Face of Death

Chapter 17

We sat in silence for a moment, unsure of what to do next. I knew Matt was going to get my room. The house only had two bedrooms. Of course, he didn’t have any stuff to move in or anything, and I wasn’t about to ask Mom for money. She’d always struggled to make ends meet.

“We’ll have to find a job for you,” I said to Matt. Since he had no ID, birth certificate, or anything, we’d have to hope for finding someone who’d pay him off the books, which wouldn’t be easy. “And you can’t call yourself Matt, either.”

“Should I use this guy’s name?” He held his hands up, looking at Brian’s body.

Liz and Brian had lived four hours away, and it wasn’t like Matt would be using Brian’s last name. It could work.

“It’s up to you. You could even name yourself if you want.”

“Hmm.” He drummed his fingers on the table as he thought.

Mom gave me a weak smile. She was handling all of this really well. Offering to give Matt a home, even temporarily, was more than I could’ve hoped for. Leaving wasn’t going to be easy, but knowing Mom and Matt had each other made things almost bearable.

“Tyler.” Matt nodded. “It’s my middle name. Using it will make me feel more like me.”

“I like it.”

“Me too,” Mom said, wrinkling her brow as she made a mental note of the name. Slip-ups couldn’t happen.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. We’d been here all afternoon. “We should get going. Serpentarius is opening soon, and I want to get there before the crowd.”

“Wait.” Mom reached for my arm. “You both must be starving. Let me make you some dinner before you go hunting down information.”

Matt was already drooling.

“Mom, we can grab something at the club. Really. Don’t worry about it.” I didn’t want to impose on her any more than we already had.

“Nonsense. Come on, we can cook together just like old times.” She was already heading to the refrigerator and taking out carrots. She hesitated and looked at me around the door. “You did say you’re human now, right? You can’t, you know…”

Yeah, I knew. “Totally human. In this body anyway.”

“Good. Then slice up the carrots and get them cooking while I fix us some steaks and mashed potatoes.”

I walked over to her and lowered my voice. “Where did you get the money for all this?”

She lowered her eyes as she put the steaks on the counter. “I don’t have anyone to support anymore. It’s just me. I was going to invite the neighbors over, just for some company, but this is much better.”

She was going to invite the Sandersons to dinner? Things really were bad. I got started on the carrots, and Matt helped Mom with the grill. In no time, the house smelled delicious. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was. I hadn’t eaten at all in the underworld, and since coming back, I’d been too busy to think about food. Other than the tea, Liz’s stomach was completely empty.

We ate dinner almost like a normal family. Mom kept smiling at me, but every once in a while she’d glance at the clock, and then her smile would fade. She knew we had time constraints. I tried to eat quickly without seeming like I was rushing to get out of there, but really, I was. I needed to talk to Mason. I had to let him know I was here and that I needed some information in order to save the others. He must be missing Carol like crazy.

I cleared our plates and loaded them into the dishwasher. Mom leaned against the counter with a dishtowel in her hand. Our eyes met, and she started crying.

“Mom, don’t do that.” My voice was shaking already. I’d be sobbing with her in a matter of seconds.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, and even though you don’t look like yourself anymore, I can still see you inside. I don’t know how I didn’t see it right away. I’m sorry it took me so long to believe you.”

Long? She’d handled it really well. “You’ve been amazing.” I hugged her and rubbed her back. “If you don’t mind, can Matt and I stay here until I—?”

“For as long as you need. The longer the better, as far as I’m concerned. You can bunk with me.”

I couldn’t help laughing. There was the mom I was used to. The one who made sure I kept my distance from boys. “I’m with Alex, Mom, not Matt, but I’d love to bunk with you. It’ll be like a sleepover.”

“Good, because you’re still my daughter, which means I make the rules here.” Mom turned to Matt, who was putting the steak sauce back in the fridge. “That goes for you, too. I get that you’re almost eighteen, but this is my house, so you’re going to have to follow my rules.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Matt nodded. “I’m just happy you’re letting me stay. I plan to get a job and help out around here. I won’t be a problem at all.”

“Well, I guess we should go.” I wanted to run upstairs to my room and put on clothes that were actually mine, but Liz’s body would drown in them. I did grab the little money I had stashed in my desk drawer. We wouldn’t get into Serpentarius without paying the cover charge.

Mom pulled me in for another hug, squeezing me like she was afraid that, once I walked out that door, I’d never come back. This couldn’t have been easy for her. I was asking her to accept so much without any proof at all.

“I love you, Mom,” I whispered before I pulled away. “We’ll be back later tonight.”

She blinked back tears. “Not too late.”

It was great to see glimpses of how things used to be.

Matt and I said goodbye. Mom insisted we take her car. Matt drove since I’m not very good with a stick. I couldn’t help thinking about the last time Matt and I had gone to Serpentarius. I’d thought Alex was some psycho stalker. I’d thought Matt was the one for me. Now, my mind was a jumbled mess.

“Everything okay?” Matt snuck a glance at me. “I’m not used to you being so quiet.”

“Still processing, I guess. I’m not sure I’m going to get used to wearing someone else’s face.”

“I know what you mean.” Matt checked out his reflection in the rearview mirror. “He’s not better-looking than me, is he?”

“No.” I answered way too quickly. It was stupid slip-ups like that—comments that made it all too obvious my feelings for him were still there—that made being around him so difficult. Maybe bringing him along for all this had been a mistake. I should’ve raised his soul, explained what had happened to him, and moved on. Only, I couldn’t. He deserved better than being dumped in a strange body and left to fend for himself.

