Midnight Frost (Mythos Academy #5)(12)
Author: Jennifer Estep

Oliver finally reached me. "Gwen! Are you okay!"

"I’m fine. We have to get him!"

He nodded, and we pushed through the door after our enemy. Nyx scrambled to her feet and chased after us, as well.

The wolf pup must have done more damage to Jason than I’d realized, because he hadn’t made it very far, having only hobbled down a set of steps and then a few feet out onto the quad, leaving a trail of blood drops behind him. Oliver threw away his keyboard, leaped onto the balcony wall, then launched himself through the air and onto Jason’s back. The two guys hit the snowy ground with an audible thud.

Jason tried to attack Oliver, but the Spartan slapped his sword away. The Reaper managed to throw Oliver off of him, and both guys sprang back up onto their feet.

I raced down the steps, Vic still clutched in my hands, and Oliver and I both slowly advanced on Jason. Nyx was there too, her violet eyes fixed on him, teeth bared, and growls rumbling out of her tiny throat like a car engine steadily churning. Jason turned to run, but once again, his leg almost went out from under him. He yelped with pain and pulled up short.

"It’s over," I said. "You’re hurt, and we’re not. Give it up."

He turned to face us. His eyes, which were still that horrible Reaper red, zoomed from me to Oliver and back again. Instead of answering me, Jason reached into his jeans pocket. I tensed, expecting him to come up with a dagger or maybe a throwing star, but all he pulled out was a red paper pouch. He wasted no time in ripping it open with his teeth.

Oliver started forward, but I held up my hand, stopping him. That pouch probably had the same kind of white powder in it that I’d seen Jason dump into the water bottles. Maybe you had to eat the poison for it to work, or maybe it just had to touch your skin or get in your nose or eyes. Either way, he could easily douse us with it, and I didn’t want to take that risk.

Jason realized we weren’t going to be dumb enough to charge him, and his mouth twisted down into an angry, sullen pout. Behind us, more lights turned on inside the library, and more shouts and yells cut through the night air.

"It’s over," I repeated. "The Protectorate guards will be here any second. You’re done. Give it up."

Jason stared at me, considering my words. He looked at Oliver again, then his red gaze dropped to the pouch in his hand. He hesitated a second longer, then raised it up, and I realized what he was going to do – poison himself, sacrifice himself, to the evil god.

"Don’t do it," I warned. "Loki isn’t worth it. Trust me. You’ve already ruined your life by serving him. Don’t let him take away what’s left of it too."

"As if I could go back to the other Reapers after failing my mission. And of course Loki is worth it," Jason sneered. His voice, which I remembered being so soft and kind, was now harsh with hate. "You’ll realize that soon enough – when you and all of your stupid friends are cowering at his feet. That day is coming, Gypsy – sooner than you think."

Even as I started forward to try to stop him, I knew it was already too late. Jason drew in a breath, tipped the contents of the pouch into his mouth, and swallowed them. He grimaced, as though the powder left a bad taste behind. After a moment, his eyes bulged, and he reached up and started clawing at his throat.

"Burns . . ." he rasped. "It . . . burns . . ."

His legs went out from under him, and he collapsed on the cold, snow-dusted grass. I went over to him, but it was no use. Jason started convulsing, and a strange smell filled the air – almost like the sharp tang of a pine tree. As quickly as he started convulsing, the Reaper stopped. His head lolled to the side, and a bit of white foam trickled out the side of his mouth.

I watched as the fierce red light burning in Jason’s eyes dimmed, dulled, and finally died – and so did he.

Chapter 6

I don’t know how long I stood over Jason’s body, staring into his sightless eyes as if they would tell me something important.

As if they would actually let me understand why someone would willingly choose to serve a god who wanted to hurt, kill, and enslave other people. As if looking into his eyes would tell me why he’d sacrificed himself for such a horrible creature as Loki. Was it the power the evil god promised his followers? A desire to be as cruel as Loki himself was? Or something else entirely? I didn’t know, and I didn’t understand. I didn’t know if I would ever understand – or maybe I just didn’t want to.

"Gwen?" Oliver said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

I let out a breath. "Yeah. We’re alive, and he’s not. I guess that’s all that matters, right?"

"Of course that’s all that matters," Vic said. "Don’t you think so, fuzzball?"

Nyx let out a yippy growl, agreeing with him.

Oliver slung his arm around my shoulders, and I moved closer to him, glad he was here with me. After a moment, I stepped away from him and stared down at Jason’s body again.

"Do you think – do you think I should touch him?" I asked. "Before his memories completely fade away?"

Oliver shook his head and pointed at the red paper pouch in Jason’s hand. "No. We don’t know how that poison works or what other kind he might have on him. It could be on his skin, on his clothes. It’s not worth the risk. The Protectorate guards will look through his backpack and check out his phone and laptop. Hopefully, that will tell them exactly what he was up to and who he was working with. Maybe it will even give the Protectorate some leads on where Vivian and Agrona might be."

"And what if that’s not enough?"

Oliver shrugged. "It’ll have to be – "

A phone started ringing. Oliver and I looked at each other, then at the dead boy. It was his phone. I hesitated, then dropped to my knees beside him.

"Gwen? What are you doing?" Oliver asked.

"Don’t worry. I’ll be careful."

I pulled down the edge of my hoodie sleeve and used it to fish Jason’s phone out of his jacket pocket, careful not to touch the phone with my bare fingers, before getting back up onto my feet. Still using my sleeve, I tapped the screen to accept the call and held the phone up close to my ear.

"Finally!" Vivian Holler’s voice filled my ear. "I was starting to think you were never going to pick up. Is it done yet?"

I didn’t know who I’d expected to be on the other end of the line, but hearing the Reaper girl’s voice startled me so much that I almost lost my grip on the phone. For one crazy moment, I wondered if this was some twisted new version of my nightmare. But it couldn’t be that – otherwise Logan would have been here, stabbing me to death again.

"Jason?" Vivian asked again. "Are you there? Did Gwen drink the poison?"