Authors: Jennifer Estep

Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #Fantasy & Magic

Crimson Frost (20 page)

BOOK: Crimson Frost

4.38Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

ads

I grabbed the stand and pulled it out from underneath the shelf. Then, I sat on the floor and ran my hands all over the soft, now dusty surface.

Nothing—once again, I saw and felt nothing important. Just the Reaper lifting up the stand and grabbing the box and jewelry. Disgusted, I put the stand inside the case, then got back down on the floor and peered under the shelf again.

But there was nothing else there, except for a couple of forgotten pens and a wad of dust bunnies that made my nose itch. I sighed, but I still wasn’t ready to give up, so I slithered across the floor to the shelf on the other side of the aisle and looked under it as well. More pens and more dust bunnies, along with a shriveled up piece of gum. Yucko.

I’d just started to turn away when I noticed a small, white piece of paper lying on the floor back in the shadows.

My eyes narrowed, and I shoved my shoulder underneath the case and reached back as far as I could. It took me a few seconds, but I managed to snag the paper and pull it out into the light.

“What’s that?” Alexei said. “Did you find something?”

“Maybe,” I murmured, getting to my feet.

I flipped over the paper and realized that it was an ID card that had been inside the case. I’d thought I’d seen something white flutter to the floor when the Reaper had smashed the glass. The Reaper must have accidentally kicked it under the shelf or maybe I had when I’d chased after him. I waited a few seconds, but I didn’t get any big vibes off the card, so I looked at the information on it.

Apate’s Keepsake Jewels. In addition to their obvious beauty, each piece in Apate’s jewelry collection is rumored to be imbued with the goddess’s deceptive power. In fact, each individual gemstone in the pieces supposedly has a different magical property. For example, the emeralds are believed to have a hypnotizing effect, while the topaz can cause hallucinations. However, the rubies are thought to be the most powerful and have a variety of magic attached to them, everything from letting people deceive others to even overcoming a person’s mind and compelling him or her to act against his or her own free will . . .

So I’d been right about the box and how Vivian had used the ruby chips on it to fool the Maat asp. But the knowledge didn’t make me feel better—if anything, it only made my worry grow. Because the only jewelry Vivian had been wearing had been her Janus ring. So what had happened to the box and the rest of the jewelry? What were the Reapers planning to use the other gems for?

“What’s that?” Alexei asked again. “Have you found something?”

I hesitated. It was one thing to have the other warrior follow me around—it was another to trust him. Alexei seemed like an okay guy, and Oliver liked him. Then again, I’d liked Preston Ashton and look how well
that
had turned out.

Oh, I didn’t think Alexei was a Reaper. Vivian hadn’t looked to him for help during the trial, and I hadn’t gotten any strange vibes off him the past few days. Plus, he hadn’t acted like a Reaper would have. He hadn’t tried to cozy up to me and be my friend, in anticipation of stabbing me in the back later. But I’d been fooled before, and there was still a small chance that he was one of the bad guys. One way to find out.

“Give me your hand,” I said.

“What? Why?”

“If you want to know what I’m doing, give me your hand,” I repeated.

Alexei looked at me, suspicion in his hazel eyes. For a moment, I thought he wasn’t going to do it, that he really might be a Reaper after all, but he finally held out his hand.

I wrapped my fingers around his and closed my eyes. Images immediately filled my mind, flashing by one after another, like a home movie cranked up to high speed. I saw Alexei growing up over the years, in school, at home, even in the gym learning how to fight. I saw him battling Reapers, a sword in either hand, and I felt how smooth his movements were as he flowed from one attack position to the next. Fighting really just was a complicated dance to the Bogatyr, a series of steps to be mastered before striking that final, fatal blow. I even saw the spark at the very center of his being—a pale golden spark full of quiet pride and honor.

All the while I sorted through the memories, looking for any hint that he might be a Reaper. But I didn’t sense anything like that—just Alexei’s determination to become the best warrior he could be and to follow in his dad’s footsteps in the Protectorate. They were the same feelings that Logan had about those things.

Finally, an image of Oliver popped into my mind, and I felt what Alexei did whenever he looked at the Spartan—that warm, soft, fizzy feeling that seemed to make everything else worthwhile. That special emotion that made the golden spark of his soul brighten . . .

