Crimson Frost

"If you tell the truth, the venom is harmless, and your body will flush it out in a few hours," Linus said.

"And if you don't tell the truth?"

"Every time you tell a lie, the venom heats up a little more in your veins, like liquid fire, until it can feel like being burned alive from the inside out," he answered. "It's quite painful, from what I've seen."

So they were going to torture the truth out of me. Trial by fire, indeed. Great. Just great.

"The asps themselves also have an unusual ability," Linus continued. "They can sense whether or not someone is telling the truth, and they act accordingly."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"When someone tells the truth, the asp will do them no harm," he said. "But when someone lies, the asp gets quite agitated. The more a person lies, the more agitated the asp becomes until it strikes out at the person who is lying. That second bite acts as an immediate trigger for the poison already in your veins. Death is often thought of as a blessing. Those lucky-or unlucky-enough to survive a second bite from a Maat asp often wish they hadn't."

"And why is that?" I couldn't help but ask the question.

"The side effects are quite brutal and include everything from permanent paralysis to rotting limbs," Linus said. "The effects vary from person to person. No one knows exactly why, except that ironically enough, the punishment usually fits the crime. For example, if a Reaper is caught stealing artifacts and lies about it, the asp's bite will usually make a finger or two rot and fall off. Sometimes, a Reaper's whole hand or arm. Like I said, most Reapers who survive that second bite wish they hadn't-or that they'd just told the truth to start with."

I eyed the snake. I'd been face-to-face with Nemean prowlers, Fenrir wolves, and even a Black roc, and the Maat asp seemed like a harmless little garden snake in comparison to the massive size of the other mythological creatures. In fact, the asp's shimmering blue and black scales made it look quite dainty and pretty, almost like a jeweled bracelet you could wear around your wrist. The creature blinked sleepily at me, its eyes the same deep, vivid blue as its scales. Its black tongue flicked out of its mouth, tasting the air. I wondered if it could sense my fear. The emotion was probably radiating off me like anger had off the other students for the past few days.

"As long as you tell the truth, you'll be fine, Miss Frost," Linus continued. "Keep in mind that you lie to us at your own peril."

Yeah, I'd gotten that message loud and clear. I swallowed and looked at Grandma Frost, who patted my shoulder.

"It's okay, pumpkin," she said. "That itty-bitty snake can't hurt you because you're innocent. Soon, these fools will realize it too."

Linus arched his eyebrows at my grandma, who gave him a serene smile in return. He shuffled a few more papers around on the table before looking at me again.

"Now," he said. "The first accusation against you is that you murdered another student. Jasmine Ashton, a Valkyrie in your second-year class. According to the charges, Jasmine found out that you had stolen an artifact called the Bowl of Tears from the Library of Antiquities back in the fall. She was attempting to stop you from sacrificing another student, Morgan McDougall, to Loki, and you killed her for it. Is that correct?"

Is that correct . . . correct . . . correct . . .

His words echoed in my head over and over again. It was almost like he was speaking a foreign language because it took me several seconds to process the words. To realize what he was really saying-and what he was actually accusing me of.

I shook my head. "No-no way. I didn't do any of those things. That's not what happened-not at all. Jasmine is the one who stole the Bowl of Tears, not me. I was the one who realized that she was planning to sacrifice Morgan. I was the one who stopped her, not the other way around."

"And why would Jasmine want to kill Morgan?" This time, Inari was the one who spoke. "According to our reports, the two Valkyries were friends-best friends."

"Because Jasmine found out that Morgan was messing around with Samson Sorensen, Jasmine's boyfriend," I said. "And because Jasmine was a Reaper and that's what Reapers do. You guys should know that better than anyone."

"Keep the editorial comments to yourself, Miss Frost," Linus said. "We are not the ones on trial-you are. You would do well to keep that in mind."

I clamped my lips together to keep from telling him what I really thought about him, the Protectorate, and this stupid trial.

"But you don't deny that you killed Jasmine by shoving a spear through her chest?" Agrona asked.

