I turned to face Hades.

Jodi, no!

I wasn’t giving up, but I wasn’t letting Alex die, either. I continued to pull souls, but this time, I sent them after Hades. Slowly. I held them back while I locked eyes with Hades.

“Let him go, and I’ll call them off.” I gestured to the souls walking his way.

“This trick again? I stopped them earlier. Why would you try to send them after me now? Desperate, perhaps?”

“Let go of Alex or they will attack.”

Hades smiled. Apparently, he found me quite amusing. He sure laughed at me enough. “Oh, Jodi Marshall. I kind of hoped you’d go out on a better note. This is…well, pathetic.”

“Then let go of Alex and take me on yourself.” My voice was strong, and there was a faint echo to it. No, not an echo. It was Medusa’s voice mixed in with mine. How was that possible?

Medusa, are you doing that?

We are one.

But you didn’t want me to stop raising the souls.

I trust you know what you’re doing. I’ll follow your lead.

Hades squinted, and the full weight of his anger bore down on me. He pushed Alex to the side. “Have it your way. We’ll fight to the end. Your end.”

“For once, you’re right. I intend to fight to the end, but it’s going to be the ending I want.” The one that freed the Ophi for good. My blood reached out to the souls, giving them the command to attack. They seemed happy to get the chance for revenge because I didn’t need to tell them twice. They lunged for Hades. At first, Hades fought them off with no problem, but I continued to call more souls. And this time, I wasn’t stopping with Tartarus. I pulled from the Fields of Asphodel, too. I wasn’t touching the Elysian Fields. The souls in there deserved the peace they’d found. I wouldn’t deny any of them that.

Hades was getting angrier, and a small amount of fear shone in his eyes. He knocked the souls down repeatedly, but they wouldn’t stop coming back. It was unending. The others just watched, not sure who was going to win in the end. I had to admit it didn’t look like either of us would come out victorious. We were too evenly matched.

Hades tried to disappear in a swirl of smoke, but the souls latched onto him. He only succeeded in moving about a foot, and they came with him. My dad was gripping Hades’ neck, trying to protect the daughter he’d been denied the chance to know. “Enough!” Hades bellowed, but I didn’t listen. I wasn’t going to be the girl who fell for such an obvious tactic. “Figure it out. You can’t win.”

“Wrong.” My voice was a blend of mine and Medusa’s again. “You can’t win.”

This time Hades noticed the change. “Do you plan to live the rest of your life with Medusa’s soul inside you?” He sent another group of souls back to where I’d summoned them. “Better ask Alex if he’s okay with dating both of you. It’s going to be like a twenty-four-seven chaperone. Very romantic.” He was trying to get to me, make me question what I was doing.

“That would scare you, wouldn’t it? Knowing we were joined against you? Do you really want us as an enemy?”

“We aren’t getting anywhere here. How long can you really keep this up before your body collapses under all that power? Did she tell you what could happen to you?”

Don’t listen to him, Medusa said in my mind. He’s trying to make you doubt me. He’s desperate. He knows we are too strong to fight.

He’s too strong to fight, too. We aren’t winning. We’re struggling just as much as he is. He’s not wrong. We can’t keep this up forever. I’m sending the others out while Hades is under our control.

They won’t be able to get out, Jodi. Only Hades can send you all back to the mortal plane now.

Crap! This really wasn’t going to work.

“Are you ready to deal?” I asked Hades, sending a new wave of souls to pound on his body.

“Deal? You’re really looking to make a deal after all the others you made failed so miserably?” He laughed again as he sent the souls flying backward, my dad included.

I raised them again and sent the souls in rows like an army. As one row fell, the next attacked. It would’ve been a great strategy against anyone who wasn’t a god. I couldn’t kill him. I could only annoy him until he was willing to listen. I wondered how long that would take. I was getting tired of this.

“Well? Are you debating your answer, or is this all taking too much of your energy?”

“We could go on all night,” Medusa and I said together. “Now, the question is, are you ready to deal?”

“Fine.” He belted back a few more souls. “Here are the conditions—”

“No.” I cut him off. “I’m making the conditions this time. You don’t get a say in this.”

“I don’t deal like that.”

“Sure you do. You’ve made unfair deals with me from the start.”

“You were the one to set the first deal, Jodi Marshall. I simply agreed to it.”

As if that was how it had really happened. “You set me up to fail. You took my deal, knowing you could work around it and come out on top.”

“I don’t make deals I can’t win.”

“I don’t either, anymore. So, let’s make a deal we’ll both benefit from. And this time, no loopholes or ways to manipulate your way out of it. We do it fairly.”

“Call off your souls, and we’ll talk. I’m not dealing like this. Not while I have to beat back souls every two seconds.” He pushed his hands forward, sending the souls toppling into Abby and Quinn.

I had to make sure this wasn’t on his terms. I wasn’t putting myself into a position to get played again.

“We’ll go to the palace. All of us. The judges will determine if the deal is fair.”

Hades smirked. “You’re going to let them decide the deal? You may as well hand your souls over to me now. They work for me.”

“Like I said, I’ll decide the deal. The judges will confirm its fairness. That’s all.” I’d stopped saying we. Medusa’s voice was no longer mixed with mine.

Medusa, why aren’t you talking with me anymore?

Because you don’t need me. You are handling this on your own. I’ll still be here if you need me, but I’m stepping back.

“You need to call the souls off if we are going to move to the palace.”

“No. I think my friends and I will go first. The souls will keep you company until we’re in the palace. Then I’ll call them off so you can join us.” Wow, I was actually calling the shots. This was either going to go really well, or Hades was going to be so pissed off he was going to kill me the second he got the chance.

“Angering me more isn’t the best idea right now,” Hades said through gritted teeth.

“I’d say the same to you, and since I don’t trust you to let us go peacefully, I’m going to have to insist on my plan. See you at the palace.” I motioned for the others to head out of Tartarus. Abby, Quinn, and the other Victoria and Troy followers stared after us. Damn it. “Any of you who want to stop being Victoria’s and Troy’s little lapdogs and start acting like real Ophi are free to join us.”

Alex touched my shoulder gently. I could tell he didn’t want to distract me from raising the souls and keeping Hades under control. “Are you sure about this?”

I looked at Arianna, who was staring hopefully at Abby. “Yes, I’m sure.”

I waited for the others to leave before I followed behind them. I didn’t need to see Hades or the souls. I could sense what was happening here. I waited for Abby to come with us. She stared at Lexi and Arianna, not moving. Finally, I turned and motioned for her.

“Come on, Abby. This isn’t you. Your mom and sister know it. Drop the tough girl act and get over here with us.”

She walked past me, barely looking at me. “Fine. But I’m only doing this to get out of this hellhole. It has nothing to do with you or anyone else.” Liar. The way she said “anyone else” gave her true feelings away. She wanted her family back, and though she’d never admit it, she was grateful I was giving her the chance to have that again.