Touch of Death (18 page)

“I’m actually pretty beat. That was a lot of driving to get here, and I’d love to hit the—”

“This can’t wait. I’ll be expecting you in fifteen minutes.” Victoria gave me a quick squeeze. “We’re so happy to have you here. Sleep well.”

“Thank you,” I said. “Goodnight.” I watched Victoria and Troy walk into the room on the right. “So, those are your parents.”

“Yup. Those are my parents.” Alex sighed. “Come on. I know you’re tired, so let’s get you to bed.”

“What about you? Do you think your parents will have you up much later?”

“Probably.” He shrugged, trying to act like he didn’t care, but I didn’t buy it. “Come on. Your room is upstairs.”

The staircase was narrow, and it creaked with every step. I was so tired I thought I’d collapse before I reached the top.

“I don’t get it. When I was holding both Medusa’s hands, I felt powerful and really alive, but now I’m wiped out.”

“It’s like that in the beginning. Your power will drain your energy pretty quickly. From the sound of it, you got a serious jolt from Medusa. You’re coming down from it now. I’m pretty sure if we don’t get to your room fast, you’ll wind up sleeping on the stairs.” He smiled at me.

“Funny. But since I’m the one who’s supposed to save you and the rest of the Ophi, I’m thinking you should be a little nicer to me. If I collapse from exhaustion, the least you can do is carry me to bed.” The second I said it, I realized how it sounded.

So did Alex, because he raised an eyebrow and said, “Very interesting. I’ll make a note of that.”

Wonderful. I’d accidentally come on to my former stalker.

He took me down a long hallway to the third door on the right. “This is you.” He opened the door and motioned for me to go in. The room was big, which would have been a dream come true, but it was barely furnished, and all I’d taken with me was the one measly bag Alex had packed. “Oh, I forgot my bag in the car.”

“We had it brought up for you.” Alex pointed to my bag on the floor by the bed.

“What, do you have maids and butlers in this place?”

“Something like that. Will you be okay or is there something I could help you with?”

“I’m just going to change into comfy clothes and hit the sheets.”

“And what’s the verdict on whether or not you want my help with that?” He flashed a cocky smile at me. He was undeniably sexy, in an “I-have-poison-blood-in-my-veins” sort of way. Which, for me, was the only way I could handle it, thanks to my Ophi powers. Still, I couldn’t think of him that way. I had to stop thinking of him as a guy altogether. He was Alex, my Ophi tutor. A tutor who had said I was hot. No, I wouldn’t think about that. I couldn’t.

“Should I take your silence to mean you’re thinking it over?”

“What? No! I-I’m tired. I zoned out for a minute.” I crossed my arms and turned away from him slightly, catching my reflection in the mirror. My hair had this windblown effect going on, most likely from my encounter with Medusa. My loose curls had a snake-like quality to them. “Oh, this is pretty. Remind me never to try that double hand holding trick again.” I patted my hair down.

“I kind of like it,” Alex said. “It makes you look a little wild.”

“You like girls to be wild, huh?” Ugh, why did I say that out loud?

He laughed. “Depends on the girl.”

Things were getting more awkward by the minute. I picked up my bag and placed it on the bed. “You did pack clothes for me to sleep in, right?”

“Um, actually, I didn’t.”

I tore my clothes out of the bag, which wasn’t the best idea since one of my bras went flying across the room.

“I’ll get that.”

“No!” I put my hand up to stop him. “You stay there. I got it. It’s bad enough you went through my underwear drawer. I don’t need you picking up my bra for me.” I grabbed it and shoved it in the top dresser drawer. The drawer was empty except for a locket lying in the middle of it. “What’s this?” I picked it up and held it out to Alex.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen it before.”

“Well, whose room was this?”

“No one’s. No one’s lived in here for as long as my parents have owned the house.”

