Crimson Frost (Mythos Academy #4)(48)
Author: Jennifer Estep

Memories and images flooded my mind. I got a sense that the case had stood in this particular spot for a long, long time, decades even, and I saw flashes of all the students who’d touched, leaned against, peered at the items inside, and even decided to make out right next to or even on top of the glass and wood. Ugh. I would have been happy not seeing those particular images.

And then, finally, there was the last memory associated with the case-the Reaper raising the hilt of his sword, smashing all the glass, reaching inside, and stealing the box and jewelry.

I focused on that last image, concentrated on it, and pulled it into sharp focus. Then, I rewound the image and played it again and again, trying to get all the information I could from it, hoping there would be something I’d missed the first time, some clue I’d overlooked. I knew that the Reapers had wanted the box and its jewels for Vivian, so she could trick the Maat asp into thinking she was telling the truth. Now, I wanted to know what else they might use the items for-and which member of the Protectorate might really be a Reaper.

Nothing-I saw and felt nothing.

Well, nothing out of the ordinary. Just the Reaper smashing the case and grabbing the items inside. Nothing that I didn’t already know, and nothing that would help me figure out what Vivian’s ultimate plan was.

I opened my eyes and ran my fingers back and forth across the case, touching every inch of it, but I didn’t get any more flashes. No memories, no vibes, nothing.

"What are you doing?" Alexei asked.

"Using my psychometry," I said. "But it’s not telling me anything new. Not yet, anyway."

I was disappointed, but I wasn’t ready to admit defeat just yet. Since the case wasn’t giving me any vibes, I branched out and searched the rest of the aisle. I got down on my hands and knees and ran my fingers over the marble floor around the entire area. Once again, I got the sense of all the students who had walked by this spot, their shoes slapping and scuffing against the floor, but nothing to do with the Reapers.

Getting desperate, I got down on my belly and looked underneath the bookshelf behind the case. Something long and black was lying there. I squinted, trying to make out what it was, and then I realized that it was the black velvet stand that had been in the case. The one I’d scooted underneath the shelf when I’d noticed Inari watching me.

I grabbed the stand and pulled it out from underneath the shelf. Then, I sat on the floor and ran my hands all over the soft, now dusty surface.

Nothing-once again, I saw and felt nothing important. Just the Reaper lifting up the stand and grabbing the box and jewelry. Disgusted, I put the stand inside the case, then got back down on the floor and peered under the shelf again.

But there was nothing else there, except for a couple of forgotten pens and a wad of dust bunnies that made my nose itch. I sighed, but I still wasn’t ready to give up, so I slithered across the floor to the shelf on the other side of the aisle and looked under it as well. More pens and more dust bunnies, along with a shriveled up piece of gum. Yucko.

I’d just started to turn away when I noticed a small, white piece of paper lying on the floor back in the shadows.

My eyes narrowed, and I shoved my shoulder underneath the case and reached back as far as I could. It took me a few seconds, but I managed to snag the paper and pull it out into the light.

"What’s that?" Alexei said. "Did you find something?"

"Maybe," I murmured, getting to my feet.

I flipped over the paper and realized that it was an ID card that had been inside the case. I’d thought I’d seen something white flutter to the floor when the Reaper had smashed the glass. The Reaper must have accidentally kicked it under the shelf or maybe I had when I’d chased after him. I waited a few seconds, but I didn’t get any big vibes off the card, so I looked at the information on it.

Apate’s Keepsake Jewels. In addition to their obvious beauty, each piece in Apate’s jewelry collection is rumored to be imbued with the goddess’s deceptive power. In fact, each individual gemstone in the pieces supposedly has a different magical property. For example, the emeralds are believed to have a hypnotizing effect, while the topaz can cause hallucinations. However, the rubies are thought to be the most powerful and have a variety of magic attached to them, everything from letting people deceive others to even overcoming a person’s mind and compelling him or her to act against his or her own free will . . .

So I’d been right about the box and how Vivian had used the ruby chips on it to fool the Maat asp. But the knowledge didn’t make me feel better-if anything, it only made my worry grow. Because the only jewelry Vivian had been wearing had been her Janus ring. So what had happened to the box and the rest of the jewelry? What were the Reapers planning to use the other gems for?

"What’s that?" Alexei asked again. "Have you found something?"

I hesitated. It was one thing to have the other warrior follow me around-it was another to trust him. Alexei seemed like an okay guy, and Oliver liked him. Then again, I’d liked Preston Ashton and look how well that had turned out.

Oh, I didn’t think Alexei was a Reaper. Vivian hadn’t looked to him for help during the trial, and I hadn’t gotten any strange vibes off him the past few days. Plus, he hadn’t acted like a Reaper would have. He hadn’t tried to cozy up to me and be my friend, in anticipation of stabbing me in the back later. But I’d been fooled before, and there was still a small chance that he was one of the bad guys. One way to find out.

"Give me your hand," I said.

"What? Why?"

"If you want to know what I’m doing, give me your hand," I repeated.

Alexei looked at me, suspicion in his hazel eyes. For a moment, I thought he wasn’t going to do it, that he really might be a Reaper after all, but he finally held out his hand.

I wrapped my fingers around his and closed my eyes. Images immediately filled my mind, flashing by one after another, like a home movie cranked up to high speed. I saw Alexei growing up over the years, in school, at home, even in the gym learning how to fight. I saw him battling Reapers, a sword in either hand, and I felt how smooth his movements were as he flowed from one attack position to the next. Fighting really just was a complicated dance to the Bogatyr, a series of steps to be mastered before striking that final, fatal blow. I even saw the spark at the very center of his being-a pale golden spark full of quiet pride and honor.

All the while I sorted through the memories, looking for any hint that he might be a Reaper. But I didn’t sense anything like that-just Alexei’s determination to become the best warrior he could be and to follow in his dad’s footsteps in the Protectorate. They were the same feelings that Logan had about those things.