I hesitated. I wasn't the one who'd actually killed Jasmine-Logan was. The Spartan had saved me that night, first by killing the Nemean prowler, a big, black, panther-like creature, that Jasmine had sicced on me and then by killing the evil Valkyrie herself. I didn't want to get him in trouble, especially not with his dad, by telling the Protectorate what had really happened. I didn't want Logan dragged in here and facing the same sort of torture that I was-but I didn't want to die by snake bite either.

The Maat asp raised its head, and its tongue flickered out of its mouth again, almost like it was about to test the truthfulness of my words. I couldn't lie, not with the snake an inch from my hand and the cold venom running through my veins, just waiting to ignite.

Desperate, I looked around the prison, as if the empty glass cells would give me some idea how to get out of this mess, but of course they didn't. Neither did glancing at Grandma Frost, Nickamedes, or the hand-and-scales carving. Finally, my gaze dropped to the cuffs and chains, which made me think of Preston. He used to scream and struggle whenever I came down to the prison to peer into his mind with my magic. Vivian had told me what had upset Preston so much was knowing there was nothing he could do to hide the truth from me.

The asp and its venom might be deadly, but for all its power, the snake didn't have my Gypsy gift, my psychometry magic. All it had to go on were my words-just words and not any of the memories and feelings behind them. An idea popped into my mind, a way I could get through this-and keep at least some of my secrets to myself.

"Answer the question, Miss Frost," Linus said.

No, I couldn't lie-but maybe I didn't have to.

"I fought with Jasmine," I said, choosing my words carefully and sidestepping the question. "I had to or she would have killed me instead. And Morgan too."

The asp eased its head back down, apparently satisfied with my answer. Okay, well that told me a little something about the rules of the game. Outright lying was a no-no, but omitting certain facts was just fine.

Magic. For all the ways it was supposed to be foolproof, it always seemed there was at least one loophole you could wiggle through, and I fully intended to exploit this one.

"But why did you destroy the Bowl of Tears?" Sergei asked. "It was a priceless artifact, one of the Thirteen Artifacts used during the final battle of the initial Chaos War. It was irreplaceable, yet you smashed it as if it was nothing more than a common dish."

"I smashed it because Jasmine was kicking my ass, and the bowl was somehow feeding her power," I said. "I thought if I broke it, that might stop whatever magic mumbo jumbo she'd started-and it did."

The members of the Protectorate stared at me, doubt and disbelief filling their faces. Linus, Sergei, and Inari all stared at the asp, obviously expecting it to lunge forward and sink its fangs into me again, but a minute passed, then another one, and the snake stayed still on the table.

"Let's move on," Linus finally said.

I let out a breath. Round one of the inquisition was over. Time for round two.

Chapter 17

Linus shuffled some more papers around on the table, and the others did the same.

"Let the record show that so far, Miss Frost has admitted to killing another student and destroying an important artifact," Linus said.

Agrona nodded, and I realized there was a small device sitting on the table next to her-something that looked like a digital voice recorder. So there was to be an official transcript of my trial. Wonderful.

"You're twisting everything around," I protested. "I only did those things to defend myself and my friends."

"You will not speak unless spoken to or asked to answer a question, Miss Frost," Linus said.

I opened my mouth again, but Nickamedes placed a hand on my arm and shook his head in warning. So I clamped my lips shut.

"Let's move on to the next infraction on Miss Frost's record," Linus said. "A series of events that occurred at the Powder ski resort during the annual Winter Carnival getaway. Miss Frost is accused of setting off an avalanche that threatened students, faculty, and staff members, both of the academy and the resort itself, and caused massive amounts of property damage; letting a Fenrir wolf run loose on the resort grounds; injuring two Spartan warriors, Oliver Hector and Logan Quinn; and attacking Preston Ashton, brother of Jasmine Ashton, whom she has already admitted to killing. Miss Frost, what do you have to say about these charges?"

"Not guilty," I sniped.

