Killer Frost

by Jennifer Estep

  By this point, the battle was over, and Aiko was helping the other members of the Protectorate round up the few Reapers who hadn’t been killed. I hurried over to Oliver, who was sitting on the back bumper of the artifacts van. Like me, he was covered with cuts, blood, and bruises from the fight. In front of him, Linus and Inari were crouching over the dead Reapers and murmuring softly to each other. They too had taken a few licks during the crash and subsequent battle, but all three of them seemed to be more or less in one piece.

  “Are you guys all right?” I called out.

  Oliver nodded and waved his hand at me, so I ran over to the smashed SUV, the one that I’d been riding in. By this point, Sergei and Logan had both gotten out of the vehicle and were sitting on the pavement a few feet away. Blood and bruises covered their faces from where the windows had shattered and the flying glass had sliced into their skin, and they both sat stiffly, each with one hand braced on the ground for support, as if it hurt to be fully upright. Alexei was kneeling by Sergei’s side, speaking softly to his dad in Russian.

  I dropped down in front of Logan. “Are you okay?” He smiled at me, despite the blood on his face. “I’ll

  live, Gypsy girl. Don’t worry. It’s only a few cuts. Besides, it was worth it to see the look on Vivian and Agrona’s faces when you made those rocs run right into the middle of all those Reapers.”

  “You saw that?”

  He nodded. “Through the windshield. My seat belt was stuck, or I would have come and helped you fight Vivian and Agrona.”

  He started to push himself up and onto his feet, but the motion caused more blood to well up out of the deep, jagged cut on his forehead and dribble down into his eyes. I unzipped my coat and used Vic to cut off the bottom part of my sweater. I held the fabric up to Logan’s forehead.

  “Stay still,” I commanded. “Don’t try to move.”

  His lips quirked up into another smile, but pain glinted in his eyes. “Yes, ma’am.”

  I stayed by Logan’s side, keeping pressure on the wound and trying to get the bleeding to stop. All around me, the members of the Protectorate moved through the Reapers, checking to see which ones were alive and which ones were dead. I glanced at the van, but it looked like all of the boxes containing the artifacts were still intact and inside. The Reapers hadn’t managed to get their hands on any of them.

  I let out a long, weary breath, although my relief was short-lived. Because I knew that it wouldn’t be long before Vivian and Agrona struck again.

  At least two dozen dead Reapers lay crumpled on the ground around the vehicles, and another half-dozen were rocking back and forth on the pavement and moaning from the pain of their wounds. I’d never seen so many of the other warriors in one place before, not even when they’d taken people hostage at the Aoide Auditorium during the winter band concert.

  The more I looked around at the bloody chaos, the more my heart sank. Linus was right. The Reapers wouldn’t stop coming until they got their hands on whatever artifact it was they wanted so badly.

  I just wondered if we’d be able to stop them the next time they attacked.

  Three hours later, I was in one of the patient rooms in the academy infirmary, leaning against the wall and watching Professor Metis use her healing magic on Logan. She’d already used her power to take care of my minor injuries.

  The professor held her hand up over the nasty cut on Logan’s forehead, a golden glow emanating from her palm and seeming to sink into his wound. A minute later, his skin knit together, and the deep gash seamlessly healed and disappeared completely. I let out a quiet sigh of relief that Logan hadn’t been hurt worse— and that none of my friends had been killed.

  “There you go,” Metis said, dropping her hand. “Good as new.”

  “Well, if I’m good as new, then why can’t I leave?” Logan groused.

  Metis arched her black eyebrows. “Because you and

  Sergei took the full force of the crash, that’s why.”

  A knock sounded, and Linus opened the door and stepped into the room.

  “How is he?” he asked Metis.

  “He’ll be fine,” she answered. “So will everyone else. But I’d like to keep Logan and a few of the others here overnight, as a precaution.”

  Linus nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”

  He went over and gently touched Logan’s shoulder. The Spartan reached up and squeezed his dad’s hand.

  “I’m glad you’re okay, son,” Linus said, his voice husky with emotion.