I opened my eyes and dropped his hand. He wasn’t a Reaper, but I had learned something new about the Russian warrior—just how much he cared about Oliver.

“What was that all about?” Alexei said, more suspicion filling his face. “Did you just use your magic on me?”

“Yes, and you passed,” I said. “Now look at this.”

I showed Alexei the card, then told him about the ruby chips I’d seen on Vivian’s ring. He read the information and frowned.

“But Vivian has been in Protectorate custody for weeks now,” he said, echoing my suspicions. “Before any of these things were stolen. There’s no way she could have been one of the Reapers who broke into the library. She’s been closely watched, and as far as I know, the only people she’s had any contact with are senior members of the Protectorate.”

“Who?” I asked. “Who exactly has Vivian been in contact with?”

Alexei shrugged. “All the members of the Protectorate who are here for your trial. Linus, Inari, Agrona, my father. Why do you ask?”

Because that means one of them is a Reaper
. The only way Vivian could have gotten her hands on the ruby chips was for the Reaper who had stolen the box to have given them to her. I could almost see the wheels turning in Alexei’s mind as he thought about everything, but I didn’t tell him my suspicions. I didn’t know if he would believe me, especially since his dad was one of the people who’d seen Vivian—one of the people who might be a Reaper.

I slid the card into my jeans pocket. I didn’t know that it was enough to prove Vivian’s guilt, but it was a start.

Energized by my discovery, I continued my search. I went over the case again, but I didn’t get any new vibes off it so I moved on to the bookcase, running my hands up and down the shelves and then over every single one of the books lined up on them. I didn’t get any big flashes off the shelves, just the sense of students grabbing the volumes off them. The same thing went for the books. They were just reference books, after all, and no one had any big emotional attachment to them, other than needing the info inside in order to finish their homework.

I was just about to stop looking, when my fingers brushed against a book directly above the artifact case, and an image of the Reaper’s gloved hand touching it filled my mind.

I froze, wondering if I’d only imagined the image, but I skimmed my fingers over the book, and the same memory popped into my head. I focused on the image, going deeper into the memory, and replaying it over and over again. There was nothing particularly sinister about the Reaper reaching for the book, but I felt there was something more to the image, something I was missing, so I stood there and kept concentrating, focusing on every little thing my magic could show me.

It took me a few seconds to realize that the Reaper had reached for the bookshelf first—before he’d even glanced at the artifact case.

I ran my fingers over the other books. The images, the memories, were the same. The Reaper standing here and going from book to book to book, the warrior’s gloved fingers skimming over each volume, trying to find the one he wanted.

I frowned. Why would the Reaper rifle through the books? Why not go for the box and jewelry first? Unless the gems weren’t the only things the Reaper had taken—and stealing them wasn’t nearly as important as finding the right book was.

I touched all the books again, one after another, concentrating on the images that much more and going even deeper into the memories. Once again, I saw the Reaper rifling through all the volumes until the warrior found the one he was looking for. The Reaper slid the book into a pocket in his robe, hiding it from sight. It was only then that he looked at the case and started smashing the glass to get at the artifacts inside . . .

I let go of the memories, opened my eyes, and scanned the books. Now that I knew one was missing, it was easy for me to see the slight gap on the shelf. I turned my head to the side and read the titles of the other ones, hoping they would give me some clue as to what book the Reaper had taken and why.

Merging Bodies, Merging Minds. Soul Swap. Notable Transformations.

Notable Transformations
. . . My gaze snagged on that title, and I found myself staring at the silver foil letters as if they meant something more.
Transformations . . .
That word kept echoing through my mind. I’d heard someone say something about a transformation not too long ago—

A memory erupted out of the dark of my mind, one from the night Loki had escaped.

Quickly . . . Get him on the roc before they blow the horn again. He’s still weak, and we can’t let them capture him. Not now. Not before he’s ready for the transformation.

A Reaper had said that when Vivian and the others had been loading Loki onto the Black roc so she could escape with the evil god. I’d wondered then what the Reaper had been talking about. I still didn’t know, but I was determined to find out.

Because I had a feeling that my life—and my friends’ lives—depended on it.

