This guy had to be pushing seventy. He had a slight limp on his left side. Something told me he walked that way more out of habit than necessity. No way would his limp follow him into the afterlife. He just couldn’t change the way he walked after limping for so long.
When I stopped to think about it, I realized my little lie to Hades about knowing what the souls were thinking and feeling wasn’t really a lie after all. I could tell a lot about this guy just from being near him. It was like my necromancer blood was tuning in to the soul. Reading it.
The judges sat forward in their thrones, and the middle one spoke. “Justin Mercer, you are here before us to be judged for your sins. We shall review your life and decide how you will spend eternity. Await your judgment.”
I made a mental note to figure out who was who as far as the judges were concerned. If I was going to be working with them, even without being fully in my body after I raised my human soul, it would be easier to know which judge I was addressing. We waited while they deliberated. All three lowered their heads as if watching mini television screens in their laps. I wondered if they were streaming this guy’s life on their smartphones. Of course, I had a feeling all of the methods of communication and transportation down here were light years ahead of what we had up top.
After several moments of silence, they raised their heads and nodded to one another. The middle judge spoke again. “Justin Mercer, you will spend eternity in Tartarus paying for the wrongful doings in your lifetime.”
“Sweet!” Chase said. “I got this one.” He walked forward and grabbed the man by his arm. The guy was crying and begging for his soul, but the judges waved their hands. The palace doors opened, and Chase dragged the man out, looking way too happy to do it. It was almost too much to watch.
I was still trying to get my heartbeat back to normal when a couple walked into the palace. They were young. Only about eighteen, if I had to guess. She was blonde and tiny. He was blond, too, and average height. By the way they clung to each other, I knew they were definitely a couple, not brother and sister.
They looked at me strangely, and I felt my mouth curve into a smile. I must have been totally creeping them out smiling at them like that, but all I could think was that they were perfect. They were Matt’s and my way out of here.
Chapter 9
Finally, I managed to stop gawking and waved them toward me. They didn’t look like the kind of people who’d end up in Tartarus—not that I thought Alex, Arianna, or the others deserved to be there, either.
The couple walked toward me, and the girl began to sob. “It’s okay. The judges won’t hurt you. They just want to evaluate your life and see which afterlife you belong in.” I put my hand on her shoulder and directed the two of them to the open space in front of the three thrones.
Once again, the judge in the middle leaned forward. “Elizabeth Roseman and Brian Gehris, you are here before us to be judged for your sins. We shall review your lives and decide how you will spend eternity. Await your judgments.”
Apparently, things were pretty scripted around here. Either that, or this guy had been giving the same speech for eternity, and he said the same thing every time without even thinking about it.
While the judges reviewed the lives of Liz—she looked more like a Liz than an Elizabeth to me—and Brian, I stared at them, trying to picture Matt and me in their bodies. I’d never visualized myself as a blonde before, and her hair was pin-straight. I was going to miss my waves. Brian was better than average in the looks department, but he had nothing on Matt. It was definitely going to be a step back for him, but I doubted he’d mind.
“It has been decided,” the middle judge said. “You both will spend your afterlives in the Fields of Asphodel. While your lives were not full of sin, they were not full of great deeds, either. Your existence in the underworld will be much the same.”
That was how they viewed it? I hardly called wandering around aimlessly neither good nor bad. It downright sucked. Still, I was glad I didn’t have to take them to Tartarus.
“Follow me,” I told them. As we left the palace, we passed Chase.
“Wow, he put up a fight.” He laughed, as if there was something funny about dooming a soul to eternal punishment.
“Go crawl in a hole,” I said, ushering the souls past him.
“You just can’t stop talking to me, can you, Jodi?” I really did try to ignore him, but something about Chase demanded attention. He was like a little child. The more you ignored him, the more he kicked and screamed.
Liz and Brian were silent the entire way to the Fields. At first, I wondered how I’d even find my way there, considering I’d only traveled by black cloud since I got here, but my body moved on autopilot. Another one of Hades’ tricks, I was sure. As we approached the gate, I saw Alex’s dirty-blond hair. My heart sped up at the sight of him. Now I knew where he was. I’d be able to see him before I raised my soul.
He was leaning over the gate and calling out Matt’s name. Crap! I’d forgotten Matt had wandered off while I was striking yet another deal with Hades. I couldn’t leave until I found him. I owed him that much. He wouldn’t be here at all if it weren’t for me.
“Alex.” He jumped down from the gate and whirled around at the sound of my voice.
“Jodi!” He rushed to me, scooping me in his arms. I squeezed him tightly, not wanting to ever let go.
“I thought Hades had sent you to guard the gates of Tartarus. I figured he’d send most of the guys there.” I leaned my head back to look at his beautiful face.
“I thought he was going to, too, but here I am.” He smiled at me and lowered his lips to mine.
As much as I didn’t want the kiss to end, I had a feeling Hades would show up and personally put an end to our reunion if we didn’t knock it off soon. “Alex.” His name was barely a whisper on my lips, proof that I didn’t really want to get his attention. I really wanted him to wrap me in his arms and…well, that would have to wait until we were out of the underworld.
He sighed, resting his forehead against mine. “Sometimes you make me forget we’re in Hell.”
Liz gasped at the word, obviously unfamiliar with the levels of the underworld.
I turned to her. “It’s okay. You aren’t going anyplace bad.” Well, not entirely bad at least. It definitely wasn’t good either. I wondered if Liz and Brian would even remember each other after they’d spent some time in the Fields of Asphodel.
Alex opened the gate and stepped aside for them to enter. They peered in, looking very unsure.
“It’s fields of flowers. They’re called asphodels. There’s nothing in there that will hurt you. I promise. It’s safe.” I left out the part about losing all sense of who you were.
As they entered the field, I whispered to Alex, “I heard you calling Matt. No luck finding him yet?”
“No. My guess is he’s doing his pattern again. He’ll find the gate eventually, but…” He looked at Liz and Brian. “I’m guessing you want to use their bodies.”
“Yeah. They’re kind of perfect.”