Kiss of Frost

by Jennifer Estep

Page 28

 

  Professor Metis, Coach Ajax, and Nickamedes wanted to question both of us, along with Logan, about what had happened in the construction site, so we All trooped into an office next to the infirmary. The gril ing went on for about an hour. I told the whole story three times, from beginning to end, with a few smAll changes.

  Namely, that Preston had confessed to trying to run me over and shooting the arrow at me in the Library of Antiquities.

  Under the table, out of sight of the profs, Oliver held out his fist to me again. I bumped it with mine once more, letting him know we were good. Logan stared at us, wondering what we were doing, but neither one of us looked at him. I'd promised Oliver I'd keep his secret, and I planned to make good on my vow. And I was okay with blaming Preston for everything, since, you know, the Reaper had tried to kil All three of us.

  FinAll y, the professors wound down with their questions, and I asked the one-the only one-that I thought reAll y mattered.

  "What's going to happen to Preston?" I asked.

  After Ajax had taken Oliver to the infirmary, the coach had come back down to the construction site and helped Nickamedes slap a set of magicAll y reinforced handcuffs on Preston, who'd been cursing All the while. I'd watched the two profs haul away the Reaper. I didn't know where they'd taken Preston, and I didn't reAll y care. All I wanted was to make sure he'd never see the light of day again-or get a chance to make good on his horrible threat.

  You'd better finish me now, Gypsy. Or I'll get free one day, and I'll go kill that doddering old grandmother you love so much.

  Preston's cold, sneering voice rang in my love so much. Preston's cold, sneering voice rang in my head.

  I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. That wasn't going to happen, I vowed. Nobody was hurting my Grandma Frost. No matter what I had to do to stop it.

  Metis, Ajax, and Nickamedes exchanged a look.

  "He'l be locked up at Mythos until we can question him,"

  Metis said. "We want to find out as much as we can about the other Reapers he's been working with and what their plans are. "

  My mouth dropped open. "There's a prison? At the freaking academy? "

  Nickamedes winced. "Please, Gwendolyn. Keep the shrieking to a minimum. Of course, there's a prison on the academy grounds. This isn't the first time that Reapers, Fenrir wolves, and the like have tried to kil students. We have to have some place to put them until they can be shipped elsewhere to a more permanent facility. " Not too long ago, Jasmine's death had

  clued me in to the fact that there was a morgue at the academy to store student bodies, just in case kids got kil ed by Reapers.

  Now, I'd learned there was also a prison hidden somewhere amid the gray stone buildings, manicured lawns, and lifelike statues. I wondered what other nasty little secrets there were at Mythos. A cemetery? A crematorium? Or something even worse?

  EventuAll y, the professors ran out of questions and sent Logan, Oliver, and me off to our rooms to get cleaned up.

  We'd just entered the hotel lobby when the front doors opened, and Daphne and Carson stepped inside. They were laughing, their cheeks flushed from the cold. Daphne spotted me and dragged Carson over to the three of us.

  "Gwen! You won't believe what an awesome time we had today. It's too bad you were locked up here in the hotel. . . . " The Valkyrie's voice trailed off, and her eyes widened as she took in my ripped, bloody clothes; dirty face; and rumpled, flyaway hair.

  Her gaze flicked to Oliver and Logan,

  who were just as filthy as I was.

  "What happened to you?" She jerked her head at Oliver and Logan. "And them?"

  "It's a long story," I said, linking my arm through hers. "But you didn't reAll y think I was just going to sit around the hotel All day long and do nothing, did you?"

  After I showered and changed into some clean clothes, I fil ed Daphne and Carson in on everything that had happened while they'd been off skiing.

  "Great," the Valkyrie muttered, her black gaze accusing.

  "You go off chasing Reapers and forget to invite us. What kind of best friend are you, Gwen?"

  I tried to convince Daphne that facing down Preston in the dark had been anything but fun, but she wouldn't believe me. And she thought I was a freak sometimes. Please.

