No. I wanted to yell, scream, and spit in his face. He was doing this to me. He was controlling me like a puppet. But I knew if I said what I really felt, he’d just dose me with poison again. It really was killing me, whether he wanted to admit it or not. If I was going to survive, I was going to have to play along. Pretend what he’d said was true.
“Say it, Jodi. Say you love me.”
He stroked my face, sending just the slightest bit of poison through his touch. He had no idea how much he was hurting me. I had to make it stop.
“I love you.” I didn’t say his name, and I pictured Alex’s face in my mind while I said it.
Chase wrapped me into a hug and kissed me. It physically pained me to kiss him back. I hated him. I wanted to claw his eyes out. But I had to play along or he’d kill me and leave me for the wild animals. Chase’s hands were all over me, and I instinctively pushed him away.
“Need a little more?” I knew he was talking about his power.
“No! Please, Chase. I’m really in bad shape. I need to lie down. I don’t even know if I’m strong enough to make it back to the school.” A plan was forming in my mind. “Do you think you could go get your car and come back for me?” I laced my fingers through his, trying to play the part of the loving girlfriend.
“No need,” he said. “I’ll carry you.”
“Don’t be silly. It’s way too far for you to carry me.”
“Jodi, sweetie.” He kissed my cheek. “How dumb do you think I am?”
My eyes widened. My acting skills weren’t cutting it.
“I know, if I leave you here, the second I’m gone you’ll run for the road again.”
Maybe not run. My energy level was seriously depleted.
“I won’t. I’m not strong enough to anyway.”
“Alex may have been an idiot, but I’m not.” He scooped me into his arms and started walking. “Hmm, you may be right about one thing. It’s definitely too far to carry you like this.” Chase stopped and looked around. His gaze fell on Melodie’s car, and he walked over to it.
“It’s totaled,” I said.
“A little burned, but not totaled.”
“The whole thing was up in flames. You can’t drive it.”
He smiled, and I followed his eyes. He wasn’t looking at the car. He was looking at the body next to it.
“No! You can’t be thinking of raising him. Chase, that’s going too far.”
“Don’t worry, sweetie. I wouldn’t think of raising him without your help. In fact, I’d prefer if you did it. You know, as a way to show me you’re going to be on my side from now on.” He put me down right next to the corpse.
“I can’t. I won’t do that. He was only trying to help me. I would’ve died if he hadn’t freed me from the car.”
“Well, then you wouldn’t want his death to be in vain.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re either with me or against me, Jodi. Believe me, you don’t want to be against me.” His expression softened, and he cupped my face in his hands. “I really don’t want to hurt you. We’d make such a great team.” He lowered his hands to right above my heart. “But I will hurt you if I have to.”
I looked at his hands, poised and ready to send a burst of poison straight to my heart. A burst I was sure would kill me.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked.
“Because I need you to see that you and I aren’t like the others. We’re better. I deserve the best, and that’s you. If I can’t have you, I will kill you. So, you better start proving that you want to be with me.”
My eyes stung with the realization that I was defenseless against him. Part of me wanted to let him kill me, to end it so I didn’t have to become the monster he wanted me to be. But if I died, that would be the end of the Ophi. I was sure of it. My death would mark the end of my deal with Hades. He’d go after the others, until there were no Ophi left.
I stared Chase in the eyes. “If you want me to love you, then you need to be someone I could love. Not a monster.”
“I’m powerful. That doesn’t make me a monster. You fighting me is making me a monster. If you would’ve just come back with me, none of this would’ve happened.”
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll go back with you.”
“No.” He crossed his arms like a bratty child. “Now you need to prove yourself to me.” He nodded at the corpse. “Raise that soul and make him carry you back to the school.”
He was crazy, and I was crazy for not fighting him.
“Jodi, you have five seconds before I dose you with more poison than you can stand.”
I squeezed my fists, feeling my blood already mixing in response to my emotions. I glared at Chase. “Fine, but understand I will hate you for making me do this.”
“No, you won’t. You will love me, Jodi, or I will kill you.” He motioned to the body.
I stepped around him, careful not to make contact. I didn’t need any of his power. I reached out for the soul, muttering an apology at the same time. He recognized me instantly, and when he realized I was forcing him back into his charred body, he screamed in agony. I cried, but I continued to control him, to hurt him more than he’d ever been hurt. I watched the corpse rise and come toward me.
“Good girl,” Chase said. “Now, make him carry you.”
My mouth didn’t want to move. It killed me to say the words. “Carry me to my home. Follow Chase.”
Chase smiled as the corpse reached for me and picked me up. His burned body was wet and bloody in some places where his flesh had melted away. I struggled to keep from throwing up. Chase laughed.
“See, it would be so much easier if you decide to love me.” He walked with a smile the entire way back.
The corpse struggled under my weight, but no matter how much he hurt, he couldn’t stop. He was powerless against me. We reached the school grounds, and I saw Tony was in the cemetery teaching the others. He’d taken over the lesson for me, but he stopped the second he saw us. His eyes went back and forth between me and the corpse. “My God, Jodi. What on earth have you done?”
“She’s a ruthless one,” Chase said. “But man are her powers awesome.” He looked at me and smiled. “Come on, sweetie, don’t you think the poor guy’s had enough? You can walk the rest of the way, can’t you?”
He was pinning this all on me. Making me look like the bad guy. I wanted to punch him in the face. To tell everyone the truth about what had happened. Instead, I commanded the soul to put me down. His flesh stuck to me in several places, and the tearing sound it made was sickening. He stared down at his arms in obvious pain.
“I release you. Please, return to where you were. I’m so sorry,” I choked out. Tears filled my eyes.
Chase came over and put his arm around me. He sent waves of power through me. Not enough to consume me. I was sure he didn’t want anyone else to know what he was doing. “Aw, hon, I know you feel bad about making him do that.” He took my face in his hands and said, “I forgive you.” He kissed me, and I truly wanted to die.
When he pulled away, everyone stared at me in horror, and there was nothing I could do to convince them of the truth.
Chapter 19
I was in serious trouble. Suddenly everyone was looking at Chase like he was the good guy. I was the girl who was out of control with power. Only I didn’t want the power. I wasn’t trying to use it. It was all Chase, but no one else could see that. Even Jared, who I’d hoped had seen a glimpse of Chase’s true colors, was looking at me like I was no better than him. I needed help. I needed Alex. But since Alex wasn’t here, I had to hope Medusa would be enough.