Crimson Frost

by Jennifer Estep

Page 22

 

  I let out a frustrated sigh because I knew Grandma Frost was right. At this point, the Protectorate would think what they wanted about me, and there was nothing I could do to change their minds one way or the other.

  But I could do something about Vivian. The Reaper girl had told me that she was up to something, and I was willing to bet it had a lot to do with the attack in the library last night. Whatever Vivian and the other Reapers were planning, they weren't going to get away with it. Just because I was on trial for my life didn't mean that I was going to stop fighting against them. They'd already taken away so much from me. They weren't taking anything else, and they weren't hurting anyone else that I loved.

  Now, I just needed to find a way to stop Vivian and the Reapers-before it was too late.

  The Protectorate was going to take the weekend to decide my fate, which meant I could stay on campus until Monday afternoon, when they made their final decision about me-and Vivian.

  I wondered if they found me guilty, did that mean Vivian would be declared innocent and be allowed to come back to Mythos? Could that be what she really wanted? Was that what all the false accusations had been about?

  No, I thought. It was too simple. Vivian wouldn't have risked contacting the Protectorate just so she could come back to school. She had to be up to something bigger, something that would hurt the Pantheon a lot more than just discrediting me as Nike's Champion. Sure, I imagined she'd be thrilled if the Protectorate decided to sentence me to death, but I couldn't shake this nagging feeling that there was something else going on.

  "What are you thinking about, Gwendolyn?" Nickamedes asked, packing up his papers. "You've been awfully quiet. "

  I shrugged. "Just going over everything that's happened. Everything that Vivian said. "

  "Don't worry about her," Nickamedes replied. "Despite my feelings toward Linus, I cannot believe he would be foolish enough to believe her. You'll be cleared of all charges and get to stay right here at Mythos where you belong. Trust me. "

  I nodded, even though I didn't really believe that.

  Since my trial was over, everyone except for Raven left the prison and walked up the many stairs to the ground floor of the math-science building. Agrona, Inari, and Sergei paused just inside the door that led outside and started talking among themselves, but Linus gestured at me to stop.

  "Don't forget, Miss Frost," he said, giving me the same frigid stare as always. "Your trial might be over, but you are still under arrest, so the same rules apply. You are restricted to campus for the weekend, and you will be watched at all times. "

  I frowned. "But the winter band concert is tomorrow. I had plans to go. One of my friends is in the band-"

  "Forget it, Miss Frost," he interrupted. "You're not going to the concert. If I were you, I'd take this weekend to think about all the things you've done. Perhaps even consider confessing and throwing yourself on the mercy of the Protectorate. That sort of gesture might mitigate your punishment-somewhat. "

  So he'd already decided that I was guilty.

  "But I didn't do anything wrong," I said once again.

  Instead of answering me, Linus stared at me another second, then turned and strode over to the other members of the Protectorate.

  "Don't worry, Gwen," Metis said, walking over to stand beside me. "Everything will be okay. The asp lashed out at Vivian, not you. The Protectorate has to take that into consideration. "

  I shook my head. "No, it won't," I said in a low voice only she could hear. "Not with Linus hating me like he does. And especially not since one of them is probably a Reaper. "

  Metis frowned. "What do you mean?"

  I told her about seeing the ruby chips on Vivian's ring and how I thought they'd been part of Apate's box. I also told her how Vivian had looked at one of the members of the Protectorate after the asp had tried to bite her.

  "One of them has to be helping her," I said. "It's the only thing that makes sense. "

  Metis's mouth tightened. "I'll tell Nickamedes and Ajax. We'll quietly ask around and see who was where when the Reapers attacked. If one of them is a Reaper, we'll find out who it is-and deal with him or her. You can count on that. "

  I nodded, grateful that she believed me, that she didn't think I was crazy or guilty or up to no good like Linus would have.

  I headed outside, along with Grandma Frost, Metis, Ajax, Nickamedes, and, of course, Alexei, who was back to shadowing me again. The trial had gone on longer than I'd thought because twilight had already fallen over the campus, giving everything a faint lavender sheen.

