Metis, Ajax, and Nickamedes exchanged a look.
“He’ll be locked up at Mythos until we can question him,” Metis said. “We want to find out as much as we can about the other Reapers he’s been working with and what their plans are.”
My mouth dropped open. “There’s a prison? At the freaking academy?”
Nickamedes winced. “Please, Gwendolyn. Keep the shrieking to a minimum. Of course, there’s a prison on the academy grounds. This isn’t the first time that Reapers, Fenrir wolves, and the like have tried to kill students. We have to have some place to put them until they can be shipped elsewhere to a more permanent facility.”
Not too long ago, Jasmine’s death had clued me in to the fact that there was a morgue at the academy to store student bodies, just in case kids got killed by Reapers. Now, I’d learned there was also a prison hidden somewhere amid the gray stone buildings, manicured lawns, and lifelike statues. I wondered what other nasty little secrets there were at Mythos. A cemetery? A crematorium? Or something even worse?
Eventually, the professors ran out of questions and sent Logan, Oliver, and me off to our rooms to get cleaned up. We’d just entered the hotel lobby when the front doors opened, and Daphne and Carson stepped inside. They were laughing, their cheeks flushed from the cold. Daphne spotted me and dragged Carson over to the three of us.
“Gwen! You won’t believe what an awesome time we had today. It’s too bad you were locked up here in the hotel... .”
The Valkyrie’s voice trailed off, and her eyes widened as she took in my ripped, bloody clothes; dirty face; and rumpled, flyaway hair. Her gaze flicked to Oliver and Logan, who were just as filthy as I was.
“What happened to you?” She jerked her head at Oliver and Logan. “And them?”
“It’s a long story,” I said, linking my arm through hers. “But you didn’t really think I was just going to sit around the hotel all day long and do nothing, did you?”
After I showered and changed into some clean clothes, I filled Daphne and Carson in on everything that had happened while they’d been off skiing.
“Great,” the Valkyrie muttered, her black gaze accusing. “You go off chasing Reapers and forget to invite us. What kind of best friend are you, Gwen?”
I tried to convince Daphne that facing down Preston in the dark had been anything but fun, but she wouldn’t believe me. And she thought I was a freak sometimes. Please.
I also called my Grandma Frost. Professor Metis had ordered me to, but I would have done it anyway, just to hear my grandma’s voice. Just so I could make sure she was okay and that Preston or one of his Reaper friends hadn’t found a way to hurt her like Preston had promised me he would. I didn’t know what I would do if I lost my Grandma the way I had my mom.
This time, I couldn’t convince Grandma Frost not to come to the resort. She showed up at Powder late that afternoon and drove me back across the mountains to her house in Asheville. Metis said that I could spend the night there in my old room before going back to the academy in the morning. Despite the fact that I’d almost died, the Powers That Were at Mythos still expected me to get up bright and early Monday morning for weapons training, classes, and homework. Life was so not fair sometimes.
Grandma fussed over me the rest of the evening, and I let her. It was nice to be taken care of after everything that had happened. Grandma Frost cooked one of my favorite meals for dinner: thick, juicy, mesquite steaks; mashed potatoes with loads of cheese and sour cream; honey-coated carrots; and rich, chewy, sourdough rolls slathered with cinnamon butter. She even made my favorite pineapple-lime cheesecake for dessert. By the time we got done with the tropical treat, there was only a sliver left in the pan.
Grandma Frost came into my room late that night and sat on the edge of the bed. Concern filled her violet eyes, and her face seemed to have a few more wrinkles grooved into it than I remembered her having the last time I saw her.
“How are you holding up, pumpkin?” she asked.
“Okay, I guess,” I said. “Just trying to process everything, you know?”
On the ride home, I’d told Grandma everything that had happened—from picking up Oliver’s notebook to the Spartan trying to scare me with his car and the arrow to the avalanche and everything that had gone down with Preston in the construction site.
