Crimson Frost (Mythos Academy #4)(63)
Author: Jennifer Estep

"Use your magic, Gwen!" Vic yelled at me again. "Now! Before it’s too late!"

I didn’t want to use my touch magic on Logan. I didn’t want to pull the life out of his body the way I had with Preston. I’d barely been able to do it to the Reaper, and only because it had been the only way to heal the mortal wound Preston had given me.

No, I couldn’t kill Logan with my magic-I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I did.

But I had to do something. Because once he was done with me, Logan would attack the adults and even the other kids until either everyone else was dead-or he was.

I managed to force Logan into some of the band chairs at the back of the stage. The Spartan cursed, his voice deeper and harsher than normal, and he struggled to untangle himself from the metal. But instead of going in for the kill, I stood there, my desperate gaze zooming around, trying to think of some way I could save him-and myself too.

In the chaos of the fight, the stage had been destroyed. Chairs had been overturned, instruments dropped, and other debris littered the wooden floor, but I didn’t see anything useful. Nothing that gave me any idea how to get through to Logan-

Something winked on the floor a few feet away from me, and I realized it was a bracelet that one of the girls had been wearing. Maybe it was the sapphires gleaming in the design or the way the chain had curled into a perfect circle on the floor, but the bracelet reminded me of the Maat asp that had been wrapped around my wrist during my trial. Vivian had managed to fool the snake with the ruby Apate chips in her ring, but I’d used my magic to show the asp what had really happened.

My psychometry, I thought. Of course.

I couldn’t get through to Logan with words, but maybe there was still a way to save the Spartan after all-

Logan finally got free of the chairs and ran at me, curses spewing out of his lips like acid. His eyes were even redder than before, and I knew I only had one chance at this-one chance to get him to remember who he really was before he was lost to me-forever.

All I had to do was touch the Spartan.

Easier said than done. I hadn’t even managed to nick Logan with my sword the whole time we’d been fighting, much less get close enough to touch him with my bare hand. But that’s what I needed-time to touch the Spartan, time to let my magic work, time to let my power wash over him. But Logan wasn’t just going to stand still and let that happen. No, there was only one way this was going to work. I had to let the Spartan get close to me.

I had to let him hurt me.

I didn’t know if my crazy plan would work, but it was the only chance Logan had left. So I drew in a breath and slowly sheathed Vic in the scabbard on my waist. Then, I held my arms out wide, an open invitation to the Spartan to do his worst. Logan stopped short, obviously thinking it was some kind of trick.

"Gwen, what are you doing?" Vic yelled. "He’ll kill you where you stand!"

"I know," I said in a grim voice. "But it has to be this way, Vic. You’ll see."

After a few seconds, when I made no move to attack him or defend myself, Logan let out a loud, wild, angry cry and charged at me. I waited until he was in range and then held out my right hand and jerked to the side, trying to sidestep him as much as I could, even as my fingers reached out for his. I felt his sword slice across my right palm and keep on going.

Then, with a final, fierce battle cry, Logan slammed his blade into my chest.

Chapter 28

The pain of the sword skewering me was-it was-devastating. Just wave after wave of red-hot agony surging through my body one right after another. For a moment, my vision went completely black. I had to struggle to focus on what I was trying to do, but I slowly reached up and wrapped my bloody fingers around Logan’s hand, which was clenched around the hilt of his sword-the sword that was still in my chest.

The Spartan frowned and tried to pull his hand away, but I tightened my grip, even though it jostled the sword in my chest and made everything hurt that much more. Through my growing haze of pain, I called up all the memories I had of Logan.

All the times he’d smiled at me. All the times he’d teased me. All the times he’d looked at me, his icy eyes glowing. All the times he’d kissed me, held me close, and whispered that everything was going to be all right, even if we both knew it wasn’t true.

I focused on those images and all the feelings that went with them. All the longing I’d felt for Logan when I’d first been crushing on him, all the times he’d made me laugh, and finally that warm, soft, fizzy feeling that flooded my heart whenever he grinned at me.

Then, I showed the images to him.

It was hard-so freaking hard. So much harder than it had been with Nott and even the Maat asp. I didn’t know if it was because Logan’s mind was more complex than theirs or if it was because of the ritual Agrona had performed on him, the jeweled collar on his neck, and all the magic mumbo jumbo that was pumping through his veins right now. But I could almost see this wall in his mind-a Reaper-red wall that kept me from getting through to him.

But I wasn’t giving up, even though I could feel the blood pouring out of the wound in my chest and my strength and magic fading with every passing second. Instead, I focused on all my memories of Logan, shaping them into a giant fist in my mind, and then I started hammering at that damn Reaper-red wall that separated us.

Let me in, let me in, let me in . . .

I started chanting the words in my mind, timing them to the blows of my fistful of memories, even as my heart slowed and sputtered.

Let me in, let me in, let me in . . .

I didn’t know how long we stood there, locked together, Logan’s sword in my chest, and my fingers digging into his hand, but slowly, tiny, tiny cracks started to form in the wall in his mind. My strength was almost gone, I was almost gone, so I pounded at the wall that much harder before it was too late-for both of us.

Let me in . . . Let Me In . . . LET ME IN . . .

More and more cracks appeared, zigzagging through the entire wall. I gathered up the remaining scraps of my strength and magic and hit the wall one final time, putting everything I had into the blow.

The wall shattered, dissolving into nothingness, and suddenly I was in Logan’s head, deeper inside him than I’d ever been before, so deep that I could see that icy blue spark at the center of his being.

Remember, I whispered in my mind to him, even as I imagined cupping that beautiful blue spark in my hand. See. Feel. Remember who you really are.

And then I shoved my memories at him-every last one.

Logan gasped and staggered back, jostling the sword in my chest. I screamed with pain, but somehow I managed to keep my bloody fingertips on his hand. Once again, I poured all my memories of him into his mind, just the way he’d stabbed me-quickly, brutally, effectively.