Stalked by Death (Touch of Death) (2 page)

“Go back to where you were before Leticia called you. Go now.” My tone was serious, commanding. The corpse’s eyes flickered slightly, and I felt his soul release. A second later, the body slumped to the ground.

Back when Victoria and Troy ran the school, there were servants to clean up after messes like this. But the servants had all been raised souls, and I’d promised Hades we wouldn’t use his dead for our own purposes anymore. That meant I’d be digging up a grave this evening.

“I’ll take care of the body after my call with Mason,” I said.

Alex and I ran back to the school, leaving Tony way behind. I’d already kept Mason waiting, and I couldn’t have him in a bad mood when I needed a favor. I went straight to Victoria’s old office. My office now. The phone was lying on the desk. I threw myself into the chair and grabbed the phone. Alex stood behind me with his hands on my shoulders for support.

“Hello, Mason? I’m so glad you called. I—”

“Yeah, listen, Jodi, before you get too excited, I’m only calling to tell you that we’re happy where we are. We don’t see the need to come out there. We’re all responsible with our powers. We aren’t causing any trouble.”

“I know, but—”

“I’m sorry, Jodi, but I really need to get back to work.”

“If you’d just hear me out. I need more Ophi on my side. It’s the only way to keep Hades off our backs.”

“We’re not against you. We just don’t want to join you. We’ve got a good thing going on here.” Mason sighed. “Look, this is my business. I have a family to support. I can’t just walk away. I’ll have nothing to come back to.”

My face fell. “I understand. But listen, if you hear of anyone doing anything they shouldn’t be, would you at least let me know? Give me a heads-up?”

“You got it, kid. I wouldn’t want Hades breathing down my neck, either. I’ll do what I can.”

“Thanks, Mason.” I hung up the phone feeling completely defeated. How was I supposed to lead the Ophi if I couldn’t even get them here? I put my head down on the desk.

Alex knelt down beside me. “Hey, you need to get some rest. You can’t fix everything in a day.”

I raised my head to meet his eyes. “In a day? Alex, it’s been two months, and all I’ve accomplished is getting one new student.”

He rolled his eyes. “When’s good old Chester getting here anyway?”

I shook my head at him. He knew the guy’s name wasn’t Chester.

“Chase,” I pronounced the word slowly, “will be here in the morning.” I stood up, pulling Alex to his feet with me. “And you’re going to be nice to him. He’s Mason’s nephew, which means he’ll be reporting back to Mason about what’s going on here.”

“Tell you what—I’ll be really nice to Chester if you stay away from him.”

I sighed. Ever since Alex saw the picture Chase had emailed me, he’d been worried. Chase looked like a male model. Tall and well toned, with dark hair and green eyes. The green eyes were to be expected, but the rest of him—well, I understood why Alex would feel a little intimidated. Not that Alex was lacking in the looks department, but still.

“What makes you think Chase will show any interest in me?”

Alex turned away, pretending to look out the window. “Jodi, stop fishing for compliments. We’ve been through this before. I’m not going to tell you how hot you are, but aside from that, you are the most powerful Ophi. You’re our leader now. What Ophi wouldn’t show an interest in you?”

“Okay, fine, but it doesn’t matter anyway.” I stepped between him and the window so I was inches from his face. “There’s only one Ophi I’ve ever been interested in.” I tugged on his arm, making him face me again. I reached up on my toes and pressed my lips against his. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer to him. His kiss was hungry, like he didn’t want to let go. Finally, I pulled away, completely breathless. Alex just smiled, clearly impressed with himself.

“I bet you weren’t thinking about Chase at all during that.”

“Don’t you think it’s kind of odd that the first thought in
your
mind after a kiss like that is Chase?” I playfully swatted at his arm, but I was hit with a wave of dizziness. My legs gave out, and I fell forward. Alex caught me and lowered me to the floor. I was in his lap, barely conscious. The only thing I was really aware of was my blood mixing in my veins.