“What do you think happened to the Fenrir wolf?” I asked. “Do you think it’s okay?”
The profs might have rounded up Preston, but they hadn’t been able to find the wolf anywhere. Oliver had said the wolf had rammed open the door and bolted through it as soon as Preston had gone after me and Logan. The professors had lost the creature’s trail in the snowy woods outside the resort. Maybe it was silly, but part of me hoped the professors didn’t find it, that the wolf had gone deep into the mountains where it could finally be free of the Reapers.
“I’m sure it will be fine,” Grandma said, trying to reassure me. “It’s a wild animal, one that was never meant to be tortured or twisted by the Reapers. I’m sure it will be much happier in the forest than it ever has been before. There are other wolves that roam the mountains, and it might find a pack of them to join. Who knows? You might just see it again someday.”
Her eyes took on an empty, glassy look for a second, and I wondered if she was seeing the wolf, if she was getting a glimpse of its future—or maybe even mine, too. But then the moment passed, and her eyes cleared once more.
I hesitated. “And what about my Gypsy gift? And what I can do with it now? Why do you think I have this new power?”
“You’re seventeen, Gwen,” Grandma Frost said. “You’re not quite full grown yet, and neither is your magic. It’s evolving and changing, just like you are. It will only continue to get stronger, just like you will. When I was your age, I was lucky if I could tell what time it was, much less see the future. But my magic got more and more powerful over the years, just like your mom’s did—and just like yours will, too.”
She drew in a breath. “And your psychometry isn’t the end of your powers—it’s just the beginning. You have what the old timers call touch magic. It’s very rare and powerful. You always say that you touch stuff and see things, and that’s true. But touch magic works both ways.”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
“It means that when you touch something, the object influences you—you see the memories and emotions attached to it. But the flip side of that is you should be able to influence the object or person you’re touching as well. You should be able to feed that person your memories and emotions—and maybe more. At least, that’s the theory. There’s no telling what you’ll be able to do with it someday. All you have to remember is to use your Gypsy gift wisely—help others, and yourself if you need it, and you’ll be fine.”
Somehow Grandma always knew just what to say to keep me from feeling like a freak, although I made a mental note to look up touch magic the next time I was in the Library of Antiquities. If there was more to my psychometry than just flashing on objects and people or using those memories, then I wanted to know what it was, so I could learn how to do it to protect myself—and Grandma Frost, too.
She reached out and clasped my hand, rubbing it in her spotted, wrinkled one, and I felt the warmth of her love wash over me, driving away everything that was cold, dark, and scary. At least for tonight.
“I just want to let you know how proud I am of you, pumpkin—and how proud your mom would be, too.”
“Why?” I asked. “All I really did was almost get myself killed, along with Oliver and Logan.”
My heart pounded again at the memory of Preston’s burning red eyes and the evil sneer that had twisted his face. We’d all come so close to dying—so close. No matter what the others said, I knew it was my fault. Yeah, we’d all come through it okay, but that didn’t ease my guilt about putting Oliver and Logan in danger and the horrible wounds they’d suffered because of me.
Grandma shook her head. “You stood by Oliver when it really co
unted and Logan, too. You figured out how to use your magic to save yourself and your friends. That makes you strong and smart, Gwen, and I couldn’t be prouder of you. Now, get some rest. You’ve had a long day. We’ll talk more in the morning before you go back to the academy.”
She drew the quilt up to my neck, kissed my cheek, and left the room, shutting the door behind her.
You’d better finish me now, Gypsy. Or I’ll get free one day, and I’ll go kill that doddering old grandmother you love so much.
Preston’s words rippled through my head again, a black echo that wouldn’t fade away. I shivered and turned off the light by the bed, trying to put the Reaper’s awful promise out of my mind. Preston was locked up where he couldn’t hurt me anymore, and he was never, ever getting out.
I told myself that over and over again, but it was still a long, long time before I went to sleep.
