Touch of Death(44)

"Jodi, listen to me." Alex kept glancing behind him. "They're coming. We need to go somewhere. Anywhere but here. They can't find us."

"I'm not going anywhere with you. You tricked me. You made me feel something for you." I scoffed. "You know, you could have a real future in acting if this raising the dead thing doesn't work out for you."

Alex turned back toward the house. I could see the others coming. "Please," he said. "Trust me this once. Come with me. I'll explain everything. There are things you don't know."

"How dumb do you think I am?"

He grunted. "I need you to believe me. It's the only way I can help you. They will hurt you, Jodi. They think you're against them."

"I am against them!"

"And they'll kill you because of it."

My mind raced. Kill people who are against them. That's why they'd diluted my dad's blood. He was against them. I knew it. And when trying to inhibit his power didn't work …  "They killed my dad." Tears streamed down my cheeks for the father I'd never known. The teenage boy who had come to see me after I was born, who had asked Medusa to protect me.

"Jodi," Alex pleaded, "I wasn't lying. I did care about you. I still do. Please, let me prove it."

"I'm afraid it's a little too late for that," Abby said, coming out from behind the mausoleum. She'd crept up on us. I shouldn't have been surprised. She trailed after Alex all the time. Of course she'd follow him out here.

"Jodi, run!" Alex turned and swung at Abby, knocking her out with one punch. I gawked at Abby's body on the ground. "Go!" Alex pushed me, forcing me to run before the others caught up with us.

"Why did you do that?" I asked, weaving through headstones.

"Because I'm trying to help you." He pulled me off to the side of the cemetery, behind some sort of shed. "We don't have long, so here's the plan. I'll distract them and you keep running. Follow the dirt road until you reach the street. Then head right. Keep going and flag down-"                       
       
           



       

"Hold on." I wasn't going anywhere without some answers. "Did you really try to get me to trust you? Was that why you acted like you liked me?"

He kept glancing out at the graveyard and then back at me.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me the truth. You owe me that much."

"At first, yes. Victoria told me to get close to you. But after I got to know you …  that was real. When I kissed you, it was real."

My heart told me he meant it. The feelings between us were real.

"Please, I don't know how long I can hold them off. You need to get a head start."

"What will happen to you?"

He stared into my eyes, and I saw his fear. Before I could say a word, he leaned forward and kissed me. "I'm sorry. About everything. Well, not everything." He kissed me again, pulling away quickly as the sound of footsteps got closer. "Go. And whatever you do, don't turn back."

I didn't like the sound of that at all. This seemed too much like a goodbye. "Alex-"

"Please, Jodi." He kissed me one last time and ran out from behind the shed. I hesitated for a second, just long enough to see him charge at the group. He was taking them all on at once. It was suicide. I didn't want to run away, but what else could I do? Alex was Victoria and Troy's son. No matter how angry they got at him for trying to protect me, they wouldn't let the group clobber him too badly.

I took off, running for the gate at the end of the cemetery. I heard grunting and punching behind me. Victoria and Abby were screaming at me. Telling me to stop. I heard Victoria tell her army of living dead Ophi not to let me get away, but they were in no shape to catch up to me. And if I did get caught, I'd be able to fight them off. Knowing that made me ease up. I couldn't resist looking back. I had to check on Alex. See that he was okay.

I slowed to a jog and turned to see Troy holding Alex by the front of his shirt. Alex's gaze fell on me, and he yelled my name. But I barely heard it. My senses seemed to fail as I saw Troy lift Alex's own pocketknife in the air and bring it down on Alex's chest.

"No!" I stopped running and fell to my knees at the same time Alex's body slumped to the ground. He was still facing me, and I watched the life drain out of his eyes.





Chapter 29

Everything went numb. Like I was watching a dream. No, a nightmare. Alex's vacant expression was burned into my mind. Even through the curtain of tears welling up in my eyes, I could see him clearly. I was aware of the living dead Ophi coming toward me. Of Abby approaching me and standing before me while the zombies pulled me to my feet. But I stayed focused on Alex, my eyes not leaving his.

