Crimson Frost (18 page)
The asp tightened its grip around my wrist, almost as if it agreed with my anger. I looked at the small, jewel-toned snake. It was really the only impartial creature here. At least, it would have been if Vivian hadn’t found a way to fool it. Stupid magic loopholes—
Magic loopholes . . . magic loopholes . . .
The words bounced around in my mind. Sure, Vivian had used the jewels’ magic to fool the asp, but she wasn’t the only one here with power. Maybe there was a way I could prove my innocence—and Vivian’s guilt once and for all.
Linus stared at Vivian, then me. “You both tell a convincing story. But what I find most interesting is that the asp hasn’t attacked either one of you, yet obviously one of you must be lying. At the very least, you can’t
both
be Nike’s Champion.”
both
be Nike’s Champion.”
Everyone’s eyes focused on the asp on the table. The creature flicked out its tongue, almost like it realized we were all staring at it, but it made no move to bite either one of us.
“You should go ahead and confess, Gwen,” Vivian said. “Make things easier on yourself.”
She smirked at me. I glared back at her.
“And that concludes the interrogation,” Linus said. “Rest assured that we will carefully review everything you’ve both said today . . .”
He started talking about exactly how the Protectorate would make its decision. It was all very blah, blah, blah, so I ignored him. It was obvious that the Protectorate didn’t want to believe me, but I didn’t think they’d wholeheartedly swallowed Vivian’s story either. I could see the doubt in even Linus’s face about what she’d told them. But I was determined to show everyone just what a liar Vivian really was.
Professor Metis had once told me that there was more to my psychometry than just touching objects and seeing things. That was the mental aspect of my power, but Metis had said that there was a physical component to my magic as well. That I could touch people and actually influence them, get them to see what I wanted them to see, feel what I wanted them to feel. I’d done it once before with Nott, when I’d showed her memories of my Grandma Frost. Those memories and my love for my grandma had convinced the wolf to go protect her when Vivian and Preston had been on their way to kill her.
Now, I was wondering if I could do the same thing with the snake.
My gaze dropped to the Maat asp, which was still wound around my wrist. I wondered what the creature would do if I showed it what had really happened—if I showed it the truth about Vivian.
I had no illusions that I would be found innocent by the Protectorate. At the very least, I’d broken enough rules to get expelled from the academy. At the very worst, I’d be found guilty of conspiring with the Reapers, hauled off to prison, and eventually executed. Something that was a real possibility with one of the Protectorate members likely a Reaper in disguise. Either the snake would turn, bite me again, and trigger the poison in my veins that would kill me, or the Protectorate would find me guilty and chop my head off later. Either way, Vivian would win.
Using my magic on the asp was the only move I had left in this weird, twisted game Vivian had dragged me into, so I focused on all the memories I had of her, both as herself and when she’d been hiding behind a rubber mask as the Reaper girl. I called up all the images I had of that night at the Garm gate, when Vivian had freed Loki and then stabbed Nott. Rage pulsed through me, along with the memories, but I forced myself to be cold, calm, and keep my emotions under control. Finally, when I had all the images, all the memories, all the feelings, firmly fixed in my mind, I concentrated on the asp wrapped around my wrist, on the soft, smooth feel of its cool velvet skin against mine. Then, I pushed the memories at the creature, using my psychometry to show them to the asp—every single one.
I felt the asp tense, as the memories invaded its mind, the sights and sounds and feelings that weren’t its own. It wasn’t as easy as it had been with Nott, probably because the wolf had trusted me and this creature didn’t. It was harder to show the images to the asp, harder than I’d thought it would be, and I was soon sweating from the effort. I could feel the asp pushing back, trying to shove me out of its mind, but I hung on until I got to the final image I had of Vivian—her riding up into the midnight sky on a Black roc with Loki strapped in a harness behind her. Me helpless to stop them, my life’s blood draining from where Preston had stabbed me with the Helheim Dagger.