“Hmm” The front had a reddish stone, but the center was green. It almost looked like a red veil wrapped around the green in the middle, and as I stared at it, I swore the red part swirled almost like blood. I blinked, thinking it was just my tired eyes playing tricks on me, and turned the locket over. The letter M was engraved on the other side.

“Does it open?” Alex asked. “Aren’t lockets meant to hold pictures inside?”

I looked for a way to open it. “Yeah, but this one doesn’t seem to. Strange. I guess I’ll put it back where I found it.” I turned back to the drawer, but instead of putting it inside, I closed my fingers around it and kept it hidden from Alex.

“Sorry about forgetting to pack some pajamas for you. I have a long sleeved t-shirt you can borrow. The heating in this place is crazy. We keep it on low, and it still gets scorching hot at night. You should be plenty warm enough in the shirt, and I’m betting it would look like a dress on you.” He was a lot taller than me.

“Okay, yeah. Thanks.”

“I’ll be right back.” He left the room, and I looked at the locket again. Just like with the Medusa statue downstairs, I had this feeling. This locket was meant for me, so I put it on and hid it under my shirt before Alex came back.

Chapter 17

I woke the next day, feeling pretty good. I’d slept well, snuggled up in Alex’s long sleeved gray t-shirt, breathing in his scent. Why did he have to smell so good? I felt guilty for sniffing the shirt first thing when I opened my eyes. Matt hadn’t even been in the ground for twenty-four hours and I was moving on? I wasn’t, really. The thing with Alex was more like me latching on to him because he was the only somewhat familiar face in my new life.

I had no idea what was in store for me today. Alex had said his family would teach me about my powers, so I figured I was in for boring information dumps. For some reason, I wasn’t all that eager to get started. I remembered the locket and reached for it, pulling it out from under my shirt—Alex’s shirt. Something about the locket screamed,
I
‘
m yours!
I really hoped Alex wouldn’t mention it to his parents. I didn’t want to find out that it belonged to someone else. It felt at home around my neck.

Someone knocked lightly on the door, and I stuffed the locket back under my shirt. “Who is it?”

“Alex.”

Oh no! I was sure I looked like a car wreck. “Just a second!” I scrambled out of bed, getting tangled in the sheets in the process. I fell to the floor with a loud thud.

Alex burst through the door. “Is everything—” When he saw me on the floor in a jumbled mess, he bit his lip. No doubt to keep from laughing. “I wanted to let you know, lunch is ready in the dining room.”

“Lunch?” I untangled myself and stood up, tossing the sheets back on the bed. “What time is it?”

“12:30. I take it you slept well.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Told you my t-shirt would keep you warm.” He winked at me, and I felt my cheeks blush. “Looks good on you, too.” He started to leave, but hesitated in the doorway. “The dining room is downstairs. Take the hallway on your left all the way to the end.”

I nodded, feeling rather naked in nothing but a long t-shirt and underwear. “Got it.”

“Oh, and don’t worry about making your bed. We have servants for that. So, hurry up and get dressed and head on down for lunch.” He closed the door, leaving me to wallow in my embarrassment.

Lunch turned out to be an elaborate affair. The dining room was the size of the school cafeteria. There were side tables filled with lavish displays of just about every kind of food. In the middle of the room was a long table. A table filled with people I didn’t know. I did a quick head count and realized there were twelve other people living here. I was lucky number thirteen.

Alex nodded to me with a mouthful of mac and cheese. I glanced around the table. Everyone else was eating big meals—rack of lamb, lobster, filet mignon. All but Alex. Victoria rose from the table and came to greet me. “Good morning, Jodi.”

“Morning? It’s afternoon. Sleeping Beauty slept through an entire morning of training.” I didn’t need to ask who the girl was who’d said that. Alex rolled his eyes, confirming that she was the infamous Abigail. She had short black hair, cropped at her chin, and, even though she was sitting down, I could tell she had the perfect figure.

