Crimson Frost (21 page)
Chapter 22
A beep sounded, and a red Aston Martin stopped on the street outside the gate. Morgan rolled down her window and waved her hand at us.
Alexei stepped over to the gate and slipped through the iron bars, but I paused and looked up at the sphinxes. They were still staring down at their feet and refusing to look at me, but the sphinxes’ faces were furrowed, and I sensed the same sort of tension and wary watchfulness in them that I had the gryphons at the library. They knew something was up, just like I did. I only hoped I could figure out what was going on in time to stop it—and Vivian—for good.
“Come on, Gwen!” Morgan yelled. “This was your bright idea, so let’s go!”
I slipped through a gap in the bars, jogged across the street, and slid into the passenger’s seat. Alexei had already gotten into the back. As soon as I closed the door, Morgan hit the gas, zooming away from the curb much faster than was safe and throwing me back against the seat.
“This is your car?” I asked.
“What?” she said, an edge in her voice. “Girls can’t have kick-ass sports cars?”
“Of course girls can have kick-ass sports cars,” I said. “I just didn’t think you would.”
“What kind of car did you think I would have?”
“I don’t know,” I muttered, buckling my seat belt and gripping the door handle. “Something . . . slower.”
Morgan just laughed.
Despite the Valkyrie’s need for speed, we made it to the Crius Coliseum in one piece. While Morgan parked her car, Alexei and I headed inside the museum.
An enormous, circular room served as the center of the coliseum, with hallways and exhibit areas branching off the main space. Towering pillars made out of white marble gave the museum its grand, ancient, coliseum-like feel, while bits of gold, silver, and bronze glinted on the walls before spreading up to cover the ceiling. Jewelry, pottery, clothing, weapons, and armor filled the exhibit area, all protected and preserved by artifact cases similar to those in the Library of Antiquities. Visitors strolled through the coliseum, peering at the artifacts and browsing through the expensive replicas that were for sale in the gift shop, while the museum staff, all dressed in long, white togas, helped folks with whatever they needed.
Everything was perfectly normal, but the more I looked around, the more the coliseum and everything in it began to change. The faint shadows darkened, until they resembled thin, bony fingers crawling along the floor and walls. Screams echoed in my head, and the coppery stench of blood made me gag. Suddenly, Reapers swarmed over everything, their swords flashing a sinister silver as they arced up and then rammed into the backs of the panicked students who were trying to get away from them—
“Gwen? Is something wrong?” Alexei asked.
I shook my head, and the phantom sights, sounds, and smells disappeared back into the bottom of my mind with the rest of the horrible memories I’d rather forget. “Just remembering the last time I was here.”
“During the Reaper attack?”
I nodded.
Alexei didn’t say anything else, but he gave me a sympathetic look. He knew all the awful things that had happened here as well as I did—and all the awful things my friends and I had done just to survive that day.
“Come on,” I said, my voice harsh and raw with emotion. “We need to find out where the book is.”
The
Great Transformations
book wasn’t listed in any of the exhibit brochures, so we asked one of the staff members, and he told us to look in the library at the very back of the coliseum. Morgan caught up with Alexei and me, and the three of us headed in that direction. Since it was Saturday, the coliseum was crowded, with people going from room to room and case to case, looking at all the treasures of the mythological world.
Great Transformations
book wasn’t listed in any of the exhibit brochures, so we asked one of the staff members, and he told us to look in the library at the very back of the coliseum. Morgan caught up with Alexei and me, and the three of us headed in that direction. Since it was Saturday, the coliseum was crowded, with people going from room to room and case to case, looking at all the treasures of the mythological world.
Everyone seemed to be completely focused on what they were doing, but a shiver swept through me all the same. I felt that if I could only turn my head quickly enough, I’d realize everyone was staring at me, even though no one paid any real attention to me. I eased my hand inside my messenger bag and curled my fingers around Vic’s hilt. The feel of the smooth metal against my palm only made me that much more tense, as if I might have to draw the sword and start fighting at any second.