Come on
, I thought to the snake.
I’m the one telling the truth, not her. We both know it. So do your job, and bite her . . . bite her already . . . bite her right now!
, I thought to the snake.
I’m the one telling the truth, not her. We both know it. So do your job, and bite her . . . bite her already . . . bite her right now!
The asp snapped at the Reaper girl.
Vivian must have sensed the change in the creature because she jerked her hand back at the last possible second, and the asp only ended up biting empty air.
Everyone froze.
But the snake wasn’t done. It struck at her again and again, in a frenzy now, as though it wanted nothing more than to kill her. I knew the feeling because it was
mine
—one I’d also shown the asp. Vivian leaped to her feet and yanked on her handcuffs. They must not have been magically reinforced because she was able to use her Valkyrie strength to break the metal links, along with the chain that shackled her to the table. Vivian stumbled away from the table, making sure she was out of range of the writhing asp, before she stabbed her finger at me.
mine
—one I’d also shown the asp. Vivian leaped to her feet and yanked on her handcuffs. They must not have been magically reinforced because she was able to use her Valkyrie strength to break the metal links, along with the chain that shackled her to the table. Vivian stumbled away from the table, making sure she was out of range of the writhing asp, before she stabbed her finger at me.
“It’s Gwen! She’s done something to the asp with her magic! I know she has!” Vivian shrieked.
This time, I smirked at the Reaper girl. “Why would you say that? Because the asp finally wised up and realized what a liar you are? It tried to bite you, Vivian.
You
—not me. At least someone here has finally seen through your lies.”
You
—not me. At least someone here has finally seen through your lies.”
Vivian’s gaze flicked to the dais, as though she was looking to someone there for direction or possibly even help—as if someone there was a Reaper just like she was. My eyes narrowed, and I followed her gaze, but I couldn’t tell exactly whom she was looking at. Sergei, Inari, Agrona, Linus. It could have been any one of them. I didn’t think Logan’s dad was a Reaper, but I hadn’t thought that Vivian was Loki’s Champion either. If there was one thing I’d learned since coming to Mythos, it was that appearances could be very, very deceiving, especially when it came time to decide who to trust—and who not to.
Apparently, the asp realized that Vivian was out of range because it stopped snapping. Instead, the snake decided to wind itself around and around my wrist before putting its head down onto the table. Its black tongue flicked against my skin, and a sense of understanding filled me. The asp knew the truth of what had happened. I just hoped this display would convince the Protectorate as well.
“Did you see that, Linus?” Nickamedes said, surging to his feet. “Clearly, the asp knows who is guilty and who is not. I demand that you release Gwendolyn and drop all the charges against her immediately.”
“The trial is over, Nickamedes,” Linus replied, eyeing the snake. “But we have not started our deliberations yet. The asp’s actions are hardly conclusive in this case. We will decide who is telling the truth—Miss Frost or Miss Holler—and we will act accordingly.”
Linus rapped his gavel a final time on the table, and everyone got to their feet. Nickamedes went over to Linus and started arguing with him, while the other members of the Protectorate looked on, along with Grandma Frost and Metis. Raven walked over, carefully uncurled the snake from my wrist, and put it back into its wicker basket, while Ajax stepped forward and unchained me. I stood, and the two of them moved off to the cell that Raven had gotten the basket out of earlier.
That left me standing across the table from Vivian. Although I wanted nothing more than to attack her, I knew I wouldn’t even get a chance to reach for her before Alexei or one of the guards watching would drag me back. So I settled for glaring at her instead.
“I’m going to kill you,” I said in a cold voice that only Vivian could hear. “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday soon. For my mom and for Nott and for everyone else you’ve ever hurt in your miserable life.”
Vivian smiled, completely unconcerned by my threat, although that spark of Reaper red still flashed in her topaz eyes. “Oh, I imagine that you’ll try, Gwen. But I won before at the Garm gate, and I’m going to win again this time too. You’ll see. And by the time you figure out what my plan is, it will be too late for you—and everyone you love.”
