Kiss of Frost (Mythos Academy #2)(39)
Author: Jennifer Estep

Maybe I hadn’t had the warrior training the other kids had.

Maybe I wasn’t as good with a sword as Daphne, Logan, and the other students were. Maybe I wasn’t as strong or quick or tough or brave. But I had my psychometry magic, and I was Nike’s freaking Champion. Those things had to count for something.

Otherwise, what was the point of me being at Mythos Academy in the first place?

But the most important thing was the fact that the Reaper was after me. He wanted to kil me. Not anyone else, just me.

I might not be able to put an arrow through his heart, but I was Gwen Frost, that weird Gypsy girl who touched stuff and saw things. I used my magic to find things that were lost and to learn people’s secrets. Wel , the Reaper’s real identity was just something else to uncover, just another puzzle to solve, just another secret waiting to be revealed.

No matter what I’d promised Metis, Nickamedes, and even Daphne, I was going to do everything in my power to find out who the Reaper was and take him down-before he tried to kil me again.

Chapter 16

Professor Metis, Nickamedes, and Coach Ajax finished up their hushed talk and left the infirmary, probably to start tracking down the Reaper. Daphne went out with them, so she could let Carson know that I was fine. I didn’t ask the Valkyrie if she was going to talk to Logan-or if the Spartan had even asked her whether I was okay or not. I didn’t want to know if he hadn’t.

Half an hour later, Metis came back into the infirmary and handed me a cel phone, since my own had been swept away by the snow. "Your grandmother, as promised."

"Thank you," I said. "And I’m sorry for, wel , everything.

But mainly for not tel ing you about the Reaper in the first place. You told me a while back you’d always look out for me, because of your friendship with my mom. I should have trusted you the way she would have."

Metis looked at me a second, then gave me a curt nod.

Her face was stil tight with worry, but her green gaze was a little softer than it had been before. She might not like it, but I think Metis understood why I hadn’t told her about the Reaper. I hoped so anyway. I also hoped she could forgive me for keeping my mouth shut-and the other things I planned on doing to discover the Reaper’s reAll identity, just as soon as she and the Powers That Were let me out of this hospitAll bed.

The professor stepped back outside and shut the infirmary door behind her, giving me some privacy.

I raised the phone to my ear. "Hi, Grandma."

"Hi, pumpkin," Grandma Frost’s voice flooded the line, as warm, soft, and comforting as a hug. "Are you okay?"

"I’m fine. ReAll y, I am."

"Tel me what happened."

I drew in a breath and told Grandma everything that had happened since I’d left her house on Wednesday afternoon.

When I finished, she stayed quiet for a few seconds.

"Do you want me to come get you, pumpkin? Bring you home with me?" she asked, worry making her voice sound low and strained.

Part of me reAll y, reAll y wanted to say yes. To let Grandma Frost come get me and take me back to her house, just like she had when I was a little girl and I’d woken up scared and crying in the middle of the night the first time I slept over at a friend’s house when my mom was out of town.

But the other part of me wondered how much danger I would be putting my grandma in if I let her do that. Word would get out if I’d left the hotel before the other kids, and it wouldn’t be too hard for the Reaper to track me back to my grandma’s house. He already knew where it was since that was where he’d tried to kil me in the first place.

Besides, I wasn’t a little girl, and I didn’t want to act or be treated like one. Yeah, I was only seventeen, but I’d grown up a lot since coming to Mythos. Like it or not, Reapers, mythologicAll monsters, and the evil god Loki were part of my life now. I couldn’t just pretend they didn’t exist anymore.

If I didn’t stand up for myself against them now, if I didn’t try to fight back against the Reaper who was trying to kil me, I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to-and Nike would have placed her trust in me for nothing.

I wanted to be worthy of the faith the goddess of victory had in me-and All the other Frost women who had been Nike’s Champions over the years. I wanted to fight against the bad guys and the darkness in them that I’d seen.

"I want to stay here at the resort," I finAll y said. "But I’m not going to lie to you. I want to stay, so I can figure out what’s going on and who the Reaper reAll y is before he hurts someone else."

Grandma Frost let out a long, weary sigh, like she’d known that’s what I was going to say All along. Maybe she had, given her Gypsy gift of seeing the future. "I don’t like it, but I understand, Gwen."

I blinked. Grandma hardly ever cAll ed me Gwen. I was always "pumpkin" to her.

She let out a sharp, rueful laugh. "You’re growing up, just the same way your mom did: wanting to help people, just like she did.

Wanting to be worthy of the Gypsy magic that Nike has entrusted our family with."

"Yeah," I said. "I do. How did you know?"

"Because I felt the same when I was your age, and I’m not going to stand in your way now. Just be careful, Gwen.

More careful than you’ve ever been before because I-I don’t want to lose you." Her voice cracked on the last two words.

"I don’t think I could bear to lose you like I did your mom."

"I’l be careful," I whispered back. "More careful than you can imagine."

"I love you, pumpkin," Grandma said. "You cAll me whenever you need me. Any time, day or night, and I’l come running."

All the emotions I was feeling clogged up my throat, making it hard to talk, but I forced out the words. "I know you wil , and I love you, too."

"Bye, pumpkin."

"Bye, Grandma."

She hung up. I ended the cal and curled up into a smAll bAll on the hospitAll bed. Despite the fact that I knew I was doing the right thing by staying at the resort, I couldn’t keep the tears from leaking out of the corners of my eyes-and wishing that I could go back to just being Grandma’s little girl again.

Late that afternoon, the professors finAll y let me leave the infirmary and go back to my room with Daphne on the thirteenth floor of the resort. Coach Ajax put his heavy hand on my shoulder and walked me through the hotel lobby, like I was some kind of invalid-or criminal. I couldn’t decide which one was more embarrassing.

Quite a crowd had gathered there to witness my walk of shame. Wel , that and the fact that they were stuck inside the hotel until the Powers That Were at the resort made sure the slopes had stabilized and were safe once more.