That was when I gasped. It wasn’t Chase. It was Alex.
I sat up in bed, breathing heavily. Why had I dreamt that? My arms tingled, and I realized my blood was settling, returning to normal.
A heavy hand knocked on my door. Tony had already patched it up for me. He wasn’t exactly a carpenter, but it would do. I turned to the alarm clock on the nightstand. Breakfast was already being served. I was late. Just like in the dream. I threw the covers off. “Just a second!” It had to be Alex at the door, wondering where I was. I threw on clean clothes and ran a brush through my hair, before flinging open the door.
“Oh!” The word escaped without my control. The person knocking on the door wasn’t Alex. It was the same corpse I’d reburied last night. Was I still dreaming? “No. This isn’t happening. It can’t be real.”
“Jodi?” Alex called up the stairs. “Everything okay?”
Nothing was okay. I’d done it again. I’d raised a soul without meaning to, this time while I was asleep. Part of me wanted to hide this from Alex. He’d freak if he knew I was messing up like this, but how could I hide a zombie?
“Jodi?”
I heard Alex’s footsteps on the stairs, and I panicked. “Come in,” I told the corpse. “Hide in the bathroom, and don’t come out until I call you.” He did as I said. The second he disappeared in the bathroom, I rushed into the hallway and shut my door behind me.
“Hey, I know I’m late. I overslept. I guess I didn’t set my alarm last night. Is Chase here?”
“Whoa, slow down.” Alex blocked my path. “You look… Did something happen?”
“No.” I shook my head to avoid his eyes. “I overslept, and I wanted to be there when Chase got here. It doesn’t look good that I wasn’t there to greet him. I’m in charge. I should’ve been there.”
“Jodi, you need to take a deep breath. Chase isn’t even here yet.”
“He’s not?” I sighed. “Okay, good.”
“If you call being late your very first day ‘good.’”
“It’s good for me. He won’t know I screwed up. The last thing I need is him telling the other Ophi at Serpentarius what a flake I am.”
Alex put his arm around me, and we headed to breakfast. “Who cares what he thinks of you?”
“I care. I’m supposed to be the leader of the Ophi. No one is going to follow me if they think I can’t handle the job.”
Arianna greeted us as we walked into the dining room. “Good morning. Eggs and bacon all around today.”
“Thank you, Arianna. It smells great, as usual.”
I said good morning to everyone, even though Leticia wouldn’t look at me, and took my seat. Alex dug into his mac and cheese while I fended off questions about why Chase was late.
“I don’t know what’s holding him up, but I’m sure he’ll be here in time for training.”
He wasn’t. I was in the middle of helping Randy raise two souls at once when a flashy red sports car pulled up the driveway.
“Wow,” Leticia said. “Now, that is a hot car.”
The driver’s side door opened, and Chase stepped out.
“And that is one seriously hot Ophi.” She grabbed my arm as if she was steadying herself. Who knew all it would take was one hot guy to make Leticia forget she was mad at me?
Randy and Alex exchanged eyerolls as Leticia continued to drool. I had to pry her fingers off my arm to go greet Chase. And surprise, surprise, when I reached Chase, Alex was by my side. I gave him a quick “Be nice” look.
“Hi, Chase. I’m Jodi.” Alex cleared his throat. “And this is Alex.”
“Her boyfriend,” Alex added without missing a beat.
I turned to glare at him quickly before directing my attention back to Chase. He was even better looking than his picture. His eyes were a really deep green, almost like emeralds. And he had a scar above his left eyebrow. A small one that seemed to give his face more character—as if he needed it. His smile was slightly crooked in a way that made me keep staring at his mouth. I worried he’d get the wrong idea, like I wanted to kiss him or something. I definitely didn’t want to come off looking like a love-stuck girl. Leticia was doing a good enough job of that for the both of us.
“Did you have trouble finding the place?” I managed to get out.
Chase looked me up and down, and I swore I heard Alex give a low growl. I felt really self-conscious, so I started blabbing like an idiot.
“We thought you were coming earlier. I had a plate set for you at breakfast, but no worries. We can still get you set up in your room and have you back down here for the end of the lesson.”
Chase continued to stare at me, but now his eyes were locked on mine. I couldn’t turn away, couldn’t blink. It was exactly like my dream. I silently pleaded that he wouldn’t reach for my hand, because I knew in that instant I would take it, even with Alex standing there.
“Is there a problem?” Alex asked. “You’re staring pretty intently at my girlfriend.”
“You’re even more beautiful than I thought you’d be.” Chase ignored Alex.
My cheeks burned, and I knew I was turning red. “Um, thanks. That’s nice of you to say.”
Alex put his arm around my waist and pulled me toward him. “Jodi, why don’t I show Chase to his room so you can keep working with Randy?” Before I could answer, he leaned down and kissed me. Not a quick “I’ll-be-right-back” kind of kiss. A passionate “get-a-room” kind of kiss. I pulled back, completely embarrassed, and widened my eyes at him. “Don’t worry. We’ll be quick.” Alex squeezed my hand before nodding at Chase.
Chase smirked and grabbed a bag from his trunk. He kept his eyes on me as he followed Alex into the mansion. It was a wonder he didn’t trip up the steps. I tried to turn away, pretend I didn’t care if Chase was still watching me, but I couldn’t. It was like a car wreck. If a car wreck looked like a gorgeous guy.
Leticia was at my side again. “Since you already have Alex, can I get dibs on Chase?”
I gave a nervous laugh, but I could feel my blood bubbling in my veins. Leticia might want dibs on Chase, and I was happy with Alex, but it was obvious Chase was already eyeing me. And no matter how much I thought things between Alex and me were great, I couldn’t deny what Chase’s presence had done to me.
“Um, Jodi.” Randy sounded worried. “I didn’t do that.” I turned to see him pointing at the two graves in front of him. Pale, discolored fingers were clawing their way through the dirt.
Leticia looked at me and backed away. “Did you do that?”
That’s when I realized my blood was still boiling.
Maybe Alex had a reason to be worried after all.
Chapter 4
Randy and Leticia stared at me, looking for an explanation. I tried to come up with something—something clever to make them think I’d done it on purpose to try to teach them to always be ready, but it didn’t make sense. Ophi didn’t raise souls without knowing it. At least no Ophi other than me.
“I—”
“Hey, nice work, Randy. You did it!” Alex said, running over to join us.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were showing Chase to his room.”
“Yeah, yeah. I did. I told him to go up the steps to the right. Fourth door on the right. He’ll find it.” Alex shrugged. “Besides, I got back just in time to see Randy’s raising. That’s awesome, man.” He smacked Randy on the back.