  I also cAll ed my Grandma Frost. Professor Metis had ordered me to, but I would have done it anyway, just to hear my grandma's voice. Just so I could make sure she was okay and that Preston or one of his Reaper friends hadn't found a way to hurt her like Preston had promised me he would. I didn't know what I would do if I lost my Grandma the way I had my mom.

  This time, I couldn't convince Grandma Frost not to come to the resort. She showed up at Powder late that afternoon and drove me back across the mountains to her house in Ashevil e. Metis said that I could spend the night there in my old room before going back to the academy in the morning.

  Despite the fact that I'd almost died, the Powers That Were at Mythos stil expected me to get up bright and early Monday morning for weapons training, classes, and homework. Life was so not fair sometimes.

  Grandma fussed over me the rest of the evening, and I let her.

  It was nice to be taken care of after everything that had happened.

  Grandma Frost cooked one of my favorite meals for dinner: thick, juicy, mesquite steaks; mashed potatoes with loads of cheese and sour cream; honey-coated carrots; and rich, chewy, sourdough rol s slathered with cinnamon butter. She even made my favorite pineapple-lime cheesecake for dessert. By the time we got done with the tropicAll treat, there was only a sliver left in the pan.

  Grandma Frost came into my room late that night and sat on the edge of the bed. Concern fil ed her violet eyes, and her face seemed to have a few more wrinkles grooved into it than I remembered her having the last time I saw her.

  "How are you holding up, pumpkin?" she asked.

  "Okay, I guess," I said. "Just trying to process everything, you know?"

  On the ride home, I'd told Grandma everything that had happened-from picking up Oliver's notebook to the Spartan trying to scare me with his car and the arrow to the avalanche and everything that had gone down with Preston in the construction site.

  "What do you think happened to the Fenrir wolf?" I asked.

  "Do you think it's okay?"

  The profs might have rounded up Preston, but they hadn't been able to find the wolf anywhere. Oliver had said the wolf had rammed open the door and bolted through it as soon as Preston had gone after me and Logan. The professors had lost the creature's trail in the snowy woods outside the resort. Maybe it was sil y, but part of me hoped the professors didn't find it, that the wolf had gone deep into the mountains where it could finAll y be free of the Reapers.

  "I'm sure it wil be fine," Grandma said, trying to reassure me. "It's a wild animal, one that was never meant to be tortured or twisted by the Reapers. I'm sure it wil be much happier in the forest than it ever has been before. There are other wolves that roam the mountains, and it might find a pack of them to join. Who knows? You might just see it again someday. "

  Her eyes took on an empty, glassy look for a second, and I wondered if she was seeing the wolf, if she was getting a glimpse of its future-or maybe even mine, too.

  But then the moment passed, and her eyes cleared once more.

  I hesitated. "And what about my Gypsy gift? And what I can do with it now? Why do you think I have this new power?"

  "You're seventeen, Gwen," Grandma Frost said. "You're not quite ful grown yet, and neither is your magic. It's evolving and changing, just like you are. It wil only continue to get stronger, just like you wil . When I was your age, I was lucky if I could tel what time it was, much less see the future. But my magic got more and more powerful over the years, just like your mom's did-and just like yours wil , too. "

  She drew in a breath. "And your psychometry isn't the end of your powers-it's j
ust the beginning. You have what the old timers cAll touch magic. It's very rare and powerful.

  You always say that you touch stuff and see things, and that's true. But touch magic works both ways. " I frowned. "What does that mean?"

  "It means that when you touch something, the object influences you-you see the memories and emotions attached to it. But the flip side of that is you should be able to influence the object or person you're touching as wel .

  You should be able to feed that person your memories and emotions-and maybe more. At least, that's the theory.

  There's no tel ing what you'l be able to do with it someday.

  All you have to remember is to use your Gypsy gift wisely-

  help others, and yourself if you need it, and you'l be fine. "

  Somehow Grandma always knew just what to say to keep me from feeling like a freak, although I made a mentAll note to look up touch magic the next time I was in the Library of Antiquities. If there was more to my psychometry than just flashing on objects and people or using those memories, then I wanted to know what it was, so I could learn how to do it to protect myself-and Grandma Frost, too.

