Crimson Frost Part 13

Ajax let out another laugh. This time, Linus didn't even bother looking at him. Instead, the head of the Protectorate leaned forward and fixed me with a fierce glare.

"Take us through the fight, exactly what happened, Miss Frost. Step by step. And be sure you include everything-especially what you did to my son with your magic."

I sighed again, wondering if the questions and accusations would ever end.

And on and on it went. Somehow, the Protectorate had found out about everything I'd ever done since coming to Mythos. All the times I'd been late for my shifts at the library, all the lost and stolen items I'd found for kids using my psychometry, all the catty comments I'd ever made about other students. It seemed they went out of their way to focus on the bad things, all the rules I'd broken and all the mistakes I'd made, whether on purpose or by accident.

And they seemed to have a grand time doing it, especially Linus. If the others hadn't been around, he probably would have gleefully cackled every time I confessed to something, especially when it came to all the times I'd slipped by the sphinxes on my way to go see Grandma Frost. Apparently, I'd snuck off campus more than fifty times since I'd been at Mythos.

"By far the worst infraction of that particular rule ever recorded in the annals of academy history," Linus said almost in a cheery tone, making another mark on his papers.

I slumped over the table a little more.

"And now we come to the charges that are at the heart of these proceedings," he finally said. "Accusations that Miss Frost willfully conspired with Reapers of Chaos to murder students and staff members at the Crius Coliseum, steal artifacts from the coliseum, recover the Helheim Dagger, and use said dagger to free Loki from the prison realm the other G.o.ds placed him in."

I shook my head. "No. That's not what happened at all. None of that is true. Not one word of it."

"We'll see," Linus said.

Nickamedes got to his feet. The librarian had been quiet while I'd been questioned, although he'd been taking tons of notes. I wondered if this was the point when he finally went on the attack and actually, you know, defended me.

"So far," Nickamedes said, "you've offered a vastly different interpretation of events than what actually transpired, given that Metis, Ajax, Raven, and I were there to witness some of the things you've accused Gwendolyn of. But you haven't offered one shred of proof that things happened the way you claim they did-not one single shred. Unless you have that proof, I see no reason for this absurd trial to continue any further."

Linus gave his former brother-in-law a thin smile. "Why, I thought you'd never ask, Nickamedes. We do, in fact, have a different perspective on the situation, especially on what transpired at the Crius Coliseum and everything after that. We have a witness who claims to have been present at all the events in question, the person who made the accusations against Miss Frost in the first place. She's been quite convincing in her testimony so far, which is why the charges were initially brought against Miss Frost."

"What witness?" Nickamedes asked in a guarded tone.

"Why don't we bring her in, and you can see for yourself?"

Linus nodded to Agrona, who got to her feet, stepped off the dais, and went over to the entry. Agrona pulled on the door, which slowly opened with another loud screech.

"You can come in now," Agrona called out.

Something whispered out in the hallway, and a second later, the very last person in the world that I expected to see walked into the prison-Vivian Holler.

A Gypsy, just like me. Loki's Champion. And the Reaper girl who'd killed my mom.

Chapter 18.

I was just-stunned.

Absolutely stunned that Vivian was back at the academy after all the things she'd done. Tricking me into finding the Helheim Dagger, kidnapping me, slicing my palm open with the dagger, using the weapon and my blood to free Loki.

Anger exploded in me, blocking out everything else. The trial, the Protectorate, the endless questions. All I was aware of was the rage pulsing through my veins-the same red-hot rage I felt whenever I thought of Vivian and how the other girl had murdered my mom-and laughed about it.

Vivian stepped into the prison, flanked by two men and a woman wearing black coveralls. I leaped up out of my chair and started to charge at the other girl, but I'd forgotten about the handcuffs and chain. I lunged for her and almost pulled my shoulders out of their sockets when the chain stopped me short. I looked down at my shackles. This was how Preston had felt, I thought bitterly. The Reaper had wanted to kill me more than anything else, which was exactly what I wanted to do to Vivian right now.

The Reaper girl stepped closer and gave me a sly, satisfied smile, and I knew that I'd reacted exactly how she'd wanted me to.

"Temper, temper," Vivian said in a mocking tone. "See? I told you she was violent."

"When it comes to you, violent doesn't even begin to cover it," I snarled.

Everyone stared at me, and I had to struggle to get my rage under control. Here I was shackled, and Vivian had strolled right into the academy prison as if she had every right to still be at Mythos.

"Long time no see, Gwen," she said.

"Shut up, you Reaper b.i.t.c.h," I snarled again.

Linus pounded his gavel on the table. "Enough! That's enough, from both of you."

I looked at him. "What is she doing here? Why haven't you arrested her and put her on trial for everything that she's done?"

"That's the problem," he said in a thoughtful voice. "Vivian came to us a few weeks ago, right after Loki escaped, and she's been in Protectorate custody ever since. She told us a very interesting story about what happened that night, and your part in it. Quite simply, Miss Holler claims that she is really Nike's Champion-and that you are the one who serves Loki, Miss Frost."

For a moment, the world went black. Completely, utterly black. There was just-nothing. No prison, no Protectorate, no trial. Just darkness. All the air left my lungs, my heart stopped, and all the blood froze in my body. Then, a second pa.s.sed, and another one, until I finally snapped back to reality.

"She says that she's Nike Champion?" I whispered. "Why would she say that?"

Vivian smirked at me again. "Because it's true, Gwen. You know it's true. I'm Nike's Champion, and you're Loki's Champion, not the other way around, like you've been claiming all this time. Did you really think you would get away with it? The truth always comes out, you know. Good always triumphs over evil."