Apparently, my sarcasm amused Coach Ajax, who let out a faint chuckle. Linus glanced at him, but Ajax just crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. After a moment, Linus turned his attention to me once more.

"So you deny that you caused an avalanche during the carnival?" he asked.

"Of course, I deny it because it isn't true," I said in an exasperated tone. "Preston's the one who caused the avalanche. He wanted revenge for Jasmine's death, and he wanted to make me pay for kill-"

The asp stirred on the table, its tongue flicking out of its mouth again, reminding me that I had to be very, very careful. I might have figured out a way around the asp's magic, but one wrong word, one slip of the tongue, and I was still dead.

I drew in a breath. "He wanted to make me pay for what happened to his sister. So, Preston pretended that he liked me in hopes of getting me alone so he could kill me. He almost succeeded too, during a party outside the Solstice coffeehouse."

"And what stopped him from killing you that night?" Linus asked.

I looked at him. "Your son. Logan came outside just as I was going to leave with Preston. Logan's the reason I didn't go with Preston that night."

Linus didn't say anything to that. He paused a second before clearing his throat and continuing.

"But you attacked Preston later," he said. "In a part of the ski resort that was under construction. The Spartans, Oliver Hector and Logan Quinn, were injured in the battle. Tell me, Miss Frost, why were you trespassing in the construction site to begin with? Why would you willingly go to such a deserted area if you thought a Reaper was trying to kill you?"

"Because I mistakenly thought Oliver was the Reaper instead of Preston," I said. "I'd run into Oliver upstairs in the hotel, and I wanted to get away from him. I was in a panic so I went down the emergency stairs and wound up in the construction site by accident."

Linus raised an eyebrow. "You mean, Oliver came across you ransacking his room, correct?"

I ground my teeth together. "Yes, I searched his room because I wanted to find out whether or not he was a Reaper. For the record, he isn't."

"Apparently, you think common rules about things like breaking and entering don't apply to you, Miss Frost. In fact, you seem to make your own judgments about all sorts of things," Linus said. "Including a Fenrir wolf at the resort. Our reports show that you let the wolf escape, first during the avalanche and then later on during the fight in the construction site, rather than alerting your professors to its presence so they could properly deal with the creature. Isn't that correct?"

"The wolf wasn't evil, not like Preston was," I said. "So yeah, I let her go. And she wasn't just some creature. Her name was Nott, and she was my friend."

Linus, Agrona, Inari, and Sergei made some sort of notation on the papers in front of them. Metis and Ajax just sat there, still, silent, and unmoving. Raven discreetly flipped another page in her gossip magazine.

"Now, let's go back to the fight," Linus said. "You say that Preston was the one who shot Oliver with a crossbow. Are you sure that you weren't the one who actually pulled the trigger, Miss Frost?"

"Yes," I snapped. "I did not shoot Oliver. I did not cause the avalanche. I didn't do anything but defend myself and my friends from Preston."

"And how exactly did you do that?" This time, Inari asked the question. "According to the information we've uncovered, your mother, Grace Frost, and your grandmother, Geraldine Frost, hid their involvement in the mythological world from you."

Beside me, Grandma Frost stiffened. I opened my mouth to respond, but she put her hand on my shoulder. "Let me, pumpkin."

Grandma Frost got to her feet and glared at Linus and the other members of the Protectorate. "We did that so our little girl wouldn't grow up always being afraid of Reapers and Nemean prowlers and the like. You raise your children the way you see fit, spoiling them with fancy clothes and cars and jewelry. Well, we wanted her to have a normal life, at least for as long as possible, so yes, we hid our involvement, as you call it, in the mythological world from her. I thought it was the right decision back then, and I know it is now. My Gwen is a fine girl, a strong girl, and I couldn't be prouder of her or love her more."

She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, daring the members of the Protectorate to challenge her again, but none of them did.

"But the question remains," Inari said after my grandma finally sat back down. "You'd only been using weapons for a few months before going to the ski resort. So, how did you manage to defeat a Viking like Preston who'd been training his whole life for just such a fight?"