Dark Frost (Mythos Academy #3)(36)
Author: Jennifer Estep

I didn’t find the ring, and I didn’t get a single usable vibe off Vivian’s things-not one. Oh, I got a few faint flashes of her reading through her favorite books or putting on her makeup when I touched those items, but those were just the same ordinary vibes I always saw when I touched stuff like that. Almost everything else in her room was new, shiny, and pristine. Good for her, but bad for me since I was trying to use my Gypsy gift.

Finally, I admitted defeat and climbed to my feet, dusting my hands off on my jeans. "Well, you’re right. I looked under and behind every piece of furniture, and your ring isn’t in here anywhere. Do you think you might have lost it somewhere else on campus? Maybe you took it off before weapons training and left it in one of the gym lockers?"

She hesitated, a troubled light filling her topaz eyes. "That’s the thing. I’m not so sure that I lost it. I think-I think someone might have taken my ring."

I arched an eyebrow. "Really? Who? I find stuff for kids all the time, and in my experience, if you think someone stole your ring, then you’re probably right. It happens more than you would think."

It always surprised me how totally klepto some of the warrior whiz kids were. Most of them had all the money in the world, but they still stole things from other students and even their friends out of hate, jealousy, or spite. I supposed that actually, you know, paying for something you wanted was so last year.

Vivian picked at a loose thread on her comforter. "It’s so silly, though. She’s my friend. She would never do anything like that. She would never steal from me, especially not that ring. She knows how much it means to me."

"What’s so special about the ring?"

Vivian bit her lip and dropped her head. "It belonged to my mom. She gave it to me right before she died."

"Oh. I’m so sorry."

I couldn’t think of anything else to say, and I knew that whatever I said wouldn’t really make a difference anyway. My words wouldn’t bring Vivian any kind of real comfort. Nothing anyone had said to me after my mom was murdered had helped.

She shrugged. "It happened when I was thirteen. Reapers, you know."

My thoughts drifted to Logan, and how his mom and older sister had been murdered by Reapers, too, probably the same way Vivian’s mom had been. Thinking about the Spartan made my heart ache, but I forced myself to focus on the girl in front of me.

"Come on, Vivian. You might as well tell me who you think stole your ring. It’ll make it that much easier for me to find it if I have a place to start looking."

She sighed. "Savannah. I think it was Savannah. Like I said before, the last time I remember having the ring was in my room when we were hanging out two nights ago. She left right before the ten o’clock curfew, and yesterday morning I couldn’t find my ring. It was just … gone."

Vivian’s voice trembled, and she put her hand up over her eyes. Like just the thought that Savannah might have taken the ring was enough to make her cry.

I frowned, thinking about her soft words. Why would Savannah steal from her friend? Yeah, kids stole from other kids at Mythos all the time, but usually only the superexpensive, high-end items-TVs, platinum watches, emerald earrings the size of quarters. Taking such a simple gold ring, especially when Savannah knew how much it meant to her friend, well, that sounded like something a Reaper would do just for meanness.

I thought of that flash of red I’d seen in Savannah’s eyes, first at the coliseum and then again yesterday in the dining hall. Could-could Savannah be a Reaper? Could she even be the Reaper-the Reaper girl who’d murdered my mom? Loki’s Champion?

I didn’t know where the thoughts came from, but once they popped into my head, I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about them. For some reason, the ideas just wormed deeper and deeper into my mind, burrowing into my brain like cold, grasping fingers-

"So what’s next?" Vivian asked.

Once again, a dull ache started in the back of my skull, but I finally shook off my suspicions about Savannah. "You give me the hundred-dollar retainer, like we agreed on. I track down some leads and report back to you in a few days. If I find your ring, you pay me the rest of the money, but if I can’t find it, I give you back your hundred bucks. Okay?"

Vivian nodded, got her wallet out of her designer purse, and passed me a crisp hundred-dollar bill. I held on to the money for a moment, but I didn’t get much of a vibe off it. Just the feeling of it being handed from one person to another until it had wound up with Vivian.

"Thanks," I said, stuffing the money into my jeans pocket. "I’ll try to have some news for you in a day or two."

I’d done all I could for Vivian, so I headed toward the door. I started to reach for the knob, but Vivian beat me to it and opened the door instead. Well, that was polite of her.

"Thanks," I said.

She nodded. "You’re welcome. And thanks for looking for my ring, Gwen. You have no idea how much it means to me."

I smiled at her. "Hey, that’s why I’m the Gypsy girl."

I left Vivian’s room, and she shut the door behind me. On my way toward the stairs, I passed Daphne’s room. Like the other Valkyrie wannabe princesses, Daphne also lived at Valhalla Hall. I hadn’t talked to the Valkyrie since our fight at lunch, and she hadn’t called or texted me. I didn’t know what was going on with her, what had upset her so much, but I already missed her. I hadn’t even thought to tell her about Nott showing up yet, and I needed someone to talk to about the wolf, Logan, and most especially about whether or not Savannah could really be a Reaper.

I hesitated, then knocked on Daphne’s door. No answer. I didn’t hear any music playing inside. No sounds of typing, either. The Valkyrie wasn’t in there working on one of her many computers. Disappointed, I plodded down the stairs, left the dorm, and headed across campus to the English-history building, where Metis had her office.

Today was Tuesday, which meant it was time for me to pay a visit to Preston Ashton. Ever since the Reaper had been imprisoned at the academy, I’d been using my Gypsy gift to peer into his mind, to try to find out what the other Reapers were up to. Now, of course, I wanted to know what he knew about the Helheim Dagger and if he had a clue as to where it might be hidden. Maybe it was irrational, but I also wanted to see for myself that Preston was still in the academy prison. After hearing that creepy voice whispering to me in the library last night, I wanted to make sure Preston was locked away where he couldn’t hurt anyone-especially not my Grandma Frost.

I entered the building and walked down the hallway to Metis’s office. To my surprise, the door was cracked open, and I could see two figures inside through the frosted glass. I’d just raised my hand to knock when a voice drifted out to me.