Touch Of Death: Face Of Death Part 6

"Done." I'd figured as much.

"Second-and I have a feeling you'll like this one-for four hours each day, you will report to Tartarus to administer punishment to your former Ophi allies."

Punish Victoria and the others? As much as I hated them for everything they'd put us through both at the school and down here, I didn't know if I could put someone through that kind of torture.

"I-I don't know if-"

"Done," Alex said.

I turned to him, wondering how he could go along with this. Victoria and Troy were his parents. Yes, they were awful, and Troy had even killed Alex once, but still. "Alex, no, you can't."

Hades c.o.c.ked an eyebrow. "Very interesting. I thought you'd jump at the chance to exact vengeance."

"We aren't evil," I said. "Notice Chase isn't with us anymore. He didn't belong. He was consumed by power. We aren't. Alex is only going along with this because he thinks we have to."

One side of Hades' mouth curled up. "Are you sure about that? Maybe your boyfriend has a dark side after all. What's that expression humans love so much? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, I think it is."

"He's nothing like them!" My blood was mixing in my veins as the anger coursed through me. Alex wasn't a monster like his parents.

"Jodi." Alex kissed the side of my head. "It's okay."

"You're not evil. You never could be. I know why you're doing this, but I can't let you become something you're not just to protect me." Tears spilled down my cheeks.

"How touching." Hades tapped his foot. "Now, do we have an agreement on this term, or should we dismiss the deal right now?"

"We're in agreement," Alex said. His eyes pleaded with me. I knew we had to go along with whatever Hades wanted if we were going to get out of here, but I hated what this might do to Alex.

"Agreed." I tried to keep my voice from shaking too much.

"Good. Then my final condition is that none of you will enter the Elysian Fields or the Fields of Asphodel when you escort souls to their afterlives. You are only permitted to enter the place of judgment, which coincidentally is located in the forecourt of my palace, and of course Tartarus, since you will be both administering and receiving punishment there."

The palace and Tartarus were the only two places we could enter? That meant I couldn't get Matt from the Fields of Asphodel. I'd be raising my human soul alone.

"I'm sensing hesitation," Hades said. "My terms are final. I will not negotiate any of them. So, as the humans say, 'Take it or leave it.'"

I looked around the group, making sure the others were okay with the terms of the deal. I wasn't going to force them into anything. Each of them nodded back to me. They wanted me to accept. I squeezed Alex's hand, wondering if this was going to be goodbye for a while. Hades would most likely separate us as soon as I agreed to the deal.

"I love you," Alex whispered.

"I love you, too." My voice shook. I wasn't ready to leave him yet. He nodded toward Hades, waiting for me to give our answer. I reached out my hand, thinking we'd shake on the deal, but Hades laughed.

"I don't shake hands. Your word will bind this deal."

No loopholes there. He was going to make me say it. I trembled as I breathed in, and on the exhale I said, "Deal."

Hades' grin stretched across his face. "Then I shall send you all to your new stations. Remember, we serve the dead with a smile." He laughed at his own bad joke, and since none of us were laughing, he waved his hand in the air and sent us all off on our own swirling clouds of smoke.

Alex's hand was ripped from mine. I hadn't been able to say goodbye or kiss him one last time. I was thankful that the last words I'd said to him were "I love you."

I couldn't see where I was going, and it made me wonder how I was supposed to take souls to their afterlives when the only way I'd traveled down here was by a swirling cloud of smoke. Had Hades set me up to fail again?

I wasn't surprised at all when I was set down in front of the palace. I knew I'd be a.s.signed here. I wasn't the guard type. Ethan, Tony, Carson, and-would Hades let Chase in on this deal, or would he honor our decision to leave Chase behind? Seconds later, a cloud of smoke landed next to me.

"Surprise," Chase said as the smoke disappeared.

My heart sank. I'd been hoping Alex would be with me. As much as I knew Hades wouldn't keep us together, the nave little girl in me was still praying it would happen.

"Happy to see me?" Chase moved toward me, but I started up the steps to the palace.

"Don't talk to me. We'll escort different souls. As far as I'm concerned, you don't exist." I stormed up the steps and to the front door. I opened it just far enough to slip inside and let it slam in Chase's face. Thank you very much, Hades, you son of a b.i.t.c.h.

The palace was dark. Everything was black and made of cold stone. I didn't know where to go, so I headed straight forward. Hades had said the judges were in the forecourt, whatever that was. At the end of the entryway stood two tall black vases filled with asphodels. I was so busy looking at them and thinking about how I was supposed to get to Matt that I didn't notice Chase walk up behind me.

"Pretty awesome. You know, if we play our cards right, I bet Hades will give us our own thrones like that."

I was about to tell Chase to shut up, when what he'd said fully registered. Thrones. I looked up and saw a narrow little hallway leading to a throne room.

Chase bowed and held out his hand to me. "Ladies first."

"Don't even think about touching me. In fact, don't talk to me either. I don't need much encouragement to send you flying on your a.s.s with my poisoned blood."

