Stalked by Death (Touch of Death) by Kelly Hashway Read Free Book Online Page A

so much has happened since this morning. It slipped my mind, but honestly, the second I saw him again, I was going to come to you for help.”
    Alex closed his eyes, processing everything. I wasn’t sure if he believed me or not. All I knew was he was mad.
    The room fell silent. I was supposed to be the leader. The one to make the decisions and keep us safe. But instead I was clueless about how to do my job, and I was putting us all in danger. I wasn’t cut out for this, and somehow I had a feeling Hades knew that when he’d agreed to my deal.
    Alex sighed. “Release his soul, and Tony and I will go bury him.”
    “I’ll help you.” I stood up. I needed to get out of this room. Away from all the judgmental stares.
    Alex put his hand on my shoulder, stopping me. “No. We got it. You eat.” There was a small hint of warmth in his voice. Yes, he was angry, but that didn’t change the fact that he cared about me.
    I released the soul and watched Tony and Alex carry the body out of the room. The rest of the day was pretty much a blur. Tony lectured about Ophi history. Arianna made something for dinner. It wasn’t my turn to help with the dishes, so I headed to my room to lie down. I wasn’t up for interacting with everyone. Not that anyone really wanted to interact with me. They weren’t being mean or anything, but they weren’t going out of their way to talk to me either.
    I flopped facedown on my bed and tried to let the awfulness of the day melt away. It might have helped a little if someone hadn’t knocked on my door.
    I sighed and got up to answer it. Chase was standing in the hall with a big bowl of popcorn and a movie in his hands. Oh, this wasn’t going to be good.
    “Um, what’s up?” I asked, fully aware of how dumb that sounded.
    “Thought you could use a good horror movie to forget your troubles.” He shook the DVD, and I saw it was a zombie flick. How appropriate.
    “You’re kidding, right? My life is pretty much a horror movie. How would this make me forget about it?” I couldn’t help it. I laughed. Chase smiled, and I realized that was his exact reason for choosing the horror movie. The sheer irony of it.
    “So, what do you say?” His eyes were hopeful, and I didn’t want to crush him by saying no. After all, he was the only one talking to me right now. Still, being alone in my room with Chase could only add up to trouble. There was only one thing to do.
    “Tell you what, let’s invite the others. I know Arianna and Tony won’t go for it, but Alex, Leticia, and Randy might want to watch.” So much for not wanting to interact with people tonight.
    Chase’s face fell. It wasn’t what he was hoping for.
    “Go on in.” I opened the door more. “I’ll go get the others.” I hurried down the hall before he could protest. Leticia’s room was the closest, so I started there.
    “Leticia.” I lightly tapped on the door. “We’re all going to watch a movie in my room. Want to come?” I figured I’d have better luck if I made it seem like everyone else had already agreed to it.
    She opened the door and shrugged. “I guess.”
    “Great, go on in my room. Chase is setting it up now. I’ll be there in a second.” I continued down the hall to Randy’s room. It didn’t take much to convince him. The mention of popcorn was enough. I’d saved Alex for last because I knew he’d be the most difficult to convince.
    “Alex?” I called through the door. “It’s Jodi.”
    He opened the door. “You think I don’t know your voice by now?”
    I smiled. He didn’t look angry with me anymore. “I missed you.”
    “You saw me at lessons and dinner.”
    “Yeah, but it’s not the same.” I leaned forward and kissed him.
    “What was that for?”
    “For understanding about the corpse and cleaning up my mess for me. I seem to be needing a lot of help lately, and you’re always there for me.”
    “Want to come in?” he asked.
    “Actually, I want you to come to my room.”
    He