Chapter 25
Life went back to normal. Well, as normal as it could be, given the fact that I went to Mythos Academy. I went to class, snuck off campus to see Grandma Frost, and worked my shifts at the Library of Antiquities, just like usual.
One thing that was different was weapons training. It was a lot more fun these days. Oliver and I had become real friends, and even Kenzie was starting to warm up to me, despite the fact that I’d ruined his breakfast with Talia. Kenzie and Talia were now officially dating and extremely hot and heavy. Sometimes Kenzie would sneak out of weapons training early to go meet the Amazon for breakfast. The Spartan never noticed the sad, longing looks Oliver gave him. I wished things could have been different for Oliver, and I hoped he found someone to take his mind off Kenzie. I knew how much unrequited love sucked, and I didn’t want my new friend to feel the same hopelessness that I did.
I was doing better during training, too. Now I could make it a whole minute before Logan mock killed me with his sword, and I could hit the edge of the target with my arrows every single time. I tried not to use my memories of Logan and Daphne during training, though. I wanted to know how to defend myself for real and not have to rely on my Gypsy gift and someone else’s skills and memories to get me through another battle with a Reaper. It was slow going, but I felt like I was finally starting to learn how to be a real warrior.
And then, of course, there was Logan.
We hadn’t really talked since we’d kissed in the construction site. Sure, we did weapons training together and joked around, but neither one of us had mentioned the kiss—the one that had made me feel so many wonderful things. I wasn’t sure how to bring it up or even what to say. So I kept my mouth shut, and Logan did the same.
Every once in a while, though, I’d catch him staring at me, a worried look in his blue eyes. I knew Logan wanted to ask me what I’d seen when I’d kissed him, but I wasn’t sure what I should tell him. I saw you crying over two dead bodies didn’t exactly make for great romantic talk.
The days slipped by, until there were just a few more before the academy let out for the long holiday break. All the Mythos kids were going home to spend Christmas and New Year’s with their families, and I was looking forward to having a simple holiday with Grandma Frost and Vic. I’d even bought the sword a little red Santa hat to wear, although I expected him to put up a fuss about it.
“Bloody holidays,” Vic muttered to me one night in my dorm room. “We should be out fighting Reapers instead of thinking about stuffing ourselves with ham and pie.”
I, for one, was looking forward to Grandma Frost’s cooking, as well as a little peace and quiet, but I couldn’t tell him that. If anything, Vic had become even more bloodthirsty since the fight with Preston. Apparently, I’d done so well during the battle that Vic now had some far-fetched hope that I’d turn out to be “a right proper brawler after all.”
I just rolled my eyes, turned up the television a little louder in my dorm room, and let the sword rant.
Two days later, the final bell rang, signaling the end of myth-history, my last class of the day. I stuffed my books into my messenger bag and started to file out of the room with the other kids, but Professor Metis stepped in front of me and gestured for me to stay behind.
“I need you to come with me, Gwen,” Metis said. “Right now, please.”
Icy dread filled my stomach at her serious tone and the grim look on her face. “What’s wrong? Did something happen to my grandma?”
She shook her head. “No, your grandma’s fine, but I need your help with something else.”
Mystified and still a little worried, I followed Metis out of the building. We stepped out onto the upper quad. Snow flurries had been flying through the air all day, and now, the fat flakes drifted down, dusting the ground like powdered sugar. Despite the cold, students still hung out on the quad, clustered together in tight groups, texting on their cell phones as best they could with their gloved fingers.
I thought we might be going to the Library of Antiquities to speak to Nickamedes about something or maybe even to the gym to talk to Coach Ajax, but instead, Metis cut across the quad. I followed her, and the two of us headed over to the math-science building. Like all the other structures at Mythos, the building was covered with statues of gryphons, gargoyles, and other mythological creatures, looking hard and sinister underneath their thickening coats of snow. As always, the creatures’ eyes seemed to follow my every move, as though they were just waiting to shake off the snow, break free of their stony shells, and attack me. I shivered; pulled my gaze away from a pair of snarling, fanged gargoyles mounted on either side of the stone steps; and hurried after the professor.
