Midnight Frost (27 page)

Things slowly got back to normal over the next few days.

Once Nickamedes was out of danger, my friends and I went back to our regular schedule of classes, homework, and weapons training and tried to catch up on all of the assignments we’d missed while we’d been away. Rumors swirled around campus about what had happened in the Library of Antiquities the night Nickamedes had been poisoned and about where my friends and I had gone, but I ignored the stares and whispers. All that mattered was that he was getting better. Besides, I doubted the other kids would believe everything that had happened anyway. I could hardly believe it, and I’d been there.

A few nights later, I was back in the library, sitting behind the checkout counter, working my usual shift. Alexei was standing against the glass wall behind me, while Aiko, the Protectorate guard, was at one of the study tables, reading a book. After the attack, the Powers That Were at Mythos had decided to assign Aiko to watch over me, as well. It wouldn’t do much good, though. If the Reapers wanted to get to me, they would get to me. All I could do was just keep trying to become a better warrior so that when I faced Vivian again, it would be for the last time. So that I would finally manage to defeat her.

It was a slow night in the library, and most of the kids had already left to go back to their dorms for the night. I’d grabbed several books out of the stacks and was poring over them, comparing the pictures on the pages to the artifacts on the map Oliver had drawn for me. Since the attack at the Eir Ruins, I was more determined than ever to find the artifacts before Vivian, Agrona, and the rest of the Reapers did—

I glanced behind me. Nickamedes slowly shuffled out of the glass office complex. With his left hand, he cradled some books to his chest. With his right hand, he leaned on the cane that he was using to help him walk. The librarian was still feeling the aftereffects of the poison that had damaged his legs, and his steps were slow and a bit unsteady.

Nickamedes was getting around well enough, and Metis had said he would probably make a full recovery, but the faint, hollow sound of his cane hitting the floor caused a fresh wave of guilt to surge through me—because it should have been me hobbling around instead of him. As soon as we figured out exactly what the silver laurel did, I was going to use one of the leaves on him to make him as strong and healthy as he’d been before.

Still, despite my guilt, I made myself smile as Nickamedes walked over to me and carefully slid the books in his arm down onto the counter.

“Anything?” I asked.

I wasn’t the only one doing research. As soon as he’d been released from the infirmary, Nickamedes had started stockpiling books to go through in hopes that they might contain some information about the silver laurel leaves.

He shook his head. “Not in these books. But don’t worry, Gwendolyn, we’ll find out more about the laurels. It’ll just take some time.”

I looked at his too-thin face, the tired slump in his shoulders, and the way he had to lean on the cane just to stay upright. More guilt surged through me, along with anger. Not for the first time, I made myself and Nickamedes a silent promise—that the Reapers were going to pay for what they’d done to him.

“Gwendolyn?”

“Yeah,” I said, pushing my dark thoughts away and forcing myself to smile a little bigger and brighter. “I know you’ll find out something about the leaves. It’ll just take some time, like you said.”

“Anyway,” he replied. “You can shelve those. I’ve got some more books to go through in my office. I want to start researching the mistletoe too, in case it has any special properties.”

I nodded. Nickamedes gave me a tired smile before he slowly turned and headed back through the glass door. I watched him out of the corner of my eye, making sure he made it back to his office and was seated at his desk again.

I had reached for the books so I could go shelve them when footsteps sounded. I looked up to see Logan walking toward me.

My heart lifted at the sight of him. I hadn’t seen much of Logan these last few days, since he’d been spending a lot of time with Nickamedes, making sure the librarian was resting and taking it easy like Metis had ordered him to. I also hadn’t had any more nightmares about Logan stabbing me. Our time together on the mountain had at least put those fears to rest.

My eyes traced over Logan’s face. His chiseled features looked as handsome as ever, but something seemed . . . different about him. Maybe it was the square set of his shoulders or the way his gaze fixed firmly on my face instead of skittering away as it had so often on the mountain. He just seemed . . . better.

Logan stopped in front of the counter and tucked his hands into the pockets of his dark jeans.

“Hi,” he said in a soft voice.

“Hi.”

