Crimson Frost Part 17

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 s.h.i.+mmered through the gla.s.s roof, instead of suns.h.i.+ne. 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.

"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 ident.i.ty.

Come on, 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.

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.

Then, another thought occurred to me. Maybe-maybe Vivian had tampered with the book, planted some false memories in it, just like she'd done before when she was trying to keep me from figuring out that she was Loki's Champion. Vivian's telepathy let her do that sort of thing, made people see and feel things that weren't really there-even me. For the first time, I really hoped that the Reaper girl was messing with me again.

I reached out with my psychometry, going back through all the images and memories, but I saw exactly what I had before. Vivian and Agrona talking about the book and finding a new body for Loki. The memories were all sharp and clear, and I didn't get the sense they'd been tampered with in any way. Before, when I'd touched Vivian's Ja.n.u.s ring, the one she'd planted the fake images on, it had felt like there was something slightly off about all the memories a.s.sociated with the ring. But I didn't get that sort of vibe from the book-not at all. No, the memories attached to it were genuine.

I'd been prepared to see Inari's face, or Sergei's, or even Linus's. After all, I'd thought the Reaper was a man, because of the low voice I'd heard in the library, but Agrona must have found some way to disguise her voice. How, though? How could she do that- And that's when I remembered her gold necklace, the one I'd seen her fiddling with more than once-the one that was set with two rubies and two emeralds.

. . . 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 . . .

That's what the card had said about the Apate jewels, and I was willing to bet that changing your voice would be easy to do with them. I frowned. But I'd seen Agrona wearing her necklace before the jewels had been stolen. Were there more gems out there with magical properties? I didn't know, but it wasn't really important right now.

Because the fact was that Agrona Quinn was a Reaper-which meant Logan and the rest of my friends were in big, big trouble.

"Well?" Alexei said. "What did you see?"

"Yeah, Gwen," Morgan chimed in. "Spill."

I shook my head. "Nothing good. I think-I think the Reapers are planning some kind of ritual, some way that they can transfer Loki's soul or whatever into a new body. Is that even possible?"

Alexei's face darkened at my words. "I've heard stories of such things from my father and other members of the Protectorate, but that's all I thought they were-stories. So did my father. The fact that Loki is injured and weak from his imprisonment is all that gives us a chance of defeating him and the Reapers. If what you say is true, and this is what the Reapers are planning, if they manage to find a new body for him . . ." His voice trailed off. "Then Loki will be returned to his full strength-and no one will be able to stop him. Not even the G.o.ds themselves."

"In other words," Morgan said, "we'll all be royally screwed."

"You don't know the half of it," I replied.

I told them everything I'd seen and heard-including the fact that Agrona was really a Reaper.

Alexei's eyes widened at the news, but then he frowned, thinking about it. "Agrona had access to Vivian," he finally said. "In fact, she was a.s.signed to guard Vivian most of the time. It would have been easy for her to slip Vivian some of the Apate jewels to put on her ring."

"We have to warn Metis and the others," I said. "Right now, before it's too late-"

"You aren't going to be warning anyone about anything, Gypsy," a familiar, mocking voice called out.

Alexei, Morgan, and I all froze and looked toward the doorway. A figure stood there, blocking the exit. She was wearing a black robe, although the hood was down, and her face was visible. She wasn't bothering to hide her real ident.i.ty with a rubber Loki mask this time. She didn't need to, not anymore.

Vivian Holler grinned at me.

Chapter 23.

The Reaper girl stepped into the library. I immediately shoved the book at Alexei, lunged forward, reached into my messenger bag, and drew Vic out of his scabbard. Vivian also held a sword in her hand, one with a woman's face inlaid in the hilt, and the bulging red eye snapped open and glared at me and Vic.

"Lucretia," Vic growled.

"So we meet again, Vic," the other sword answered in a low, feminine voice. "But you won't make it through this fight."

"I'll shut you up for good this time, you psychotic piece of steel!" Vic crowed.

Vivian clucked her tongue. "Temper, temper, little blade. Looks like your sword is just as bloodthirsty as mine is, Gwen. He'll make a fine weapon for one of my Reaper friends when I take him out of your cold, dead hands."

"Dream on," I snarled. "I know what you're up to, and I'm going to stop you, Vivian. You and Agrona and whoever else is involved."