“Come,” Victoria said, ignoring Abby’s comment. “There’s an empty seat next to Alex.” Before I could sit, Victoria said, “Everyone, this is Jodi, the newest member of our family.” I nodded and gave everyone a small smile before sitting and trying to avoid their stares. A waiter appeared behind me and asked me what I’d like to eat. I turned slightly to answer him and shuddered. His face had a bluish tint, and his eyes were sunken. He held a pitcher of water in his hand and poured a glass for me. The skin on his hand was sagging and blackened in a few places. After he poured my water, he stared at me, waiting for an answer. But I couldn’t talk. There was no doubt about it. This man was dead.

“She’ll have the mac and cheese. Same as me,” Alex said.

I turned to him and whispered, “Thank you.”

“No problem. They take some getting used to.”

“They?”

Alex used his fork to point at the other servants in the room. Their backs had been to me when I came in, but now I could see their faces. Each one of them was in a different stage of decay. Some were missing patches of skin, while others looked waxy and pale. My stomach lurched.

“Excuse me.” I bolted out of my chair and rushed for the door. I bumped into the guy carrying my plate of mac and cheese, smashing the contents of the plate all over the front of my outfit. He apologized, which only made me feel sicker. He was the one who had been—from the looks of him—ripped from his grave, and yet he was apologizing to me. I ran, heading back down the hall and out the front door. I kept going down the steps and across the lawn, stopping at a weeping willow and losing myself under its hanging branches. I sat down and cried.

“Jodi.” Alex rushed over and sat next to me.

“I guess there’s no such thing as alone time around here. At least not when the people you’re running from are so fast.”

“You’re running from me?” By the tone of his voice, I could tell he was hurt.

I raised my head, meeting his eyes. “You were totally okay with what was going on in there. Those people were dead, and you guys were making them wait on you. I mean, how can you enjoy a meal with decaying people serving you? My God! They prepared the food, too, didn’t they?” My stomach churned again. “And the comment you made about having people to make the beds, those are the people, aren’t they?”

Alex nodded. “But it’s not as bad as you think.”

I stood up. “Not as bad—please, tell me that’s a sick joke. They’re walking dead. Dead that you and your family brought back to life so you wouldn’t have to do chores.”

“You think they’d be better off in the ground, being eaten by maggots?”

This time I couldn’t stop it. The visual was too much on top of what I’d already seen. I leaned forward and spilled my guts on the lawn. Alex jumped up. At first, I’d thought he was afraid of getting puked on, but he pulled my hair back, keeping it out of my face.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

I wiped my mouth on the bottom of my already filthy shirt, and Alex let my hair fall down my back. “It was the truth, right?” I shook my head. “I know I have to get used to this new life, but isn’t what your family’s doing the kind of thing that gets Hades’ boxers in a bunch? If things are getting bad for the Ophi, so bad that you need me,” I choked on the words, “to save you all, why would you risk making Hades angry with you? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Mom and Dad have never played by the rules. They run this place, and since they’re doing a service to the Ophi, they feel that gives them certain privileges.”

I squinted at him. “Raising the dead isn’t a privilege.”

“Listen, I’m not doing a very good job explaining all this to you. Why don’t you come back inside? Change into some clean clothes, and I’ll have some food brought—no, I’ll bring food up to your room. I even promise to make it myself.”

“Why?” It was blunt, but I had to know. “Why would you go out of your way for me? You don’t even know me.”

“But I’d like to get to know you.” He smirked. “Once you’ve showered and brushed your teeth.”

I playfully smacked his arm. I couldn’t help thinking this would all be easier if it were just Alex and me, but I’d made a complete fool of myself in front of eleven other people, who I had a feeling weren’t going to be anywhere near as understanding or patient with me as Alex was.

“How bad is it?”

“Well, let’s just say you’ve looked better and leave it at that.”

“No, I mean how bad have I made things with the other Ophi?”

“Oh.” He sighed. “There were a few comments after you ran out. Mostly Abby laughing at you getting covered in mac and cheese. Though she did suggest we offer you up to Hades in exchange for our protection.”