With those ominous words, Vivian walked out of the academy prison, flanked by her three guards, and all I could do was just stand there and watch her get away—again.
Chapter 19
After the guards whisked Vivian off to parts unknown, Grandma Frost came over and hugged me tight.
“Are you okay, pumpkin?” she whispered. “I know how awful it was, seeing her again. If I’d had any idea she was going to be here . . .”
Grandma’s voice trailed off, and I could tell she was thinking the same dark thoughts I was—that the world would be a better place without Vivian in it.
“I’m okay,” I said. “At least I got through to somebody.”
While the others were still arguing, I told her about pushing my thoughts at the asp and how I’d been able to show it what Vivian was really like.
“I just wish I could do the same to Linus,” I said. “I
could
, if I touched him.”
could
, if I touched him.”
Grandma shook her head. “It’s not worth the risk, pumpkin. Vivian’s got them so turned around, I doubt he’d believe you. He’d probably just think that you have her telepathy magic.”
I wondered if that was the real distinction between my magic and Vivian’s—that she could worm her way into people’s brains and make them see things that weren’t really there without laying a hand on them. So far, I’d only used my power to make Nott and the asp see my memories, things that had actually happened, and I’d had to touch them to do it. Another way Vivian and I were eerily similar but still different.
I let out a frustrated sigh because I knew Grandma Frost was right. At this point, the Protectorate would think what they wanted about me, and there was nothing I could do to change their minds one way or the other.
But I could do something about Vivian. The Reaper girl had told me that she was up to something, and I was willing to bet it had a lot to do with the attack in the library last night. Whatever Vivian and the other Reapers were planning, they weren’t going to get away with it. Just because I was on trial for my life didn’t mean that I was going to stop fighting against them. They’d already taken away so much from me. They weren’t taking anything else, and they weren’t hurting anyone else that I loved.
Now, I just needed to find a way to stop Vivian and the Reapers—before it was too late.
The Protectorate was going to take the weekend to decide my fate, which meant I could stay on campus until Monday afternoon, when they made their final decision about me—and Vivian.
I wondered if they found me guilty, did that mean Vivian would be declared innocent and be allowed to come back to Mythos? Could that be what she really wanted? Was that what all the false accusations had been about?
No, I thought. It was too simple. Vivian wouldn’t have risked contacting the Protectorate just so she could come back to school. She had to be up to something bigger, something that would hurt the Pantheon a lot more than just discrediting me as Nike’s Champion. Sure, I imagined she’d be thrilled if the Protectorate decided to sentence me to death, but I couldn’t shake this nagging feeling that there was something else going on.
“What are you thinking about, Gwendolyn?” Nickamedes asked, packing up his papers. “You’ve been awfully quiet.”
I shrugged. “Just going over everything that’s happened. Everything that Vivian said.”
“Don’t worry about her,” Nickamedes replied. “Despite my feelings toward Linus, I cannot believe he would be foolish enough to believe her. You’ll be cleared of all charges and get to stay right here at Mythos where you belong. Trust me.”
I nodded, even though I didn’t really believe that.
Since my trial was over, everyone except for Raven left the prison and walked up the many stairs to the ground floor of the math-science building. Agrona, Inari, and Sergei paused just inside the door that led outside and started talking among themselves, but Linus gestured at me to stop.
“Don’t forget, Miss Frost,” he said, giving me the same frigid stare as always. “Your trial might be over, but you are still under arrest, so the same rules apply. You are restricted to campus for the weekend, and you will be watched at all times.”
I frowned. “But the winter band concert is tomorrow. I had plans to go. One of my friends is in the band—”
“Forget it, Miss Frost,” he interrupted. “You’re not going to the concert. If I were you, I’d take this weekend to think about all the things you’ve done. Perhaps even consider confessing and throwing yourself on the mercy of the Protectorate. That sort of gesture might mitigate your punishment—somewhat.”
