Killer Frost (Mythos Academy #6)(23)
Author: Jennifer Estep

When I finished, I let out another tense breath. “I

don’t know. I . . . have a bad feeling about things. I think putting the candle on display is a big mistake. I feel like it’s just asking for trouble. At least, more trouble than we already have with the Reapers.”

Grandma reached over and put her hand on top of mine. As always, I felt that wave of warm, familiar, comforting love surge off her and wash over into me.

“It’ll be all right, pumpkin,” she murmured. “You’ll see. Everything will work out okay in the end.”

Her violet eyes grew glassy, and I felt that old, knowing, watchful force stir in the air around her. Grandma was having one of her visions, so I kept quiet and held her hand. After a few seconds, the blank look disappeared from her face, and she smiled at me again, although her features seemed dimmer and sadder than before.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She patted my hand. “I’ll be fine, pumpkin. Perfectly fine.”

The door at the front of the house creaked open, and Alexei walked into the kitchen. Grandma got to her feet to get him some milk and cookies, so I didn’t get a chance to ask her about what she might have seen. She probably wouldn’t tell me anyway, since it was hard for her to have crystal-clear visions about friends and family.

Grandma Frost also got out some chicken that she’d cooked special for Nyx. The wolf pup perked up as soon as she took the food out of the refrigerator, and Nyx started dancing around her feet in anticipation.

Grandma laughed. “Patience, little wolf. I’ll feed you soon enough.”

Nyx plopped down on the tile, threw back her head, and let out a squeaky howl, encouraging Grandma to hurry up already. We all laughed, except Vic, who was well into his latest nap.

Alexei started joking with Grandma, and I let their cheery conversation wash over me. Everything was fine— everything was great—and I knew I should be making the most of this happy moment while I could. But as I sat there in Grandma Frost’s kitchen, surrounded by my friends, I couldn’t help but think that this was the calm before the storm.

Chapter 9

Despite my worries, another hour passed, and before I knew it, it was time for me, Nyx, Alexei, and Vic to head back to the academy, since Nickamedes still expected me to work my usual shift. Truth be told, I wanted to be at the library so I could keep an eye on the candle. Oh, I knew that Linus had guards posted in and around the library, as well as throughout the rest of campus, but I’d feel better if I could see the artifact for myself—and try to stop Vivian and Agrona when they finally tried to steal it.

Grandma Frost packed the extra cookies into a tin, also shaped like a chocolate chip cookie, which I tucked into my gray messenger bag.

“You make sure to give your other friends some of these before Daphne eats them all,” she warned me.

“I’ll try, but you know how Daphne is,” I said, laughing.

She smiled back at me. “That I do. I love you, pumpkin.”

“I love you too, Grandma.”

I hugged her good-bye, and she did the same thing to

Alexei, making a faint blush bloom in his face. She’d just let him go after pinching his cheek when a car horn sounded outside.

“That must be my dad,” Alexei said, leaving the kitchen. “I’ll go tell him that you’ll be out in a minute.” “Yes, pumpkin, you need to scoot if you want to make it back to the library on time,” Grandma Frost

said. “Besides, I’ve got dishes to wash.”

“All right,” I said, sliding Vic back into the scabbard belted around my waist and taking hold of Nyx’s leash. “I’ll call you if anything happens.”

She nodded. “You do that, pumpkin.”

Grandma Frost went over to the sink, stopped up the drain, and turned on the hot water, humming a soft tune. I stared at her a moment longer, feeling so grateful that she was in my life and wondering what I would ever do without her, before leaving the kitchen and walking down the hallway. I put my hand on the front doorknob and turned it, ready to step outside and go back to the academy—

Nyx let out a low growl. Surprised, I looked down and realized that the pup was turned back toward the kitchen. She let out another low growl, as though she wanted to tear into something with her baby teeth. A cold finger of unease crawled up my spine.

“What’s wrong, girl—”

CRASH!

I jumped at the sharp, sudden bang from the kitchen. A muffled sound followed a second later, along with a soft, but steady scrape-scrape-scrape—almost like someone’s feet being dragged across the tile floor.

I froze, wondering if I was hearing what I thought

I was. “Mmph!”

A muffled voice sounded from the kitchen, and I knew that Grandma was in danger.

I dropped my messenger bag and Nyx’s leash and threw the door open, surprising Alexei and Aiko, who were talking on the porch. They stared at me with wide, startled eyes.

“Reapers!” I screamed, yanking Vic out of his scabbard.

Then, I turned and ran into the back of the house as fast as I could.

“Grandma? Grandma!” I yelled as I raced down the hallway and into the kitchen.

I couldn’t hear anything over the rapid drum of my own heart, so I raised Vic high and burst into the kitchen, ready to cut into any Reapers who might have broken into the house.

But no one was there.

My head snapped left and right, but Grandma Frost wasn’t in front of the sink, washing dishes like she should have been. Instead, one of the metal sheet trays she’d baked the cookies on rested on the floor. That must have been the cause of the crash I’d heard. It looked like someone had interrupted her, since the water was still running in the full sink, overflowing down the sides and spattering onto the floor. It took me a moment to realize that the back door was cracked open. I tightened my grip on Vic, threw open the door, and took a step forward—

A sword whistled toward my head.

I ducked and brought Vic up into a defensive position.

Clang!

My sword met the one of the Reaper who’d been lurking out of sight beside the back door. He raised his weapon for another strike, but I twirled Vic up, around, and down, and stabbed him in the chest with the sword. The Reaper screamed and fell to the ground.

“That’s it, Gwen!” Vic shouted, his mouth moving underneath my palm. “On to the next one!”

Next one? What next one?

It took me another few crucial seconds to realize that the warrior wasn’t alone. Half a dozen Reapers stood in the backyard, all with their curved swords up, ready to attack me. One of them, a woman, stood on a smooth patch of dirt to one side of the yard, her black boots trampling the purple and gray forget-me-nots that I’d planted there on Nott’s grave. Anger surged through me at the sight, but I looked past the Reapers, searching for Grandma Frost.