  “The same goes for you,” Logan replied.

  Linus nodded, squeezed Logan’s hand back, and cleared his throat. Then, he turned toward me. I knew what he was going to say even before he spoke the words.

  “The artifacts have been taken to the library basement,” Linus said.

  I nodded. “Okay, I’ll be right there.”

  Logan sat up in the hospital bed. “I’m coming too.” Linus shook his head. “You should stay here and get

  some rest. Nothing’s going to happen to Miss Frost, son. I promise you that.”

  “Just like you promised that nothing would go wrong on the trip back from the airport?” Logan countered.

  Linus grimaced.

  “It’s okay,” Metis said. “I’m finished up here, so I’ll walk Gwen over to the library. Nickamedes will be there too. Linus is right. She’ll be safe, Logan. We’ll make sure of it.”

  I put a hand on Logan’s arm. “See? Everything will be fine. You should stay here and rest, okay? Besides, I want to go check on my grandma too.”

  Logan grumbled under his breath, but he leaned back against the pillow and let Metis pull the blanket up over him. That alone told me he was still feeling the jarring impact of the crash.

  I kissed his cheek and left him alone with his dad. Metis led me to the next room over, where Grandma Frost was sitting on the edge of the bed, swinging her legs back and forth and making the scarves wrapped around her body merrily jingle-jingle-jingle in time to the motion.

  “Finally,” she said, sliding off the bed and standing up. “I was wondering where you were, pumpkin.”

  “You should sit back down and rest.”

  Grandma waved her hand at me. “I feel fine. I was a little rattled by the crash, but Metis checked me out, and she says that I’m okay.”

  I looked at Metis, who nodded.

  “Geraldine didn’t even have so much as a cut on her,” Metis said. “She was very lucky.”

  “And now, this very lucky lady is going home,” Grandma said, picking up her coat from the chair in the corner and shrugging into it. “I’ll feel much better after I take a long, hot bath, have a cup of tea and something sweet to eat, and get some sleep.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked. “Maybe you should stay here in the infirmary tonight. Just in case.”

  I didn’t add that part of me wanted her to stay. That part of me wanted to pretend I wasn’t Nike’s Champion, curl up in the hospital bed beside her, and have her stroke my hair and hum a soft lullaby until I drifted off to sleep. The way she had so many nights right after my mom had been murdered.

  But I was Nike’s Champion, which meant that I couldn’t do any of those things. Not while there was still work to be done. Because it was up to me to stop the Reapers, and the first step to doing that was figuring out which artifact they wanted and why.

  Grandma must have seen the worry and the weariness in my face because she came over and cupped my cheek with her warm, strong hand. “Don’t worry, pumpkin,” she said, stroking her thumb over my skin. “I’m fine. Really.”

  “But what about the Reapers?” I asked. “Vivian and Agrona are still out there. Who knows what they’ll do next?”

  “Inari is driving Geraldine home, and Aiko and some of the other guards are going to stay there and watch over her tonight,” Metis said. “Don’t worry, Gwen. The Reapers won’t get anywhere near your grandmother.”

  Well, that made me feel a little better, but not much. Because I hadn
’t thought that the Reapers would poison Nickamedes in the Library of Antiquities either. Or attempt to put Loki’s soul into Logan’s body. Or murder my mom to try to find out where she had hidden the Helheim Dagger. Or any of the other horrible things that they’d done over the past several months. If there was one thing I’d learned during my time at Mythos, it was that the Reapers were predictably unpredictable, and that all of the guards in the world couldn’t stop them when they put a plan into motion.

  Grandma Frost winked at me. “And I’m going to use this chance to fatten up all those guards. It seems to me like these Protectorate folks could use some homemade cakes and cookies. I’ll bake something for you too, pumpkin.”

  “I’ll come get it tomorrow afternoon,” I promised. “I’ll see you then.”

  Grandma Frost drew me into her arms and hugged me tight. I hugged her back, holding on to her for as long as I could, and trying to blink back the tears in my eyes before she or Metis saw them.

