“Is there anything you aren’t telling me?”
If I said no, he wouldn’t believe me. I’d lose him. I searched for something, anything. “Medusa told me something. Hades is plotting against me. She couldn’t tell me much, because she’s bound by the deal the Ophi made with Hades to save her spirit, but she gave me a riddle to figure out.”
“A riddle?”
“Yeah. She said, ‘That which has the power to save, has the power to destroy.’ I don’t know what it means, though.”
Alex scrunched his face as he thought. “We all have the power to save or destroy.”
“I know, so it can’t be that simple.”
“What were you talking about when she told you this?”
I fidgeted with the bottom of my shirt, anything to avoid his eyes. “Chase and how his power affects me.”
“You talked to Medusa about Chase?”
I stood up and started pacing. “I had to. I’m supposed to be the most powerful Ophi, yet all of a sudden here he comes, and he can easily overpower me. It doesn’t make sense. Something is just not adding up.”
“Actually, it does.” He stood up and reached for my arm so I’d stop and look at him. “The answer is you. You have the power to save all the Ophi, but when you connect with Chase, you have the power to destroy all the Ophi, too.”
“What?” How could he say something so awful?
“Think about it. When Chase kissed you the day I left the school, what happened?”
My eyes widened, and my chest tightened. “Everyone died.” Images of Tony falling down the stairs, Leticia and Lexi collapsing in the living room, and Randy’s soul refusing to stay in his body flooded my mind. That wasn’t even all the evidence I had. There was Lucas when he walked in on Chase and me kissing, and there was also Leticia during movie night when Chase was touching my feet. “Oh, my God, it’s true. Chase could make me kill the entire Ophi race.” I felt weak, too weak to stand. Alex wrapped his arms around me, and I leaned on him for support. “What do I do? I don’t want to be the one who kills all the Ophi. Please, tell me how to stop this.”
Alex held both my arms and pulled me back just enough to stare into my eyes. “You have to send Chase away. He can’t stay here.”
I shook my head. “He’ll kill me if I reject him. He can dose me with poison and end me in seconds.”
“I won’t let him. We’ll tell everyone what’s going on, and we’ll all fight him. I’ll kill him before he hurts you again.”
I clung to Alex. As much as he wanted to protect me from Chase, I knew he couldn’t. He wasn’t strong enough. No one here was strong enough to stop Chase. That was why I hadn’t been completely honest with Tony or Arianna. I was afraid they’d get hurt trying to protect me. I was the only one who could deal with Chase. Still, for this brief moment, I felt safe in Alex’s arms.
Too bad the moment had to end. A door slammed in the hallway, and someone yelled. Chase. Arianna’s voice followed his, but he wasn’t listening to her. She mentioned Tony’s name, and I assumed she was going to get him to help deal with Chase. She probably figured I’d be safe locked inside Alex’s room for the time being. I pulled away from Alex.
“He can’t find me here.” I could barely get the words out. I shook with fear, anticipating the punishment Chase was going to unleash on me. Would he finish the job this time and kill me? “Stay here,” Alex said. “I’ll go out and talk to him.”
“And say what? You and I got back together? Seeing you is going to send him over the edge.”
“No, finding out you’re in my room is going to send him over the edge.” He kissed my forehead, and for a second I had a flashback of Matt. Perfect human Matt. He’d always kissed me on the forehead. Before I’d killed him, at least. I shook my head trying to get rid of his image. Two guys were enough to handle right now.
“What?” Alex wrinkled his brow. “Did I do something?”
“No, I’m freaked out. You didn’t do anything.” No way could I tell him the truth. Finding out I still thought about Matt in a “he could’ve been the one for me” sort of way would definitely send Alex running.
“Stay here.” He headed to the door, and I wanted to call after him, but I couldn’t risk Chase hearing me. He shut the door behind him, and I locked it. I pressed my ear to the door, but that wasn’t necessary. Chase was so loud the dead probably heard him. Arianna wasn’t back with Tony yet. Hopefully they’d get here soon to break up the inevitable fight between Chase and Alex.