  My friends were waiting for me on the quad-Daphne, Carson, Oliver, and Logan. They'd been huddled together on the building's steps and got to their feet when they saw me. Grandma Frost spotted them too.

  "I need to speak to Metis," she said. "Are you going to be okay tonight, pumpkin?"

  "I'll be fine," I said. "I want to talk to my friends about what happened, and I need to warn them about Vivian. "

  She nodded. "Well, you call me if you need me. Day or night. I love you, and don't you worry. Everything's going to work out the way it's supposed to. You'll see. "

  For a moment, that distant, glassy look filled her eyes, and that ancient, invisible force stirred around her, as though she was getting a glimpse of the future-my future. Then, her gaze cleared, and the force vanished, blown away by a cold gust of wind. Still, her words made me feel a little better.

  I hugged Grandma Frost, then watched her walk across the quad with Metis, Ajax, and Nickamedes, all of them with their heads together, talking softly. Looked like I wasn't the only one trying to come up with a plan. But I was the one who was Nike's Champion. I was the one who was supposed to protect everyone from the Reapers, and I was the one who was supposed to kill Loki. I loved my grandma, and I knew the other adults were watching out for me too, but I also realized that I couldn't rely on them to get me out of this mess. No, being a Champion meant fighting your own battles, and I was determined to win this struggle against Vivian.

  All of my friends came over and hugged me in turn. Oliver, Carson, Daphne, and finally Logan, who held me close and didn't let me go.

  "How was it?" he asked, his blue eyes searching mine.

  "Awful," I said. "But the worst part was that Vivian was there. "

  "What?!" Daphne said, her voice rising to almost a scream, and pink sparks exploding in the air around her. "What was she doing at your trial?"

  "Blaming me for everything she's done," I said.

  We weren't the only kids on the quad, and Daphne's shout made the others turn to look at us. I stared back at the other students, once again feeling their anger wash over me, but this time, I also wondered which of them might be Reapers-and plotting against us. Vivian hadn't been the only Reaper student at Mythos, and I had no idea how many other kids she had spying on me and my friends. Yeah, maybe I was being paranoid, but I didn't want to talk about my trial out here in the open where just anyone could walk by and hear.

  "Come on," I told my friends. "Let's get inside out of the cold, and I'll tell you all about it. "

  We ended up squeezing into my dorm room. Once again, Alexei had trailed me across campus. He stopped in the hallway outside my room and leaned against the wall as usual. His face was smooth, but his shoulders sagged just the slightest bit, and I could tell he was tired, just like I was.

  I stood in the doorway. "Would you like to come inside?"

  He shook his head. "I don't think that would be a good idea. "

  I nodded. I knew he was still smarting from the talking-to Linus had given him last night, and I couldn't blame him for not wanting to get on the Protectorate leader's bad side. Still, I felt I owed him something. The Bogatyr had fought alongside my friends in the library, and he'd helped us survive. He wasn't a bad guy, just caught in an awkward situation. If things had been different, we might have even become friends.

  "Well, if you
change your mind, just open the door and come on in," I said.

  A smile flickered across Alexei's face, but it quickly vanished. "I will be just fine out here. "

  I nodded, went into my room, and closed the door behind me.

  The others had already settled in. Daphne and Carson were sitting cross-legged on the floor, while Oliver slouched in my desk chair. Vic was hanging in his scabbard on the wall above Oliver's head, and the sword's eye snapped open as I walked across the room to him.

  "Well, it's about time you got back," Vic said. "Do you know how bloody boring it is being stuck here wondering what's going on? Why, I didn't even have the fuzzball to keep me company this afternoon. "

  My gaze went to Nyx's empty basket, and a hollow ache filled my chest. "I miss her too," I told the sword. "And I missed having you with me today. "

  I gave Vic a pat on the head, which seemed to mollify him. Then, I went over and plopped down on the bed next to Logan.

  "You know, this is the first time I've been in your room. I like it, although I didn't think we'd have an audience when we were in here," the Spartan whispered to me.

