Crimson Frost (Mythos Academy #4)(32)
Author: Jennifer Estep

"And what about the Reapers? Does anyone know who they are? Or how they could have gotten onto campus and into the library without raising any sort of alarm?"

Logan shook his head. "I don’t recognize any of them. You, Alexei?"

He shook his head as well. "No. None of them look familiar to me."

"Maybe Gwen can find out something with her magic," Oliver said, looking at me. "You know, like you did at your grandma’s house."

I grimaced. Oliver was talking about how I’d used my magic to flash on the man who’d been with Preston and Vivian when they’d attacked Grandma Frost a few weeks ago-the man my grandma had killed instead. I hadn’t liked touching that dead man, and I certainly didn’t want to do the same to a bunch of dead Reapers, but Oliver was right. Maybe my psychometry would give me some information about the Reapers and what they’d wanted with the artifacts.

"Gypsy girl?" Logan asked.

I sighed. "I don’t like it, but I’ll do it."

One by one, I went from Reaper to Reaper, pulling off their bloody gloves, touching their hands, and seeing what vibes I got off them. But all the memories and feelings attached to the men and women had already started to fade away, and the only images I saw were of the Reapers fighting my friends and then the blinding flashes of pain they felt before they died from their wounds.

I finished with the last Reaper, shook my head, and got to my feet. "Nothing there. Just a few memories of the fight. Everything else is gone already."

Oliver slung his arm around my shoulders. "Well, I’m just glad we made it through okay. Alexei and I would have been in a world of hurt, if you hadn’t managed to get those swords and that scabbard to us, Gwen."

I lightly elbowed him in the ribs. "You would have done the same for me."

Oliver grinned. "Maybe."

I elbowed him a little harder. "Definitely."

We stood there, staring at the bodies.

Logan drew in a breath. "Well, I guess I’d better call my dad and tell him what’s happened. Metis and Ajax too-"

"Gwendolyn?" a familiar voice called out. "Where are you? Why aren’t you at the checkout counter?"

I’d forgotten all about Nickamedes leaving to run some errands, but now he was back-and the library was a disaster area once more. Books and broken glass littered the floor, not to mention the dead Reapers lying in the middle of the mess like dolls someone had forgotten to put away. I winced. This was so not going to be pleasant.

"Gwendolyn?" he called out again.

But there was no hiding it from him, so I yelled back. "Over here!"

A few seconds later, Nickamedes rounded the corner of the office complex. "What are you doing back here? I’m ready to close the library for the night-"

The librarian looked up from the book he’d been reading and stopped in his tracks. His eyebrows shot up in his face, and his eyes bulged as he stared at all the blood and bodies on the floor. His mouth dropped open, and a familiar spark of anger began to burn in his blue gaze. He looked at me.

I winced again. I knew what was coming now. "I can explain-"

Nickamedes held up his hand, cutting me off. "I don’t even want to hear it."

"But-"

I tried again, but Nickamedes just shook his head, his shoulders sagging.

"No, Gwendolyn," he said in a resigned tone. "It’s my fault. I should have known better than to leave you alone in the library. Things always seem to get . . . broken whenever I do that."

Well, that was one way of putting it. At least he wasn’t yelling at me-

Nickamedes straightened up to his full height. "I’m glad you are all okay, but Reapers or not, my library is once again in a state of total disarray . . ."

The librarian’s voice got a little louder and a little sharper with every word, but I just stood there and listened to his lecture in silence. I figured I owed Nickamedes that much for wrecking the library for the second time in less than a year.

Chapter 14

Nickamedes lectured me for a good five minutes before he finally calmed down enough to call Metis, Ajax, Raven, and Linus.

I knew he had to tell Linus what had happened, but it wouldn’t do anything to raise the other man’s low opinion of me-especially since Logan had been involved. Linus thought I was a bad influence on the Spartan, and part of me was starting to wonder if he was right. I was a Champion, which meant I was a target for the Reapers. That was bad enough, but the fact that I was Nike’s Champion pretty much made me number one on the Reapers’ kill list. As long as Logan was with me, he would always be in danger-and so would my friends.

I loved Logan, and I loved my friends, but sometimes I couldn’t help but wonder if they would all be better off without me. Carson had almost died at the Crius Coliseum a few weeks ago, and it was only a matter of time before someone else got hurt-or worse. But I also knew I couldn’t be a Champion without them. I just couldn’t. They were my rocks, my friends, my family now. Without their love and support, I would have been dead long ago. But I didn’t know what I could do to protect my friends, other than kill Loki. Something I still had no clue how to do.

Those were the dark, guilty thoughts that swirled through my mind as my friends and I sat at the study tables in the back of the library. I’d already grabbed my bag from underneath the counter, wiped the blood off Vic, and put him back into his leather scabbard. I didn’t know what, if anything, the Protectorate knew about the talking sword, but I had a feeling it would be better if he was out of sight. Besides, Vic was happy to take a nap now that the fight was over.

"It was a good night’s work," Vic said in a satisfied voice before letting out a loud yawn. "Would have been even better if we’d gotten the last Reaper, but you’re coming along nicely, Gwen. Next time, we’ll get them all . . ."

His eye drifted shut, and he was snoring a minute later.

I’d just slid Vic into my messenger bag when Metis, Ajax, and Raven arrived, along with men and women wearing black coveralls and pushing metal gurneys. For the first time, I noticed that the men and women all had the same emblem stitched into their collars in white thread-the hand-and-scales symbol. It must be some sort of Protectorate mark because the same symbol was also stamped onto the black body bags the workers had brought with them.

I sat next to Logan and watched Ajax, Nickamedes, and Raven oversee the workers, who cleaned up the mess and loaded the Reapers’ bodies onto the gurneys to roll over to the math-science building, where the academy morgue was. The bodies were quickly removed, but my gaze lingered on all the blood still on the floor. I shivered. Once again, I couldn’t help but think that could have been our blood splattered everywhere-my friends’ blood, my blood. The thought made me sick.