“What were you trying to do, kill him?” I kept my voice a whisper, hoping Chase would be too involved in the connection with Medusa to hear me.
“I wouldn’t have really let him do it,” Alex said. “But the guy needs to be put in his place.”
“Yeah, well, killing him isn’t the way to do it.” I stepped closer to him. “When you do stuff like that, you make me think you’re—I don’t want you to end up like Victoria and Troy.” I’d never held it against Alex that his parents were evil Ophi who had tried to kill me. Alex wasn’t like them, but he was their son, and it made me wonder if he had that same evil buried somewhere inside him. If he did, I was determined not to let it come out. I owed him that for helping me face his parents and for saving my life.
Alex was silent, and I had no clue what was going on in his head. “You think I’m going to turn into them? Do you really have such little faith in me?”
“No. I’m worried about you. That’s all.” I wished he would look at me, but he was staring past me at Chase. I leaned forward, resting my hands against his chest. “Alex, I care about you. A lot. I don’t want to lose you.”
The coldness evaporated from his face, and he lowered his eyes to meet mine. “You won’t lose me.” He gave one last look at Chase before taking my face in his hands and kissing me.
Chase cleared his throat, making me jump. “Sorry, was I supposed to stay connected to the statue until you two were through making out?”
I spun around, but Alex didn’t let me step away from him. He put his hands down heavily on my shoulders, grounding me in my spot. If I wasn’t so embarrassed, I would’ve been annoyed by Alex’s little attempt to claim his territory.
“You can try holding her left hand now.” I pointed to the statue, trying to get Chase’s attention off me.
Chase’s eyes lingered on me for a few more seconds before he reached for Medusa’s left hand. His face twisted in a worried expression.
“It’s okay,” I said. “The blood in the left side of her body is only poisonous to humans. What you’re feeling is the power of that blood flowing through your veins. It can’t hurt you, though.”
“It feels like—”
“Snakes, I know, but trust me, you’ll get used to it.” I watched Chase give in to the sensation and become oblivious to us.
“Shall we pick up where we left off?” Alex asked.
I shrugged his hands from my shoulders and glared at him. “Don’t treat me like I’m this prize you’ve won. I saw you look at Chase before you kissed me. You knew he was watching us.”
“So? Do you have a problem with him knowing you’re my girlfriend?”
“No. I have a problem with you groping me every time Chase is near. You’re not a dog, and I’m not a tree. So, stop trying to piss around me.”
Chase started laughing, and I turned to see he was no longer connected to Medusa.
“It’s nice to see a girl who isn’t afraid to stand up for herself.”
I stared at Chase, not liking the way he was looking at me any more than I liked the way Alex was acting. I spun on my heel and headed toward the kitchen to help Arianna with lunch, and more importantly to put some distance between both guys and me.
“Jodi,” Alex called after me.
“See you at lunch.” I waved my hand, not looking at either of them, and kept walking. I turned the corner, almost smacking into Arianna.
“Jodi, what’s gotten into you?” She shook her head at me. “I’ve only known you for a couple months, but I’ve never heard you talk like that. Especially to Alex.”
She was right. I didn’t talk like that. I had no idea where it was coming from, all this anger. Before Chase came, things with Alex had been great. I’d never minded when he kissed me out of the blue. I thought it was romantic. But now…
“It feels like the only reason Alex is acting like this is because he doesn’t like the way Chase looks at me.”
“The only reason?” Arianna tsked. “Honey, that boy is in love with you. If you can’t see that, well, you need to get those pretty green eyes of yours checked.”
In love with me? No. No way. We’d been together less than three months. Alex couldn’t be in love with me.
“And Chase definitely has a crush on you. I saw the way he was looking at you. Holding your hand.”
My eyes widened. “Arianna, were you spying on me?”
“Sweetheart, please. I was dusting in the living room. It’s not like you and Chase were behind closed doors. I have eyes and ears, and they work just fine.”
“Well, since you know what’s going on, maybe you can help me. I really care about Alex. I do. But Chase is different. I’m annoyed by his cockiness, but drawn to him at the same time. It’s so much like the way I felt when I first met Alex.” I hung my head. “What should I do?”
“Okay, here’s one way to find out where your heart really is.” She brought me over to a couch in the living room, and we sat down. “Close your eyes.”
I took a deep breath and did what she said.
“Now clear your mind completely.” She paused. “Is it clear?”
Clearing my mind wasn’t easy these days. I had too much going on in there. “Not really.”
“Different question then. Whose face do you see?”
Whose face? I didn’t see a face. Wait! Yes, I did. But it wasn’t Alex or Chase. It was Matt. My ex-boyfriend, Matt. My human boyfriend I’d killed and brought back as a zombie, Matt. What did that mean? And did I really want Arianna to know I was this boy-crazed?
“Jodi? Do you see a face?”
“No,” I lied, opening my eyes.
“All right. Let’s try something else.”
I didn’t want to try anything else. I wanted to forget I was a complete headcase right now.
“Hades is coming.”
“What? Where?” I whipped my head around.
“Relax.” Arianna grabbed my arm, gently rubbing it. “It’s another method of figuring out what’s really in your heart. Pretend Hades is coming. He’s determined to take one of the boys. Either Alex or Chase. You can’t bargain with him. You can’t get out of making a decision. Who do you save?”
“Alex,” I said, without hesitation. “I’ve known him longer. I don’t really know anything about Chase.”
Arianna cocked her head to the side. “Is that the only reason you’re choosing Alex?”
“No. I really like Alex.”
“So, you don’t like Chase?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t gotten to know him yet.”
“But you want to get to know him?”
“Yes.”
“Even if it hurts Alex?”
“I don’t know.” All this was doing was confusing me more. I felt like I should be lying on a couch in the middle of a therapy session while a shrink analyzed all my thoughts.
“So, if you could get to know Chase without hurting Alex, you would?”
“Yes.”
“And what if getting to know Chase means losing Alex?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Alex asked.
I spun around on the couch to see the twisted expression on his face. “No, that’s not what I meant.” I reached out to him, but he was already taking off upstairs.
Chapter 5
“Alex, wait!” I jumped up and ran after him. “Let me explain!”
At the top of the stairs, Chase grabbed my arm. “Explain what?”
“Let go of me, Chase. I need to talk to Alex.”
“Don’t tell me you two are fighting again.” His expression was unreadable. Not quite concern, but not quite wishful thinking.
“We’re not fighting. Things are fine. Let me go.”
He released his grip, letting his fingers lightly trail down my arm until he reached my hand. He laced his fingers through mine, and a tingling sensation soared through me. I couldn’t deny the effect he had on me, but I didn’t want to feel this way. I wanted Alex. I dropped Chase’s hand and walked around him, careful not to touch him in the process.