“Good to know.” He sat back in the seat, looking pleased with himself.
Just great. How was I going to survive this trip if I couldn’t stop flirting with him? It wasn’t fair to either one of us—or to Alex, for that matter.
After the next stop, Matt dozed off for a bit. I felt guilty for being happy about that, but I needed a break from everything. Mostly from the guilt of killing the guy who loved me and then bringing him back to life only to break his heart.
The brakes squeaked as we approached our stop. I nudged Matt. “We’re here.”
He looked around, kind of dazed before standing up and motioning for me to go first. “After you.”
“Thanks.” I tried my best not to come in too much contact with Matt as I squeezed between him and the seat on my way to the aisle. I walked to the front of the bus, being careful not to look closely at anyone. Not that anyone would recognize me, but I wouldn’t exactly be able to keep the horrified look off my face if I did see anyone from my old life.
“Mel?” Matt said behind me.
No! No, no, no. I whipped my head up in time to see Matt gawking at Melodie boarding the bus. Where was her new car? Why on earth was she taking the bus?
I turned to Matt and grabbed his hand. “We better hurry or we’ll be late.” I pulled him past Melodie as if we’d never seen her before.
“Wait up.” Matt was tugging my arm, but I kept going. After the bus doors closed, I let go of him. “What the hell, Jodi?”
“Don’t call me that. It’s too risky.”
“Why? We don’t look like ourselves.”
“It doesn’t matter. A guy and a girl with the same names as two kids who used to live here? People will assume we’re together because we’re traveling together. There are too many connections to our old lives. Melodie is another one. You can’t talk to people we knew. You might slip up and say something that will let them know who you really are.”
Matt smiled. “No one is going to believe this. We could flat-out tell people the truth, and they’d laugh in our faces.”
“Let’s not test that theory, okay?” Why wasn’t he getting how serious this was?
“So you’re not the least bit curious about what your mom’s up to? How she’s doing?”
Mom. Of course I’d give anything to see her again. But I couldn’t. Could I?
Matt took me by the shoulders and peered into my eyes. “Come on. What’s the harm in checking in on our old lives? Making sure the people we left behind are okay?”
“What if they’re not?” My eyes burned with the threat of tears. “I couldn’t handle it if my mom wasn’t okay. I wouldn’t be able to leave.”
“I get it.” He sighed and let go of me. “But I want to see my parents and my sister. If I’m really getting another shot at life, then I need to know they’re all okay.”
I started to protest, but he gently pressed a finger to my lips. “If they’re not, then I’ll find a way to make it okay.” I could see the wheels turning in his mind. “I could even be, like, an exchange student or something. I could live in my own home again and be part of the family.”
“Matt.” He was getting his hopes up. Things never worked out that nicely.
“I know it’s a long shot, but what if it could happen? If there’s any chance, I want to try.”
How could I deny him this after everything I’d done to him? “Okay, we’ll go check on them, but I can’t stay long. I have to get to the school. The others are counting on me.”
He smiled so wide I could see all the money Brian’s parents must have spent on dental work. “Let’s call a cab.”
“And what? Show up on their doorstep?” That would never work.
He thought for a moment. “I could show up at Amber’s art studio. She goes every day after school.”
“We don’t even know what day it is. Time moves differently in the underworld. We don’t know how much time has passed.” It was April when Hades took me and the other Ophi, but the air was warm now. I was guessing it was late May or early June. Maybe even later, judging by how hot I was in this hoodie.
“We have to start somewhere.” Matt walked to the traffic light and headed toward the grocery store. “Maybe they have a phone we can use.” Of course, we didn’t have any money left to call a cab or pay for one.
“Who are you going to call?”
“Amber’s cell.”
“What? Are you crazy? You can’t even think about telling her who you really are.”
“I won’t. I’ll tell her I’m new at school and one of her friends gave me her number.”
“And what are you going to do when your own sister thinks you’re hitting on her?”
Matt’s face twisted in disgust. “Oh, gross.”
“Yeah, well, that’s what she’s going to think. Trust me.”
He kicked a rock on the ground, looking defeated. “So then, what do we do?”
“Come on.” I tugged his arm, pulling him inside the grocery store. I grabbed a newspaper from the stand by the door. “Yes!” A few people turned and stared at me. “Sorry.” I turned away from them, focusing on Matt. “It’s Friday. Serpentarius is open to humans.” I could go talk to Mason, and Matt could look for Amber or some other kids from school who might be able to tell him about his family.
“To humans?”
“It’s an Ophi safe house, kind of like the school I need to get back to. Only the owners open the club to humans every Friday night. They even have humans on staff, so there aren’t any slip-ups.”
“Slip-ups?”
I widened my eyes, waiting for him to get the meaning behind my words.
“Oh.” His forehead creased with worry lines. “Do you think my cousin knows about the Ophi?”
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 pushing 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.”