“What’s wrong?” Morgan asked, noticing me clutching the sword.
I made myself pull my hand away from Vic. “I’m not sure. I just have a bad feeling about this. Something’s not right. Let’s find the book, see what it says, and get out of here.”
We finally reached the library and stepped inside. It was much, much smaller than the Library of Antiquities, but it was still impressive. The library was made out of the same white marble as the rest of the coliseum, and the roof was one large skylight, making the entire room bright, sunny, and warm even in the middle of winter. Floor-to-ceiling shelves took up two of the walls, while a third was filled with old, yellowed maps that chronicled great mythological battles and campaigns throughout the centuries. Normally, I would have lingered in here, going from shelf to shelf and map to map until I’d seen everything, but there wasn’t time.
I put my messenger bag down on one of the tables, then looked at the slip of paper the staff member had given me. “According to this, the book is in section G.”
It took us a few minutes to find the appropriate shelf and a few more still to find the actual book, but there it was, sitting on the shelf right where it was supposed to be:
Great Transformations Through the Ages and How They Were Achieved: Volume II
.
Great Transformations Through the Ages and How They Were Achieved: Volume II
.
Instead of immediately reaching for the book, I frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Alexei said in an impatient tone. He’d put his backpack down too and was leaning against the table.
“This feels way too easy,” I said.
Morgan snorted. “You think all that research you did in the Library of Antiquities, sneaking off campus, and asking me to drive you down here was
easy
? I think you need a new definition of the word, Gwen.”
easy
? I think you need a new definition of the word, Gwen.”
I ignored her. Alexei, Morgan, and I were the only ones in this part of the coliseum, and the conversation and chatter from the other visitors had long since faded away. I didn’t hear so much as a whisper of movement, but I still glanced back toward the door, half-expecting to see a group of Reapers rush inside, swords out, ready to skewer us.
I waited and waited—but nothing happened. Finally, I turned back to the shelf, staring at the book and the words on the spine—
Great Transformations Through the Ages and How They Were Achieved: Volume II
.
Great Transformations Through the Ages and How They Were Achieved: Volume II
.
Morgan snorted again and grabbed the book off the shelf, causing green sparks of magic to shoot out of her fingertips. I sucked in a breath, but once again nothing happened.
“See?” she said. “It’s just a book. You are being totally paranoid. Now, can we please get on with this?”
“I agree with the Valkyrie,” Alexei said. “Everything seems normal here. So use your magic on the book, and let’s leave.”
“Fine,” I muttered. “But if things go bad, and I start screaming my head off, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Alexei and Morgan glanced at each other before she held the book out to me. I drew in a breath, took it from her, and waited for the images and feelings to enter my mind so I could learn all the secrets the book might contain.
The memories flooded my brain, and I got flashes of all the people who’d looked at, touched, and read the book over the years. Nothing unusual there. Disappointment filled me, and for a moment I thought that those would be the only images attached to the book—but I was wrong.
Snatches of conversations and whispered words tumbled through my mind, one after another.
“A difficult thing, transferring a soul to another body . . .”
“Have to make sure the host subject is exceptionally strong . . .”
“Once the soul is transferred, it will overpower the other until there’s nothing left of the original subject or soul . . .”
The voices were all cold, clinical, and detached, as though they were talking about experimenting on lab rats instead of human beings. I shuddered at the words and their horrible implications, but I tightened my grip on the book and went even deeper into the memories, searching for anything that would tell me what was so important about this book that the Reapers would risk breaking into the Library of Antiquities to steal the original volume of it—
Vivian’s face popped into my mind.
I immediately grabbed on to the image, bringing it into sharper focus and letting myself fall into the memory.
Vivian stood in the coliseum library. She looked around, her golden gaze going from one corner of the room to another, as though she was expecting trouble. The library lights were dim, and stars shimmered through the glass roof, instead of sunshine. The Reaper girl must have broken into the coliseum at night.