So he’d already decided that I was guilty.
“But I didn’t do anything wrong,” I said once again.
Instead of answering me, Linus stared at me another second, then turned and strode over to the other members of the Protectorate.
“Don’t worry, Gwen,” Metis said, walking over to stand beside me. “Everything will be okay. The asp lashed out at Vivian, not you. The Protectorate has to take that into consideration.”
I shook my head. “No, it won’t,” I said in a low voice only she could hear. “Not with Linus hating me like he does. And especially not since one of them is probably a Reaper.”
Metis frowned. “What do you mean?”
I told her about seeing the ruby chips on Vivian’s ring and how I thought they’d been part of Apate’s box. I also told her how Vivian had looked at one of the members of the Protectorate after the asp had tried to bite her.
“One of them has to be helping her,” I said. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
Metis’s mouth tightened. “I’ll tell Nickamedes and Ajax. We’ll quietly ask around and see who was where when the Reapers attacked. If one of them is a Reaper, we’ll find out who it is—and deal with him or her. You can count on that.”
I nodded, grateful that she believed me, that she didn’t think I was crazy or guilty or up to no good like Linus would have.
I headed outside, along with Grandma Frost, Metis, Ajax, Nickamedes, and, of course, Alexei, who was back to shadowing me again. The trial had gone on longer than I’d thought because twilight had already fallen over the campus, giving everything a faint lavender sheen.
My friends were waiting for me on the quad—Daphne, Carson, Oliver, and Logan. They’d been huddled together on the building’s steps and got to their feet when they saw me. Grandma Frost spotted them too.
“I need to speak to Metis,” she said. “Are you going to be okay tonight, pumpkin?”
“I’ll be fine,” I said. “I want to talk to my friends about what happened, and I need to warn them about Vivian.”
She nodded. “Well, you call me if you need me. Day or night. I love you, and don’t you worry. Everything’s going to work out the way it’s supposed to. You’ll see.”
For a moment, that distant, glassy look filled her eyes, and that ancient, invisible force stirred around her, as though she was getting a glimpse of the future—my future. Then, her gaze cleared, and the force vanished, blown away by a cold gust of wind. Still, her words made me feel a little better.
I hugged Grandma Frost, then watched her walk across the quad with Metis, Ajax, and Nickamedes, all of them with their heads together, talking softly. Looked like I wasn’t the only one trying to come up with a plan. But I was the one who was Nike’s Champion. I was the one who was supposed to protect everyone from the Reapers, and I was the one who was supposed to kill Loki. I loved my grandma, and I knew the other adults were watching out for me too, but I also realized that I couldn’t rely on them to get me out of this mess. No, being a Champion meant fighting your own battles, and I was determined to win this struggle against Vivian.
All of my friends came over and hugged me in turn. Oliver, Carson, Daphne, and finally Logan, who held me close and didn’t let me go.
“How was it?” he asked, his blue eyes searching mine.
“Awful,” I said. “But the worst part was that Vivian was there.”
“What?!” Daphne said, her voice rising to almost a scream, and pink sparks exploding in the air around her. “What was she doing at your trial?”
“Blaming me for everything she’s done,” I said.
We weren’t the only kids on the quad, and Daphne’s shout made the others turn to look at us. I stared back at the other students, once again feeling their anger wash over me, but this time, I also wondered which of them might be Reapers—and plotting against us. Vivian hadn’t been the only Reaper student at Mythos, and I had no idea how many other kids she had spying on me and my friends. Yeah, maybe I was being paranoid, but I didn’t want to talk about my trial out here in the open where just anyone could walk by and hear.
“Come on,” I told my friends. “Let’s get inside out of the cold, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
We ended up squeezing into my dorm room. Once again, Alexei had trailed me across campus. He stopped in the hallway outside my room and leaned against the wall as usual. His face was smooth, but his shoulders sagged just the slightest bit, and I could tell he was tired, just like I was.
