Chase squeezed my hand and our connection intensified. I had a feeling the more we connected physically, the stronger our powers would be. I turned toward him and reached for his other hand. Instantly my hair whipped behind me, even though there was no wind. I wasn’t aware of anything but Chase. I stared into his eyes, and he smiled at me.

“You and me. This is how it’s supposed to be.”

“This is amazing.” The power was intense, but in a good way. I wasn’t afraid of it anymore. It felt right being with Chase like this. I wanted more. More of the power. More of Chase. I squeezed Chase’s hands tighter. “Hold me closer.”

“Anything you say, Jodi.” Chase stepped toward me so we were toe to toe, and there was barely any space between us.

I could smell him and almost taste his minty breath. I breathed him in, and my eyes closed in response. The connection between us was intoxicating.

The souls releasing broke my trance. I looked down at the ground. The corpses were buried and the shovels lay next to the graves again.

“Well done,” Mason said. The smile on his face was wide with satisfaction. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

“Hey, you can let go of my girlfriend now,” Alex said.

I looked down, realizing I hadn’t let go of Chase. I avoided Alex’s eyes as I tried to slip my hands from Chase’s, but Chase smiled and squeezed my hands, sending tingling sensations through my body. I closed my eyes in response.

“I don’t think she wants me to let go,” Chase said.

Chase’s hands were ripped from mine. I opened my eyes to see Alex shoving Chase in the chest.

“Stop!” I yelled, not sure who I was trying to protect.

“Well, well,” said a red-haired girl with long legs. “Looks like they’ll be plenty of entertainment around here.”

“Lexi, why don’t you and the others go see if Carson needs any help with the injured boy.” Mason nodded toward the school.

“Sure.” Lexi smiled at me, but it was the most unfriendly smile I’d ever seen. As she walked past me, she said, “I think I’ll take my sister’s room. I believe it’s right across the hall from yours.”

No way! Lexi was Abby’s sister? Ophi could only be born between the dates of November 29 and December 17, under the sign of Ophiuchus, and the child’s parents had to be 25. It was this strange way that the gods controlled how many Ophi there were in the world. Since Abby and Lexi’s parents were only 25 once, that meant Abby and Lexi had to be unidentical twins. This was not good news for me. Lexi must have hated me for sending her twin to the underworld as Hades’ slave.

I stood there speechless.

Chase smoothed out his shirt and stepped away from Alex. “I’ll show you guys to your rooms.” He winked at me before heading toward the house. The others followed. All but Alex. He stayed behind with me. I could barely look at him.

“I tried to tell myself this was all one-sided. That it was just Chase being a dick. But after seeing you touch him like that—”

“We were only connecting our powers. That’s all.”

“No, that’s not all. You couldn’t get close enough to him. You were clinging to him. And the look on your face.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “You loved every second of that. Whatever it was.”

I shook my head and reached for him. “It was the power, not Chase.”

“Wrong again, Jodi. It was all about Chase. The things he said to you…and you didn’t even disagree with him.”

Oh, no! I’d thought Chase and I were using our connection to speak privately, but we must have started talking out loud. Alex had heard Chase say we were supposed to be together. He’d heard me practically agree.

“Alex, I was—”

“Don’t.” He turned away like it was too painful to even look at me.

“Alex?” I didn’t know what to say, how to make this better.

“I should’ve known.” He smacked the side of his leg with his fist. “Damn it, I think I did know, but I wouldn’t admit it to myself.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Chase. He’s what’s messing up your powers.” He spun around. His face was bright red, and his breathing was heavy. “Ever since you started emailing him, you’ve been different. And to think I thought your emotions were throwing off your powers because you were falling in love with me.”

“I am in love with you!” I reached for him, but he put his hands out to stop me.

“No, Jodi. You can’t love me when you obviously feel this way about him.” He said “him” like it was the most vile word in the English language.

“I do love you, Alex. I’m sure of that. It’s the only thing I know for certain. I don’t have a clue what’s going on with my powers or why Chase affects them the way he does. But I know how I feel about you, and none of this stuff with Chase changes that.”

He shook his head. “It does change it, Jodi. You didn’t see yourself when you connected with him. You didn’t hear yourself. You made those souls do unbelievable things. The Jodi I fell in love with couldn’t have done that. You’ve changed.”

“No.” My voice was weak. Was he right? I had made those souls suffer. I’d tortured them just to give Mason and the others a reason to stay here. “Mason—”

“Don’t use him as an excuse. You changed. You’re different. You’re mean. Mason had nothing to do with that.”

I squeezed my fists. Ugh! Why wouldn’t he listen to me? “What can I say to make you believe me? Tell me, please.”

“I don’t want you to tell me what I want to hear. That’s useless, meaningless.” He started toward the school.

“Where are you going?” I practically had to run to keep up with him.

“I can’t stay here.”

“Fine. Let’s go to my room and talk.”

“No.” He took the front stairs two at a time.

“Alex, wait up.”

He threw open the door and stormed past the Medusa statue. He went straight up the stairs and to his room.

“Okay, we’ll talk in your room,” I said, but Alex shut the door in my face. This wasn’t like him at all. I pounded on the door. “Alex, let me in. We need to talk about this.”

“I’m tired of talking,” he yelled through the door.

I tried the doorknob. Of course it was locked. I thought about going to my room, letting him cool off. But I was afraid to. Alex had never been this angry with me. What if he didn’t cool off? What if he ended things instead? I couldn’t give up. I had to make him listen to me. I leaned my back against the wall next to his door, determined to stay here until he came out. I wouldn’t let him leave his room without talking to me.

Lexi walked out of Abby’s room—her room now. She saw me and flashed her wicked smile. Just great. I wasn’t up for another round with her right now. She headed toward me, stopping about five feet away and crossing her arms.

“Don’t tell me your boyfriend’s locked you out.” Her voice was laced with mock sympathy. “I bet he’d let me in his room.” She stepped toward his door, but I blocked her path.

“Lexi, I’m not in the mood for games.”

“Who’s playing games?” She stepped closer, challenging me.

“Alex has good taste. He’d never go for a girl like you, so you might as well turn around and go back to your room.”

She looked me up and down. “Good taste, huh? I kind of doubt that if he’s stooped so low as to date you. But maybe since my sister is no longer here, he didn’t have a lot of choices. You or that cowardly girl—what’s her name? Morticia?”

“Leticia. And for your information, Alex never dated Abby. He couldn’t stand her. Like I said, he has good taste.”

Lexi started laughing. “At least you have some fight in you. Abby led me to believe you were a sniveling little girl.”

I crossed my arms, mimicking Lexi’s former stance. “That’s funny, considering I sent Abby straight to the underworld on Hades’ coattails.”

Lexi narrowed her eyes at me. I’d struck a nerve. She leaned closer, and I struggled not to back away. I didn’t want to look weak or easily intimidated. Good thing there was a wall behind me to keep me from cowering.