I tried to speak, but I couldn’t. Alex was talking, but I didn’t hear a sound. I only saw his lips moving. My eyes rolled back and everything went black.

I heard someone calling my name, and I realized it was Medusa. I was used to seeing her image and talking to her in my mind, but I was usually connected to the Medusa statue in the foyer when it happened. The statue contained Medusa’s spirit.

“Jodi, your power is unstable. You must not put so much pressure on yourself. You are splitting your focus and allowing your abilities to get out of control. Find yourself.” Medusa’s image faded, and I felt Alex tapping my cheek.

“Jodi? Can you hear me?”

I opened my eyes. My blood had stopped mixing, and I felt a little more normal. “I hear you.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. I got dizzy, and then my blood was mixing. But I don’t know why.”

“How do you feel now?”

“Like I used up too much energy. I need to connect with the statue.” The statue always gave me a boost of energy. It would help me make it through the evening, at least until bedtime.

Alex helped me up and walked me to the statue. I didn’t want to tell him I’d seen Medusa or that she’d said I was putting too much pressure on myself. I knew that already. Alex had been saying it for months, but what else was I supposed to do? I had to make all the other Ophi follow me, do things my way. Hades’ way.

The second I reached the statue, I joined hands with Medusa, feeling her power surge through me. I hadn’t needed to connect to the statue since drinking Medusa’s blood from the bloodstone locket she’d given me. I hadn’t thought I’d need power boosts like this anymore, but that was just one more thing I’d been wrong about.

I was careful not to stay connected to the statue for too long. Otherwise it would have the reverse effect, draining me completely. I took only what I needed and let go. “Thank you.” I knew Medusa’s spirit would hear me.

“Any better?” Alex asked.

“Much. Let’s go bury a corpse.”

Alex grabbed my arm. “You go have some dinner. You should eat something to get your strength up. I’ll take care of the body.”

I shook my head. “Really, I’m fine. Good as new, and the corpse is my problem. If I hadn’t been such an awful teacher to Leticia, I would’ve had more help digging the grave.”

“Hey, you’re not an awful teacher. You’re doing a great job. Leticia is just having a tough time. Randy’s really shown improvement over the past two months, and that’s thanks to you.”

I walked outside and started for the cemetery. “He is getting better. He’s a hard worker.”

“It’s not all him, Jodi. Take the credit you deserve.”

We walked through the cemetery gate, and I stopped to smile at Alex. “You’re good for the ego, you know that?”

“Nah. I’m honest.”

That was true. He was the first person to call me out when I was wrong. Not in a mean way. He just kept me firmly grounded in reality.

We paused at the mausoleum. It had become our spot. Plus, we kept some shovels leaning against it. The shed was at the other end of the cemetery, and this way we had access to shovels no matter where we raised the bodies. Alex pulled me to him and kissed me. His stomach rumbled loudly, making me pull back with laughter.

“I guess we better hurry up and dig this grave before we miss dinner.”

He smiled, looking a little embarrassed.

We walked around the mausoleum to where we’d left the body. The ground was bare. I looked all around. “Where’s the body?” Alex didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to. It was obvious. The body was gone.

I bent down, inspecting the ground. Looking for marks to show the body had been dragged off somewhere. Nothing. Everything looked the way I’d left it. All except for the body lying on the ground.

“Where is it?”

“Don’t panic.” Alex spoke calmly, though his eyes furiously scanned the entire graveyard. “Maybe Tony took it somewhere.”

“Why would he take it somewhere? If Tony moved the body, it would’ve been to rebury it.” I pointed to the ground in front of the headstone. “The dirt wasn’t dug up.”

Alex walked to the mausoleum. “Maybe he put the body in here. You know, to keep it safe until we reburied it.”

Keep it safe? It was a corpse, not a lost puppy. I knew Alex was only trying to help and keep me calm, but there was no explanation for a missing body.

Alex opened the mausoleum and stepped inside. The window was still broken from when he and I had been trapped in there by zombies Victoria sent after us. I peeked in after him, knowing I wasn’t going to find a body.