I stood in the doorway. “Would you like to come inside?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
I nodded. I knew he was still smarting from the talking-to Linus had given him last night, and I couldn’t blame him for not wanting to get on the Protectorate leader’s bad side. Still, I felt I owed him something. The Bogatyr had fought alongside my friends in the library, and he’d helped us survive. He wasn’t a bad guy, just caught in an awkward situation. If things had been different, we might have even become friends.
“Well, if you change your mind, just open the door and come on in,” I said.
A smile flickered across Alexei’s face, but it quickly vanished. “I will be just fine out here.”
I nodded, went into my room, and closed the door behind me.
The others had already settled in. Daphne and Carson were sitting cross-legged on the floor, while Oliver slouched in my desk chair. Vic was hanging in his scabbard on the wall above Oliver’s head, and the sword’s eye snapped open as I walked across the room to him.
“Well, it’s about time you got back,” Vic said. “Do you know how bloody boring it is being stuck here wondering what’s going on? Why, I didn’t even have the fuzzball to keep me company this afternoon.”
My gaze went to Nyx’s empty basket, and a hollow ache filled my chest. “I miss her too,” I told the sword. “And I missed having you with me today.”
I gave Vic a pat on the head, which seemed to mollify him. Then, I went over and plopped down on the bed next to Logan.
“You know, this is the first time I’ve been in your room. I like it, although I didn’t think we’d have an audience when we were in here,” the Spartan whispered to me.
I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t help the smile that stretched across my face. Only Logan could crack a joke and make me feel better at a time like this.
“All right, Gwen,” Daphne said, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’ve kept us waiting long enough. Spill it.”
I told them everything that had happened in the academy prison, from the Protectorate’s questions to the Maat asp to Vivian claiming that she was really Nike’s Champion.
Oliver let out a low whistle when I was finished. “Vivian’s even more diabolical than I thought.”
“You’re telling me,” I said. “No wonder she was in the drama club. She really is a great actress. She was so convincing that even I might have believed her, if I didn’t know what really happened. And I couldn’t do a thing to stop her. Not then, anyway.”
“Uh-oh,” Daphne muttered. “I know
that
look. What are you up to, Gwen?”
that
look. What are you up to, Gwen?”
“What makes you think I’m up to something?”
The Valkyrie snorted. “You’re breathing, aren’t you?”
I glared at my friend.
Carson pushed his glasses up his nose. “Daphne has a point, Gwen. You do tend to . . . take matters into your own hands, especially when it comes to Reapers.”
I turned my glare to the band geek, who winced and ducked his head.
“Come on, Gypsy girl,” Logan said. “You might as well tell us what you’re thinking. We’re your friends. We’re here because we want to help you.”
“The boy’s right,” Vic chimed in. “Help you, kill Reapers, it’s really all the same.”
I looked at them—Daphne, Carson, Oliver, Vic, and finally Logan. When I’d first started going to Mythos back in the fall, I hadn’t had a single friend—not one. Now, I had them, and they’d stood by me again and again, even when all I did was put them in danger. But I could see the determination in their faces, and I knew they wouldn’t leave until I told them everything. Hot tears of love and gratitude pricked my eyes, and it took me a few seconds to blink them away.
“All right,” I said, letting out a breath. “So I may be thinking about finding out what Vivian and the Reapers are really up to, but there’s just one problem—I don’t know
how
to do it. Supposedly, the Protectorate has Vivian under guard somewhere, at least until they decide what to do with the two of us. So it’s not like I can go and question her—and she wouldn’t tell me the truth anyway. Even if I could find out where she is, the Reaper inside the Protectorate would stop me from getting to her.”
how
to do it. Supposedly, the Protectorate has Vivian under guard somewhere, at least until they decide what to do with the two of us. So it’s not like I can go and question her—and she wouldn’t tell me the truth anyway. Even if I could find out where she is, the Reaper inside the Protectorate would stop me from getting to her.”
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