Kiss of Frost (Mythos Academy #2)(31)
Author: Jennifer Estep

The smal shacks looked like gingerbread houses with their bright, bold colors and crazy, candy-cane stripes.

Glittery signs and streamers announcing the various prizes swooped from the corner of one booth to the next, while neon-colored stuffed animals fought for space on the shelves inside.

Loud, cheery cal iope music tril ed through a portable sound system someone had dragged up the mountain, and heaters blasted away here and there in the snow, to help keep the chil at bay. The merchants from the shops in the alpine vil age had also made the trek up the mountain, setting up separate shacks and bringing their own high-end goods with them-jewelry, watches, designer clothes.

I thought the professors or the resort staff might perform some kind of ritual before the carnival opened. Light a fire, chant some magic mumbo jumbo, and thank the gods for watching over everyone on the mountain. That’s what the profs had done a few weeks ago before the homecoming bonfire and dance back at the academy. Truth be told, I’d found it a little weird and creepy. But the kids had already started playing games, and the sounds of bel s, whistles, and more tril ed through the air. No ritual today then.

Good.

But once again, I couldn’t escape the statues. A large stone sculpture of Skadi, the Norse goddess of winter, stood in the middle of the carnival area, looking like a twin to the one inside the hotel lobby. Somehow, the goddess looked even fiercer up here on the mountain, in the midst of the snow, and it seemed like the statue radiated cold, despite the heaters tucked next to her feet.

Statues of other gods and goddesses had also been planted in the snow here and there, their stone lips curled up into crazy smiles that matched the excitement of the day. I sighed and looked away from them.

It didn’t take long for something else to catch my attention, though-the food. Cotton candy, kettle corn, caramel apples, corn dogs, deep-fried Twinkies. I spotted signs for al those treats, and each one made a grin spread a little wider across my face. For once, the food was actual y normal, and I was totally getting my sugar rush on today. A warm, sweet, delicious aroma fil ed the air, and I breathed in. Were those funnel cakes I smel ed? With powdered sugar and hot cherry sauce oozing off the top?

My stomach rumbled in anticipation, even though we’d just eaten breakfast.

"Isn’t it fabulous?" Daphne asked, her eyes glittering like black diamonds in her face. "Where do you think we should go first, Carson?"

The band geek put his arm around the Valkyrie and hugged her to his chest. "I think we should go over to the ring toss, so I can win you a stuffed animal. Or a dagger, whichever you prefer."

Daphne arched her eyebrows and gave him an amused smile.

"Even though I can total y beat you whenever we play any kind of game in gym class?"

Carson blushed a little. "Yeah, wel , I can try. Look how many tickets I bought. Surely, I can win something with them."

He pul ed a wad of red tickets out of the pocket of his black ski pants. You had to buy tickets to play the various carnival games, and the proceeds went to help fund the whole weekend trip. Daphne and Carson had both whipped out their credit cards to get tickets for al the games as soon as we’d stepped off the chair lift. They’d dropped close to five hundred bucks each without batting an eye.

I hadn’t bothered buying any tickets, though. I wasn’t coordinated enough to play one of the games and actual y win anything. Wel , I might be able to win if there was some kind of archery game, and I channeled my memories of Daphne at her tournaments, just like I did during weapons training. But the Powers That Were at the academy would probably consider that to be cheating.

"Come on," Daphne said, grabbing my hand. "Enough standing around. Let’s play some games!"

We wandered around the Winter Carnival for the next two hours, moving from one booth to another. It looked like everyone in the entire Powder complex had turned out for the event, and the whole mountain was crawling with kids, professors, and the resort staff.

I spotted Professor Metis running one of the ring toss games and cheerful y talking to al the students.

Nickamedes stood next to her in the booth, handing out prizes to the winners, a pinched, sour expression on his face. No doubt the librarian was al ergic to fresh air and sunshine.

Sometimes I wondered if Nickamedes was actual y a vampire, as pale and pasty as he was. I’d have to ask Daphne about the librarian, and if, you know, vampires actual y existed in the first place. Despite al the things I’d learned in myth-history class, I was stil a little unclear on al the different types of monsters out there.

Okay, okay, on a lot of things, real y.

Metis and Nickamedes weren’t the only professors I saw.

Mr. Llew, my calculus teacher; Mrs. Banba, the economics prof; Coach Lir, the lean, lanky swimming instructor-they were al helping out with the booths and games. Even Mrs.

Raven, the library coffee cart lady was here, manning one of the cotton candy machines.

I had fun watching Daphne and Carson play al the carnival games, but it wasn’t long before I noticed there was something a little … off about the contests. Like at the ring toss, where the kids threw spiked metal chains over the heads of Nemean prowlers instead of using simple rings and metal poles. Or over at the milk bottle toss, where the glass bottles al had grinning black masks painted on them to represent Reaper faces. And especial y at the dunk tank, where the bul s’-eye reminded me of a drawing of Loki that I’d seen in my myth-history book, the one where the evil god’s face was al twisted and melted from the snake venom that had dripped onto his handsome features for centuries. The venom continual y spattering onto Loki had been part of his punishment the first time the other gods had locked him away, before he escaped and plunged the world into the Chaos War.

Then, there were the prizes. Carson hadn’t been kidding when he said he could win Daphne a dagger. Most of the booths were crammed with stuffed animals and other oversize toys, but weapons gleamed on the shelves right alongside them-swords, staffs, crossbows, throwing stars, even a shield or two. And lots of kids chose the sharp, shiny weapons over the toys. But even when the students opted for the toys, they were stil al wrong. Instead of fluffy pink bunnies and plush black bears, the stuffed animals were shaped like grinning gryphons or stoic sphinxes.

Once I started noticing al the stuff like that, I couldn’t quit looking at it-and it seriously creeped me out. Who wanted to go to a carnival where the prizes could be used to murder you?

Especial y since I knew there was a real Reaper of Chaos lurking somewhere out here in the winter sunshine-one who wanted to kil me.

"Uh, what’s with al the games?" I asked Carson at one point, while Daphne was busy shooting arrows through a metal ring that was barely bigger around than my wrist.