“Where is she?”
“Who?” Alex said. “Don’t mess with me, Alex. Jodi missed lunch and suddenly you’re not looking so under the weather. I’m only going to ask this one more time before I put you back in those bandages. Where the hell is she?”
“Hey, if you can’t keep track of your girlfriend, that’s your problem. I’m done with Jodi.”
I cringed. Hearing Alex say that was painful, even if it wasn’t true.
“I saw the way you looked at her. The way you stood up for her. Don’t try to tell me you’re not still into her. I’m not an idiot.”
“Doesn’t matter if I am into her. She’s into you. She’s made that clear.”
I smiled. Alex was good at this. Sure, he’d slipped in the cemetery, but he was recovering nicely now.
“So, you’re going to tell me you haven’t seen her? That she didn’t heal you?”
“Jodi’s never healed anyone. She raises the dead. I’m not dead.”
“Not yet,” Chase said. Shoes screeched on the hardwood floor and something slammed into the wall. My guess was Alex. I knew it would mean a great deal of pain for me, but I unlocked the door and burst into the hall.
“Chase!” I rushed to him, trying to pry his hands from Alex’s neck.
Alex reached his foot up and kicked Chase in the stomach. A loud whoosh of air escaped Chase’s lips, and he let go of Alex. He stumbled back, looking at me. He hit the wall next to his own door and fell to the floor.
I went to Alex first, checking out the red marks on his neck. He was in pain, but he’d be okay. I’d give him another dose of my power when we were away from Chase. Alex took my hand and laced his fingers through mine. I looked down, realizing Alex was taking a stand. He’d had enough, and he was done pretending. This was ending now.
Chase glared at me. “Jodi, come here. Now!” He did his best to scream, but his voice was strained from getting the wind knocked out of him.
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” Alex said. “It’s over. All of it. You controlling her. You hurting her. It’s done.”
Chase laughed, which made him cough. “You think it’s that simple?”
Reality hit me hard. Chase knew something. Just like Medusa knew something she wasn’t telling me. I’d been in the dark this whole time. I had to make Chase tell me.
I stepped toward him, but Alex held me back. “It’s okay,” I told him. He shook his head, not wanting to let me go.
“See, she wants to be with me,” Chase said. “She might love you, but she can’t stay away from me.”
“Why?” I asked, trying to avoid the fact that what he’d said was true.
He laughed and coughed some more. “I can’t believe no one told you.”
Tony and Arianna rushed upstairs. I raised my hand, letting them know I was okay. I needed answers before anyone went pounding on Chase or throwing him out. The others joined us, trying to figure out what was going on. I was surprised it took them so long, considering how loud the fight had been. I ignored them and focused on Chase.
“Told me what?”
Chase got to his feet. “The real reason why I came here.”
“Spit it out already, Chase. I already know Mason is really your father.”
A chorus of “What?” rang out in the hall and everyone stared at Ethan.
“He’s not Mason. He’s Ethan, Chase’s dad. He and Mason switched places. He’s been lying to all of us.”
Arianna smacked Ethan on the back of the head. �
�Damn it, Ethan. You could’ve told us.”
“What’s with all the games?” I asked Ethan.
He looked back and forth between Chase and me. “How did you find out?”
“I went to see you,” Alex said.
“I told you I was out of town.” Ethan glared at Alex, clearly annoyed.
Alex shrugged. “What can I say? I didn’t believe you, and I needed to talk to you about Chase. I found Mason instead. He filled in the blanks for me.”
I stepped toward Ethan, trying to muster all the leader power I could. “I already know you and Chase orchestrated this whole thing. Coming here so you could force me to combine powers with Chase. You manipulated me, and it ends here.”
“Not quite, Jodi.” Chase was right behind me now. “Dad, should I tell her the best part, or do you want to?”
“Go ahead, son.” Ethan was smiling, so I knew I was in for some really bad news.
