He let go of me and stared at himself in the mirror. “Then why’d you bring me back?”
“What do you mean? I wanted to give you a second chance. Make up for all you’ve been through because of me.”
“But you said it’s only temporary.”
“You don’t have to be. You can stay here for as long as you want.”
“This body…” Matt held a hand up, examining it like it was something completely foreign. “Will it decay on me?”
“No. It won’t change at all.”
“Ever?” His eyes widened.
I shook my head, seeing where he was going with this.
“So, while everyone else around me is growing old and dying, I’ll be in this never-aging eighteen-year-old body?”
I hadn’t thought about that. I was just so concerned with bringing him back, giving him more time. I looked away, ashamed of myself for not thinking ahead.
“I can’t stay here. You know that, right?”
I did now. “Matt, I’m so sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing for you. I’m still pretty new at all this necromancer stuff. I didn’t think this through.”
He sighed. “Let’s go home. I need something to eat, and then I’m calling it a night. We’ll figure things out in the morning after we’ve both had time to sleep on this.” I reached for him, but he shook his head. “Please, Jodi, let’s just go. I really don’t want to talk about it anymore tonight.”
What could I do? I followed him out of the bathroom. The line outside was about a mile long, and a bunch of drunk girls started cursing at us and making rude comments about why Matt and I had locked ourselves in there. On the outside, I ignored them, but inside I couldn’t help thinking how ironic it was that girls were thinking Matt and I had been hooking up in the girls’ bathroom, just like some random girl had thought about Alex and me in this very same bathroom months before.
Yeah, my life was a little confusing.
The drive home was completely silent. Matt didn’t say a word, and I was too upset to even put on the radio. I cracked my window, letting the coolness in the night air sting my damp cheeks. Up until then, I hadn’t even noticed I was crying. Human emotions were killer.
Mom opened the front door as we pulled up in the driveway. For the first time since I’d known him, Matt didn’t open my car door for me. He went straight to the house and to the kitchen.
I threw my arms around Mom and rested my head on her shoulder.
“Oh, baby.” She kissed my hair. “I take it you didn’t find out what you needed to?”
I pulled away, and she motioned to the couch. I sat down while she went to the kitchen, returning with two steaming cups of tea and handing one to me. “Here you go. Matt said he’s having a quick snack and heading to bed.” More like he was avoiding me.
“Mom, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, sweetie. What is it?”
“Is it better this way? Getting to spend a little more time with me, even if you know I can’t stay?”
She held her teacup in her lap and sighed. “I know it’s going to hurt like hell when you leave, but I wouldn’t trade these few days for anything. I get to see my baby girl again.” Her eyes filled with tears. “When you left, I had no idea if you were okay. All I wanted was to see you again. And then you sent me that email saying you were safe, but when I tried to reply, the email account had been closed. I was devastated. When Melodie told me she saw you, I kind of fell apart.”
Hearing her recount all the awful things I’d done made me lose it all over again.
She reached for my hand and squeezed it. “But now you’re here. I can see you’re okay. You’re stronger than I ever imagined you’d be.”
Funny, because I didn’t feel strong at all.
“Even if this is the last time I get to be with you, I’m grateful for it.”
I put my cup on the coffee table and curled up in a ball with my head on her lap. She moved her tea to the table as well and stroked my hair.
“Maybe now that you know about me, we could see each other sometimes. We’d have to be really careful, but we could do it.”
“Sweetie, I would love that. I’ll even promise not to touch you if I have to.”
“Then it’s settled. Even after I go back to my Ophi body and soul, we’ll still get together. We could do holidays.”
“I do make a mean turkey.” Mom laughed.
“Yes, you do. And I promise to stay away from any knives. I’ll strictly be the stirrer or flipper or whatever else you can do to food while it cooks.”
“Taste tester?” Mom asked.
“No. Too risky. My saliva is poisonous too. I’ll have to be in charge of loading the dishwasher, too. Oh, and taking out the garbage after I use the napkins.”
“Now, that I’m not going to argue with.” Even though I was facing the coffee table, I could hear the smile in Mom’s voice. She was doing her best to make me feel better. To prove we could still be a family even though I was an Ophi.
“You’re the best. You know that?” I tilted my head to see her face.
“Yeah, well, it’s a tough job and the pay sucks, but I love you, so what can I say?” She smiled, and it felt so much like old times.
We hung out and talked about everything—Alex, the school, Alex, the underworld, Alex—until midnight. By then, we were both exhausted, and we dragged ourselves upstairs to bed. Mom took the side of the bed closest to the door. Even after all that talk about Alex, she was still worried about me and Matt. He’d gone to bed hours ago. It was strange to think about him sleeping in my bed. No guy had ever been in my bed before, and a week ago, I would’ve thought the only guy to occupy my bed would be Alex. But somehow, I was being magically transported back through time, to months ago when it was Matt who appeared in all my dreams.
I still wasn’t sure what to do about Matt, and because he wasn’t speaking to me right now, I had no idea if he even wanted to stay here anymore. If he asked me to release his soul and let him return to his afterlife, it might destroy me. I’d already sent him there twice, and each time it got worse. First he was in Heaven. Then he was in the Fields of Asphodel, totally oblivious to every emotion. If I sent him back to Hades a third time, would he end up in Tartarus?
That thought haunted me as my eyes finally closed, and it stuck with me all night—mostly because I was back in the underworld delivering another soul. My body suddenly stopped moving on autopilot as my focus came crashing back to my Ophi soul. I staggered for a moment before I felt the searing heat of the Phlegethon, the river of fire that surrounded Tartarus. Somehow, Hades had made it so we could pass through it. Of course that was only when we were delivering souls. If we tried to escape during torture time, we’d be burned alive.
My eyes came into focus as I got my bearings.
“Are you okay? You look like you freaked out for a second.” I knew that voice. But, no. That was impossible. It couldn’t be. I must not have adjusted from the switch, from returning to my Ophi soul.
I turned to face the soul I was escorting.
Amber! Matt’s sister. Immediately I knew what was going on. Hades had sent Alex to try to reason with me earlier. He’d even increased the torture for me and the group. When both of those didn’t get immediate results, he’d decided to play really dirty. He’d gone after Matt’s sister.
Chapter 20
I couldn’t breathe as I stared at Amber’s innocent face. First Matt, and now Amber. Hades was avoiding me, not confronting me about what I’d done. He was making me suffer, forcing me to return to save the people I cared about.
Amber cocked her head to the side and stared into my eyes. “Jodi? Can you hear me now? You were so spacey before. I tried to talk to you, but you didn’t answer me. Where are you taking me? Is Matt here? Will I see him? Are you dead, too?”