Crimson Frost (Mythos Academy #4)(43)
Author: Jennifer Estep

I had no illusions that I would be found innocent by the Protectorate. At the very least, I’d broken enough rules to get expelled from the academy. At the very worst, I’d be found guilty of conspiring with the Reapers, hauled off to prison, and eventually executed. Something that was a real possibility with one of the Protectorate members likely a Reaper in disguise. Either the snake would turn, bite me again, and trigger the poison in my veins that would kill me, or the Protectorate would find me guilty and chop my head off later. Either way, Vivian would win.

Using my magic on the asp was the only move I had left in this weird, twisted game Vivian had dragged me into, so I focused on all the memories I had of her, both as herself and when she’d been hiding behind a rubber mask as the Reaper girl. I called up all the images I had of that night at the Garm gate, when Vivian had freed Loki and then stabbed Nott. Rage pulsed through me, along with the memories, but I forced myself to be cold, calm, and keep my emotions under control. Finally, when I had all the images, all the memories, all the feelings, firmly fixed in my mind, I concentrated on the asp wrapped around my wrist, on the soft, smooth feel of its cool velvet skin against mine. Then, I pushed the memories at the creature, using my psychometry to show them to the asp-every single one.

I felt the asp tense, as the memories invaded its mind, the sights and sounds and feelings that weren’t its own. It wasn’t as easy as it had been with Nott, probably because the wolf had trusted me and this creature didn’t. It was harder to show the images to the asp, harder than I’d thought it would be, and I was soon sweating from the effort. I could feel the asp pushing back, trying to shove me out of its mind, but I hung on until I got to the final image I had of Vivian-her riding up into the midnight sky on a Black roc with Loki strapped in a harness behind her. Me helpless to stop them, my life’s blood draining from where Preston had stabbed me with the Helheim Dagger.

Come on, I thought to the snake. I’m the one telling the truth, not her. We both know it. So do your job, and bite her . . . bite her already . . . bite her right now!

The asp snapped at the Reaper girl.

Vivian must have sensed the change in the creature because she jerked her hand back at the last possible second, and the asp only ended up biting empty air.

Everyone froze.

But the snake wasn’t done. It struck at her again and again, in a frenzy now, as though it wanted nothing more than to kill her. I knew the feeling because it was mine-one I’d also shown the asp. Vivian leaped to her feet and yanked on her handcuffs. They must not have been magically reinforced because she was able to use her Valkyrie strength to break the metal links, along with the chain that shackled her to the table. Vivian stumbled away from the table, making sure she was out of range of the writhing asp, before she stabbed her finger at me.

"It’s Gwen! She’s done something to the asp with her magic! I know she has!" Vivian shrieked.

This time, I smirked at the Reaper girl. "Why would you say that? Because the asp finally wised up and realized what a liar you are? It tried to bite you, Vivian. You-not me. At least someone here has finally seen through your lies."

Vivian’s gaze flicked to the dais, as though she was looking to someone there for direction or possibly even help-as if someone there was a Reaper just like she was. My eyes narrowed, and I followed her gaze, but I couldn’t tell exactly whom she was looking at. Sergei, Inari, Agrona, Linus. It could have been any one of them. I didn’t think Logan’s dad was a Reaper, but I hadn’t thought that Vivian was Loki’s Champion either. If there was one thing I’d learned since coming to Mythos, it was that appearances could be very, very deceiving, especially when it came time to decide who to trust-and who not to.

Apparently, the asp realized that Vivian was out of range because it stopped snapping. Instead, the snake decided to wind itself around and around my wrist before putting its head down onto the table. Its black tongue flicked against my skin, and a sense of understanding filled me. The asp knew the truth of what had happened. I just hoped this display would convince the Protectorate as well.

"Did you see that, Linus?" Nickamedes said, surging to his feet. "Clearly, the asp knows who is guilty and who is not. I demand that you release Gwendolyn and drop all the charges against her immediately."

"The trial is over, Nickamedes," Linus replied, eyeing the snake. "But we have not started our deliberations yet. The asp’s actions are hardly conclusive in this case. We will decide who is telling the truth-Miss Frost or Miss Holler-and we will act accordingly."

Linus rapped his gavel a final time on the table, and everyone got to their feet. Nickamedes went over to Linus and started arguing with him, while the other members of the Protectorate looked on, along with Grandma Frost and Metis. Raven walked over, carefully uncurled the snake from my wrist, and put it back into its wicker basket, while Ajax stepped forward and unchained me. I stood, and the two of them moved off to the cell that Raven had gotten the basket out of earlier.

That left me standing across the table from Vivian. Although I wanted nothing more than to attack her, I knew I wouldn’t even get a chance to reach for her before Alexei or one of the guards watching would drag me back. So I settled for glaring at her instead.

"I’m going to kill you," I said in a cold voice that only Vivian could hear. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday soon. For my mom and for Nott and for everyone else you’ve ever hurt in your miserable life."

Vivian smiled, completely unconcerned by my threat, although that spark of Reaper red still flashed in her topaz eyes. "Oh, I imagine that you’ll try, Gwen. But I won before at the Garm gate, and I’m going to win again this time too. You’ll see. And by the time you figure out what my plan is, it will be too late for you-and everyone you love."

With those ominous words, Vivian walked out of the academy prison, flanked by her three guards, and all I could do was just stand there and watch her get away-again.

Chapter 19

After the guards whisked Vivian off to parts unknown, Grandma Frost came over and hugged me tight.

"Are you okay, pumpkin?" she whispered. "I know how awful it was, seeing her again. If I’d had any idea she was going to be here . . ."

Grandma’s voice trailed off, and I could tell she was thinking the same dark thoughts I was-that the world would be a better place without Vivian in it.

"I’m okay," I said. "At least I got through to somebody."

While the others were still arguing, I told her about pushing my thoughts at the asp and how I’d been able to show it what Vivian was really like.