Touch of Death (11 page)

Mom frowned. “Honey, just because you’re seeing Matt doesn’t mean you should be mean to other boys. Especially ones who like you. Think of how you’d feel if the guy you liked was dating someone else and kept turning you down.”

I wasn’t in the mood for a Mom lecture, so I nodded. “You’re right. I’ll try to be nicer to him.”

She walked over and kissed my head. “That’s my girl. Melodie said Matt’s coming by at five. You better hurry up and get ready.”

I smiled and watched her leave. As soon as she was out of sight, I shut the door and headed for the closet. Alex was already stepping out of it.

I crossed my arms in front of me. “What did you mean about my blood poisoning Dr. Alvarez?”

He walked over to my bed and sat down. “You told Mr. Quimby your birthday was December eighth.”

“So?” I didn’t see how my birthday mattered.

“So, you were born under the thirteenth sign of the zodiac. Under Ophiuchus. That makes you different. It makes you dangerous.”

“Dangerous.” I almost laughed. I was the least dangerous person I knew; I hardly raised my voice. At least I hadn’t before I met Alex. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“I know you have Gorgon blood running through your veins. I know that blood has the ability to bring the dead back to life. And make the living fall dead.” I started to protest, but he grabbed my left hand just below the Band-Aid. “How long did it take for Dr. Alvarez to collapse?”

I didn’t answer.

“I’m guessing not long at all. Just long enough for your blood to work its way through his system, shutting down every part of his body.”

Tears welled up in my eyes. “I called 911, and the nurse used that AED thing almost immediately.”

“It doesn’t matter. Modern medicine is useless against Gorgon blood.”

“What do you mean Gorgon blood? Gorgon like as in Medusa?” I pulled my hand back from his.

“Weren’t you paying attention to Mr. Quimby’s lesson? The whole reason he focused on mythology this semester was for you. To teach you about who you really are.”

“How long has he been teaching at Lambert?”

“He started the same time you did. In September. He needed to be able to watch over you. We knew you’d be coming into your powers soon. It was the absolute worst time for your mom to stop homeschooling you. You were going to be around regular people all the time. We had to get someone in that school to protect you. And to protect others
from
you.”

I squeezed my hands against my head, ignoring how much it hurt my cuts. “No, this is crazy.” He stood up and placed his hands on top of mine. His touch was gentle, sympathetic.

“I know what you’re feeling.” I looked up at him. “I’m like you, Jodi. We’re necromancers.”

“Necromancers bring the dead back to life. They don’t kill the living.” I’d read enough books to know that. All the books I’d read had been fiction, but I didn’t mention that.

“We’re part of a special group of necromancers called the Ophi. We have more power than a normal necromancer because of the Gorgon blood in our bodies.”

“Ophi like as in Ophiuchus?”

“Yes. Ophiuchuses doesn’t have the same ring to it.” He smiled. “So, we shorten the term. There’s a group of us in this area. That club you went to the other night, Serpentarius—that’s one of our places.”

“Your places?”

“We have to make a living somehow, right? I guess we could work as hired hit men, but that’s not exactly on the up and up.”

“And you call raising the dead and killing non-Ophi people on the up and up?”

He laughed. “Not really, but that’s why we formed our group. We have safe places, like Serpentarius, and you wouldn’t believe how much money that place brings in.”

“Why does that name sound so familiar?” I knew I’d heard it before, and not just when Matt took me to the club.

“It’s another name for the constellation Ophiuchus. He holds the constellation Serpens in the sky. So, he’s known as the Serpent Bearer or Serpentarius. It was all in Mr. Quimby’s lesson.”

“Okay, see, that right there is proof I’m not one of your Ophi. I hate snakes. I always have.”

“Please, do you really think a snake knew how to use herbs to heal people? That myth was created to cover up the truth. To hide it from non-Ophi. We have Gorgon blood in us. The same blood that was given to Ophiuchus by Athena.”

“Mr. Quimby said there were two vials of blood.”

“Yes. The blood from Medusa’s right side had the power to restore life.”

