Kelly Hashway: Stalked by Death

“Sorry, just enjoying the rush. Here you go.”

I felt his power flow through my fingers, up my arms, and to the rest of my body. Unlike me, he wasn’t holding back. A moan escaped my lips, and I increased my power flow to him. Our blood mixed and circled between us. I needed to wait for the connection to be strong before I tried reaching the souls.

“Jodi, why are you putting this off?” Chase yanked my hands so I was right up against him. Our hands were down at our sides, keeping the circle going, but I felt the power passing between our chests now, too. He leaned his head down, finding my lips with his. I kissed him back, and our emotions heightened our power. Chase wrapped my arms around him and cupped my face in his hands.

For a moment, I was lost in him. All I wanted was him. My nails dug into his back. He picked me up and wrapped my legs around his waist.

“Do I really need to be subjected to this?” Lexi yelled.

Her screechy voice broke through, and I remembered what I was supposed to be doing. I focused on the souls I wanted to raise. I reached out with my powers, all the way to the depths of Tartarus. I knew the woman I’d summoned earlier would be eager to come, and hopefully she’d convince the others so I didn’t have to work so hard to get them here. I knew I was close by the tormented screams that filled my head. Hades was torturing them, and if they didn’t understand what I was trying to do, they’d see my powers as more torture and shy away from me.

“Chase.” I pulled away from his lips. “Are you concentrating? I need help. They’re resisting, or Hades is clutching to them. Something isn’t right.”

Instead of answering, he pressed his lips to mine again. I had no idea if he was trying to make the connection stronger or if he was lost in the power. It was intoxicating. I had to fight to stay in control. I assumed he was trying to help, so I reached out further. My body shook, and I had trouble holding on to Chase. My legs slipped from his waist, but he had latched onto my hands again. He wasn’t letting me go.

Finally, I felt the first soul grab on. It was so much work raising them from Tartarus, and I needed a bunch more. I was losing hope that my plan was even possible. Hades was there. I could feel him, and he wasn’t going to make this easy on me. I tugged at the soul, and it screamed in pain. Its body was in Tartarus, too, so it knew it wasn’t returning to its home. That made me its enemy. I felt its pain, and it overwhelmed me. My blood shifted.

No, it wasn’t the soul’s pain I was feeling. It was my pain. My blood was being poisoned. I opened my eyes to look at Chase. He stared back at me, eyes filled with pure evil. What was he doing? The poison spread throughout my body. Chase stopped kissing me long enough to say, “Trust me, you’ll feel amazing once the poison takes over. It only hurts at first.”

His blood overtook mine; I was no longer transferring any of my power. The soul from Tartarus slipped from my grasp. Chase had tricked me! He was trying to turn me evil. He’d only pretended to go along with my plan to take back the souls Hades had stolen from us. I tried to pry my hands from Chase’s, but he was too strong, and the poison was weakening me. I heard the others choking and saw McKenzie fall to the ground. She was shaking uncontrollably, so I knew she was still alive, but this connection was killing her. It was killing all of them.

Then, the pain stopped. For me at least. The poison was taking over, and it didn’t hurt anymore. I felt different, but strong.

“See, I told you,” Chase said. “Now kiss me, and let’s finish what we started.”

I stared at him, totally understanding he meant killing the others. Even his dad. We were still connected and that craving for his blood, his power, took over. I leaned in and kissed him.

“Jodi,” Alex said, coughing up blood. “Fight him. What you’re feeling for him isn’t real. You know that. I know you do.”

He was right. My brain was telling me to listen to Alex. To fight Chase. But my blood was screaming for Chase, wanting to consume him and his power. Unfortunately, my blood was proving to be stronger than my brain. Chase was playing dirty. He was making me want him, and even though I was fully aware of it, I didn’t care. I did want him.

“Jodi, if you give in to him, you’ll lose me forever. That’s what he wants. It’s him or me. Hell, it’s him or you—because this isn’t you. Don’t let him take over. Find yourself in your blood. Find Medusa.”

I didn’t know where Alex was getting his strength from. The others were seconds from death.

Medusa’s image flooded my brain. “My child, prophecy is never what it seems. You’ve connected with Chase. You’ve chosen him. Now, you can undo it.”

“I can’t. This is what I’m supposed to become.”

“The prophecy said you and Chase were destined to destroy the Ophi line. You’re doing that right now. It’s begun. Now, end it before it’s too late. Before their souls leave their bodies.”

I listened for sounds in the cemetery, but there were none. Everyone was dead, but their souls hadn’t left their bodies yet, which meant I had a chance to save them.

“Medusa, help me, please. I’m weakened by the poison.”

“No, you’re stronger because of it. Use it.”

“You mean on Chase?”

“Yes, you must stop him. He’s trying to hold you off so you can’t bring them back.”

I couldn’t believe this. I’d given in. I’d killed them all. Medusa was right. I had to stop Chase. He was controlling me. I gathered my power and pushed it back into him, dosing him with concentrated poison. He faltered, staggering backward and breaking our connection. I hit him with the poison again, making him go down, too weak to fight me.

I commanded my blood to mix, but there wasn’t enough life-restoring power left in me. I’d given too much to Chase when I thought we were raising the souls in Tartarus, and that had only made room for him to fill me with poison. I bent down to him and grabbed his hands. Then, I did something I had never done before. I took what I wanted. I took his life-restoring power, calling it to me like I’d call a soul. It flowed into me, and my skin rippled with the power. My hair flew up behind me, and I was sure I looked like I had snakes wriggling on my head instead of long, dark hair. I took what I needed and focused on raising the Ophi in the cemetery. Even Ethan. I brought them all back. I let go of Chase, leaving him powerless on the ground. Without a visit to Medusa, he was down for the count.

Alex opened his eyes, and I rushed over to him. He spit up blood that must have still been in his throat from before he died.

“You did it,” he said.

“Not really. I let you all die before Medusa convinced me I was strong enough to overpower Chase.”

“You’ve always been strong enough, Jodi.”

“You should hate me right now. You know that, don’t you?”

He sat up. “Yeah, but what can I say—once a stalker, always a stalker.”

I smiled, remembering how scared I’d been of Alex when we’d first met. When I thought he was stalking me. Of course, he’d been trying to help me, in his own messed up way.

The others got to their feet and stared at me. They looked like they’d all seen ghosts, but I’d brought them back before their souls had had the chance to visit the land of the dead and see any.

“Was I—were we—” McKenzie was still in shock.

“Great,” Leticia said. “How many times do I have to die? I think I’ve had my share of death.”

Jared got to his feet. “Me too. I’ve only been here a few days, and I’ve died twice.”