"That didn't have to happen, Jodi. If you were half as powerful as the prophecy claimed you'd be, you never would've used Alex as your shield." She pulled her hand back and smacked me across the face. "Look at me! Forget him. He was stupid."

I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of obeying her. I didn't care if they killed me. I wasn't going down as a slave to her. As the Ophi holding me pushed me toward the rest of the group, I realized that Victoria had the power to kill me and make me a zombie. I could end up a slave to them.

I wasn't going to let that happen. Not to me and definitely not to Alex. I continued to stare at Alex, pretending I was in shock, but inside I was commanding my blood to mix. It bubbled in my veins. Victoria had my locket, but I had Medusa's blood in my veins. I didn't need the locket. What I did need was to get close to Alex's body before Victoria got any ideas of raising him herself.

"Bring her here," Victoria said.

I allowed the Ophi to walk me over to Victoria, who was standing by Alex's head. She hadn't so much as glanced at his body. Poor Alex. Killed by his father, and not given a second thought by his mother. But he had me. I'd never raised an Ophi without Medusa before, but I trusted that my blood knew what to do. Alex had said my powers were connected to my emotions. My heart was breaking for Alex. I hoped that emotion would be enough fuel to restore Alex before his soul left his body.

"Well, Jodi, you keep costing me things, don't you?" Victoria asked. "First a servant, and now Alex." She nudged him with her foot. Anger bubbled up inside me, mixing with the pain of losing Alex. The two emotions swirled like my blood. It was ready. I was ready. I had to keep Victoria from discovering what I was doing. But how?

I needed to cut myself, spill my blood to bring Alex back, but I didn't have a knife or anything sharp. Calvin and his zombie buddies were holding my scraped hands where I couldn't get to them either. My only hope was to make Victoria angry enough to attack me. It was risky, but I couldn't think of any other way. "How's the locket working out for you?" I asked, still keeping my focus on Alex. "Does it make you feel powerful? Or pathetic? I mean, it must be a constant reminder that I'm stronger than you. That you're not quite good enough to be the Chosen One."

Victoria narrowed her eyes at me and swung at my face. Her nails scratched my cheek, and I felt the warm trickle of blood. The hit wasn't that bad, but I allowed myself to go down. Right next to Alex. Thankfully, Calvin and the others had let go of me when Victoria lashed out. I pulled myself to a sitting position, leaning over Alex, but there wasn't enough blood for the cut to drip. Time for plan B. I reached up and touched my face, faking shock at being cut. I wiped the cut, smearing the blood across my fingers, and immediately pressed my bloody fingers to Alex's lips.

Victoria looked down at her son and laughed. "Nice try, Jodi, but I have your magic locket. Without it, you can't raise an Ophi." She bent down toward Alex. "But I can. Let me show you what I can do."

I saw Alex's eyelids flutter. "I don't think that will be necessary." Alex thrust his fist up, connecting with Victoria's nose. She stumbled backward, and I reached for Alex's hand, yanking him to his feet. We backed away from the group.

Victoria wiped the blood from her nose. "How did you do that? I have your locket."

"Funny thing about the locket. I only needed it to tap into my powers. Really it was more a confidence thing. But Medusa-you know her, right? My ancestor-well, she told me I didn't need the locket because her blood is in my veins. That means just like her, I can mix my blood at will. No locket required." I looked at Alex. "You okay? You feel normal?"

"Good as new." He smiled at me.

Victoria turned to her zombie crew. "Don't just stand there! Get them."

Alex and I took off running. We went straight for the mausoleum, and Alex yanked on the doors. "What are you doing? We'll be trapped."

"We have to get in there." He yanked the door open, and without knowing what we were doing, I went in. It was a huge leap of faith, but Alex knew his family better than I did. "Jodi, I know how you feel about creating zombies, but this is life or death. You have to raise the bodies in these drawers."

I looked at the drawers lining the back wall of the mausoleum. I didn't like the idea, but I knew I could release the souls after they helped us. "Okay, but I don't think I can raise all of them before the others get in here." Alex was struggling to hold the door shut as the Ophi banged on it. Calvin smashed the window with a headstone. Glass shattered, and I jumped back to avoid it. I grabbed a shard and held it up to my hand.