  Chapter 6

  Grandma Frost, Professor Metis, and I stepped out into the front part of the infirmary. As promised, Inari was waiting there to take Grandma home. She gave me one final wave before looping her arm through his and disappearing from sight.

  “Come on,” Metis said. “We should get over to the library. Linus is probably waiting on us by now.”

  I nodded and followed her out of the waiting room and then out of the building. It was late afternoon now, and the sun had already started to set behind the mountains. The soft lavender twilight was giving way to the shadows as the darkness slowly swallowed up the last bits of purple and gray that streaked the sky. With the short winter days, it seemed like the academy was dark and gloomy more often than not. Or maybe that was just my perpetual worry, since I still wasn’t any closer to figuring out how to kill Loki than when I’d started. And I couldn’t help but feel like time was running out, something that the Reaper attack today had only reinforced. The final battle was coming—probably much sooner than I realized—and I still didn’t know how we could win it.

  I still didn’t know what I could possibly do to save the people I loved.

  Metis and I walked in silence, both of us with our chins tucked down into the scarves wrapped around our necks, our breath still steaming in the cold air despite the layers of cloth. Still, I didn’t mind the schlep across campus. It seemed like the first time in ages that Metis and I had been alone, and there was something I had wanted to ask her about for weeks now—Nickamedes.

  “We haven’t had a chance to talk much lately,” I said as we crested the hill and stepped onto the main quad.

  Metis sighed. “I know, and I’m sorry about that, Gwen. It’s just with everything that’s been going on . . .” I waved my hand. “There’s no need to apologize or explain. I’ve had a lot going on too.” I hesitated. “And

  I’ve learned a lot of things these past few weeks.” “Really? Like what?”

  I drew in a breath. “Like the fact that you’re in love with Nickamedes.”

  Metis stopped cold. Seriously, she just—stopped, as though she’d been somehow frozen in place. If not for her breath still steaming in the air, I might have thought her some lifelike statue, like the ones perched on the towers of the English-lit building that loomed above our heads.

  “I flashed on you the night Nickamedes was poisoned in the library,” I said. “I wasn’t looking for anything or trying to see anything. My fingers brushed yours, and it just happened. You were so worried about him, and I realized how much you loved him.”

  Metis nodded, accepting my explanation, although she kept her gaze averted from mine. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Your touch magic is so strong. I should have known that you would figure out how I felt about him sooner or later. Sometimes, I think it’s so painfully obvious that I wonder if everyone doesn’t already know, especially Nickamedes.”

  She laughed, but the sound was small and bitter, and she reached up and smoothed back her black hair, even though every strand was already securely tucked away in her usual bun.

  “Why don’t you tell Nickamedes how you feel?” Her face darkened. “There are a lot of reasons.”

  “Is it because of my mom?” I asked. “That’s the only reason I can think of why you wouldn’t tell him.”

  A faint smile flickered across Metis’s face, softening the tight pinch of her lips. “Sometimes, I forget how perceptive you can be. And not only because of your psychometry.”

  She started walking again, her steps much quicker than before, as though she could scurry away from the truth and her emotions if only she moved fast enough. I wondered if I’d made a mistake asking her about her feelings for Nickamedes. But before I could catch up to her and apologize, Metis slowed, turned, and then sat down on the library steps, right in between the two gryphons. I hesitated, then plopped down beside her, feeling the bitter chill of the stone even through the thick fabric of my jeans.

  Metis ran her fingers back and forth over the dark gray stone of the step that we were sitting on. After about a minute, her hand stilled, although she kept staring at the stone, her green gaze dark and distant with memories.

  “You know, your mom and I used to sit out here on the library steps and talk all the time. About everything. Boys, classes, life. I think that’s the thing I miss about her the most. The fact that I can’t talk to her anymore.” I had to clear my throat to get the words out. “Me

  too,” I whispered.

  Metis sighed, drew her hand away from the cold stone, and slowly curled her fingers into a loose fist in her lap. “But you’re right. Grace is the reason I never told Nickamedes how I felt about him.”

