Killer Frost (Mythos Academy #6)(18)
Author: Jennifer Estep

A cool bit of metal pressed into my palm, and I realized that I was clutching the silver laurel and mistletoe bracelet with my free hand. The sharp tip of one of the leaves had pricked my palm, drawing a drop of blood. Somehow, despite the intense heat, light, and power that the candle was giving off, the bracelet remained strangely cool and untouched by the other artifact’s magic . . .

But the sharp prick cut through the waves of power and helped me come back to myself. I shuddered out a breath and managed to open my eyes. Sure enough, I was clutching the candle in my right hand, but my left hand had wrapped around the laurel bracelet on my wrist. I kept one hand on the bracelet, letting the feel of the cool metal ground me, as I carefully set the candle back down onto the table. It took me several more seconds before I managed to uncurl my fingers from around the white wax and step back, out of reach of the candle. Because right now, I wanted nothing more than to pick it up again, to feel all of that heat and power and life coursing through me.

“Well, Gwendolyn?” Nickamedes asked. “What did you see?”

“This,” I said, pointing at the candle and not daring to touch it again with my bare hands. “This is what the Reapers are after.”

Chapter 7

Linus, Metis, and Nickamedes all leaned forward, peering at the candle. It looked the same as before, a slender taper of snow-white wax that had burned halfway down. I shuddered and averted my gaze from it, not even wanting to look at it right now. I’d held a lot of powerful objects since coming to Mythos, but the candle was one of the strongest—and most dangerous.

“Are you sure, Miss Frost?” Linus said. “It doesn’t look like much.”

“Trust me, looks can be deceiving, especially in this case.”

I shivered again, thinking of the immense power that had flowed through me, that steady, white, burning spark of strength. If not for the laurel leaf on my bracelet digging into my palm, I might have drowned in that intense heat, in that sense of absolute, utter, unstoppable power. I might have been lost forever, my mind trapped by the candle’s overwhelming sensations, and never been able to find my way back to myself.

I fingered one of the leaves, wondering why the bracelet had remained cool against my skin when every other part of me had felt like I was burning alive.

Maybe because Eir had told me that the silver laurels could be used to destroy as well as to heal? I wondered if whatever magic the leaves contained was enough to overcome the power flowing through the candle. Or at least counteract it in some way. That was the only explanation I could think of.

“Hmm,” Nickamedes said, pushing his chair back and getting up from the table.

He shuffled off into another part of the basement, and I could hear his cane tap-tap-tapping as he moved from one aisle and one shelf to the next. A few minutes later, the librarian reappeared, cradling a thick, slightly dusty book in one hand. He put the book down onto the table, then started flipping through it. The old, worn pages crackled as he slowly turned them, and a faint, musty odor drifted up from the book, one that reminded me of the soft scent that always seemed to cling to the corners of the deepest part of the stacks on the main library floor.

“Where is it . . . where is it . . .” Nickamedes muttered to himself as he flipped through the pages. “Yes . . . yes. Here it is.”

He cleared his throat and began to read.

“The Curing Candle of Sol, the Norse goddess of the sun, is thought to be one of the most powerful artifacts in existence, one of the Thirteen Artifacts that helped the Pantheon win the Chaos War centuries ago, since its magic was used to heal many warriors on the field during the final battle. However, after that battle, it disappeared and was thought to be lost forever. Many reproductions have surfaced over the years, but none have been the genuine article.”

Metis stared at the candle. “So how do we know this one isn’t a fake as well?”

I thought of the great, burning, terrible power that had filled me the second I had touched the smooth wax. “Trust me. That one is the real deal.”

Nickamedes cleared his throat again and continued with his reading.

“What makes the candle unique is that it is filled with the healing power of both the sun and the goddess Sol herself. Whoever holds the candle will reap those benefits—finding strength, health, and vitality. It is thought that the power of the candle is so strong, it can heal any wound, no matter how severe. There are some who believe that the candle can even bring the dead back to life . . .”

Nickamedes’s voice trailed off. He read a bit more to himself, then shook his head and looked up from the book. “That’s the most important passage. The rest speculates on the history of the artifact, and some of the people who may or may not have used it over the years.”

We all stared at the candle again. Not for the first time, I wondered how something so small and innocentlooking could contain such great power. How had the Reapers found it? Where had they uncovered it? Did they even realize what it was before the Pantheon had seized it, along with the other artifacts at the ski lodge up in New York? I didn’t know the answers to my questions, and I supposed they didn’t really matter. What did was that we had the candle—and that the Reapers wanted it. And now, we all knew exactly what they planned to do with it.

“So the Reapers think the candle will return Loki to his full strength.” I spat out the words. “They failed in trying to put his soul into Logan’s body, and they didn’t get their hands on the Chloris ambrosia flower to heal him. So now, they’re coming after the candle and hoping it will finally do the job.”

Silence. No one said anything, but we all knew how bad it would be if the Reapers ever got their hands on the candle.

Finally, Linus cleared his throat and turned to Nickamedes. “How soon can you put the candle on display in the library?” he asked. “Out in the middle of the main floor, someplace where everyone can see it.”

Nickamedes frowned. “But why would you . . .” Understanding flared in his blue eyes.

He, Metis, and Linus all looked at each other, grim expressions on their faces.

“Are you out of your mind?” I hissed, finishing the librarian’s thought. “Why in the world would you want to put the candle on display? Um, hello, there are Reapers everywhere at Mythos, despite all the statues and other magic that is supposed to keep them out. You put that candle on view, and you are just asking for it to get stolen . . .”

My gaze zoomed over to the candle, which was still sitting on the table. Then, I looked at Linus, finally understanding what he was really up to. “You want to use the candle as a trap. That’s why you want to put it on display. So the Reapers will come after it.”