Chapter 21

I dropped my hand from the books, then headed out of the stacks and toward the center of the library.

“Now what are you doing?” Alexei asked, an exasperated note creeping into his voice.

“Research.”

I went around the checkout counter, entered my password into one of the library computers, and started searching through the catalog. Thanks to Nickamedes and his obsessive need to organize and label every single thing in the library, I was able to pull up a file of all the books that were supposed to be on the shelf above the ruined artifact case.

“No, no, no,” I said, clicking the mouse and scrolling through the list. “No, no, no, there!”

Morgan McDougall and the other kids at the study tables were staring at me, since, you know, I was muttering to myself, but I didn’t care because I finally saw a title that wasn’t on the shelf with the others.
Great Transformations Through the Ages and How They Were Achieved
.

Okay, that was certainly a long and pretentious enough title, but it didn’t really tell me anything—like what the book was actually
about
. I clicked a few more times, pulling up additional info about the book, but all that had been entered into the catalog was the call number and a few other minor details and key words.

Behind me, Alexei sighed and leaned back against the glass office complex. From the looks he was giving me, I knew he’d thought that I’d gone off the deep end, but I ignored him and continued my search. I was on to something. I could feel it in my bones.

I kept clicking, but I couldn’t find any more information about the book. So I went to a different screen to see if there was another copy of it in the library. So many kids used some of the reference books that Nickamedes had multiple copies of many of the titles. But of course there wasn’t another copy of
Great Transformations
, because that would have just been too freaking
easy
.

I fumed for a few seconds before pushing aside my frustration and getting back to work. I kept looking and clicking through the files. Apparently, the book was one of a kind, because not only couldn’t I find another copy in the Library of Antiquities, I couldn’t find another copy
anywhere
. Not in any of the libraries at the other Mythos academies in the United States and not in any of the ones located overseas either.

I’d thought there was nothing else I could do when I noticed a tab that said
Related Books
. I clicked on that. Once again, there wasn’t much there to help me. Still, I clicked, scanned, and scrolled through all the pages on the off chance I’d find something.

And I finally did—
Great Transformations Through the Ages and How They Were Achieved: Volume II
.

That was the title of one of the
Related Books
, one that sounded like a newer, updated version of the book I was searching for. I clicked on that link, hoping the library might have a copy. No luck. There wasn’t a copy in the Library of Antiquities, but I kept searching—and finally found one at the Crius Coliseum.

Excitement bubbled up in my chest. I logged off the computer, looked at the clock on the wall—and my heart sank. Just after one o’clock. The buses that went from Cypress Mountain down into the city only ran half a day on Saturdays in the winter, which meant I’d already missed the last bus. So how was I going to get from the academy, down the mountain, and over to the coliseum?

Well, I could walk, but it would take
forever
—and I just didn’t have that kind of time. Not to stop whatever Vivian and the Reapers had already put into motion. No, I needed a car. If Oliver had been here, I would have just asked him to take me in his SUV, but he was at the concert hall with Logan and the rest of my friends. I could call my Grandma Frost to come pick me up, but she was probably busy with her fortune-telling clients. Plus, I didn’t know how long it would take for her to come get me, and I needed to get to the coliseum as soon as possible.

But those were my only options. It wasn’t like I could just ask some random kid in the library to drop what he was doing and give me a ride. He’d laugh in my face—or worse, pull his weapon on me. Still, I was desperate enough to consider it, and I gazed at first one student, then another, trying to find someone who might be slightly sympathetic—or at least not outright hate me.

I noticed a green spark of magic out of the corner of my eye, and I looked to the left. A few more sparks shot up into the air as Morgan McDougall turned the page in the book she was reading. Morgan wasn’t my enemy, but she wasn’t quite my friend either. Still, she had helped me in the past, and she’d stuck up for me in gym class yesterday.

I hopped off my stool, went around the checkout counter, and walked over to Morgan. The Valkyrie looked up from her book.

“Do you have a car?” I asked. “Please, please,
please
, tell me you have a car.”

“Of course, I have a car.” Morgan’s hazel eyes narrowed in suspicion, but I could hear the interest in her voice. She wanted to know what I was up to. “Why do you ask?”

