Face of Death by Kelly Hashway

swinging. “Not like that! That’s not what I meant. Please, if you love me, hear me out.”
    He stopped, but his whole body shook with rage. He shrugged my hands off his arm.
    “Matt was my friend, too. I didn’t just care about him as my boyfriend. For most of the time I knew him, he was one of my two best friends. I owe him this. I owe myself the chance to make things right and to say goodbye to him for good. I know I can’t keep him in my life. It’s too dangerous. But I think I should at least get to say goodbye to him on my own terms, not because he died, not because I have to run away and fulfill my Ophi destiny. I owe him the truth.” Now I was breathing heavily. I’d blurted all that out, wanting to say everything before Alex got the chance to cut me off.
    “You don’t still have feelings for him?” He was staring out over the asphodels, unable to look me in the eyes.
    “I do still care about him as a friend, but that’s all. As a friend.” I reached for his arm again, and this time he didn’t pull away. “When this is all over, when we’re out of here and back at the school, I promise it will just be you and me. No one else. For as long as you want me.”
    He turned toward me and took my hand. “I’m holding you to that promise.”
    I smiled, and a tear ran down my cheek. “So, what now?”
    “You don’t have to ask for my permission. You’re the leader, remember?”
    “I know, but that doesn’t mean I can’t ask for your input. You are my boyfriend, aren’t you?”
    “Through bad and worse, apparently.”
    “Come on, don’t say that. Things haven’t been all bad.” I touched his cheek, and even without me transferring any power to him, he smiled.
    “No, definitely not.”
    I reached up to kiss him, but he stopped me. “We have company, remember?”
    I’d kind of forgotten about Matt. “Right. Sorry.”
    “No need to apologize to me. It’s actually nice to see that I can make you forget about everything else.”
    “You do that to me a lot, you know. I’m sorry if I don’t always make you see that.”
    He kissed the top of my head. “I guess we need to find two bodies for you guys. A guy and a girl. Unless…”
    “Don’t even think it. I’m not putting Matt into a girl’s body.” I couldn’t help it. I laughed. Poor Alex. He was so desperate not to lose me to Matt he wanted to make Matt a girl. “You are so lucky I love you.”
    “I know.” He smiled, but his tone was completely serious. I leaned forward and kissed him. I knew Matt was watching us, but I didn’t care.
    “Okay, so how do we find out where the new souls are? I need to find them almost immediately when they arrive.”
    “I think we need to talk to Tony. He’s our expert.” Alex took my hand and started toward Tony and the others, but I held him back.
    “Hang on.” I turned to Matt. “Matt, will you come with us, please?” He stared at me, not understanding.
    “Take his hand,” Alex said. “He might remember your touch. I would if I were him.” Moments like these made me wonder how I’d gotten so lucky. Alex really was amazing. I was staring at him, and I guess he thought I was wondering if it was a trick because he said, “I’ve seen you hold the guy’s hand before. I think I can handle it without flipping out.”
    “I know. That wasn’t it. I was just in awe of you. You’re kind of perfect, you know that?” Perfect. It was the word I’d always used for Matt, but it really did apply to Alex, too.
    He smiled, and I swear his cheeks got a little red. Still holding Alex’s hand, I reached for Matt. He didn’t move, so I carefully slipped my hand in his. “Is this okay? Do you mind if I take you to my friends?”
    Still nothing, but his fingers curved slightly around mine. That was all the answer I needed. I nodded to Alex, and we walked over to the others. I’m sure we looked like a demented threesome, every bit as awkward as it felt.
    The others raised their eyes to us. They