Touch of Frost (Mythos Academy #1)(14)
Author: Jennifer Estep

"What is it that they want, exactly?" I asked. "Why are they the bad guys?"

Metis sighed. "You really haven’t been paying attention in class, have you?"

I winced again.

"The Reapers want one thing-to free Loki from the prison realm that the other gods have placed him in. And we, the students and teachers here, the members of the Pantheon, are at war with them, trying to prevent that from happening. That’s what all the students here are being trained for. To learn how to fight with whatever skills and magic that they have to keep Loki from escaping from his prison. That’s why losing the Bowl of Tears is such a big blow. It’s an old artifact with a lot of magic, with a lot of power, and it can help the Reapers get closer to freeing Loki."

I frowned. "So what happens if Loki gets free? What would be so bad about that?"

"Because the last time Loki was free, he raised an army to try to kill the other gods, to enslave mortals, and to bend everyone to his will. Hundreds of thousands of people died, Gwen. And hundreds of thousands more will die if Loki is freed once more. The world as we know it will be utterly destroyed."

So the Chaos was death, destruction, and blah, blah, blah, just like I’d thought. Another war, just like the one that had been fought before. Except when Professor Metis talked about it this time, a shiver swept up my spine. Like it was actually real. Like it could actually happen.

We left the main quad behind and stepped onto one of the walkways that led out to the dorms. The student dorms were smaller versions of the main academy buildings-lots of gray stone, lots of thick, green ivy, lots of creepy statues everywhere.

Somehow, Metis knew that I roomed in Styx Hall, without me even telling her. She walked me all the way up to the front door. Since the student curfew was ten o’clock on weeknights and the dorms automatically locked down after that, Metis had to swipe her professor ID badge through the scanner to get the door to open for me.

I could have told her not to bother. That there was a sturdy persimmon tree that reached up to a second-floor window on the back of the building. The window had a busted lock, and whatever magic was on it to keep students in or bad guys out had dissolved or disappeared a long time ago. Now, all the girls used it and the tree to slip out at night and see their boyfriends. Everyone except me, of course. I didn’t have a boyfriend, much less just another girlfriend to hang out with after curfew.

"Now, don’t worry," Metis said. "Ajax and Nickamedes have already started increasing the security at the library and over the whole campus. Nickamedes is out casting more spells right now. The dorms themselves are already quite secure. They all have wards on them to ensure the students’ protection, but Nickamedes is going to increase the power and complexity of those as well."

Her voice was so calm and matter-of-fact that it reminded me of the teachers at my old school and how they’d all tell us to patiently file outside when we were having the yearly fire drill. They’d been so calm because they’d all known that there was no real fire and they didn’t even think there was a problem to start with.

I thought of how easily I’d been able to walk down to the main gate, slip past the sphinxes, and leave campus earlier today. Apparently, just as easily someone had been able to come into the library and kill Jasmine tonight. Nickamedes’s spells and the rest of the academy’s magical security hadn’t stopped either one of those things from happening. Just like all the academy’s rules and threats of punishment didn’t stop kids from drinking, smoking, or having sex in their dorm rooms. But I didn’t say anything.

"Now," Metis said, taking my silence for some kind of agreement. "Would you like me to take a look at that bump on your head? I can heal you, if you wish. You’ll never even know you were hit."

I blinked. "You can heal me? How?"

Metis held out her hands, palms up. They looked as smooth as polished bronze underneath the streetlight burning over the dorm. "I have a magical talent for healing injuries. All I have to do is place my hands on someone, picture them getting well, and they do."

Now that was a pretty cool power, and I’d heard of a few other kids on campus having that kind of ability. All the students at Mythos had something going for them, the magic that classified them as a particular type of warrior. Valkyries and Vikings were incredibly strong; Amazons and Romans were superfast; Spartans could kill you with whatever happened to be handy. As if that wasn’t enough, the students had other magic as well, bonus powers as it were, everything from enhanced senses to the ability to shoot lightning out of their fingertips or create fire with their bare hands.

I wondered what the healing power made Metis, if she was a Valkyrie or an Amazon or something else, instead of just my myth-history professor. I might have even taken a chance and let Metis heal me, if it hadn’t been for the whole touching-my-head part. I didn’t want to touch anyone or anything else strange tonight. I’d seen enough horrible things in the last two hours. I didn’t want to see any more.

"No, thank you," I said. "I’ll just go … sleep it off or something."

Understanding flashed in Metis’s eyes, and she nodded. "Very well. I examined you at the library before you woke up. The wound isn’t that severe. You should be fine with a good night’s sleep. But if you have any problems, blurred vision or anything like that, come see me immediately."

I doubted that I’d get a good night’s sleep after finding a murdered girl, but I didn’t say anything. Instead, I just nodded.

Professor Metis started to go, but she hesitated and turned to look at me once more. "I don’t know if I said this before, but that was very brave of you, Gwen, trying to help Jasmine like you did. Most people would have just screamed and run away."

I shrugged. I hadn’t thought it was brave. It had just been instinct more than anything else. A foolish one, since I’d gotten knocked out and Jasmine had died anyway.

"It was just like something your mother would have done," Metis said in a low voice.

I stared at her, wondering at the familiar tone in her voice. It almost sounded like she knew my mom. But how could she? As far as I knew, Grace Frost had never even set foot in the academy-

"She was a police detective, right?" Metis added.

"Yeah," I said, wondering how the professor knew that. I’d never told anyone at Mythos anything about my mom. "She was a cop. A good one."

But now she’s gone, and it’s all my fault. Tears filled my eyes, my throat closed up, and I couldn’t finish my thought. The usual stab of loss and guilt pierced my heart, overpowering everything else.