I grinned at her. “How would you like to go on a little field trip?”

“No,” Alexei said. “Absolutely not. Are you out of your mind?”

“Were you not listening during my trial?” I said. “Because if you were, you would know that the answer to that question is almost always
yes
.”

Alexei and I were standing by the main academy gate just below the two sphinxes perched on the wall. After I’d told Morgan what I wanted and she agreed to help me, I’d raced out of the library, gone back to my room, and grabbed a few things I thought I might need—like Vic. I’d told the sword what I’d discovered in the library, and his purplish eye had brightened.

“Excellent!” Vic had said. “Now that you’re on the trail of the Reaper girl, let’s get on with the business of finally killing her.”

“You got it.”

After I’d grabbed my things, I’d jogged down to the main gate to wait for Morgan to get her car from the lot where she parked it over in Cypress Mountain.

The only problem was that Alexei had come with me.

He’d followed me from my dorm room all the way down to the gate. Now, he was standing in front of me, a grim expression on his face.

“You can’t leave campus, Gwen,” he said. “The Protectorate gave me strict instructions. I’m supposed to make sure that you stay at the academy—no matter what.”

“You can try,” I said in a quiet voice. “I don’t want to fight you, Alexei, but I will if I have to.”

He scoffed at that. “Do you really think you can beat me, Gwen? I’ve been training for years. And not just regular warrior training—Protectorate training. The most physical, intense combat training a warrior can go through. I’ve seen you fight in the gym. You’re not bad, but you’re not as good as me. We both know it.”

I did know that, but that still didn’t stop me from putting down my bag, drawing Vic out of his scabbard, and holding the sword up in an attack position. Alexei’s gaze dropped to his backpack, which was on the ground at his feet. The hilts of two swords stuck out of the top like usual, but he didn’t reach for the weapons—yet.

“I know you’re better than me,” I said. “Stronger, tougher, more experienced as a warrior, but I’ll still try my best. Because this is about stopping Vivian, about stopping the Reapers and whatever they have planned. This is about saving people, Alexei. That’s what warriors are supposed to do—that’s what
we’re
supposed to do.”

Alexei eyed my sword, and Vic glared right back at him.

“Get out of our way, Bogatyr,” Vic snapped. “Gwen is Nike’s rightful Champion, and you know it. If she says this is important, then it’s important. You should be helping her—not standing there like a fool worrying about the bloody
rules
.”

Trust Vic to make following the rules sound like the lamest thing ever. Still, the sword had a point. Well, another one besides the actual sharp tip at the end of his blade. Sometimes at Mythos, you had to bend the rules to protect the people you cared about. I just hoped I could convince Alexei of that.

“Please, Alexei,” I said. “This is important. I know it is. Vivian and the rest of the Reapers have something planned—something bad. But I can stop them. I just have to figure out what’s inside that book the Reaper stole. Why the Reaper took that first, even before snatching the jewels. As soon as I know that, I’ll call Metis, and you can call Sergei. I’ll surrender peacefully then. After that, well, I’m sure Linus will throw me into the academy prison—probably for good—and you’ll never have to see me again. At least, not until my execution.”

I smiled at my bad joke, but Alexei just looked at me. He stared at me a long, long time. Finally, his gaze went back to Vic, and I tightened my fingers around the sword. If Alexei came at me, I’d only have one chance. Despite what I’d said earlier, I wasn’t going to fight him. He was right. I wouldn’t win. Instead, I’d shove past him and then hope I could run fast enough to get through the gate and that Morgan brought her car around before he caught up with me.

I wasn’t too optimistic about my chances, though. I’d seen Alexei fight in the gym and then against the Reapers in the library, so I knew exactly how quick and deadly he was. Still, I had to try.

Just when I thought he was going to attack me after all, the Bogatyr sighed. “Very well. We’ll go to the coliseum and see if we can find the book. But if we can’t or it turns out to be a dead end, we are coming straight back here. Understand?”

I nodded. “Thank you, Alexei.”

He grunted, but he didn’t say anything else.

“Let’s go,” I said, sliding Vic back into his scabbard. “Because I don’t think we have any time to waste.”

BOOK: Crimson Frost

4.38Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

Read Book Download Book

ads