Kiss of Frost

Metis gave me a sad smile. In that moment, I got the feeling she knew a lot more about self-sacrifice than I did.

'Before we go in, there's one thing that I need you to do,' I said. 'Don't keep any more secrets from me, okay?'

The professor raised her eyebrows. 'That works both ways, Gwen. Don't go chasing off after any more Reapers by yourself. Agreed?'

I sighed and nodded at her. 'Agreed.'

I jerked my head at the door and the two sphinxes who were staring at me once more, listening to every word we said. 'Now, can we get this over with before I lose my nerve?'

Metis unlocked the door with her skeleton key, and we stepped inside the prison. Preston sat chained to the table in the center of the dome, right under the carving of the hand holding the set of scales. Coach Ajax and Nickamedes flanked him just as before, and Raven sat at her desk, her combat boots propped up on top of it, flipping through another gossip magazine.

Once again, the Reaper looked up at the sound of my footsteps on the floor.

'Back for more, Gypsy?' Preston sneered and held out his hands to me, palms up. 'Go ahead. Use your magic on me. I'll be happy to watch you run crying from the room again.'

I kept my face cold and impassive, although my stomach twisted and vomit rose in my throat at his mocking words. I could do this. Iwoulddo this-for Nike, for my mom, and for me, too.

I sat down across from Preston and stared him straight in the eyes. That burn of red still flickered in his gaze, but this time, I knew there was fire in my eyes as well-cold, purple fire.

'Listen up, you arrogant punk,' I snapped. 'The only one who's going to be crying is you, when I dig through your memories and use them to round up all your little Reaper friends, including the girl who killed my mom. I'll be coming down here and doing that again and again, every single day if I have to, until I get every last one of them. Until I've seen every last evil thing you've ever done in your miserable life.'

The sneer slid off Preston's handsome face. His mouth tightened with worry, and for a moment, panic sparked in his gaze instead of hatred. Yeah, I'll admit that flash of fear made me happy. In my own way, I supposed I was just as dark and twisted as Preston was, except I was going to use that part of me to help other people, not hurt them like he and the other Reapers had.

'And you know what the worst part is, Preston? The very worst part?'

'What?' he asked, his voice cracking on that single word.

I leaned forward, keeping my gaze on his. 'There's absolutely nothing you can do to stop me.'

I don't know what Preston saw in my face then, what coldness might have filled my eyes, but whatever it was, it penetrated the Reaper's sullen demeanor. His mouth dropped open, and then, he started screaming.

'No,' he said, trying to twist away from me. 'No, no, no!'

I ignored his screams, grabbed his hands, and reached for his memories.

Chapter 28

'Are you sure you're going to be okay over the holidays?' Daphne asked.

It was the last day of the fall semester. Classes had ended a couple of hours ago, and now, I was in Daphne's room, lounging on her bed and watching her pack up her stuff to go home for the winter break. I didn't really know why my best friend was bothering to sort through her closet, since three-quarters of the stuff inside was pink, just like the rest of her room. She could just close her eyes, grab some sweaters and pants, and they would all match. But, of course, the Valkyrie wouldn't agree with me on that point.

'I'll be fine,' I said for the tenth time in as many minutes. 'Are you sure?' she persisted. 'You're not going to snap and go all Reaper, are you? Now that you're plowing through Preston's memories?'

I'd been going to the prison for a few days now, using my Gypsy gift to find out everything Preston knew about the Reapers, what they were up to, and where they were hiding. It hadn't been fun. Most of Preston's memories involved hurting other people-killing them and sacrificing them to Loki.

But try as I might, I hadn't been able to discover the most important secret of all: who Loki's Champion was. The Reaper who'd been in the back of the SUV with Preston the night they'd plowed into my mom's car, the one even he was afraid of. The girl who'd killed my mom. It seemed like they'd always met at night the few times that they'd been face-to-face, and in all of Preston's memories, she was always in the shadows with her face hidden. He didn't seem to know who she really was. The fact that I couldn't figure out her real identity was beyond frustrating. It was driving me crazy.

Professor Metis, Coach Ajax, and Nickamedes knew about the Reaper girl and what she'd done to my mom, but I hadn't exactly told them that I was peering into every corner of Preston's brain, trying to find out who she really was. I knew what they'd say-that tracking down Loki's Champion just so I could kill her the same way she'd murdered my mom was wrong and would make me no better than she was. Whatever. The Reaper girl had killed my mom, and she was going to pay for that. There was nothing else to talk about as far as I was concerned.

Daphne and Vic certainly agreed with me on this point. In fact, Vic had spent an hour enthusiastically describing all the various ways he could be used to torture the Reaper girl. I didn't know about allthat,but I'd be just fine with her dying-and me being the cause of it.

Still, despite the fact that I hadn't discovered the Reaper girl's identity yet, I felt like I was doing something good with my magic, that I was making a difference. Metis told me that members of the Pantheon had used some of the information I'd gotten from Preston to capture several Reapers, and were hot on the trail of even more. So I thought Nike would have approved of what I was doing- and my mom, too.

'I'll be fine,' I said. 'I won't be seeing Preston again until after the break. I'm going to go to Grandma Frost's house and just chill out over the holidays. Eat junk food, watch television, read my new stash of comic books. There will be absolutely no thinking about Preston, his horrible memories, Reapers, or anything else like that.'

'All right,' Daphne said, finally satisfied. 'But you call me every day.'

I rolled my eyes. 'Well, yeah. I want to know all about your Christmas-and what your parents think of Carson.'

Daphne and Carson were taking the major, major step of introducing each other to their parents. Daphne was going home with Carson for a few days before Christmas, then he was coming over to her house after New Year's. After that, Daphne was going to come spend a few days with me and Grandma Frost before classes started again at the academy.

The Valkyrie bit her lip, and pink sparks of magic flashed around her fingertips. 'I hope his parents like me.'

'I'm sure they will,' I said. 'What's not to like?'

Daphne narrowed her eyes, plucked one of her pillows off the bed, and threw it at me. 'Your sarcasm is noted.'

I grinned. 'And you love me for it.'

I helped Daphne carry her ridiculously stuffed, ridiculously heavy suitcases out of her room, down the steps, and outside Valhalla Hall. Kids streamed out of all of the dorms at this point, bags in one hand and cell phones in the other. Golf carts zipped over the cobblestone paths, hauling students up the hill, past the main quad, and over to the parking lot behind the gym, where a variety of private towncars waited to drive them home or to the airport.

Carson waited out front, along with Oliver and Logan. While Logan helped Carson and Daphne load her bags onto one of the golf carts, I drifted over to Oliver's side.

'I hope you have a good holiday,' I said. 'Going home to see your parents?'

The Spartan nodded. 'Yep. You going to your grandma's?'

I nodded.

Oliver grinned. 'Try not to fall for any Reaper guys while you're away, okay?'

I rolled my eyes. 'Just as long as you don't try to run down or shoot arrows at any Gypsy girls. Do we have a deal?'