Kiss of Frost

kickass. He talks about you all the time. The boy is totally obsessed with you, Gwen.'

'So why is he with Savannah instead of me?' The jagged edges of my heart scraped together in my chest as I asked the question, but I wanted to know why-Ineededto know why.

'Logan has a problem with letting girls get close to him. I mean, really, really close to him and not just for-' Oliver bit off his words.

'Sex?' I asked in a wry tone.

He blushed a little. 'Yeah, sex. I think you scare Logan, because he already cares so much about you. If he let you get closer to him, he'd be a total goner.'

I didn't ask Oliver why Logan wouldn't let a girl get close to him. I knew the answer had something to do with that horrible memory I'd seen-the one of a young Logan standing over the dead, bloody bodies of his mother and sister.

'So… are we cool?' Oliver said, interrupting my thoughts.

'About you scaring the shit out of me?'

He gulped and nodded.

I grinned. 'Yeah, we're cool.'

Oliver hesitated. 'And about Kenzie and how I feel about him-'

This time, I cut him off. 'It's your secret. You keep it as long as you need to, and I'll do the same. But if you ever need somebody to talk to, I'm here. I'm pretty good at listening.' My grin widened. 'Since, you know, I'm all kickass and stuff.'

Oliver snorted and rolled his eyes, like he wished he'd never told me that. Yeah, I wastotallygoing to get some mileage out of Logan's comment. After a moment, Oliver stretched out his closed fist toward me.

'Friends?' he asked in a quiet voice.

It occurred to me then that something unexpected and good had come out of this whole mess. I wouldn't want to face down another Reaper anytime soon. Okay, okay, I wouldn't want to battle another Reaperever,but this time, I thought the battle had been worth the reward.

I leaned forward and bumped my fist against Oliver's. 'Definitely friends.'

Chapter 24

Oliver and I left the infirmary and went out to face the others. Professor Metis, Coach Ajax, and Nickamedes wanted to question both of us, along with Logan, about what had happened in the construction site, so we all trooped into an office next to the infirmary. The grilling went on for about an hour. I told the whole story three times, from beginning to end, with a few small changes. Namely, that Preston had confessed to trying to run me over and shooting the arrow at me in the Library of Antiquities.

Under the table, out of sight of the profs, Oliver held out his fist to me again. I bumped it with mine once more, letting him know we were good. Logan stared at us, wondering what we were doing, but neither one of us looked at him. I'd promised Oliver I'd keep his secret, and I planned to make good on my vow. And I was okay with blaming Preston for everything, since, you know, the Reaper had tried to kill all three of us.

Finally, the professors wound down with their questions, and I asked the one-the only one-that I thought really mattered.

'What's going to happen to Preston?' I asked. After Ajax had taken Oliver to the infirmary, the coach had come back down to the construction site and helped Nickamedes slap a set of magically reinforced handcuffs on Preston, who'd been cursing all the while. I'd watched the two profs haul away the Reaper. I didn't know where they'd taken Preston, and I didn't really care. All I wanted was to make sure he'd never see the light of day again-or get a chance to make good on his horrible threat. 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 cold, sneering voice rang in my head.

I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. That wasn't going to happen, I vowed. Nobody was hurting my Grandma Frost. No matter what I had to do to stop it. 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 freakingacademy?'

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.