"Feisty! I like it. This place is really improving your edge." He winked and had a stupid smirk plastered on his face.

G.o.d, I wanted to hit him! I turned on my heel and walked into the throne room. Two of the thrones, the biggest ones, were empty. I guessed they were reserved for Hades and Persephone. The other three thrones were occupied by three guys. Hooded guys. All I could see of them were their hands, draped over the edges of their armrests. Judging by the wrinkles, I figured it was a good thing their faces were covered in shadows.

"I'm Jodi Marshall. Hades sent me to escort the souls to their afterlives once they've been judged." I don't know why, but I bowed. Why p.i.s.s off the guys who would ultimately decide your fate? I'd have to face my own judgment some day.

The judge in the middle nodded slightly, and I a.s.sumed that meant they accepted my position. I stepped off to the side, not knowing what I was supposed to do. I didn't see any souls waiting to be judged.

Chase stepped up and waved two fingers in the air. "Hey. Name's Chase Baxter. My deal's the same as hers. Just tell me who to bring where." He didn't bow.

"You would do well to show us the same respect Miss Marshall showed us," the judge in the middle said.

Chase mumbled something under his breath, but he bowed and met me at the side of the thrones.

"What the h.e.l.l was that?" I asked him.

"I thought you weren't talking to me." He said it like he wasn't surprised at all that I was speaking to him.

"I'm not. Forget I said anything."

The doors of the palace creaked open, almost as if announcing the soul that was walking through them. Funny, but I didn't remember the doors making any noise at all for me or Chase. An older man walked in. I still couldn't get over the fact that souls looked exactly like the living. You couldn't tell they weren't whole beings with regular bodies. h.e.l.l, I'd even touched Matt. I knew there was a word for that. Tony had used it in a lecture once when he was explaining how souls looked in the underworld. Corporeal. It meant they could touch things and be touched in return. They weren't the same as when we raised them. Something happened down here to make them more lifelike. Ironic.

This guy had to be pus.h.i.+ng seventy. He had a slight limp on his left side. Something told me he walked that way more out of habit than necessity. No way would his limp follow him into the afterlife. He just couldn't change the way he walked after limping for so long.

When I stopped to think about it, I realized my little lie to Hades about knowing what the souls were thinking and feeling wasn't really a lie after all. I could tell a lot about this guy just from being near him. It was like my necromancer blood was tuning in to the soul. Reading it.

The judges sat forward in their thrones, and the middle one spoke. "Justin Mercer, you are here before us to be judged for your sins. We shall review your life and decide how you will spend eternity. Await your judgment."

I made a mental note to figure out who was who as far as the judges were concerned. If I was going to be working with them, even without being fully in my body after I raised my human soul, it would be easier to know which judge I was addressing. We waited while they deliberated. All three lowered their heads as if watching mini television screens in their laps. I wondered if they were streaming this guy's life on their smartphones. Of course, I had a feeling all of the methods of communication and transportation down here were light years ahead of what we had up top.

After several moments of silence, they raised their heads and nodded to one another. The middle judge spoke again. "Justin Mercer, you will spend eternity in Tartarus paying for the wrongful doings in your lifetime."

"Sweet!" Chase said. "I got this one." He walked forward and grabbed the man by his arm. The guy was crying and begging for his soul, but the judges waved their hands. The palace doors opened, and Chase dragged the man out, looking way too happy to do it. It was almost too much to watch.

I was still trying to get my heartbeat back to normal when a couple walked into the palace. They were young. Only about eighteen, if I had to guess. She was blonde and tiny. He was blond, too, and average height. By the way they clung to each other, I knew they were definitely a couple, not brother and sister.

They looked at me strangely, and I felt my mouth curve into a smile. I must have been totally creeping them out smiling at them like that, but all I could think was that they were perfect. They were Matt's and my way out of here.

Chapter 9.

Finally, I managed to stop gawking and waved them toward me. They didn't look like the kind of people who'd end up in Tartarus-not that I thought Alex, Arianna, or the others deserved to be there, either.

The couple walked toward me, and the girl began to sob. "It's okay. The judges won't hurt you. They just want to evaluate your life and see which afterlife you belong in." I put my hand on her shoulder and directed the two of them to the open s.p.a.ce in front of the three thrones.

Once again, the judge in the middle leaned forward. "Elizabeth Roseman and Brian Gehris, you are here before us to be judged for your sins. We shall review your lives and decide how you will spend eternity. Await your judgments."

Apparently, things were pretty scripted around here. Either that, or this guy had been giving the same speech for eternity, and he said the same thing every time without even thinking about it.

While the judges reviewed the lives of Liz-she looked more like a Liz than an Elizabeth to me-and Brian, I stared at them, trying to picture Matt and me in their bodies. I'd never visualized myself as a blonde before, and her hair was pin-straight. I was going to miss my waves. Brian was better than average in the looks department, but he had nothing on Matt. It was definitely going to be a step back for him, but I doubted he'd mind.

