Crimson Frost (Mythos Academy #4)(62)
Author: Jennifer Estep

I wanted to argue with the sword some more, but I couldn’t because Logan charged at me again.

I parried his attack, then lashed out with Vic, forcing the Spartan to jump back. I was at the very front of the stage, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the doors on the floor level slowly open. Morgan and Alexei eased inside, followed by Grandma Frost. They crept up behind the Reaper who was standing at the top of the steps. I knew I had to give my friends as much time as I could, so I threw myself at Logan.

Clash-clash-clang!

Our weapons crossed and crossed and crossed again, each one of us trying to get the advantage. I managed to kick out and catch Logan in the knee, and the Spartan staggered away from me. I risked another glance to the left just in time to see Grandma Frost ram her sword into the Reaper’s back, and Morgan and Alexei surge past her and into the Reapers guarding the members of the Protectorate.

Surprised screams and shouts rang out. Agrona and Vivian’s heads snapped around, and they realized that they were in danger of losing control of the situation.

"Kill the Gypsy, Logan!" Agrona screamed. "Kill them all!"

After that, it was just utter chaos on stage, with everyone fighting everyone else. Morgan managed to free Ajax and Metis, while Grandma Frost protected her back, and Alexei worked at cutting Sergei and Inari loose. Nickamedes rammed his shoulder into the Reaper closest to him, sending the man crashing into Vivian and Agrona. Daphne, Carson, Oliver, and Kenzie surged to their feet, lashing out at the guards who surrounded them, and Linus did the same.

But Logan didn’t seem to notice the battle around us-he had his orders to kill me, and he was determined to carry them out no matter what. We’d only been fighting for two minutes before I knew that I was going to lose.

Logan Quinn was the best warrior at Mythos Academy, the best warrior of his generation. Even though the Spartan had been training me for the past few months, I was nowhere near his league, and I doubted that I ever would be. It was all I could do to keep him from chopping me into little pieces.

Desperate, I called up all the memories I had of Logan, all the memories I’d absorbed when I’d first kissed the Spartan. I focused on those feelings and images, and then I did something I’d vowed never to do-I used the Spartan’s own skills, tricks, and fighting techniques against him.

It slowed him down, but it didn’t stop him-and I knew nothing short of death would.

By the three-minute mark, I was almost out of breath, and my heart was beating as hard as it could and not pop out of my chest. And still, I couldn’t break through Logan’s defenses. But I wasn’t going to give up. There had to be another way to get the Spartan to come back to himself-to come back to me.

A flash of Reaper red caught my eye, and I noticed Agrona struggling with Nickamedes. She pushed him back, and Vivian tossed a sword at her before turning to fight Sergei. Agrona caught the weapon and swung it at Nickamedes. The motion made the gems in her necklace and ring gleam with a sinister light. Suddenly, I had an idea of how I could save Logan.

The next time the Spartan came at me, I shoved him away, then turned and ran through the fight toward Agrona. The Reaper knocked Nickamedes down and raised her sword high, ready to bring it down on his neck. I lowered my shoulder and tackled her, driving her to the ground.

I landed on top of Agrona, and her head snapped against the stage, stunning her. That gave me enough time to reach down and yank the gold chain from around her neck. The rubies and emeralds burned as bright as stars, but I tossed the necklace down onto the stage, raised up Vic, and snapped his hilt down on top of each and every one of the stones.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

The gems splintered into dozens of pieces. One down, one to go.

Agrona started to lash out at me with her sword, but Nickamedes slapped the weapon away from her.

"Hold her arm down!" I yelled at him.

The librarian nodded, realizing what I had in mind. He latched on to the Reaper, pinning her right arm to the stage.

Morgan had snapped out of her zombie-like state when I’d destroyed the Bowl of Tears, and I was hoping the same thing would happen with Logan. That’s why I’d yanked off and destroyed the jewels Agrona was wearing. Now, all I had to do was get rid of the last one.

I raised Vic up again and brought the sword down as hard as I could.

CRACK!

Agrona screamed as I crushed the ring and her hand along with it. The Apate ruby might have a lot of power, but so did Vic, since he was a Champion’s weapon, my weapon, given to me by Nike herself.

The sword’s hilt shattered the heart-shaped ruby like it was made of glass.

An angry red light filled the entire concert hall the second Vic’s hilt touched the gem, searing my eyes and making several students and even some of the Reapers scream. After a few seconds, the harsh glare faded, and I looked over at Logan, expecting to see him shaking off his confusion.

Instead, the Spartan’s gaze landed on me, and he headed in my direction once more-his eyes still that eerie, eerie Reaper red.

"Fool!" Agrona snarled. "He’s too far gone into the ritual, and he’s still wearing a collar full of Apate jewels. You won’t be able to get that off him with your stupid sword. Nothing will bring him back now. Nothing. He’ll keep coming at you until one of you is dead."

I scrambled to my feet and raised Vic just in time to keep Logan from killing me. Deja vu. Back and forth, we fought across the stage, while I begged and pleaded with him to fight, to come back to himself, to remember who I was, how we felt about each other, and everything we’d been through.

But nothing I said worked.

I couldn’t get through to the Spartan, and he just kept coming and coming and coming at me, always on the attack. My strength was almost gone, and it was all I could do to lift Vic to fight him off. In another minute, Logan’s sword would slip through my defenses, and he’d kill me. Once that happened, he’d be lost for good-if he wasn’t already.

I couldn’t let that happen, but I didn’t know how to stop it either. Even as I battled Logan, I tried to think of a way to get through to him. But smashing the jewels hadn’t worked, and I was all out of ideas.

"You’re going to have to use your magic on him, Gwen!" Vic shouted above the roar of the battle. "You’re going to have to use your touch magic on him. You’re going to have to kill him with it the way that you did Preston!"

The thought was so horrible I froze, right there in the middle of the stage. That was all the opening Logan needed to punch me in the stomach. I staggered back, and once again the Spartan gave chase. He wouldn’t stop until I was dead. His killer instinct wouldn’t accept anything else.

I redoubled my efforts, fighting better than I ever had in my entire life, hoping that I could at least disarm the Spartan, but Logan matched me move for move for move. Of course he did. He was the one who’d taught me how to fight in the first place.