She frowned. "How did you know about Agrona . . ." She looked at the book in Alexei's hand. "The book. I forgot to use my magic on the book and muddle the memories so you couldn't look at them with your stupid psychometry."

"Well, you have been a little busy, murdering people, framing me for your crimes, and whatnot," I said. "Hard to keep track of everything."

Vivian shrugged.

"How did you get away from the Protectorate? And why are you here now? Shouldn't you be out helping your Reaper friends with the transformation? Getting ready to put Loki's soul into one of his minions?"

"I got away from the Protectorate because I killed the three people who were guarding me," Vivian said. "They never saw it coming."

Alexei hissed in anger. Vivian smirked and gave him a saucy wink.

"Don't worry, Bogatyr," she said. "You won't have time to miss your precious Protectorate friends."

Then, she grinned at me again. "As for your other questions, yes, I will be helping with the ritual. But who says we're using a Reaper for the transformation?"

I eyed her. Somehow, I didn't think she was lying-not about this. No, her voice was way too smug. But if they weren't using a Reaper for the ritual, then who? I couldn't imagine anyone who would willingly let their soul be eaten away by Loki's.

"Apparently, you just can't stick a G.o.d's soul into just any old body," Vivian said. "I volunteered, but Agrona had someone else in mind already. You see, the new body has to be strong enough to make it through the ritual and contain the soul, and of course we only wanted the absolute best for Loki. Someone who was strong, smart, cunning, and one of the fiercest warriors of his generation."

She smirked at me, and I knew exactly who she was talking about.

"Logan," I whispered. "You're going to put Loki's soul into Logan's body."

Everything inside me just-froze. My blood, my breath, my heart. All cold, dull, still, and heavy, as though I'd been encased in a tomb of ice. After a few seconds, the shock faded, but the cold stayed behind, along with the fear-terrible, terrible fear for Logan.

"Correct again, Gwen," Vivian sneered. "You really aren't as dumb as you look. It's just too bad that you won't actually be there to see your boyfriend go through the transformation. I'm told that it's extremely painful."

"What do you mean?" I mumbled through my numb lips.

The Reaper jerked her head at the book. "You don't think we just left that behind by accident, do you? Agrona knew you'd seen her swipe the Apate jewels, and she thought you might figure out that wasn't all she'd taken from the library. So we left the book here and put a watch on it just in case you decided to come snooping around. As soon as you walked through the front door, our guy at the coliseum called me. And here you are, way back here where no one will hear you or your friends scream. You never can leave well enough alone, Gwen. Although I have to say it's rather convenient how your nosiness leads you into my traps every single time."

So my coming here had been another part of their plan, a way to lure me away from the academy so Vivian could kill me. I looked at Alexei, but the Bogatyr was staring at the Reaper girl, his eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched, his free hand balled up into a fist. No doubt he was thinking about the Protectorate guards she'd killed and how he'd like to do the same thing to her. I glanced at Morgan. The Valkyrie dipped her hand into her purse and pulled out a dagger, which she discreetly lowered to her side. Morgan nodded at me, telling me she was ready to fight.

My hand tightened around Vic's hilt. "Believe me when I tell you that this will be the last time I fall into one of your traps, because you're not getting out of here alive."

Vivian let out a happy laugh. "Oh please. As if you could ever beat me in hand-to-hand combat. Even if by some miracle that happened, you'd still be too late to save your precious boyfriend. I told you I was going to take away everything you love, Gwen. I think Logan will be a nice start, don't you?"

Rage erupted in my heart, exploding like a bomb, and burning away the cold fear that had paralyzed me. I let out a fierce yell and charged at Vivian. The move surprised the Reaper girl, who backed up a few steps.

"Now!" she screamed.

More Reapers streamed into the room, swords up and ready to kill. They must have been waiting outside for her signal, but I didn't care. Right now, I only had eyes for Vivian. I threw myself at the Reaper girl, raised Vic high, and brought the sword down as hard and fast as I could.

CLANG!.

Red and purple sparks hissed through the air as Vivian brought Lucretia up, stopping Vic from splitting her skull in two. I pressed forward, trying to get through her defense, but I couldn't do it. Not only was Vivian a Gypsy, but she was a Valkyrie too, which meant that she was much, much stronger than I was. I remembered exactly how much stronger a second later when she snapped up her fist and punched me in the stomach.

