Dark Frost (Mythos Academy #3)(25)
Author: Jennifer Estep

The wolf crept forward and stuck her head through the gate. Maybe it was my imagination, but the sphinxes seemed to twitch, and a few chips of stone slid off the top of the wall and banged into the iron bars. The wolf flinched at the harsh, ringing sound, but I kept my hand on her back and looked up at the sphinxes.

"I told you that she’s with me."

The sphinxes continued to glare at me, but no more stone chips tumbled off the wall.

A few seconds passed. When nothing else happened, I tugged on the wolf, urging her forward before the statues changed their minds. She tentatively slid one of her front paws inside the gate, then the other one.

"That’s it," I whispered. "They won’t hurt you as long as you’re with me."

The wolf let out another huff, like she didn’t really believe me, but she kept moving forward. It was a tight squeeze, especially around the middle, but the creature shimmied through the iron bars to the other side, knocking me over in the process.

Then, she plopped down on her butt, her long tail slapping from back and forth, like she’d just done the coolest trick ever. Maybe she had.

I looked up at the sphinxes, who were still glaring at me, their lidless eyes narrowed to slits. "Thanks," I said. "You know, for not ripping us both to pieces."

The sphinxes didn’t do or say anything, but for a second, I felt that force stir around them-that ancient force that seemed to hover around all the statues on campus. Then, it faded away, and the sphinxes were just stone once more.

Beside me, the wolf let out another low, threatening growl, like she was showing the sphinxes that she wasn’t really afraid of them.

"Come on," I said, rubbing her ears. "Let’s get you settled in my dorm room before anyone sees you. Scary stone sphinxes are one thing, but professors are another."

I got to my feet and set off through the trees, with the wolf loping along behind me.

Chapter 10

It wasn’t easy, sneaking the Fenrir wolf across campus to my dorm, but I managed it, mostly by skulking from tree to tree. Really, I was way easier to spot than the wolf. With her dark fur, the wolf was able to almost completely blend in with the shadowy landscape. Me in my purple coat, jeans, and sneakers? Not so much.

Once we got to my dorm, Styx Hall, things got much easier, since my room was the only one on the third floor, stuck in a separate turret that had been tacked onto the rest of the building. A bed, some bookcases, a desk, a small fridge. It looked like your typical dorm room, although I’d added my own personal touches, like the framed photos of my mom that stood on my desk, right next to a small replica statue of Nike.

Vic had said he wanted to take a nap, so I’d brought him back to my room before myth-history class. The sword hung in his black leather scabbard in his usual spot on the wall, right next to my posters of Wonder Woman, Karma Girl, and The Killers. His eye snapped open at the sound of me opening the door and stepping inside.

"Well, it’s about time you got here-"

Vic’s twilight-colored eye widened at the sight of the Fenrir wolf, and his mouth fell open. Actually, I imagined that it would have fallen off completely if, you know, it wasn’t forged together with the rest of his face. I sighed. I knew what was coming now.

"Gwen Frost, have you lost your bloody mind?!" Vic roared.

"Sshh!" I put a finger up to my lips. "Do you want everyone in the whole dorm to hear you?"

"What is that-that thing doing here?" Vic snapped, glaring at the wolf.

The wolf’s eyes narrowed, and she let out a low growl, her eyes fixed on the weapon like she wanted to leap up, snatch Vic off the wall, and give him a vicious shake.

"It is not a thing, it is a wolf. A female wolf, as a matter of fact. One who is going to have a, um, puppy very soon."

"Well, I can see that," Vic sniffed. "She’s as big around as a bloody cow."

The wolf’s growl got a little deeper and uglier. I put a hand on her back and started stroking her fur. That seemed to calm her down, although she kept growling at the sword.

"Well, apparently, she’s decided that she wants to stay with me … or something," I said. "I found her down by one of the gates, like she was waiting for me to show up."

Vic’s mouth dropped open again. "So you let her inside the academy grounds? Why would you do that?"

"I didn’t let her inside," I said in a cross voice. "The sphinxes did … after I told them that she was with me."

The sword stared at me.

"If I had a hand, I would slap it to my forehead in disbelief," Vic grumbled. "No, actually, I’d use it to slap some sense into you, Gwen. That is a bloody Fenrir wolf, not a puppy with sad eyes that you spotted at the pound and just had to bring home. In case you’ve forgotten, that is the same wolf that would have been more than happy to make mincemeat out of you at the ski resort."

I sighed. "I know all that. I also know the wolf kept me from freezing to death during the avalanche, and she kept Preston from killing me with his crossbow. Surely you remember that, since you were there."

Vic sniffed again. "I recall no such thing. Except that I was brilliant in battle, as always."

"Anyway," I said through clenched teeth. "If the wolf wants to stay here with me for a while, then I’m going to let her. At least until I can figure out what she really wants. She’s gone through a lot since she escaped from Preston, and I don’t exactly speak wolf."

Vic huffed and snapped his eye shut. Discussion over. I sighed again. Now the sword was in one of his moods, and he probably wouldn’t speak to me again until I coaxed him to-or bribed him by turning the television to some action-movie marathon. Maybe it was his bloodthirsty nature, but Vic absolutely loved watching bad guys getting beaten, bloodied, and blown up. The James Bond marathons were his favorites.

But the good thing about Vic’s not speaking to me was he couldn’t back talk me, or worse, tell me what a colossal mistake I was making, trusting a creature the Reapers had trained to kill warriors like me. But I knew the wolf wasn’t like that anymore. My Gypsy gift had shown me what was in her heart-relief at finally being free of the Reapers. She wouldn’t hurt me now.

I went into the bathroom, filled a bowl with water, and put it at the foot of my bed so the wolf could get a drink if she wanted to. Then, I hunkered down on the floor beside her.

"You stay here. I have to go out for a few hours, but I’ll get you something to eat and bring it back, okay?"

The wolf let out a little grumble of pleasure as I rubbed her ears.

"You know, I really need to think of a name for you if you’re going to be hanging around for a while," I said. "Would you like that? A name?"