Mom and I finally managed to compose ourselves enough to shower, get dressed, and head downstairs for breakfast. As we neared the kitchen, the smell of pancakes filled the air. Mom and I looked at each other and smiled.

Matt was at the stove, placing the pancakes on plates. “Hope you’re hungry. I made way too many.”

Mom and I took our plates, still smiling. Mom even kissed Matt’s cheek. Great, now she chose to like him, after I’d killed him and we’d stopped seeing each other. “This is such a nice surprise. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Ms. Marshall.” Matt leaned his cheek toward me, waiting for me to kiss it, too. I laughed and shoved a pancake in my mouth, pointing to it and shrugging. Better luck next time, Matt.

Breakfast was so nice, I almost forgot about Amber and having to tell Matt that his sister was dead because of me. Now I wished I had kissed his cheek before I lost him forever. Mom kept glancing at me while I ate. She was waiting for me to break the news.

“So,” Matt said after polishing off his large stack of pancakes. “I was thinking I’d try to meet up with Amber. She always hangs out at this art gallery on Saturdays. They feature local talent, and she’s dying to get her stuff in there.”

Mom reached for my hand as I struggled to breathe.

“What?” Matt looked back and forth between us. “Did I miss something?”

“Matt.” That was all I had. His name. I couldn’t think of what else to say. I brought your sister’s soul to Tartarus last night was just too awful.

“Jodi was able to see herself in the underworld last night,” Mom said, trying her best to help.

Matt’s eyes flew to me. “Is Hades messing with you still? Did he hurt you?”

Of course he was worried about me. That was Matt. He had no idea he should be worrying about himself and his family.

“I don’t know how to tell you this.” My voice shook.

“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” He slumped back in the chair.

“No.” Man, I wished I could mix my blood and get up some courage right now. “I saw Amber.”

Matt’s brow furrowed. “No, you must have been dreaming. You couldn’t have seen Amber. She’s not…” The horror must have been all over my face because Matt stood up, knocking his chair over, and stormed upstairs.

Mom reached for my hand, but I pulled away.

“I have to go talk to him. He needs to hear this from me.”

She nodded.

I raced up the stairs, taking them two at a time. The light was on in my room, and I knew exactly where I’d find Matt. At my laptop.

He already had the article up on the screen. Why didn’t the connection work that quickly for me?

“Matt, I’m so sorry. I know that sounds like the stupidest thing to say right now, but I’m going to fix this. I’ll bring her back. I have one of the Ophi taking care of her while I’m here, and as soon as I figure out how to stop Hades for good, I’m going to bring Amber back here, to you.” The words spilled from my lips. I wanted to get them out as quickly as possible to ease Matt’s pain.

“Is she…like I was…in that place wandering around without a clue who she is?”

That would’ve been heaven compared to Tartarus. When I didn’t answer, he turned to look at me.

“Jodi, where is she?”

“Tartarus.” The second I said it, I burst into tears and reached for him, but Matt stood up and punched my desk.

I pulled away in horror as he cried out. He’d definitely broken his hand. Mom rushed into the room. She took one look at Matt cradling his hand and said, “I’ll get my keys. You need a doctor.”

“I’ll take him.” Being around Mom was risky. If Hades wanted to find me, he’d definitely come here. He was giving me two days—and I hoped he meant two days in this time and not in the underworld where time moved more quickly—before he took Mom. As long as I wasn’t here when he showed up—which I was sure he would today, hoping he’d find me—she’d be okay for a little while longer.

“I’ll go with you. You’re both upset, and neither one of you should be driving.”

“Mom, Hades is looking for me. Alex told me last night. He’s going to come here, and if he finds me, he’ll hurt you to get me to do whatever he wants me to. I can’t put you through that. I’ve hurt enough people already.”

Mom grabbed me by the shoulders. “None of this is your fault. Do you hear me? None of it.”

If only that were true. Maybe I hadn’t asked for any of this, but it still had happened because of me. “I need to take Matt, and I need to distance myself from you. I love you, Mom, and I already lost you once. If Hades takes you…” I shook my head. “I’ll never forgive myself. Please, let me do this.”

Mom hugged me tight. “Okay, you can go. Take my car. But don’t stay away. I just got you back, and I’m not ready to say goodbye yet.”

“I’ll make sure we get some more time together. Somehow.”

Mom released me. “Keys are in my purse.”

“I love you.” I kissed her cheek before taking Matt’s good hand and leading him downstairs.

“I understand if you hate me.”

“I don’t hate you. Your mom was right. This isn’t your fault.”

Why did everyone have to be so understanding? It made me hate myself more. I grabbed Mom’s keys, and we headed out. The hospital wasn’t far, so we got to the emergency room in record time, mostly because I wanted to get away from Mom as quickly as possible, but also because Matt coached me on when to shift.

The receptionist barely looked at us even though we were standing directly in front of her. “Fill these out and take a seat.”

I took the clipboard and scanned the papers. Damn it! Matt didn’t have insurance. He didn’t even have an address anymore, unless we counted Mom’s, but I didn’t want any bills showing up there. She didn’t need to be burdened with Matt’s medical expenses.

Matt stared at me and sighed. He tugged me away from the receptionist, not that she’d given us a second thought. She was already deep into her crossword puzzle again. I didn’t think anyone still did those.

“We should go. I can’t pay for this.”

“We’re not leaving. You’re hurt. I’m sure you broke something. You’re going to need a cast.”

He pointed his good hand at the papers. “So what, we lie our way though all this? They need to see my insurance card.”

True. Unless he didn’t have insurance. No, they overcharged people who didn’t have insurance.

I held up a finger to Matt and walked back to the receptionist. “Excuse me, ma’am.”

“Fill these out and take a seat.” She held out another clipboard without looking up.

“No. I already have one.”

“Then take a seat.”

“There’s a problem.” Finally, she looked up at me. I hoped this worked. “You see, we’re from out of town. We got here this morning on the bus, but when we went to use the restrooms at the bus station all our bags were stolen.”

“You left your bags unattended in the bus station.” She said it like we were the two stupidest people on the planet.

“Dumb. I know. But you see, Tyler,” I motioned to Matt, “got so upset that we’d been robbed that he kind of punched a wooden bench.”

The lady shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I’d give you a lecture, but I think the broken hand kind of sums it up.”

Matt nodded, playing along.

“All right. Fill out your address and all the information you can. If you don’t remember all your insurance information, fill in what you know and leave the rest blank. We’ll mail you the bill—I’m assuming you don’t have cash on you.”

Matt and I shook our heads.

“Of course not.” She rolled her eyes again. “We’ll mail you the bill, and you can fax us your new insurance card when you get it. We’ll bill your insurance at that time, and you can settle your co-pay.”

“Thank you.” I gave her a huge smile and led Matt to some empty chairs. I started filling in bogus information. “Hmm, Tyler Gross.” I giggled. There were very few times I was able to laugh anymore. I was going to enjoy this.