Stars flashed in front of my eyes, or maybe that was just the red sparks of magic streaming out of Vivian's fingertips. I couldn't really tell. The force of the blow knocked me back and shoved the air out of my lungs, but I was in such a rage that I sucked down another breath and threw myself forward again.

I had never wanted to kill Vivian as much as I did in that moment. I had never needed to do it so badly as right now. The Reaper girl had already murdered my mom and Nott, attacked Grandma Frost, and now, she was going to help turn Logan into . . . into . . . I couldn't even begin to imagine what having Loki's soul in his body would do to the Spartan. How it would destroy everything that made Logan, well, Logan.

But that wasn't going to happen, I vowed. Because I was going to save Logan, and I was going to stop the Reapers-starting with chopping Vivian's head off her shoulders.

Clash-clash-clang!

Back and forth through the library we fought, turning over tables and chairs, ripping down maps, and trampling over books in our fury to kill each other. Every once in a while, I got a glimpse of Morgan and Alexei out of the corner of my eye. The Valkyrie was holding her own. She'd used the dagger in her purse to take down one Reaper already. Morgan s.n.a.t.c.hed up the sword of the warrior she'd just killed and attacked the Reaper who was battling Alexei, making the evil warrior jump back.

Alexei, who had been using the Great Transformations book as a sort of s.h.i.+eld against the Reaper's vicious blows, threw the book down. He grabbed the two swords out of his backpack and turned to battle another Reaper who was creeping up on his other side.

I would have liked to help them, but I had my hands full with Vivian. Despite my anger, the Valkyrie had been right when she'd said that she was the better fighter. The surprise of my initial attack had already worn off, and she went on the offensive, swinging Lucretia a little closer to my throat with every single pa.s.s she made.

"Come on, Gwen!" Vic yelled underneath my palm. "Cut her to ribbons! Hack them both to pieces!"

"I'm trying!" I yelled back.

I quickened my pace, upping the tempo of my attacks, trying to surprise Vivian again. That didn't happen, but something almost as good did-she tripped over one of the books that had fallen to the floor and stumbled back against a shelf. Alexei ran his swords through a Reaper's stomach, while Morgan pulled her dagger out of the chest of the last one. I looked at them, and they both nodded at me. Together, weapons up, the three of us advanced on Vivian.

"What are you going to do now that all your friends are dead?" I said in a mocking voice, stopping in front of her.

Vivian looked left and right, but Alexei and Morgan fanned out, cutting off her escape routes.

"And now, I think it's time for you to finally get what you deserve," I snarled. "For my mom and Nott and everyone else you've ever hurt."

"Sorry, Gwen," Vivian said, grinning once more. "Maybe someday you'll learn that you can't beat me-and that Chaos will always win."

I rushed forward, but even as I did, I knew I was going to be too late-too late again.

Vivian let out an ear-piercing whistle, and the gla.s.s ceiling above my head shattered.

I threw myself to one side and put my arms up over my head, trying to get out of the way and protect myself from the falling gla.s.s as best I could. Beside me, Alexei and Morgan did the same. A shadow blotted out the sun, and a Black roc crashed down, creating a ma.s.sive hole in the ceiling.

The bird was enormous. Its wings were a slick, s.h.i.+ny black, although I could see the crimson highlights ribboning through its thick feathers, as well as that Reaper-red spark that burned deep in its inky black eyes. The Black roc pecked at me, its sharp beak snapping out like the point of a sword about to run me through. I shrieked and rolled under a table away from it. The roc's beak slammed into one of the table legs, shattering it like a matchstick and causing the wooden top to tilt to one side.

Vivian hurried over to the roc and threw herself into the leather harness on the bird's back. "Fly! Fly! Fly!" she screamed.

The roc spread its wings wide and launched itself off the ground. It hovered in the middle of the library, as though it were having trouble fully taking off, black wings flapping and ripping even more books off the shelves until the heavy volumes fluttered up and down on the air like snowflakes. I wiggled out from underneath the table, got to my feet, and rushed forward, but I was too late. The bird let out a series of harsh caw-caw-caws, pumped its wings again, and shot up through the smashed ceiling.