He stared at me, and I looked right back at him, wondering if this was the last time I’d ever see him. But after a few seconds, I couldn’t stand the silence anymore—or the way my heart clenched with dread at the thought of him leaving again.

“Come to say good-bye?” I asked, wanting him to just say the word and go. At least that way, I could hurry off into the stacks where no one but Alexei and Aiko would see me cry.

Logan shook his head. “No, not to say good-bye—to apologize.”

I frowned. “Apologize for what?”

He looked at me, his blue eyes serious. “For running away, just like you said.”

This time, I shook my head. “I didn’t mean that. Not really. I know you needed some time to think about things. I’m the one who should be apologizing. You were the one the Reapers hurt—not me. I was just being a selfish, whiny bitch, back in the cavern. You’re the strongest, bravest person I know, Logan. What the Reapers did to you was horrible, but you survived it. That’s the only thing that matters. I’m sorry for all of the mean, hurtful things I said to you—sorrier than you will ever know.”

Over the past few days, I’d had a lot of time to think about me, Logan, and what the Reapers had done to him. Yeah, I was still hurt and angry, but I’d also realized that part of me was jealous of Logan—and the fact that he could walk away from the Reapers and everything else when I couldn’t. But being in danger, being a target, being hurt over and over again, was part of being a Champion—part of being Nike’s Champion. And it was something I was just going to have to deal with until the second Chaos War was decided—one way or the other. But in the meantime, I wasn’t going to take my emotions out on Logan, not when he’d suffered just as much as I had—maybe even more.

I drew in another breath. “So anyway, I’m just—I’m just
sorry
. For everything. I hope you can forgive me.”

“There’s nothing to forgive,” Logan said. “Because you’re right. I did run away. It was easier to leave, rather than staying here and facing you.”

“You didn’t want to see me and be constantly reminded of how you’d hurt me. I get it—really, I do. I probably would have done the same thing, if our positions had been reversed.”

He shook his head again. “No, you wouldn’t have. You would have stayed here. You would have sucked it up and done what you had to do in order to defeat the Reapers and keep everyone safe. Because that’s the kind of person you are, Gypsy girl. And it’s the kind of person I want to be too.”

“What are you saying?” I whispered.

“I’m saying that I’m back,” he said. “I’m back at the academy, and I’m back in the fight, right here by your side, Gypsy girl. I love you, and I don’t ever plan on leaving again.”

So many emotions surged through me at his words—hope, relief, happiness, and just a touch of fear. That it wouldn’t last. That something else would happen. That he would leave again. But I made myself stare into his eyes, and I let him see how important this was to me.

“Promise?” I whispered again. “Promise that you’ll stay no matter what happens? Because I don’t know—I don’t know what I’ll do if you leave like that again.”

“I promise.”

He drew an
X
over his heart—the same sort of off-center
X
that the scars on my own chest and hand made. Then, he grinned, and it was
his
grin again—Logan’s crazy, crooked, sexy, teasing grin that I loved so much. There was no guilt in his blue eyes. No hurt. No fear. Just his determination—and his love for me.

And just like that, all the anger, hurt, and guilt I’d been carrying around ever since Logan had stabbed me and left the academy vanished. Maybe it was crazy, but all the pain was just . . . gone, and all I felt in its place was a dizzying rush of love and concern for him, the emotion so intense that my body trembled with it. Logan had told me once that we’d already spent enough time being apart, and he was right.

I closed my eyes and drew in a breath. Then, I shuddered it out, hopped off my stool, ran around the checkout counter, and threw myself into his arms. Logan stepped forward to meet me, burying his face in my neck. The heat of his body melted into my own, driving away the chill I’d felt in my heart ever since he’d gone away.

I pulled back, stood on my tiptoes, and pressed my lips to Logan’s in a hot, fierce kiss, not caring who saw me or what they thought about it.

His lips met mine, and everything else just fell away. All I was aware of was the press of his lips on mine, our breath mingling together, our arms holding each other that much tighter, and all the warm, soft, fizzy, dizzying rush of love flowing from him to me and back again.

Finally, the kiss ended, and I stared up into his face.

“I love you,” I whispered.