  She reached out and clasped my hand, rubbing it in her spotted, wrinkled one, and I felt the warmth of her love wash over me, driving away everything that was cold, dark, and scary. At least for tonight.

  "I just want to let you know how proud I am of you, pumpkin

  -and how proud your mom would be, too. "

  "Why?" I asked. "All I reAll y did was almost get myself kil ed, along with Oliver and Logan. "

  My heart pounded again at the memory of Preston's burning red eyes and the evil sneer that had twisted his face. We'd All come so close to dying- so close. No matter what the others said, I knew it was my fault. Yeah, we'd All come through it okay, but that didn't ease my guilt about putting Oliver and Logan in danger and the horrible wounds they'd suffered because of me.

  Grandma shook her head. "You stood by Oliver when it reAll y counted and Logan, too. You figured out how to use your magic to save yourself and your friends. That makes you strong and smart, Gwen, and I couldn't be prouder of you. Now, get some rest. You've had a long day. We'l talk more in the morning before you go back to the academy. " She drew the quilt up to my neck, kissed my cheek, and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

  You'd better finish me now, Gypsy. Or I'll get free one day, and I'll go kill that doddering old grandmother you love so much.

  Preston's words rippled through my head again, a black echo that wouldn't fade away. I shivered and turned off the light by the bed, trying to put the Reaper's awful promise out of my mind.

  Preston was locked up where he couldn't hurt me anymore, and he was never, ever getting out.

  I told myself that over and over again, but it was stil a long, long time before I went to sleep.

  Chapter 25

  Life went back to normal. Wel , as normAll as it could be, given the fact that I went to Mythos Academy. I went to class, snuck off campus to see Grandma Frost, and worked my shifts at the Library of Antiquities, just like usual.

  One thing that was different was weapons training. It was a lot more fun these days. Oliver and I had become reAll friends, and even Kenzie was starting to warm up to me, despite the fact that I'd ruined his breakfast with Talia.

  Kenzie and Talia were now officiAll y dating and extremely hot and heavy. Sometimes Kenzie would sneak out of weapons training early to go meet the Amazon for breakfast. The Spartan never noticed the sad, longing looks Oliver gave him. I wished things could have been different for Oliver, and I hoped he found someone to take his mind off Kenzie. I knew how much unrequited love sucked, and I didn't want my new friend to feel the same hopelessness that I did.

  I was doing better during training, too. Now I could make it a whole minute before Logan mock kil ed me with his sword, and I could hit the edge of the target with my arrows every single time. I tried not to use my memories of Logan and Daphne during training, though. I wanted to know how to defend myself for reAll and not have to rely on my Gypsy gift and someone else's skil s and memories to get me through another battle with a Reaper. It was slow going, but I felt like I was finAll y starting to learn how to be a reAll warrior.

  And then, of course, there was Logan.

  We hadn't reAll y talked since we'd kissed in the construction site. Sure, we did weapons training together and joked around, but neither one of us had mentioned the kiss-the one that had made me feel so many wonderful things. I wasn't sure how to bring it up or even what to say.

  So I kept my mouth shut, and Logan did the same.

  Every once in a while, though, I'd catch him staring at me, a worried look in his blue eyes. I knew Logan wanted to ask me what I'd seen when I'd kissed him, but I wasn't sure what I should tel him. I saw you crying over two dead bodies didn't exactly make for great romantic talk.

  The days slipped by, until there were just a few more before the academy let out for the long holiday break. All the Mythos kids were going home to spend Christmas and New Year's with their families, and I was looking forward to having a simple holiday with Grandma Frost and Vic. I'd even bought the sword a little red Santa hat to wear, although I expected him to put up a fuss about it.

  "Bloody holidays," Vic muttered to me one night in my dorm room. "We should be out fighting Reapers instead of thinking about stuffing ourselves with ham and pie. " I, for one, was looking forward to Grandma Frost's cooking, as wel as a little peace and quiet, but I couldn't tel him that. If anything, Vic had become even more bloodthirsty since the fight with Preston. Apparently, I'd done so wel during the battle that Vic now had some far-fetched hope that I'd turn out to be "a right proper brawler after All . "