  I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help the smile that stretched across my face. Only Logan could crack a joke and make me feel better at a time like this.

  "All right, Gwen," Daphne said, crossing her arms over her chest. "You've kept us waiting long enough. Spill it. "

  I told them everything that had happened in the academy prison, from the Protectorate's questions to the Maat asp to Vivian claiming that she was really Nike's Champion.

  Oliver let out a low whistle when I was finished. "Vivian's even more diabolical than I thought. "

  "You're telling me," I said. "No wonder she was in the drama club. She really is a great actress. She was so convincing that even I might have believed her, if I didn't know what really happened. And I couldn't do a thing to stop her. Not then, anyway. "

  "Uh-oh," Daphne muttered. "I know that look. What are you up to, Gwen?"

  "What makes you think I'm up to something?"

  The Valkyrie snorted. "You're breathing, aren't you?"

  I glared at my friend.

  Carson pushed his glasses up his nose. "Daphne has a point, Gwen. You do tend to . . . take matters into your own hands, especially when it comes to Reapers. "

  I turned my glare to the band geek, who winced and ducked his head.

  "Come on, Gypsy girl," Logan said. "You might as well tell us what you're thinking. We're your friends. We're here because we want to help you. "

  "The boy's right," Vic chimed in. "Help you, kill Reapers, it's really all the same. "

  I looked at them-Daphne, Carson, Oliver, Vic, and finally Logan. When I'd first started going to Mythos back in the fall, I hadn't had a single friend-not one. Now, I had them, and they'd stood by me again and again, even when all I did was put them in danger. But I could see the determination in their faces, and I knew they wouldn't leave until I told them everything. Hot tears of love and gratitude pricked my eyes, and it took me a few seconds to blink them away.

  "All right," I said, letting out a breath. "So I may be thinking about finding out what Vivian and the Reapers are really up to, but there's just one problem-I don't know how to do it. Supposedly, the Protectorate has Vivian under guard somewhere, at least until they decide what to do with the two of us. So it's not like I can go and question her-and she wouldn't tell me the truth anyway. Even if I could find out where she is, the Reaper inside the Protectorate would stop me from getting to her. "

  "What?!" Daphne yelled. "What do you mean, the Reaper inside the Protectorate?"

  That's when I told them my suspicions about the ruby chips on Vivian's ring and how I thought one of the Protectorate members had to be working with her.

  "Who do you think it is?" Logan asked.

  I shrugged. "Maybe Inari? The Reaper leader had the same sort of slender build that he does. But who knows? Vivian found a way to fool me, so this Reaper might have too. Inari, Sergei, Agrona, Linus. It could be any one of them. "

  He stared at me. "My dad is not a Reaper, and I don't think any of the others are either. I've known Inari and Sergei for years. They helped train me. And Agrona is my stepmom. "

  I hesitated. I didn't want to believe it either, but Vivian couldn't have planned all this by herself, and I'd seen her look at someone on the dais during the trial.

  "I don't want to believe it's your dad," I finally said. "But we all know that anything's possible when it comes to Reapers. "

  Logan kept staring at me, his face pinched with hurt, but I didn't say anything else. Nobody spoke for a minute. Finally, Oliver cleared his throat.

  "But you have something in mind," he said. "A way to find out what Vivian might really be up to. "

  I shrugged again. "I'm going to head back to the library tomorrow and see if I can get any more vibes off anything the Reaper might have touched when he stole Apate's box. I wanted to do it today, but I didn't get a chance because of the trial. Tomorrow will be better anyway because it's Saturday, so I don't have classes, and most of the other kids will be at the band concert. It'll probably be a waste of time, but at least it will keep me from sitting in my room all day worrying. "

  "They're not going to let you come to the concert?" Carson asked, his shoulders drooping.

  I shook my head. "Nope, I'm still restricted to campus until the Protectorate makes its decision. I'm sorry I won't be there, but I know you guys will all do a great job. Especially you, Carson. "