Pain tore through my insides. It was going to be torture for both of us to be this close and unable to act on all these unresolved feelings. My body felt like it was being hit by a thousand hammers at once.
“Jodi?” Matt squinted at me and grabbed me by my shoulders as my eyes rolled back into my head.
It wasn’t heartache I was feeling. My body was being tortured in Tartarus, and the pain was forcing me to tune into the Ophi half of my soul.
Chapter 12
I cried out in pain, and Matt carefully lowered me to the grass so I wouldn’t hurt myself. I saw glimpses of Victoria looming over me, smiling as she continued to deliver my torture. “Service with a smile,” she’d called it. She was talking to me, but I couldn’t hear her over my own screams. I felt the hellfire burning me from the inside out. This wasn’t the normal torture. I wasn’t reliving a death I’d caused. Victoria was burning me the same way Hades had after I’d raised the entire cemetery in my sleep.
“You ready to torture your father’s soul yet?” Victoria asked, easing up only enough for me to answer.
My dad? “No!” What had I missed? Hades was torturing me by trying to make me torture my own father?
“Then I guess I get the pleasure of torturing you both.” Victoria smiled, and I turned to see my seventeen-year-old father on the ground next to me in Tartarus. His eyes said he was more concerned for me than himself.
“Jodi!” My name echoed in my ears. Matt’s hand was on my face. “Look at me. Focus on me.” His voice was firm, demanding my attention.
I choked back the fire in my throat. My eyes watered, and I clenched my teeth against the searing pain shooting through me. Dad’s cries tore through me worse than the hellfire.
“Jodi!” Matt was screaming now. “Damn it, listen to me!” Matt had never yelled at me. Never cursed at me.
I opened my eyes, seeing double. Victoria’s image hovered over Matt’s with a faint ghostly glow.
“Good,” Matt said. “Tune it out. It’s just me, okay. You’re not there. You’re here with me.” He took my face in his hands. Please, don’t kiss me. Alex—he was near me, near my body in Tartarus. Matt leaned toward me as I shoved the image of the underworld out of my mind. I turned my head away from Matt, and he paused inches from my face.
“I’m okay now.” But my dad wasn’t. I never thought I’d see him again, but of course Hades would make me watch Dad suffer.
Matt hung his head in relief. “I was trying to shock you out of it. I wasn’t really going to kiss you again. I know you’re with… I guess it worked.”
“I’m going to have to learn to keep those thoughts out. Hopefully, my Ophi half is doing a better job tuning out what’s going on here.”
“It’s almost like you’re two people now.”
“I know. Even with all the crazy things I’ve been going through, this tops them all.”
“You okay to get up?”
I nodded. “I think so.”
He gave me his hand and pulled me up, going slowly to make sure I was really all right. “What do we do now?”
“I have to get back to the school. Medusa’s spirit is trapped in a statue we have there. Normally, I can call her and she’ll appear in my mind, but I don’t have any of my Ophi powers now. I’m hoping, if I connect to the statue, I’ll be able to talk to her.”
Matt rubbed the back of his neck. “Medusa’s spirit? Really?”
“I know how it sounds, but it’s true. Listen, you don’t have to come along. You can start over. Go somewhere no one knows Brian.”
“I don’t have anyone anymore.” He looked down at his feet. “Except you.”
“Do you want to come with me?”
“Do you mind?”
“No. Actually, I was kind of hoping you’d come along. We didn’t really get to say goodbye to each other. I’ve been carrying the memory of you and the last time we were together for months now. I’d like a better memory for when I—”
“Go back to being Ophi and can’t be around me anymore?” His big brown eyes spoke volumes.
“You know, all Ophi have green eyes. It’s really nice to see your brown eyes again, even if these aren’t really yours.”
He smiled. “I always loved your eyes.”
Things were getting weird again. These feelings just wouldn’t go away, especially when we stared into each other’s eyes like this.
“We should go. We can’t exactly stay in this town. Someone will recognize Liz and Brian.” We started walking again. Our only chance of not drawing attention to ourselves was to find one of those donation bins and get some normal clothes.
We came to a fork in the road. “Which way?” Matt asked.
Neither of us had a clue where we were. “Let’s go right,” I said. “It’s the right side of Medusa’s body—and mine—that has the power to restore life. Seems like a good way to go.”
“Whatever you say.” Matt smiled at me, a smile that said he’d follow me anywhere. This was not going to be easy. Matt was a gentleman, and I knew he wouldn’t try anything as long as I was adamant about Alex. But what if my human soul couldn’t hold on to my Ophi feelings for Alex?
We walked along the road in silence. No cars drove by, and the streetlights were few and far between. I tripped over a dead animal, and Matt grabbed my arm to keep me from faceplanting in the dirt on the shoulder of the road.
“You know, a few months ago, I would’ve been afraid I’d raise the poor thing.”
“I still can’t believe you can do that.”
“It takes some getting used to.”
We came to a traffic light, and we both smiled. This was a good sign. It meant we were getting closer to civilization. Maybe we’d find somewhere to get clean clothes. At this point, I wasn’t opposed to stealing from a clothing store. I’d find a way to pay for it later.
“Right again?” Matt asked at the intersection.
I nodded. It was only our second right so we wouldn’t be heading in a circle or square that would lead back to the hospital or cemetery.
We walked about another half mile before we started to see lights. Neon lights.
“Stores!” I never thought I’d be so happy to see a store, especially a drugstore.
“Look.” Matt sounded equally as happy. He pointed to the sign across the street from the drugstore. It was a secondhand shop, and outside was a donation bin.
“Yes!” I whirled around and hugged Matt. He lifted me off the ground and squeezed me. Our faces were inches apart, and we stared at each other. My smile slowly faded, and I lowered my eyes. “Sorry.”
Matt didn’t say a word as he lowered me to the ground. “Ladies first.” He motioned for me to lead the way.
Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex. Alex was counting on me. He was probably worried sick about me. I couldn’t do anything to jeopardize what I had with him. Matt was only temporary. I wouldn’t be human forever. I tried so hard to convince myself of all these things. To be rational. Only … the human heart isn’t rational. A huge part of me wanted to finish what Matt and I had started.
The metal container creaked as Matt held open the lid. “So, do I dive in and start digging for something appropriate?”
“How about you reach in? I don’t want to have to pry you out of there if you get stuck.”
He laughed. “Okay.” He reached his arms in and pulled out a yellow tube top. I shook my head, and he tried again. This time he got a pair of neon-green pants.
“Oh, they’re so you,” I said.
“Remember you have to be seen with me.”
“Touché.”
Matt reached in again. “Oh, I’ve got the perfect outfit for you. So perfect that I’ll agree to wear the green pants if you put this on.” This was going to be bad. Matt held up the most hideous floral and paisley-print dress that only a senile old great-great-grandma would wear. “What do you think?”