Touch of Frost (Mythos Academy #1)(54)
Author: Jennifer Estep

No, I hadn’t known that, and I kind of wished she hadn’t told me. A morgue in math-science? Creepy.

I jerked my head at the pacing prowler. "And what about your kitty cat there? How did you get it onto campus? When? And why?"

Jasmine shrugged. "Another illusion. I made it look like a hungry stray cat that came onto campus looking for food tonight. The sphinxes on the main gates didn’t even glance twice at it, much less attack it like they’re supposed to do to intruders. Nickamedes isn’t quite as clever with his spells as he thinks he is. As for why, well, I thought that it might be good to have the real thing handy since your Spartan boyfriend killed my illusion last night."

"You’re talking about what happened with the statue," I said. "So you pushed it over the side of the library, trying to hit Morgan and Samson with it?"

"I did." Jasmine’s eyes flicked to Morgan. "I was enjoying a little fresh air out on the fourth-floor balcony when I saw what they were doing. I admit my temper got the best of me and made me want to kill both of them right then and there, instead of sticking with my plan for tonight. But lucky for them, you were there to shout out a warning. Of course, that made me rather angry at you, which is why I conjured up that prowler illusion. I was going to let it claw you to death for getting in my way. But, of course, Logan Quinn showed up and got the best of it instead."

"And the Bowl of Tears?" I asked. "Why steal it?"

Jasmine let out another laugh that reminded me of the prowler’s hiss. "Oh, I didn’t steal it at all. The Bowl’s been right here in the library the whole time, just like I have. There’s a storage room on the fourth floor where nobody ever goes. I’ve been sneaking stuff up there ever since the semester started: food, clothes, a sleeping bag. That’s where I’ve been staying the past few days, along with the Bowl. Nickamedes put so many enchantments on the Bowl that it can’t leave the library, enchantments that I couldn’t break. So I used my illusion magic to hide it, to make everyone think that the Bowl had been stolen and taken somewhere far, far away. And it worked, too. It all worked-but then you started snooping around."

I shifted on my feet.

Jasmine stared at me, tilting her head to one side. "You know, I’ve been watching you the past few days, and I just can’t figure out why you cared so much about me. You weren’t one of my friends. You didn’t even know me."

"No," I said in a quiet voice. "But I didn’t think that you deserved to die like that. I wanted to find out what happened to you. I felt sorry for you, that you had died."

Jasmine’s face hardened. "You? Felt sorry for me? You’re nobody, Gypsy. You don’t have any friends, and you don’t belong here. You’re pathetic."

The sneer in her voice made me stand up a little straighter. "I have a name. It’s Gwen Frost. I’m not nobody. And you think I’m pathetic? I’m not the girl who faked her own death just so she could get some sort of twisted revenge on her best friend. That’s pathetic."

Jasmine’s face darkened at my insult, but she let out another laugh. "You think this is just about me getting revenge on Morgan? Oh, Gypsy, you really have no idea what you’re dealing with, do you?"

I shrugged. "So tell me. You’re just going to kill me anyway."

"Oh yes," Jasmine said, dashing any hope I had that she’d let me live. "But this is about so much more than Morgan and the fact that she can’t keep her legs closed. This-this is about Chaos."

When she said the word "Chaos," a sort of … breeze gusted through the library, some sort of force that made the bookcases creak and my skin crawl. But the weirdest thing was the Bowl of Tears. Morgan was still holding it in her hands, but, for a moment I thought that I saw a face shimmer in the air above it. A twisted, evil, melted, screaming sort of face. The sight made my stomach knot up.

"You’re-you’re actually a Reaper of Chaos?" I asked in a whisper. "One of the bad guys? You actually serve the god Loki and want to bring him back into this world?"

Jasmine nodded her head. "Now you’re catching on. You’re not as dumb as you look, Gypsy. There are lots of Reapers at Mythos, kids and profs. And it’s not just me. My whole family are Reapers. We always have been. Sshh. Don’t tell anyone at the academy, though. All the professors think that my family is so good, that I’m so well-bred. Metis would really get her panties in a twist if she knew that my family’s been serving Loki for centuries. When they announced in my myth-history class that Nickamedes was bringing the Bowl of Tears out of storage and putting it on display in the library, well, it was just too good an opportunity to pass up. A way to get back at Morgan and serve my god at the same time."

"But-"

"Enough!" she snapped. "Enough talking. I’m bored now. It’s time to get on with things, starting with the sacrifice that Morgan is going to make tonight."

She turned to look at the other Valkyrie, who had remained silent and frozen through all of this, although blood still dripped down her cheek from where Jasmine had stabbed her with the homecoming crown.

"Morgan," Jasmine said, her voice sounding exactly like the prowler’s hiss. "Go lie down on top of one of the tables and take the Bowl with you. And don’t spill a drop of the blood inside it."

Morgan jerked forward, as though she were a puppet and Jasmine were the one pulling her crazy strings. I watched, horrified, as Morgan climbed up onto the closest library table, lay down on it, and put the Bowl in the middle of her chest. And just like Jasmine had commanded, she didn’t spill a drop.

From the depths of her crimson cloak, Jasmine drew out a dagger with a ruby set into the hilt. I recognized it, too-it was the same one that I’d seen on the floor in the library the night I’d thought she’d died. Now I knew why the dagger hadn’t had any blood on it-because the puddles had all just been illusions to start with.

My brain kicked into gear, and I finally realized what she was going to do with the dagger-she was going to sacrifice her best friend to an evil god. Jasmine was actually going to kill Morgan right in front of me, and there was nothing that I could do to stop it.

"Stop!" I screamed, starting forward. "Get away from her!"

Jasmine looked over her shoulder at me and gave a dismissive sniff.

"Kill her," Jasmine ordered the prowler, and turned back to Morgan.

The creature licked its lips and sprang at me.

Chapter 21

Before I could save Morgan, I had to save myself from the prowler.

I didn’t have time to think about what I was doing, so I threw the book that I’d palmed at the prowler. I got lucky, because the thick volume hit the creature square in the nose, making it hesitate and throwing it a bit off balance. I dove underneath the closest library table, and the creature landed on top of it, instead of on me.