He gave me another crooked grin. “You know, I think that’s the first time you’ve ever said that to me. In person, anyway. I thought girls were supposed to say
I love you
first, along with all that other mushy stuff.”

I rolled my eyes, stepped back, and lightly punched him on the shoulder. “There you go again, Spartan. Ruining the moment.”

His grin widened.

I stood up on my tiptoes and pressed another kiss to his lips. Then, I jerked my head at the checkout counter.

“What is it?” Logan asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I said. “But now that you’re back, we have work to do. Feel like helping me with something?”

He grinned again. “Always, Gypsy girl. Always.”

I threaded my fingers through his, then led him around the checkout counter to show him the map of artifacts that we were going to go after—together.

 

 

 

GWEN’S DIARY

 

 

“Do you really think the artifact is here?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Daphne Cruz, my best friend, stopped in the middle of the room, put her hands on her hips, and glared at me. Princess pink sparks of magic streamed out of the Valkyrie’s fingertips, telling me she wasn’t exactly happy with me right now.

“Well, if you don’t know, then what are
we
doing here?” she asked. “And by
we
, I really mean
me
.”

Here
was the Crius Coliseum, a museum on the outskirts of Asheville, North Carolina, devoted to all things mythological. Most folks who visited the coliseum thought it was an interesting look back at ancient times, with its rooms highlighting Greek, Norse, Russian, Roman, Japanese, Chinese, and all the other peoples, cultures, and gods of the world.

What they didn’t realize was that it was all
real
.

That those in the mythological world were locked in a struggle that had carried over into modern times—and that it was up to warrior whiz kids like me and Daphne to make sure the good guys of the Pantheon won.

That’s right. Me, Gwen Frost, the Gypsy girl who touched stuff and saw things, was officially responsible for saving the world. Something I wasn’t doing so well at so far, since I’d gotten my ass kicked more times than I cared to remember by some seriously bad guys. But no matter how terrible things got, I kept on fighting. It was the only thing I could do.

I’d come to the coliseum in search of a net that had supposedly belonged to Ran, the Norse goddess of storms. Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, had tasked me, her Champion, with finding such mythological artifacts and protecting them from the Reapers of Chaos. Something else I wasn’t doing so well at.

“Well?” Daphne asked. “What do you have to say for yourself, Gwen?”

I looked at the brochure I’d grabbed from a metal rack by the front door. “That the net is in one of the rooms in the back. So come on.”

The Valkyrie kept glaring at me, but I was used to her temper. Daphne’s bark was always worse than her bite—unless you were a Reaper.

I batted my eyelashes at her. “Pretty please?”

“Of course it’s in the back,” Daphne muttered, but she fell in step beside me.

It was a cold afternoon in late January, just before closing time. Given the bitter winter chill and snow showers outside, we were the only ones in the coliseum, besides a few staff members wearing long white togas who were taking inventory in the gift shop.

None of the staff gave us a second glance, despite the sparks of magic Daphne was still giving off. Mythos Academy students like us came into the coliseum all the time to look at the exhibits and gather information for reports, essays, and other homework assignments. Most of the staff members were former Mythos students themselves, so they knew all about the mythological world and the Valkyries, Spartans, Amazons, and other warriors who inhabited it.

We walked through the main room of the coliseum, which was filled with glass artifact cases. The silver and bronze swords and spears all glinted with a dull, bloody light, while the jewels in the rings and necklaces winked like evil eyes opening and closing, following my every move. The gauzy silks hovered in midair, as if they were ghosts about to break free of the wires holding them up, burst through the glass, and attack.

I shivered and quickened my steps. Bloody weapons. Winking eyes. Ghostly garments. My Gypsy gift was acting up again.

“Geez, Gwen,” Daphne muttered again. “Slow down. It’s not a race.”

I bit my lip to keep from telling her that it
was
a race—us against the Reapers—and forced myself to walk at a more normal pace. We left the main room behind and stepped into a long hallway.

“It’s all the way in the back,” I said, pointing up ahead. “In a room next to the library.”

Daphne sighed, and another shower of pink sparks streaked out of her fingertips.