Finally, when she was sure no one was coming to investigate, Vivian turned her head, and I realized there was someone else in the library—someone wearing a black robe. The hood was up, and the person had his back to Vivian so I couldn’t see who it was. Somehow, though, I knew it was the Reaper I’d chased in the library, even though all I could make out was a pair of black gloved hands clutching a book—the same
Great Transformations
book I was holding right now.
Great Transformations
book I was holding right now.
“It’s no good,” the Reaper said, his voice seeming higher than it had before as he snapped the book shut and held it out to Vivian. “What we need isn’t in here. The Pantheon must have decided the information was too dangerous and removed it from this edition.”
“Are you sure?” Vivian asked, grabbing the book and flipping through the pages. “The others were positive that this was the right book.”
The Reaper shook his head. “Some of the information is in here, but not all of it. We need the list of jewels and the entire ritual from start to finish in order to transfer Loki’s soul into the body we have in mind. Believe me when I tell you there is no room for error or mistakes of any kind. We only get one shot at this, and we have to make sure it goes smoothly, or our years of waiting and watching will be for nothing, and our lord will be in even worse shape than he already is. We’ll have to get the original book after all.”
“And where would that be?” Vivian asked.
“The Library of Antiquities,” the Reaper said.
Vivian blinked, apparently surprised by the information. After a moment, she shook her head. “There’s no way you’ll be able to get onto the grounds, much less into the library. Not now, with all the extra security they’ve added to campus.”
“We always knew it was a possibility that we might need the original book, and we’ve planned accordingly. This is where you come in,” the Reaper said. “You’re going back to school.”
Vivian rolled her eyes. “Do I have to? I’ve already wasted enough time at that stupid academy.”
“Oh, I think you’ll like it much better there this time around, especially since it will give you a chance to make life miserable for your good friend, Gwen Frost. By the time we’re through with her, the Protectorate will decide to execute her and do your job for you. All you’ll have to do is sit back and watch her suffer.”
A smile stretched across Vivian’s face, and a bit of Reaper red flashed to life in the depths of her golden eyes. “Well, why didn’t you say so in the first place?”
“Come on,” the Reaper said, moving to the doorway, his back still to Vivian. “Let’s get out of here before someone finds us.”
The image of the library started growing dim and hazy, and I knew that this particular memory was coming to an end. Still, I held on to the book, straining to see every last thing Icould—including the Reaper’s real identity.
Come on
, I thought.
Turn around and show yourself
.
, I thought.
Turn around and show yourself
.
My heart sank as the Reaper neared the entrance to the library. One more second, and the evil warrior would be gone—and so would any chance I had of discovering who the Reaper was.
Vivian put the
Great Transformations
book back on the shelf, but she was in a hurry and didn’t push it back far enough. The book fell to the floor. The sound cracked like thunder in the library. Vivian winced, leaned over, and picked up the book.
Great Transformations
book back on the shelf, but she was in a hurry and didn’t push it back far enough. The book fell to the floor. The sound cracked like thunder in the library. Vivian winced, leaned over, and picked up the book.
The Reaper whirled around, and I realized that the person wasn’t a man at all. She wasn’t wearing a mask, and I finally saw her face—her beautiful, familiar face. Her green eyes narrowed, and she glared at Vivian.
“Quiet!” Agrona Quinn hissed at the girl. “Do you want the guards to hear—”
I was so surprised that the rest of the memory slipped away, even though I could still hear Agrona muttering at Vivian. After a moment, even that vanished.
I drew in a shaky breath, opened my eyes, and glanced down at the book. The leather cover seemed to burn my fingers, but I knew that was just my shock at what I’d discovered.
Logan’s stepmom was really a Reaper of Chaos? I didn’t want to believe it. She’d seemed so calm, so nice, so
good
to the Spartan, helping Logan and smoothing things over with Linus whenever the two of them were arguing. Logan would be so hurt when he found out that she’d been lying to him and his dad this whole time.
good
to the Spartan, helping Logan and smoothing things over with Linus whenever the two of them were arguing. Logan would be so hurt when he found out that she’d been lying to him and his dad this whole time.
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