Kelly Hashway: Stalked by Death

“This is what you’re protecting?” Hades scoffed in Alex’s direction. “You see, you really would be better off with Chase.”

“Why would I believe anything you say? You lied to me and said I could be with Matt again. You know I can’t be around humans.”

“No, but you can be around Chase.” He walked over to Chase, looking him up and down. “His power is almost as strong as yours. He’s Ophi, so you wouldn’t have to worry about killing him. He’s the closest thing to an equal you are going to find.”

“I’m not taking a consolation prize. I refuse to kill the Ophi.” I stood my ground, but inside, I was shaking.

“Very well. Have it your way. I can’t kill all the Ophi at once, but I can kill those who are right here.” Hades reached his arms out, and the others fell to the ground. All but Chase and me.

“No!” I reached for Alex. He didn’t have a pulse. His heart wasn’t beating. He was dead.

“I will hunt down every Ophi, Jodi Marshall. I will kill them all. Your only chance at saving yourself is to take my deal. It would save me a lot of time if you’d end the Ophi race for me.”

I looked at Chase. He was petrified. I was sure he thought Hades was going to kill him, too.

“Your answer?” Hades crossed his arms. “I don’t have all day, you know.”

Something inside me clicked. My emotions were out of control. I’d never hated someone so much. Hades had taken my father, made me kill Matt again, wiped out every Ophi in the school, and worst of all, he’d taken the guy I loved. I was done. My blood bubbled, and my skin looked like it was transforming. Hades stared at me, obviously surprised by the change in my appearance.

My hair whipped back as I stood. I must have looked insane. That’s how I felt. I reached my arms out and summoned the souls of the Ophi lying on the ground. They came to me willingly, recognizing my power. There were no screams, and I didn’t have to force them back into their bodies. They wanted to come with me. I heard them stirring on the ground, so I turned my attention elsewhere. Somewhere deeper. Tartarus.

Hades’ eyes locked on mine, but he didn’t stop me. He was measuring me. Seeing how much power I actually had. Not even I knew that, but I was going to find out. I didn’t call out to the souls this time. I took them. I ripped them out of there. Hades had said they were evil people when they were alive, so I didn’t feel bad about torturing them this way.

One by one, I forced them into the bodies lying in the graves below us. I hoped the giant crater Hades had created wouldn’t make them all go plummeting back to the underworld. I saw the first set of fingers reach through the ground, and I commanded the soul to go right for Hades. I kept going, ripping souls from Tartarus and turning them on the god who’d tortured them for who knew how many years.

Hades didn’t seem too worried. He stood there watching, mocking my attempt to stand up against him. I worked faster, making the cemetery crawl with zombies, and they all wanted one thing: Hades.

Still, Hades was toying with me instead of taking control of the situation. He wanted to make me suffer.

“Stop her!” Hades commanded Chase. “Destroy her with your power. Make her bend to my will.”

“She’s too strong. I’ve never seen her like this.” Chase kept his distance. Wind whipped around me like a hurricane.

Hades raised his arms, and I expected an attack, but instead he brought a woman from the crack in the ground. I knew instantly that it was Chase’s mother.

“Break through her powers and poison her, or your mother’s soul is mine forever. I’ll see that she suffers in Tartarus for all eternity.”

I kept my focus on controlling the souls. Hades was beating them down and sending them away, but I raised them again. It was an unending cycle, and he was getting pissed. I’d hoped it would make him leave—retreat to the underworld, even if it was out of annoyance rather than fear. But he stayed.

Chase got as close to me as he dared, and he lowered his voice as much as he could with all the wind howling around me. “Jodi, take my hand. Together you and I are strong enough to stop him.”

What? This had to be a trick. He didn’t want to help me defeat Hades. He wanted to get his hands on me so he could poison me.

“Nice try, Chase. Don’t get in my way, or I will take you down.”

“I’m not lying.” His eyes left me and went to his mom. She stood there, bound in place by Hades’ power. “I can’t let him take her again. I have to make it up to her. Please, let me help you.”

Maybe he was desperate to help his mom. Maybe he really did want to defeat Hades. He’d failed Hades, and if he made it through this fight, Hades would kill Chase anyway because he’d failed. I knew it, and Chase knew it. I couldn’t trust him. As much as I wanted to save all the Ophi, this wasn’t the way to do it. Even if Chase was serious about helping me, our combined powers still weren’t enough to defeat a god.

“I’m sorry, Chase. I feel bad about your mom, but I’ve made my choice, and it’s not you.” I reached my hand out and hit him with a dose of poison. I couldn’t risk him doing the same to me. I knew it was wrong, but it was a poison or be poisoned situation. I wasn’t dying at Chase’s hands. If I was going down, it would be Hades’ doing.

“Wrong choice, Jodi Marshall.” Hades let out a yell, and the ground opened wider, crumbling beneath our feet.

I couldn’t maintain focus on the souls. I stopped controlling them and tried to grab onto something, anything. Alex was next to me, and we reached for each other’s hands as we plummeted into the black abyss.

The fall went on for what seemed like forever. I caught glimpses of the others. The Ophi, the zombies. Everyone was falling. Everyone was screaming in terror. The only one I didn’t see was Hades. He was already where we were going to end up. The underworld.

I’d made my choice. According to Hades, it was the wrong choice. He couldn’t let me go after that. I was a threat to him, and he wasn’t having it. I clutched Alex, silently communicating an apology. I’d put him through hell these past few months. I didn’t deserve him. Even just in the past hour, he’d had to see me with my human ex-boyfriend, who I clearly had unresolved feelings for. He should’ve hated me, but the look in his eyes said he still loved me.

I looked around, trying to get my bearings and remember what we were passing on our way to the underworld, but Hades had us surrounded in a black cloud of smoke. It carried us over the River Styx, which was barely visible through the smoke, and finally we fell at the gate to the underworld.

The zombies were obviously back under Hades’ control because they got up and walked past the three-headed dog that guarded the gates and headed back to Tartartus. Leticia and McKenzie gasped and backed away from the dog as Hades appeared from behind him.

“Welcome to my world.” He gave us a malicious smile and patted one of the dog’s heads. “This is Cerberus. Normally, you’d be judged to determine if you belong in the Elysian Fields, the Fields of Asphodel, or Tartarus, but I already know where you’re all going.”

I guessed the Elysian Fields were where the good people went. Not people like us. Cerberus stepped aside so we could pass, but no one moved.

“We’re not going there with you,” I said.

Hades laughed. “How amusing that you think you have a choice.” He stepped forward and got in my face. “You’re on my turf now, Jodi Marshall. We play by my rules.”

Everyone looked at me, their leader. Only I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know much about the underworld. Tony did, but I couldn’t exactly ask Hades to hold on while I had a chat with Tony to figure out how to get us out of here.