“Look,” I said. “I know you’re getting tired of chasing after artifacts, but the net I saw on the coliseum’s Web site looked like the one we’re searching for. So I figured we might as well come and check it out. Besides, it’s not like we were doing anything else important.”

“Oh no,” she sniped. “It’s not like I wanted to spend the afternoon with my boyfriend or anything.”

“I asked Carson to come too,” I said, referring to her boyfriend, Carson Callahan, “but he had that band meeting about rescheduling the winter concert that the Reapers ruined.”

Daphne snorted. “Ruined is a bit of an understatement, don’t you think?”

I grimaced. She was right.
Ruined
didn’t even come close to describing the horror show the concert had turned into when Reapers had crashed the event, killed members of the ruling Protectorate, and taken others hostage, along with Mythos students. The Reapers had intended to murder everyone at the Aoide Auditorium as a blood sacrifice to the evil Norse god Loki. I’d stopped their plan, but it had cost me—more than I cared to remember.

“Well, at least Gwen decided to look for this artifact during the day,” a voice with a cool Russian accent chimed in. “Instead of dragging me over to the Library of Antiquities in the middle of the night like she did last week.”

I looked over to my left at Alexei Sokolov. With his dark brown hair, tan skin, and rugged features, Alexei was as handsome as any movie star, but he was also the Bogatyr warrior who served as my bodyguard.

“You’re just grumpy Oliver couldn’t come with us today,” I said.

Alexei smiled, and his hazel eyes softened at the thought of Oliver Hector, the Spartan he was involved with. “Maybe.”

“And you’re just grumpy Logan’s not here,” Daphne sniped again.

Her words surprised me, and I stumbled over my own feet, even as my heart twisted in my chest.

Daphne caught my arm and pulled me upright with her great Valkyrie strength. She winced at the miserable expression on my face.

“I’m sorry, Gwen. I didn’t mean that—”

I held up my hand, cutting her off. “No, it’s fine. We all know it’s true. I am grumpy about Logan.”

Another understatement. Spartan Logan Quinn was the best fighter at Mythos Academy. Over the last few months, he’d taught me everything I knew about weapons and how to use them.

He was also the guy I loved—and the one who’d attacked me and then left the academy.

“Gwen?” Alexei asked.

I snapped out of my dark thoughts. “I’m fine. Let’s see if the net is here.”

We hurried to the end of the hallway and the last exhibit room in this part of the coliseum. According to a sign on the wall, this area was devoted to gods and goddesses of the sea, the sky, and all the storms that raged between them. I put my messenger bag down in the corner, then went from one case to the next, staring at all of the artifacts. They included everything from splintered planks of the doomed boat that the Greek warrior Odysseus had tried to sail home in to a couple of gold tridents that had supposedly belonged to Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. Finally, I spotted a bronze plaque that read
Ran’s fishing net
, and I stepped over to that case.

A net made out of something that looked like light gray seaweed lay beneath the glass, along with a small white ID card. I’d have to remember to take that with me too. Hopefully, it would tell me what was so important about the net. I leaned even closer to the glass, studying the artifact.

Thanks to my psychometry, I never forgot anything I saw, so I was able to pull up my memories of the drawing that featured the artifacts I was supposed to find for Nike. I compared the net before me to the one in the drawing. It was a perfect match.

“Here it is!” I called out.

Daphne and Alexei moved over to stand beside me. They both looked down at the net.

“What do you think it does?” Daphne asked, her black eyes narrowed in thought.

I shrugged. “I have no idea. But Nike showed it to me, so it must be important.”

“Now what?” Alexei asked.

I shrugged again. “The usual. I’ll call Metis, and she and Nickamedes can come and get the net—”

I saw a flash of silver out of the corner of my eye, and I instinctively jumped back.

The Reaper’s sword missed my head by an inch.

One second, Alexei, Daphne, and I were alone in the exhibit room. The next, six Reapers had appeared, all wearing black robes and twisted rubber Loki masks and all carrying curved swords.

“Reapers!” I screamed, even though my friends had already spotted them.