“And the blood from her left side was poisonous.” I wondered if Alex was telling the truth about Mr. Quimby and the lesson being for my benefit. “You said Mr. Quimby told you to follow me. That he took the job at Lambert to keep an eye on me.” He nodded. “That means he’s an Ophi, too.”

“Yes. He wants me to take you to one of our safe places.”

“Serpentarius?”

“No, that place wouldn’t be safe enough for you. There are too many humans. The Ophi there know how to keep their distance and not hurt anyone. They usually don’t even work on nights they let humans into the club, which isn’t very often.”

I shook my head, trying to process all this. Matt’s cousin worked there. “So, there are humans who work there, too?”

“Yes. On different days, but the place I’m taking you is a sort of school so we can teach you how to control your power. It’s triggered by your emotions and transferred through your blood and… other bodily fluids.” Oh yuck! I must have looked horrified because he quickly added, “Like your tears or your saliva. That’s why you can’t date Matt. If you kiss him, you’ll kill him.”

I remembered what Alex had told me in the bathroom at Serpentarius.
One kiss and he’s history. He’ll be as stone cold as the nurse who examined you after your accident
. The nurse. I’d forgotten about her. “I killed Ms. Steingall. She looked in my eyes with that flashlight thing. It made my eyes tear. She apologized for making me cry and wiped my cheek.”

Alex put his hand on my shoulder. “You didn’t know. I should have gotten to you sooner.”

My legs felt weak, so I walked over to the bed and sat down. My shoulders slumped forward.

“I promise it will get better. We can help you, Jodi. We’ll show you how to control your power and even put it to good use.”

I wasn’t sure how something so awful could be put to good use. But then I thought of something. “You mean I could bring things back to life? Animals and even people? And they’d be normal. No foaming mouths or bloody skulls.”

“They’d be exactly how they were when they died. Maybe some blood and guts, depending on how they died.”

“But they’d be themselves?”

“Yes. They’d be themselves.”

I wasn’t sure if I believed him, but I wanted to. I couldn’t deny the things that had happened. The deer. The nurse. The rat. The squirrel. The doctor. I was the thing they’d all had in common. Me. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, it had to be true. I’d been responsible for what happened to all of them; I’d done it without knowing. Learning to control this power wasn’t a bad idea.

“Where is this safe place—the school?”

“I can take you there now. Pack a bag, and we’ll go.”

I stood up. “Pack a bag? Where exactly are we going?”

He stepped closer, taking my hand in his. When had he gone from psycho stalker to… sweet? “Jodi, you can’t stay here anymore. Your powers are active now. If you’re around regular people, you’ll be putting their lives in danger.”

Okay, forget sweet. He wanted me to leave home. Leave Melodie, Matt, and Mom. I couldn’t do that. “You can’t just rip me out of my life. What would I tell my mom? How would I explain any of this to her?”

“You can’t.” He let go of me and walked to the window. “We have to sneak away. It’s the only way.”

“Not say a word? My mom will call the cops. She’ll have a search party looking for me. It would break her heart.” He turned around and sighed. “Not to mention they’d all be looking for you. Matt and Melodie have both seen you. They’d hunt you down.”

“Is that really what you’re worried about?” His eyes bored into mine. “Or is it that you don’t want to leave your boyfriend?”

I didn’t want to leave Matt, but that wasn’t it. “I’m not that shallow. I don’t need to have a boyfriend. I just can’t leave knowing that I’ll be hurting all the people who care about me. They wouldn’t know what happened to me. They’d assume the worst. That I was dead.”

“I can probably arrange for you to call your mom. At least to tell her you’re safe.” He stepped toward me. “Jodi, please. I’m trying to help you. If you don’t come with me, they’ll—just trust me, it’s easier this way.”

What was he trying to say? That I’d end up killing everyone I loved? Or that the other Ophi would come after me?

“I need time to process this. You can’t dump it all on me and expect me to run away with you, no questions asked.” Okay, so it wasn’t exactly no questions asked, but still.

“You want time to say goodbye,” Alex said.

I wasn’t convinced I was leaving, but if he was going to give me an out, I was going to take it. “Yeah.” I lowered my eyes, avoiding his stare.

“Okay. But you have to promise me you won’t kiss Matt. You can’t go out with him tonight. It’s way too risky.”