Metis led me inside the building. Instead of going into one of the classrooms or up to a lab on another floor, I followed the professor down several flights of stairs. Down, down, down we went until it seemed like we were going into the belly of the academy. Every once in a while, when we came to a door, Metis would stop and either punch in a code on an electronic keypad or mumble a few words in a language I didn’t understand.
I didn’t know how far underground we were, but we’d passed the last classroom three floors ago. There were just as many lights on down here as in the rest of the building, but for some reason, the shadows seemed darker, longer, and deeper, like blood slowly oozing across the floor. Maybe it was silly of me, but I took care not to step in the shadows, just in case there was something hiding in them that I couldn’t see.
Finally, on the bottom floor, Metis walked down a long hallway and stopped outside a strange door. Unlike the other metal ones we’d passed, this door was made out of the same dark gray stone as the rest of the building. Iron bars thicker than my wrist crisscrossed in a tictac-toe pattern over the stone, and two giant sphinxes had been carved into the surface. The creatures stared at each other, just like the pair above the main academy gate, and I got the sense that this was definitely a door designed to keep something in.
The professor stared at the door a moment, as if the sphinxes might turn their heads and reveal some secret to her. But the statues remained fixed where they were, so she looked at me.
“I guess I should tell you where we are,” Metis said.
“The Mythos Academy prison, right?” I asked. “I saw the sign for the morgue on the floor above this one, so I’m guessing this is the prison that Nickamedes was talking about at the ski resort.”
Metis tried to smile, but her lips twisted into more of a grimace. “Correct. This is where we keep Reapers, Nemean prowlers, and other threats to students before they’re shipped off to a more permanent facility.”
I stared at the reinforced door and the staring pair of sphinxes. My stomach twisted. Somehow, I knew exactly why Metis had brought me down here today. “Preston Ashton’s still here, isn’t he?”
Metis nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. We’ve been questioning him ever since we brought him back from the resort, but Preston has been ... less than forthcoming about what the Reapers are up to. I was hoping you might be able to help us, Gwen.” She hesitated. “I was hoping you’d be willing to use y
our psychometry on him.”
I heard what she said, but for a second, her words didn’t actually register. Then they sank in, and my stomach twisted even more. My knees felt like they were going to go out from under me, and I staggered back a few steps. I started to put my hand against the wall to steady myself, but thought better of it. I had no idea what kind of memories I’d see down here, but I doubted they’d be happy ones.
“You want me to—to touch him?” I whispered.
Metis nodded again. “We’ve tried everything we can think of, but Preston won’t talk to us, and so far, he’s been resistant to all the magic we’ve thrown at him. With you, he doesn’t have to talk. You can see his memories whether he wants you to or not.”
“So what? You want me to dig around in his brain and see what I can come up with?” I asked. “What if there isn’t anything to find? What if he doesn’t know anything about what the Reapers are planning? Yeah, Preston’s one of them, but he mainly wanted to kill me because he was Jasmine’s brother, and he thinks I murdered his sister.”
Metis’s face hardened until her features looked as cold and remote as those of the sphinxes on the door in front of us. “Then at least we’ll know that, and we can put him in a real prison where he belongs. But if the Reapers are planning something, like we think they are, then we’re all at risk. And this is a chance to strike back against them—the first good chance we’ve had in a long time. Please, Gwen, I know I’m asking a lot, but we’ve run out of options here.”
I knew Metis wouldn’t ask me to do this if there was any way to avoid it. She’d promised my mom she’d look out for me. More than that, she was just too good a person to ask me to do something like this unless it really was a last resort. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t say no. Not if there was a chance of stopping the Reapers and saving other people, no matter how slim it was. My mom would have done the same thing if she was here, if she’d had the kind of magic that I did.
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