The Reaper next to me raised his sword again, and I pivoted and lashed out with my foot, kicking him in the stomach. The Reaper stumbled back, giving me the chance to grab my own weapon—the sword in the black leather scabbard that was belted around my waist.

I raised the blade up into an attack position, and a purplish eye on the hilt snapped open. Instead of being plain, half a man’s face was inlaid into the hilt of my sword, complete with a nose, an ear, and a mouth that I could feel curving into a satisfied smile under my palm at the thought of the battle to come.

“Reapers!” Vic, the sword, said with dark relish. “Let’s kill them all!”

Beside me, Daphne slung an onyx bow off her shoulder and nocked an arrow on the thin golden strings, while Alexei pulled two matching swords out of the gray leather scabbard strapped to his back.

I tightened my grip on Vic and charged into battle.

I swung my sword at the Reaper over and over again, mercilessly hacking and slashing my way through his defenses until I was able to bury my weapon in his chest.

“Way to go, Gwen!” Vic crowed as I pulled him free of the Reaper’s body. “On to the next one!”

I turned to face the next Reaper coming at me—

A golden arrow zoomed past me and buried itself in the Reaper’s chest, and he too fell to the floor. My head snapped around.

“You’re welcome!” Daphne shouted.

I raised Vic and saluted her with the sword. She grinned before bringing up her bow and using it as a sort of shield to fend off another Reaper. Daphne stepped forward and punched the Reaper in the face, her Valkyrie strength throwing him back against the wall. I knew she’d be okay so I charged over to where Alexei was fighting two Reapers. The Bogatyr’s swords flashed through the air like streaks of silver fire as he moved back and forth, attacking first one Reaper, then the other.

“Get the net!” one of the Reapers screamed at the sixth and final man.

The last Reaper smashed his sword into the case, reached through the broken glass, and grabbed the gray net. He threw the seaweed over his shoulder and raced toward the open doorway.

“Go!” Alexei said, slicing his sword across first one Reaper’s chest, then the other’s, making them both scream with pain. “I can handle these two!”

I hurried after the last Reaper. He turned to see how close I was and slammed into another artifact case, knocking it over. The Reaper tripped and hit the floor hard, sliding to a stop just inside the doorway.

“Get him, Gwen!” Vic shouted.

I leaped over the smashed case and brought the sword up, ready to bring it down on the Reaper.

And that’s when he threw the net at me.

I ducked to one side, but the net still clipped me. It was heavier than it looked, and I felt like someone had slammed a couple of lead weights into my shoulder. I grunted, spun around, and managed to fling the net off me, although the left side of my body ached from the strangely hard impact.

But that gave the Reaper enough time to scramble to his feet and lurch out of the exhibit room and into the hallway. I picked up my pace, running after him. He wasn’t going to get away. Not if I could help it—

The Reaper stopped in the hallway, turned, and tossed something that looked like a black rubber ball in my direction. I stopped short just as a flash of fire exploded in front of the doorway, separating me from the Reaper. Through the flames, I watched as the evil warrior ran down the hallway and out of sight. I looked around, but of course there wasn’t another exit from this room, which meant I couldn’t chase after him.

I cursed, ripped off my gray hoodie, and used it to beat down the flames. Whatever the Reaper had thrown at me wasn’t all that powerful, because I was quickly able to smother the fire. I coughed, waved the wisps of smoke away from my face, and stepped out of the room.

Empty—the hallway was empty, the Reaper long gone.

I cursed again, but there was nothing I could do to catch him, so I went back into the exhibit area to check on my friends. Daphne and Alexei were already moving from one body to the next, tearing off the rubber Loki masks to reveal the Reapers’ real faces underneath. I went over to Daphne and touched her shoulder.

“You okay?” I asked.

She nodded.

“Alexei?”

“I’m fine,” he called out.

I let out a quiet sigh of relief. Alexei might technically be my guard, but he was a friend too, and I was glad that he and Daphne were all right.

Daphne noticed the worry on my face, and she slung her arm around my shoulder. “Relax, Gwen. We made it through the fight, and they didn’t. Why, my hair didn’t even get messed up.”

She used her free hand to smooth back the golden locks in her long ponytail. Daphne grinned, and I found myself smiling a little.