Chase walked around so he was directly in front of me. “You and I are destined to be together. It was decided before either one of us was born. Some sort of prophecy of the Ophi. Pretty cool, huh?”
My legs felt weak, and my stomach flip-flopped. Destined? It couldn’t be true. I shook my head. Chase smiled and reached for my hand, but I pushed by him and the others. I ran down the steps and straight to Medusa, grabbing her hands.
“Medusa!” Forget polite greetings. She’d kept this from me. “Medusa!” Her image couldn’t come quickly enough.
“My goodness, child. What has gotten into you?” She didn’t look happy. Normally I would never think of talking to her like this, being so disrespectful, but I was way past my limit.
“Chase and I are destined to be together?”
She nodded. “Yes, Jodi, you and Chase are destined to be together. He’s the only other Ophi who’s even close to being like you. You two are meant to be.”
“That is not going to happen. I can’t be with Chase.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t warn you. I tried to tell you to stay away from him. I thought, if maybe you never joined powers with him, you could avoid the prophecy.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? You could’ve stopped me!”
“I don’t think so. His pull was much too strong, and I was bound to secrecy. Hades may not have my soul, Jodi, but he can still keep tabs on me. If I interfere with what is destined, Hades can reclaim me.”
“To hell with destiny. To hell with Chase. I don’t care about any of that. I’m supposed to be the leader of the Ophi, and look at what I’m doing. I’m failing miserably. I don’t care about what I’m supposed to be doing, Medusa. I’m not playing by the rules anymore.”
“It’s not that simple. You can’t change a prophecy. This isn’t Chase’s fault either. He’s no more in control of his destiny than you are.”
“Are you defending him? A minute ago you said you’d hoped I would stay away from him so the prophecy wouldn’t come true.”
“It was foolish of me, but you are one of mine, Jodi. I was desperate to try to protect you. Now, I see I cannot.” She lowered her head, and the snakes transformed back into hair. “This is what I looked like before I was cursed. Before I became a monster.”
She was beautiful, but she’d always looked beautiful to me—with the exception of the snakes.
“None of us is free from fate. This was mine.” Her hair wiggled and turned to snakes once again. “Chase was no safer than you were.”
“What do you mean?” She was trying to tell me something in her own cryptic way.
“It’s easy for an Ophi to go bad.”
“But why is that?”
“Our powers are tied to our emotions. Every emotion we experience is heightened. So if you’re angry and feeling the need for revenge, that feeling is even stronger than it would be for a human.”
“So, what you’re saying is that Chase wasn’t always evil?”
“Probably not. I didn’t know him, so I can’t say for sure, but most likely something happened to him. Something that caused him to be this way.”
“Is that why I keep seeing glimpses of a different side of him? A kinder side of him?”
“It could be.”
“Is there any possibility that the old Chase—the person he used to be before this terrible thing changed him—is still there somewhere inside, buried by his emotions?” I was shocked that I was defending Chase, but if he and I really were destined to be together, I didn’t want to believe I was supposed to end up with someone evil.
“I wouldn’t put all your faith in that, Jodi. Something happened to Chase. We know that. Whether or not he’s strong enough to come back from it, we don’t know.”
“Doesn’t that mean we should at least try? I mean, do we just give up? He and I have such a strong power together. How do I turn my back on that? What if his power combined with mine is the only thing that can stop Hades from killing us all?”
“What if his power combined with yours is the thing that kills the entire Ophi race? Are you willing to take that risk?”
Chapter 26
I let go of Medusa and faced the group of Ophi staring at me, waiting for confirmation. I couldn’t say the words out loud, couldn’t admit the truth. Alex saw the answer on my face and said, “It’s true.”
I ran back upstairs and locked myself in my room. Alex knocked on the door, begging me to let him in.
“Just go, Alex. I can’t face you right now.”
“Jodi, either open this door or I’ll break it down. Either way, I’m getting into this room.”
I wiped my eyes and went to the door. The second the lock clicked, Alex pushed the door open and wrapped me in a hug.