  “How long?” I asked. “How long have you loved him?”

  A faint smile pulled up her lips again, but her expression was even sadder than if she’d been openly crying. “Sometimes, it seems like forever. I was in the library one day, trying to find a book that I needed to finish a homework assignment. This was long ago, during my very first semester at Mythos. Nickamedes was sitting at one of the study tables near me. Even back then, he was always so serious, always such a stickler for the rules. I think that my muttering about not being able to find the right book annoyed him more than anything else, since he was trying to study. Anyway, he saw that I was in trouble, and he helped me find the book I needed. We became friends. And slowly, I realized that I felt much more than friendship for him.”

  “So what happened?”

  She drew in a breath. “A few weeks later, I introduced him to Grace. He took one look at your mom, and she at him, and the two of them fell head over heels for each other. They were inseparable after that.”

  I could see it all as clearly as if it was a movie that was playing right in front of my eyes. Metis secretly crushing on Nickamedes, even though he was totally into my mom. The two of them not realizing that Metis always felt like the odd person out. Her keeping quiet, not wanting to ruin her best friend’s happiness with her boyfriend. In that moment, my heart broke for Metis.

  “But you never said anything to him?” I asked. “Not even when my mom left him and the academy for good?” Metis shrugged. “After Grace left, Nickamedes was

  so angry for such a long time. He threw himself into his job here at the library, and I did the same thing by getting my teaching degree and then working at some of the other academies. Several years later, I came back here to teach. We had kept in touch while I’d been gone, but seeing him again . . . all of my old feelings came rushing back. But there just never seemed to be a good time to tell him how I felt.”

  She paused. “No, that’s not right. There were times that I could have told him. I just . . . didn’t. I suppose I didn’t want to ruin our friendship, in case he didn’t feel the same way. Or couldn’t, because of Grace.”

  I could understand that too. Before we’d gotten together, I’d told Logan how I felt about him, and he’d told me that we couldn’t be together and then went off with another girl. That had been painful enough. I c
ouldn’t imagine how much harder it would have been for Metis if Nickamedes had rejected her, since they’d been friends for so long. Even if he’d let her down easy, which he would have, she was right. It would have made things awkward between them for a long time, if not forever.

  “And then you came to the academy last fall . . .” Metis’s voice trailed off.

  “And I reminded him of my mom all over again and how much he’d loved her,” I finished. “How much you both loved her.”

  She nodded. “And I felt it would be . . . disloyal to

  Grace to say anything to Nickamedes.”

  We sat there in silence, both thinking about my mom and everything she’d meant to us. Finally, I let out a breath. My mom was gone, but Metis and Nickamedes were still here, and I wanted them to be happy together, if they could. And I knew that’s what my mom would have wanted too. In fact, I was willing to bet that nothing would have made her happier than knowing her two best friends were finally together.

  “You should tell him how you feel,” I said. “Before it’s too late.”

  Metis cocked her head to the side and looked at me. “Why do you say it like that?”

  “Because I still don’t know how to kill Loki,” I said in a flat voice. “I still don’t know how to use the silver laurel leaves that Eir gave me. I don’t even know which artifact the Reapers were after today, and I doubt that looking at them again will give me the answer. Some Champion I am, huh?”

  Metis leaned over and put her hand on top of mine, and I felt a wave of understanding surge through me— along with rock-solid faith.

  “I believe in you, Gwen,” she said. “You’ll figure it out, and I’ll be here to help you. Along with Nickamedes, Geraldine, and all your other friends too.”

  “I haven’t told them. I haven’t told Logan or Daphne or any of the others about the bracelet or the fact that I’m supposed to kill Loki. I don’t know how to tell them.”

  “Why not?”

  I looked at her. “Because what if I fail? What if Vivian or Agrona or one of the other Reapers kills me before I figure things out? I don’t want them to give up. I don’t want them to think that I’m their only hope, even though Nike made it sound like I pretty much was. I . . . I just don’t know what to do. About anything.”