Crimson Frost (Mythos Academy #4)(8)
Author: Jennifer Estep

"Get her out of here," Linus hissed. "Now!"

Inari and Sergei easily lifted me off my feet and carried me toward the edge of the stage, but I kept yelling the whole time.

"I didn’t do anything wrong! I didn’t do anything wrong!"

My screams echoed through the amphitheater and then rattled up into the sky and the heavens themselves, but no one cared, and no one came to my defense or rescue-not even the goddess who’d chosen me to be her Champion in the first place.

Inari and Sergei hustled me off stage, out of the amphitheater, and up the hill to the main quad. Students scrambled after us, everyone talking, yelling, and snapping photos with their phones. Eventually, my screams died down, and all I could do was just squint against the flashing lights. Inari and Sergei were still carrying me, so my feet weren’t even touching the ground. I knew better than to try to struggle. I didn’t know what kind of warriors the two men were, but they were easily stronger than I was.

Five buildings made up the main quad at Mythos-the Library of Antiquities, the gym, the dining hall, English-history, and math-science. Inari and Sergei headed for the math-science building. So they were taking me to the academy prison after all. The two men hurried inside the structure and then down, down, down we went, going through a series of locked doors and other security measures until we reached the bottom floor, deep underground.

The men finally put me back down on my feet, and I jerked away from them, rubbing my upper arms where they’d held them so tightly. We stood in a shadow-filled hallway in front of a door that was made out of the same dark gray stone as the rest of the building. Iron bars crisscrossed over the door, and two sphinxes had been carved into the surface. Once again, the sphinxes stared down at their feet instead of turning their heads and looking at me.

I’d never thought I’d miss the creepy stares from all the statues and carvings, but I was starting to. Somehow, they’d become part of my everyday routine, and I felt their absence, especially since it seemed like they couldn’t even stand to look at me now. Maybe they hated me too, just like everyone else did. Bitterness filled me, burning like acid in my chest.

Sergei drew a skeleton key out from one of the pockets of his robe, while Inari kept his eyes on me. Please. As if I had the slightest chance of getting away from them. Sergei stepped forward, put the key in the lock, and turned it. Even though I knew it was coming, the loud screech still made me wince. Sergei pulled open the heavy door and gestured for me to step through. Like I had a choice.

I walked past him and stopped inside the doorway, staring out at the prison. The enormous circular room was shaped like a dome, just like the Library of Antiquities. Glass cells were stacked up three stories high to form the walls, while a hand holding a set of balanced scales was carved into the stone ceiling-the same symbol that was embroidered on the collars of the Protectorate’s robes.

A stone table with a couple of chairs stood in the middle of the room, right under the hand-and-scales carving. That’s where Preston Ashton had sat whenever I’d come down here to use to my psychometry to peer into his mind, to sort through his memories so I could tell Metis and the others what Preston’s Reaper friends were planning. Something else I’d failed at, since I was the one in prison now.

A rustle sounded, and I looked over at a desk just inside the door. I wasn’t sure how she’d managed it, but Raven had somehow beaten us here. She sat in her usual spot, flipping through one of the celebrity gossip magazines she always seemed to be reading. Raven was an old woman, even older than my Grandma Frost. Her hair was as white as it could be and matched the long, flowing gown she always wore, while wrinkles streaked her face, looking as deep and dark as the black greasepaint that football players swiped across their features. More wrinkles and brown liver spots covered her hands and arms, along with old, faded scars.

Raven leaned back in her chair and propped her black combat boots up on the desk. Her black eyes met mine for a moment before she went back to her magazine. Standing guard in the academy prison was one of the many odd jobs that Raven had at Mythos. Well, at least she had actually looked at me, if only for a few seconds. That made me feel slightly better, even if all the statues were ignoring me.

"Go on," Sergei said. "Go sit down."

I walked across the floor, with the warrior following along behind me. I started to drop into my usual seat, but Sergei touched my arm.

"Not on this side," he said. "You need to sit on the other side."

That’s where Preston had sat, where I assumed all prisoners sat while they were being questioned. Some small part of me had still hoped that this was just a big misunderstanding, a giant mistake that could somehow be corrected. That hope immediately withered away and broke apart like a dead, brittle rose, although more cold worry, fear, and dread blossomed in its place.

I did as he asked, walking around and slipping into the seat on the far side of the table-the side with the chains. Thick metal chains lay on top of the table, along with a pair of handcuffs, and still more chains rested on the floor underneath, so that a prisoner’s hands and legs could all be secured at the same time.

Sergei reached for the chains on top of the table, and I shrank back in the chair, the rough stone pressing into my spine. Preston had been the last person to wear those chains, and I knew what I’d see and feel if they were slipped onto my skin-the Reaper’s unending hatred of me. I’d felt enough of that emotion already in the amphitheater. I didn’t want to feel anymore.

"Don’t put those on me," I whispered. "Please."

Sergei looked at me, surprised by my low, raspy please, but he put down the chains. I kept my hands away from the metal and made sure that no part of my bare skin was touching either the stone table or chair. It had been bad enough going into Preston’s mind and sorting through his horrible memories of all the people he’d hurt, tortured, and killed. I didn’t want to flash on the Reaper glaring at me across the table too. I just couldn’t handle it-not right now.

Sergei moved over to stand by Inari, who was talking to Raven in a low voice. I wondered what was going to happen now. Would the trial start immediately? Would I be given a chance to defend myself? How was I going to get out of this mess? How was I going to convince the Protectorate that I hadn’t freed Loki on purpose? That Vivian had fooled me just like she had everyone else? Those questions and a hundred more whirled around and around my mind, but I didn’t have the answers to them-not a single one.

I didn’t have long to wait, worry, and wonder. Five minutes later, the prison door screeched opened again, and Linus stepped inside, followed by Alexei, Professor Metis, Nickamedes, and Coach Ajax.