"It has been decided," the middle judge said. "You both will spend your afterlives in the Fields of Asphodel. While your lives were not full of sin, they were not full of great deeds, either. Your existence in the underworld will be much the same."

That was how they viewed it? I hardly called wandering around aimlessly neither good nor bad. It downright sucked. Still, I was glad I didn't have to take them to Tartarus.

"Follow me," I told them. As we left the palace, we pa.s.sed Chase.

"Wow, he put up a fight." He laughed, as if there was something funny about dooming a soul to eternal punishment.

"Go crawl in a hole," I said, ushering the souls past him.

"You just can't stop talking to me, can you, Jodi?" I really did try to ignore him, but something about Chase demanded attention. He was like a little child. The more you ignored him, the more he kicked and screamed.

Liz and Brian were silent the entire way to the Fields. At first, I wondered how I'd even find my way there, considering I'd only traveled by black cloud since I got here, but my body moved on autopilot. Another one of Hades' tricks, I was sure. As we approached the gate, I saw Alex's dirty-blond hair. My heart sped up at the sight of him. Now I knew where he was. I'd be able to see him before I raised my soul.

He was leaning over the gate and calling out Matt's name. c.r.a.p! I'd forgotten Matt had wandered off while I was striking yet another deal with Hades. I couldn't leave until I found him. I owed him that much. He wouldn't be here at all if it weren't for me.

"Alex." He jumped down from the gate and whirled around at the sound of my voice.

"Jodi!" He rushed to me, scooping me in his arms. I squeezed him tightly, not wanting to ever let go.

"I thought Hades had sent you to guard the gates of Tartarus. I figured he'd send most of the guys there." I leaned my head back to look at his beautiful face.

"I thought he was going to, too, but here I am." He smiled at me and lowered his lips to mine.

As much as I didn't want the kiss to end, I had a feeling Hades would show up and personally put an end to our reunion if we didn't knock it off soon. "Alex." His name was barely a whisper on my lips, proof that I didn't really want to get his attention. I really wanted him to wrap me in his arms and...well, that would have to wait until we were out of the underworld.

He sighed, resting his forehead against mine. "Sometimes you make me forget we're in h.e.l.l."

Liz gasped at the word, obviously unfamiliar with the levels of the underworld.

I turned to her. "It's okay. You aren't going anyplace bad." Well, not entirely bad at least. It definitely wasn't good either. I wondered if Liz and Brian would even remember each other after they'd spent some time in the Fields of Asphodel.

Alex opened the gate and stepped aside for them to enter. They peered in, looking very unsure.

"It's fields of flowers. They're called asphodels. There's nothing in there that will hurt you. I promise. It's safe." I left out the part about losing all sense of who you were.

As they entered the field, I whispered to Alex, "I heard you calling Matt. No luck finding him yet?"

"No. My guess is he's doing his pattern again. He'll find the gate eventually, but..." He looked at Liz and Brian. "I'm guessing you want to use their bodies."

"Yeah. They're kind of perfect."

"They're a couple, you know." Of course he'd notice that.

"I know, but that doesn't really matter. They won't be themselves. They'll be Matt and me."

"Right." Was he really still jealous of Matt? "And did you notice the engagement ring on the girl's hand?"

Engagement ring? No, I hadn't.

"You're not really going to pretend to be his fiancee, are you?"

That would be way more than Alex could handle. "No." I doubted Liz would be buried with the ring anyway. At least she wouldn't have it on in the morgue when I took over her body.

It wasn't the best time to bring up Matt again, but we were kind of crunched for minutes here. "We have to find Matt. Like, right now."

Alex sighed. "Seriously, I want major brownie points for this. I'm talking watching the movies I want to watch, eating the food I want to eat..." His mouth curved in a devilish grin. I knew where he was going with this.

"Yeah, yeah, but you know, you lose points when you try to tell me you deserve...certain things." I couldn't bring myself to say the word "s.e.x."

He held his hands up in defense. "I wasn't going to say that. I was simply going to say all the alone time with you I want." He raised an eyebrow. "But it's interesting to see where your mind is."

"Ha ha." I laced my fingers through his, and we both became completely serious again. This was goodbye, and we both knew it. Even if it was only for now, neither of us wanted to be apart.

"Hey," Alex called out to Liz and Brian, waving them back to the gate. They looked nervous as they approached us. Did they really think we were the bad guys? "Can you two look for a guy walking in a weird spiral kind of pattern? He's tall with dark hair, and his name is Matt, but he might not respond to it. We need to talk to him. Think you can find him and bring him here?"

Liz stared at Alex like he'd just described a puppy getting hit by a car. She was horrified. "Wh-why wouldn't he respond to his own name? And why is he wandering around?" Her eyes met mine, and she reached for my hands.

Alex put his arm up to block her. "Sorry, but once you're inside, I can't let you out. Not even your hands."