“I have
some
self control. I’ll be fine going out with Matt. It’s pretty easy not to kiss someone.” I’d sure had plenty of practice not kissing Matt.

Alex crossed his arms. “I don’t like this at all. I should take you with me right now.”

“Take me with you? As in throw me over your shoulder kicking and screaming? Is that really the guy you want to be?”

“Goodbye, Jodi.” Alex went to the window and opened it. Finally, I knew how he’d been getting inside my room. “This lock is broken, by the way.”

“Good to know.” I followed him, watching him crabwalk out onto the slanted roof and shimmy over to the tree. Stopping for a second, he looked like he was going to say something. “Don’t even think about telling me to be careful.”

He smirked and climbed down the tree. Jumping to the bottom, he disappeared off to the right, heading for the backyard.

“Jodi.” Mom knocked on the door. I closed the window before letting Mom in. She took one look at me and gasped. “You’re not dressed. Matt will be here any second. You haven’t even showered.”

“Um…” I couldn’t even think of an excuse. The doorbell rang. “Oh no!” I looked around for my towel. “Five minutes. Stall. Please.” I grabbed my towel and ran past Mom straight to the bathroom. I jumped in without even letting the water warm up. If I was freezing, I’d get out faster. I splashed cold water all over me, washing my hair like a crazy person. After a quick rinse, I toweled off. With one towel on my head and the other wrapped around me, I dashed to my room.

Melodie was sitting on my bed with an outfit already picked out. “Here. Get dressed and dry your hair. I’ll tell Matt you’re almost ready.”

“Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.”

“Don’t you forget it. My birthday is right around the corner.”

“Got it.” I nodded. She left, and I threw my clothes on. I used the blow dryer for a whole three minutes. For once, I was happy I had thin hair. It dried quickly. I put on some lip-gloss and looked at my reflection in the mirror. Not great, but not bad. Definitely not kissable—or at least I hoped.

I ran down the stairs, stumbling on the last step. Matt jumped up from the couch when he saw me slip. I reached for the banister and stopped myself from face-planting. “I’m okay.” I smiled at Matt. “Would it be okay if we had a small change of plans?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess. What did you have in mind?”

I looped my arm through his. “Let’s go out back.” I turned to Mom. “We’ll be on the bench swing.” Mom nodded, narrowing her brows at me. I could tell she wanted to know what was up, but she didn’t want to embarrass me in front of Matt.

Melodie, on the other hand, looked like her eyes were going to pop out of their sockets. She rushed over to me, giving Matt a quick smile. “Can I talk to you for a second?” She tugged on my free arm, not giving me a choice. She pulled me into the kitchen. “What are you doing? You are going to completely screw things up with Matt. He likes you, and he’s put up with a lot from you. Please, don’t tell me you are cancelling your date tonight.”

“Weren’t you the one who asked me how I could even think about going out tonight after everything that’s happened?”

“That was before Matt showed up looking…”

Oh, God. How had I not seen it before? Melodie had a thing for Matt. When I’d met them, they’d said they were friends. They’d grown up together. I never thought Melodie had feelings for him, but looking at her now, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind. What kind of friend was I? She’d set us up because it was what
I
wanted. She’d rooted for us because she’s a good friend. Unlike me. I felt like dirt.

“Mel—”

“Don’t. It was a long time ago. Before I met you. I kissed him once. That was it. He said he didn’t think of me that way.” She was talking fast, like she had to get it all out before the pain set in. “It’s fine. I can’t force him to like me. But he
does
like you, and he deserves to be happy.”

I didn’t know what to say.

“Go. Don’t keep him waiting.” She gave me a small push toward the living room, but I turned and wrapped her in a hug.

“You’re the best friend I could ever ask for.”

“Yeah, yeah. Like I said, my birthday’s coming. You can thank me with a really big present.”

We both laughed, and I went to rescue Matt from time alone with Mom. We headed outside to the bench swing on the back patio. We sat down, and I didn’t know where to begin. I had to break up with him. If what Alex had said was true, he’d be in real danger dating me. And now that I knew how Melodie felt… well, I had to end this.

“Matt, listen,” I began.

But before I could get any further, he leaned over and kissed me.