“Nothing.” He stepped back outside.

“So, now what?”

“We talk to Tony.”

A weird feeling came over me, sending shivers down my back. “Alex, what if Tony decided to make his own living dead servant, like the ones Victoria had?”

Alex shook his head. “No way. Tony wouldn’t do that.”

What other explanation was there? “Let’s not ask him about it.”

“Jodi, you’re being silly. He’d never—”

“Humor me, okay? If Tony just moved the body, then he’ll tell us at dinner. He knows we have to bury it tonight.”

“And if he doesn’t say anything?”

Then, we had a problem. I didn’t want to question Tony or think he would do something as evil as use the living dead to serve him. But he used to follow Victoria, and as an adult he could easily control one dead body. I couldn’t rule out the possibility, no matter how much I liked Tony.

Alex raised his eyebrows.

“Then we’ll keep searching for the body.” I left off the part where the first place I planned to look was in Tony’s room.

“I don’t think we should mention this to Leticia or Randy,” Alex said.

“Definitely not.” I started for the mansion. “Leticia can’t handle anything else right now.”

“Are you going to talk to her about what happened this afternoon?”

I knew I had to, but it wouldn’t be easy. I wasn’t sure how to make her believe that I had faith in her. That I was only trying to protect her.

“I don’t want to say anything at dinner where Tony and Randy will hear us. I thought I’d invite her to watch a movie with me in my room later.”

Alex lowered his head, staring at his feet as we walked. “I guess that means we’re not hanging out tonight?”

“You could come by after the movie. I heard Arianna talking about this devil’s food cake she made.” Arianna had been a cook at Serpentarius, but she’d gotten tired of the club scene. When I first called all the Ophi two months ago, she jumped at the chance to come help us out. She wasn’t the most skilled necromancer, but she cooked for us and even did a little cleaning, so I was happy to have her. “How’s a little dessert before bed sound?”

Alex raised an eyebrow and gave me a sly grin.

“I was talking about the cake.” I couldn’t keep from laughing.

“Okay, fine.” He stopped at the front door and spun me around to face him. “Just promise me that nothing is going to change tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Why would things change tomorrow?”

He wrapped his arms loosely around my waist and shrugged.

The insecure look instantly gave him away. This was about Chase. I raised my hands to his face. “Nothing will change between us.” I kissed him, and without knowing why, Chase’s picture came into my mind. I jumped, pulling away from Alex.

“What?”

“Um…” I couldn’t tell him the truth. I wasn’t even sure what the truth was. Why did Chase’s picture come to mind? “I bit my cheek,” I lied, raising my hand to my face.

Alex leaned forward and kissed my cheek. “Better?”

“Much.” I forced a smile and went inside. I barely looked at Alex on the way to the dining room.

We were the last ones there. Tony and Randy were in the middle of a conversation over spaghetti and meatballs, and Arianna was trying to convince Leticia to eat something. A bowl of mac and cheese was on the table in front of Alex’s seat. In all the time I’d known him, he’d had mac and cheese at every meal. He ate other things, too, but he had to have his mac and cheese. And now that I knew it was because Victoria used to make it for him as a child, it broke my heart every time he ate it.

As Alex and I sat down, Arianna greeted us with a smile. “You both must be starving. Eat, eat.” She placed a plate in front of me.

“It smells delicious, Arianna. Thank you.” Arianna was amazing. She kept us all fed and clothed. In a way, she made up for not being able to see or talk to my mom. That was the hardest part about being Ophi. I couldn’t be around my human mom. Not if I didn’t want to poison her with my blood. Again. Luckily, Alex had been there to bring her back before her soul left her body. Arianna had assumed the role of “mom” from the minute she came to the school. She loved us all, and we loved her in return.

Arianna sat down in Troy’s old seat at one end of the table. Victoria’s seat remained empty. No one seemed to want it, even if it was at the head of the table. “What’s on the agenda for this evening? A lesson? Some more training?”