Stalked by Death

Tony wrinkled his forehead. “I’ve heard of this, but it’s very rare. It’s almost like when you co

“You could say that, and that’s exactly why I think we can use this combination of power. When I co

“Whoa,” Chase said. “I knew you could bring Ophi back and all, but you did it without any training?”

I shook my head. “Having Medusa help me was better than any training.”

“Yeah, you brought Alex back no problem after Troy—” Leticia’s eyes widened when she saw the look on Alex’s face. She shoved a piece of toast in her mouth and looked away.

“You were dead?” Chase asked. “And wait, isn’t Troy your father? Uncle Mason told me you’re Victoria and Troy’s kid, only they don’t openly admit it.”

Alex gripped the edge of the table, and for a second I thought he was going to lose it. How could Chase say those things? I was about to defend Alex when he stood up.

“You know what, Chase? I think you’re jealous because Jodi cared enough to save me. She gave her blood to bring me back.” He pulled up his sleeve and leaned across the table to shove his forearm in Chase’s face. “Her blood is in my veins.”

Chase swatted Alex’s arm away and stood up.

“Enough!” Tony yelled. “Don’t you two understand we may be at war soon? A war against Hades? How do you expect us to defeat a god when you two can’t even be civil around one another?”

I walked around the table and stood at Alex’s side. “Please. This isn’t helping.” I rubbed his arm, trying to calm him.

His expression softened at my touch. He leaned down and lightly kissed me. “I’ll be fine. Morning training will burn off some energy, and I’ll be good to go.”

I didn’t feel like eating anymore, so Alex and I headed to the cemetery. Leticia and Randy followed, which left Chase alone with Tony and Aria

The air was crisp, and I filled my lungs with it. Since I had come into my powers, I was usually hot, thanks to my blood boiling in my veins to mix both sides of my powers. I welcomed the cool air on my skin.

Alex draped his arm around my shoulders. “What should we start with today?”

“Well, Randy is pretty good with raising one soul at a time, but he really needs more practice with raising multiple souls. I was thinking I could work with him, and you could help Leticia maintain her focus so she stops losing control over her corpses.”

“You got it.”

“Hey! Wait up!” Chase ran after us.

Alex rolled his eyes. “I was hoping Tony was really going to ream into him for a while. Maybe long enough for him to miss morning training.”

“Alex, we need him. You don’t have to like him, but you have to get along with him.”

He pouted.

“For me?”

He sighed, and I knew I’d won.

Chase slowed down when he reached us. “So, I was thinking I could give Uncle Mason a call. Tell him about the power co

“Really?” I was more than a little excited.

“Really.” Chase smirked. “Let’s show everyone what a great team we make.” He stopped and reached his hand out to me.

He wanted to shake hands? Without thinking, I took his hand. But Chase’s fingers squeezed mine, transferring power up my arms. Instantly my body tingled, overcome with power.

I pulled away, feeling completely self-conscious. “You want to take Leticia over there?” I asked Alex, pretending nothing had happened.

“Sure.” He gave Chase one last glare and walked off.

Chase leaned in close to me and whispered, “How long are you going to try to deny what you feel for me? You can pretend Alex is the one you want, but when I touch you, I know it’s me your blood craves.”

I stepped back from Chase. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Randy awkwardly moved past us. I was sure he’d overheard everything. The question was, how long would he wait before he told Alex?

Chapter 7

I followed Randy, yelling back over my shoulder at Chase, “Go work with Leticia and Alex. Until I know how much control you have over your powers, you’ll start with the basics.”

I didn’t have to turn around to know Chase was fuming mad at that comment. I already knew he was powerful, but I’d demoted him to square one as if he were a begi

That’s how it went for the next two days. Me training with Randy and avoiding Chase at all costs. I knew it couldn’t go on like this forever, but I was willing to stick it out for as long as I could. Luckily, Randy never said anything to me or Alex about Chase’s comment. Maybe he assumed Chase was just full of himself. By Saturday, Chase found a way to corner me.

“Hey, did you forget we have a phone call to make?”

“A what?”

“We were going to call Mason and see if we could convince him to get everyone out here. Now that we have our combined powers backing us up, I think we could persuade him.”

“Right.” In trying to dodge Chase, I’d forgotten all about that plan. “But we haven’t trained together yet. I need you to master all the begi

“You’ve had me in the baby group for days. I’ve raised souls and released them. What more do I need to prove to you?”

“You haven’t raised multiple souls yet.”

“Okay, then from now on I’ll train with you and Randy.”

What could I say to that? I’d set myself up.

“But I don’t think we should wait to make this call. So what if we let Mason think we’ve already mastered our combined power? If it gets the others here, then it’s worth a little white lie.”

“All right,” I said.

“Good, let’s do it now.” He tugged my arm, pulling me toward my office. Randy shrugged and headed over to Alex and Leticia to finish training.

“I told Alex I’d meet him before di

“I think lover boy can find the dining room on his own.”

I sighed and walked into my office, taking a seat at the desk. I had Mason’s number memorized. I’d called it about a thousand times before he’d called me back. I dialed and switched the phone to speaker.

“Hello?” Mason answered.

“Guess you forgot to check your caller ID,” Chase said.

“What? Who is this?”

I heard Mason fumble with the phone. “Jodi?”

“Does my voice really sound that deep?” I asked.

“No, no. Who’s with you?”

“It’s Chase, Uncle Mason.”

“Oh, Chase. It must be a bad co

“No problem. Listen, we’ve got exciting news.”

“Don’t tell me you two hit it off and got engaged or something.”

“No!” I yelled.

Chase laughed. “Not yet.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “But Jodi and I do have a special co

“What do you mean?” Mason asked.