“Any more flashes of what’s going on with your body in the underworld?” He smirked as he said it. “That’s never going to stop being weird for me. Talking about the underworld.”

“Luckily, no. And after the last one, I’m not sure I could handle another. At least, not any time soon. I’ll have to check in on the others eventually, though. Especially once I figure out what I’m going to do, how I’m going to get them out of there.”

Matt was silent for the rest of the drive. I couldn’t help wondering if he was waiting for me to change my mind about all of this. I couldn’t help wondering if I actually would change my mind about all of this.

We parked, and Matt came around to open my door. He couldn’t stop being a gentleman. “Thanks.” I stepped out and stared at Serpentarius. All the answers I needed might be inside those walls. Nervous energy surged through me, feeling vaguely like the power I used to have in my blood. I missed that feeling.

“Hey, it’s Jack, right?” Matt said as we approached the door. I recognized the guy from around town. He worked at the gas station on most days.

I tugged on Matt’s arm and gave him a look that said, “What are you doing?” No one would recognize Matt in this body.

Jack narrowed his eyes at Matt and me. “Do I know you?”

“Um, yeah,” I said, trying to play it cool. “We were here about a month ago. You gave us directions to—” Crap! Where was I going with this? I sucked at lying. “Um, what was that place called again?” I looked to Matt for help.

“The museum. The one with all the interactive science stuff.”

“I did?” Jack’s brow wrinkled as he struggled to remember something that had never happened.

“Yeah. We found it. Had a great time, too. And since you were so helpful and friendly—I mean you told us your name and everything—we decided to come back here. This place is awesome.” Did that sound believable?

“Right. Glad I could help.” Jack took our cover charges and waved us inside. “Have a nice night.”

“Thanks.” I gave him a small wave and ducked inside.

Matt put his hand on the small of my back and led me over to the bar. It wasn’t crowded yet, so we ordered two bottles of water—using the last of my money—and sat down in the corner. “Sorry. That was stupid of me.”

“It’s okay.” I took a sip of water to avoid lecturing him. After all, I’d just spilled everything to my mom.

“Maybe this was a mistake. Me coming along. Me being around people from my old life.” At least he recognized that it was his old life. It couldn’t be his life anymore.

“No. It’s fine. You’ll get the hang of it.” I looked around, wanting to go straight to Mason, but I was worried about leaving Matt. What if he saw Amber or someone from school?

“Go.” It was like he was reading my mind. “I’ll be fine. I’ll sit here and drink my water. No one will recognize me, so we don’t have to worry about that. And I promise I won’t talk to anyone I used to know.”

I trusted him. Really I did, but there was so much at stake here. I couldn’t help thinking I should bring him with me to see Mason.

“Jo—I mean, wait, what am I supposed to call you? We only came up with a name for me.”

“Jodi is fine. In this body, nobody is going to question the name.”

He nodded and took a big gulp from his water bottle. He’d almost downed the entire thing already. “Seriously, I’m good. You can trust me.”

“I know I can.”

“Then what is it?”

“Nothing.” I stood up. “I’m going.”

“Good luck.” He sounded sincere and sad at the same time. He cared about me, so he wanted me to get the answers I needed. But that would also mean I’d be leaving soon, and he didn’t want me to go.

I gave him a weak smile before heading toward the office in the back.

“Hang on,” came a voice behind the bar. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Oh, um…” I didn’t even think that getting to Mason’s office would be a problem. Now I was wishing this place was more crowded. No one would notice me if the bar was full of people waving bills in the bartender’s face. “I’m a friend of Mason’s.”

The guy eyed me suspiciously. “I’ve never seen you before, and Mason didn’t say he was expecting anyone.”

“Can you tell him Jodi is here to see him? Trust me, he’ll let me back there.”

The guy sighed and tossed a dishtowel onto the bar. “Wait here.”

“Thanks.”

I watched him go, hoping Mason wouldn’t ask the guy to describe me in order to make sure it was really me. If he did, I’d never get into his office. It seemed to take forever, so I glanced back at Matt. A guy was walking over to him. Oh, please be a worker just busing the tables. Matt’s water bottle was empty, and he’d finished mine, too. I tried not to panic. It was probably nothing. I was just on edge and reading too much into everything.

Matt’s eyes rose, and he looked up at the guy approaching. I debated going over there, but it was too risky. The bartender had told me to stay put, and if I acted suspicious, the guy walking over to Matt might think we were up to something. I had to wait this out. See what happened.

I couldn’t hear anything, but I saw the look of recognition on the guy’s face, and I swore I read the word “Brian” on his lips. Oh, God! Someone recognized Brian!

Screw staying put. I rushed over to Matt, weaving through people coming into the club and heading for the bar. Of course it would start to fill up in here now.

“Hey.” I grabbed Matt’s arm. “I love this song. Let’s dance.”

Matt jumped up from his seat and followed me, but the guy came, too.

“Hang on!” He called after us. “I know you, too. You’re Liz.”

I stumbled as we reached the dance floor. This wasn’t good.

Matt flashed me a look, not knowing what to do. I wasn’t sure either. I took a deep breath and turned around.

“Sorry, you must have us confused for someone else.” I took Matt’s hands and started to dance, hoping the guy would take the hint and walk away.

He didn’t. He stood his ground, staring at us.

“Seriously, buddy, sorry if you lost your friends, but it’s kind of dark in here. These lights play tricks with your eyes. Maybe try checking the bathroom.”

He shook his head. “Trust me, they wouldn’t be in there. Corpses don’t need to use the bathroom. Of course, they don’t dance, either.”

I stopped dancing.

“One of you want to tell me what the hell is going on?”