure no one was coming our way. ”Now Hades will think your human soul is here. You can catch him by surprise.”

”And do what?” I raised my phantom arms out to my sides. ”I failed, Alex. Medusa told me I had to break the statue and free her spirit. She wanted to bargain her soul for ours. Only, the body I borrowed didn't hold out long enough for me to break the statue.”

Alex sighed and put his hands on his hips. ”That's what she told you to do? We can't lose her. Do you realize what that would mean for us, for the Ophi? Connecting to her statue-her soul-is what gives us full access to our powers. It's why the Ophi at the school have always been stronger than the others.”

”That's not entirely true. Chase was pretty d.a.m.n strong before he came to the school.”

”Yeah, but he had Hades fueling his powers, and he was the other Ophi in the prophecy. He's a special case.” He waved his hand, dismissing the topic of Chase. I was sure he'd noticed Chase's reaction in the palace when Hades told him to take me to Tartarus.

”Besides,” I said, s.h.i.+fting the focus off Chase, ”Medusa said that, since her blood is in my veins, I could do the same thing for the other Ophi that she did.”

”You'd become the next Medusa.” He said it more as a statement than a question.

”Crazy, right?”

He smiled at me. ”Not at all. I've felt your power.” Yes, he had. Some of our makeout sessions had gotten a little intense, and I'd given him some of my power. He'd loved the feeling. ”Of course, I'm not sure I want you making that same kind of connection with other Ophi.”

I swore my cheeks blushed, even in my ghostly, bodiless state. ”No, not like that. Nothing like that. Certain things are reserved just for you.” My mind wandered back to Matt and how Alex had seen me kiss him. ”Listen, about what you saw-”

”You don't have to say anything. He wanted to move on, right?”

”He said outliving everyone he loved would've been torture.”

Alex nodded. ”He was probably right.” He c.o.c.ked his head to the side. ”He told you he wasn't upset with you for how he died the first time, didn't he? That's why you kissed him while Mason released his soul.”

Alex knew me well, but apparently he knew people, too. ”Yes.”

”The judges were right. You do put other people's needs above your own. You tried to do right by him because you didn't want him to suffer anymore. You cared about him. Loved him.”

How was he getting this out? I wasn't even saying the words, and they were slicing through me, making me feel so guilty for loving two people at once.

”Alex, I told him I love you. I chose you.”

”I know that. Even in your human form with all those leftover feelings for Matt, you chose me in the end.”

I moved closer to him, and even though I couldn't actually touch him, I traced the air around his face. ”There was something about you from the moment we met. Even when I was scared of you, I was drawn to you. I think I always knew we were supposed to be together.”

”Then let's get you back into your body so we can be together.”

”Okay.” I closed my eyes, focusing on my Ophi self.

”Jodi, wait!”

It was too late. I was already tuning out, but I heard Alex's voice faintly in the background. ”You can't let Hades know...” What couldn't he know? I couldn't hear the rest. I was already becoming aware of new sounds. Yelling. I blinked. The judges were arguing with Hades. Chase was cowering on the floor in the corner, most likely because Hades had punished him in some way for not following orders earlier when I was sentenced to Tartarus.

No one was paying attention to my body because they thought it was virtually empty. Persephone got up from her throne and walked out of the room. I felt sorry for her. She was stuck with Hades for all eternity. She'd definitely drawn the short stick. I tried to keep very still. Alex had been trying to warn me of something. The only thing I could think of was that he didn't want Hades to know I was going to call my human soul to me. I couldn't do it here. Hades would see my soul, or at the very least sense it. I had to get out of the palace and to the Fields of Asphodel. But how?

My eyes searched the room. I was too scared to move any other part of my body, in fear of drawing attention to myself. Chase was staring at Hades and cringing every time Hades raised his voice. What had Hades done to him while I was gone? As much as I hated Chase, I felt bad for him now. I knew what Hades was capable of. I wiggled one finger, hoping Chase would see it, but he was too focused on Hades.

d.a.m.n it, Chase! Look at me! I wiggled my finger more, but it was useless. I kept my eyes glued on the others as I slid my right foot back a little. No one noticed, so I slid my left foot back to meet it. Chase's head jerked in my direction. He'd seen me move. I waved my fingers slightly, motioning him over to me. His eyes widened, but he stayed on the ground. He was petrified. I hated that I needed his help, but Chase had always loved it when I needed him for anything. I hoped, if I kept insisting he move toward me, he'd finally give in.

I inched back again and gave another small wave. This time Chase moved toward me a little, but Hades' voice boomed, rendering Chase useless again. Who would've thought Chase would crumple like a baby after all the terrible things he'd managed to pull off? I kept inching backward until my hand was near Chase's shoulder. I sent a small wave of life-restoring power to him, and he straightened up under my touch. His eyes rose to meet mine. I wasn't sure if I could trust that he'd actually help me, but I didn't have any other options.

He stood up and took me by the arm. ”Keep your stare as vacant as possible,” he whispered. ”I'm going to get us out of here. Just follow my lead.” He walked me over to the palace doors.

”I don't remember saying you could leave.” Hades slammed the doors in Chase's face.