“We’ll find a way around it. I promise.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
He let go of me. “So what, you’re giving up? You’re willingly going to Chase?”
“I don’t know, but I can’t hurt you like this. I want to be with you. More than anything. But if that’s impossible, then you shouldn’t waste your time on me.”
He grabbed my face in his hands and kissed me. He wrapped his arms around me and lifted me off the floor. Quicker than I’d thought possible, we were on my bed. I felt the full weight of his body on mine, and it made my head spin. I kissed him like there was no tomorrow, because I wasn’t sure there was one for us. My blood boiled, and I was afraid I’d end up raising more souls. I made the quick decision to transfer my power to Alex. He moaned in response. He kissed me harder, and his hands ran along both sides of my body. I knew what he was feeling because I’d felt it with Chase. Chase. The thought of him created a shift in my blood. Alex pulled away from me, choking.
“Oh, God! I’m so sorry.” I squirmed out from under him. I quickly willed my blood to mix again and reached for Alex, but he backed up. “It’s okay. I’ll heal you. I promise.”
He stopped, and I touched his cheek. Instantly he stopped choking. Then he was kissing me again, as if he hadn’t just been on the brink of death. He pulled away from me long enough to take his shirt off and toss it on the floor. Then he was back on top of me, his fingers inching up my shirt.
“What the hell?” Chase yelled.
I let go of Alex, but he continued to paw at me. I calmed my blood so the effect would wear off him. He looked dazed for a second before he turned to Chase and reality set in.
“Get out,” Alex said. “This doesn’t concern you.”
“Really?” Chase said. “‘Cause it looked like you were about to hop into bed with my girlfriend.”
“I’m not your girlfriend, Chase.” Wow, it felt good to say that.
Chase cocked his head to the side. “The prophecy says differently, Jodi. And as your future husband, I forbid you to see Alex anymore.”
“Forbid me?” My voice went up an octave. “You can’t forbid me from doing anything.”
“I can make you do whatever I want. Don’t forget that. I’m trying to be nice. I thought, once you knew the truth, you might give in and start to
be the person you’re meant to be. But you always have to fight, don’t you?”
Alex was on his feet and in Chase’s face in seconds. “Get out before I put you out.”
Chase laughed. “The last time you tried that, you ended up with a concussion. I can promise I won’t go as easy on you this time.”
“Stop!” I said. Didn’t anyone care what I had to say? “Look, this stupid prophecy is about me, so I’m deciding what’s going to happen. Got that?” I looked back and forth between Chase and Alex.
Chase shook his head. “Sorry, Jodi, but you’re not the only one in the prophecy. I get a say in this, too.”
“Fine. Then the two of us will work this out. Find a way around the part about us ending up together.”
“I’m not leaving you two alone to talk.” Alex turned his back on Chase and looked me in the eyes. “I’m not giving him a chance to hurt you again.”
“Alex, we can’t talk with you here. You’ll be a distraction.”
“Too bad.”
“Screw this.” Chase touched Alex’s shoulder. Alex’s face twisted in pain as Chase dosed him with poison.
“Stop it!” I reached for Alex and pulled him away from Chase. I mixed my blood and transferred enough power to heal Alex, careful not to make him start throwing himself at me again. That would only anger Chase more. Alex breathed normally, and I turned to Chase.
“If you ever do that again, we’re finished. Do you understand me? I’ll personally hand you over to Hades.” I stepped closer to him, letting him know I wasn’t afraid anymore.
“Then get him under control. I’m not kidding, Jodi. I won’t let him come between us. You had your fun with him, but now it’s time to move on. He’s your past. I’m your future.”
“Yeah, well, last time I checked it’s the present, so I’m deciding who I want to be with. I’m choosing Alex.”
Chase clenched his jaw, holding back the urge to lash out at me.
“Listen, I’m willing to talk this through with you, so why don’t you take a seat at my desk, and we’ll figure this out.”
“Only if he waits outside.” Chase nodded toward Alex.
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