Crimson Frost (Mythos Academy #4)(10)
Author: Jennifer Estep

Nobody responded, although I could almost see the tension and anger hanging like a storm cloud over the table, making everything dark and ugly.

"I didn’t do anything wrong," I said, finally finding my voice.

Nickamedes stepped forward and put a hand on my shoulder. "Don’t say anything else to him, Gwendolyn. Not one more word. What Linus failed to mention is that anything you say now can be brought up at the trial. And believe me when I tell you that he will use your own words against you. It’s something he excels at."

Linus glowered at Nickamedes, but I decided to take the librarian’s advice and keep my mouth shut. I didn’t want to get into any more trouble than I already was.

Linus rolled the parchment back up, took off his glasses, and looked at me again. "Here’s what will happen next. Anytime such serious charges are leveled against someone, the Protectorate is called in, and an investigation is conducted. We will be talking to everyone you know and everyone who might know anything about the charges against you. Your friends, your family, your classmates, your professors, everyone."

Everyone? He was going to talk to everyone who knew me? Well, it would be a pretty short list. Sure, I had a few friends, but most of the kids at Mythos knew me as Gwen Frost, that weird Gypsy girl who touched stuff, saw things, and could find lost items for the right price. I wouldn’t exactly win any popularity contests, especially not now, after the assembly. Still, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

"Evidence will be collected, and you will questioned about the findings, along with your actions. Then, a group of Protectorate members will make a final decision about your guilt or innocence," he continued. "You should know that the charges against you are some of the most serious I’ve ever seen, especially for a Mythos student. Despite your age, if you are found guilty, the punishment will be dealt out accordingly. At the very least, you will be expelled from the academy."

Okay, so maybe it was going to be that bad after all.

Still, I couldn’t keep myself from asking the inevitable question. "And what about the very worst? What’s the worst punishment if I’m found guilty?"

Linus looked at me, his eyes cold in his face. "Death."

Chapter 4

Death?

I could be put to death by the Protectorate, by the Pantheon, for something I didn’t even do?

"If you are found guilty of all charges, you will be placed in solitary confinement in a Protectorate prison," Linus said. "And you will stay there until you are executed."

For a moment, the world went completely black, as though I was shrouded in darkness, as though I was already cold, dead, and buried in my grave. I blinked, and light blazed around me once more. Everything snapped back into focus, somehow seeming sharper than before. The hard, unyielding stone of the chair pressing against my back. The sinister gleam of the metal chains and handcuffs on top of the table. The faint musty odor that always filled the prison. All that and more assaulted my senses, slamming into my brain one after another, although they were all quickly drowned out by the rapid thump-thump-thump of my heart.

I wanted nothing more than to bolt from my chair, race over to the prison door, yank it open, and run and run and run until my legs buckled and my lungs exploded from the strain. But I couldn’t do that, not without making everything that much worse. So I forced myself to sit still and just breathe-in and out, in and out-just like my mom had taught me, just like she’d always told me to do whenever I was scared, upset, or worried. Right now, I was closer to panic-okay, sheer terror-than anything else, but I made myself keep breathing.

The panic slowly passed, although worry and fear still gnawed at my heart like rats chewing on a block of cheese. I finally looked at the others. Metis had a sick, stricken expression on her face, while anger made Nickamedes’s cheeks burn. Ajax simply looked furious with his stiff shoulders and clenched fists, his onyx skin gleaming underneath the lights. Even Sergei, Inari, and Alexei were giving me sympathetic glances at this point. Only Linus remained calm and emotionless, his blank face giving nothing away of his true feelings.

"I didn’t do anything wrong," I said again in a much fainter tone. "I didn’t do anything wrong."

"That remains to be decided," Linus said. "Rest assured that we will conduct a thorough investigation and that you will receive a fair and balanced trial."

"Yeah," I said, sarcasm creeping back into my voice. "Because hauling me up there on stage at the amphitheater and announcing my supposed crimes to the whole freaking academy was such a fair and balanced thing to do."

Nickamedes’s hand tightened on my shoulder, reminding me that I should keep my mouth shut, but the fear, shock, and panic were quickly simmering away, leaving nothing behind but anger. I embraced the anger, gathered up every single scrap of it and let the emotion sizzle around my heart until it had burned away everything else. As long as I was angry, I couldn’t think about how serious the situation was or how close I was to losing everything that had become important to me these past few months at Mythos-including my life.

Linus’s eyes narrowed at my words, but his face remained smooth. "Although I am personally against it, the academy bylaws state that you may remain at Mythos and continue with your classes and other school activities until the investigation and trial are complete and a decision is reached regarding your guilt or innocence."

Some of the tightness in my chest eased. At least I would still be at the academy with Logan, Daphne, and my other friends, not to mention Metis, Ajax, and Nickamedes. Together, we would find a way to get me out of this. I knew we would. We’d survived everything the Reapers had thrown at us so far. We’d survive this too.

"But your movements are restricted to campus, and you will be supervised and watched at all times," Linus continued. "In order to minimize the invasion and distraction to the other students, Alexei will be responsible for you during the day. He will accompany you everywhere you go on the academy grounds-your classes, the dining hall, the library, everywhere."

So not only was I to be investigated and put on trial, but I was going to have my own personal shadow too. Actually, I imagined he’d be more like a spy, reporting my every move back to the Protectorate and getting me into even more trouble if I so much as chewed gum in class or cut across the grass on the quad instead of walking on the stone paths. Terrific. Just terrific.

"You will not interfere with Alexei in any way, and any attempts by you to slip away from him will result in your being kept here in the academy prison for the duration of the investigation and trial," Linus said. "Do you understand, Miss Frost?"