Once more, rage filled my body that she would come in here and say something so absurd. Was I the only one who could hear the sarcasm in her voice? The acid dripping from her words? Was I the only one who could see the calculation and lies in her eyes? Surely, the Protectorate wouldn't be dumb enough to actually believe her- My gaze zoomed from one face to another, but to my surprise and horror, they all seemed to be buying her story. Agrona, Inari, Sergei, and Linus all nodded at her words, as though they made perfect sense, as though it was perfectly logical that she was Nike's Champion instead of me.

But there was one person who was as outraged as I was.

"She's your witness?" Nickamedes asked in a harsh voice. "You knowingly let a Reaper of Chaos, let Loki's Champion, back onto the academy grounds? Why would you do something so foolish? So reckless? So stupid?"

Linus looked down his nose at the librarian. "As I said before, Miss Holler tells a very convincing story. Of all of us here, only she and Miss Frost were actually at the Garm gate when Loki was freed. They are the only ones who know what really happened that night."

"Then strap her down here with the snake, and we'll see how long she lasts," I snapped. "Because every word out of her mouth is a lie."

The asp raised its head again at the sound of my voice, peering at me with its bright blue eyes. For a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of understanding in its gaze, but the snake put its head back down before I could be sure. From taking care of Nott and Nyx, I knew that mythological creatures were quite intelligent. I wondered if the asp was as well, if it would be able to see through Vivian's lies when the Protectorate seemed so determined not to.

Linus nodded. "That's precisely what we intend to do, Miss Frost."

The guards flanking Vivian ushered her forward and arranged themselves around the table, with one of them standing at each corner, and Alexei stepping up to occupy the fourth spot. Soon, she was sitting across from me, chained down just like I was, the snake bite on her wrist oozing blood. I looked at the other Gypsy. Frizzy auburn hair; golden eyes; pretty face; lean, strong body. So similar to me, and yet so very different. Since, you know, I wasn't the right-hand girl of the ultimate evil.

Vivian smirked at me again, and I saw that spark of Reaper red in the depths of her eyes. How could the others not see it? Were they blind? Or just so convinced I was guilty that they were ready to believe whatever lies Vivian had told them?

But the worst thing was that the Reaper girl had outsmarted me again, and I hadn't even seen it coming. As soon as the Protectorate had arrested me, I should have known she was involved. Now, here I was, venom in my veins and one wrong word away from being poisoned to death, while she waltzed in like she hadn't done anything wrong. Like she hadn't tricked me into finding the Helheim Dagger, used it to free Loki, and killed Nott while she was at it.

Nott. My heart quivered with pain at the thought of the Fenrir wolf and how she'd fought so fiercely to protect me at the Garm gate, how she'd tried to save me, even though she'd been slowly dying from the Reapers' poison all the while.

Vivian wasn't going to get away with it, I vowed. She wasn't going to get away with murdering Nott and my mom. Somehow, some way, I was going to make her pay for those things-more than she'd ever dreamed.

So I forced myself to put aside my anger and think. The Reaper girl had to have some sort of plan, other than getting me kicked out of the academy or executed by the Protectorate. Sure, she'd be delighted with either one of those, especially the second option, but I knew Vivian well enough to realize that she was always thinking ahead, always plotting her next move. But try as I might, I couldn't figure out what my trial would really get her-or how it tied in with the Reaper attack at the library and the artifacts that had been stolen. The two had to be connected, but I just couldn't figure out how.

Once Vivian was chained, Linus resumed the trial. At least he had the same chilly expression on his face when he looked at her that he'd always shown me.

"Now, Miss Holler, since you were so eager to come here today and tell your side of the story, why don't you have at it?"

"Of course," Vivian said in a soft voice, as though she was the victim in all of this. "It all started at the Crius Coliseum. I was there, finishing up my myth-history a.s.signment when the Reapers attacked . . ."

I sat there and listened while Vivian told the most ridiculous story I'd ever heard. She twisted everything around, blaming me for all the things she'd done. She even claimed that Lucretia was the weapon that Nike had gifted her with and said that Vic had been given to me by Loki himself.

"I knew that Gwen was telling people she was Nike's Champion, but I just thought she was doing it because she was new at Mythos and wanted to impress the other kids," Vivian said in a soft, sweet, innocent voice that made me grind my teeth together. "I didn't realize it was all part of her plan to discredit me until she used the Helheim Dagger to free Loki."

I wanted to throw myself across the table and strangle the other girl, but I couldn't reach her because of the handcuffs and chain. So I eyed the Maat asp, waiting for it to strike out and bite the Reaper girl again and again for all the lies she was telling-but it didn't.

No matter what Vivian said, no matter how outrageous a lie she told, the venom in her veins didn't slowly heat up and roast her from the inside out like it was supposed to, and the snake didn't lash out at her. Instead, the asp slithered out of the groove on the table and twined its tail around Vivian's right wrist, and its head around mine until it was stretched between us like a jeweled rope binding us together. Creepy. I tensed, waiting for the snake's memories to flood my mind, but the only vibe I got off the creature was one of curiosity, as though it really were listening to and weighing her words.

Vivian stopped her story, and I saw the fear in her eyes that the snake would bite her a second time and trigger the poison. But she quickly masked the expression and continued talking. She wasn't just omitting facts or sidestepping questions like I had about Jasmine's death. The Reaper girl was outright lying, but the asp didn't seem to notice.

She must have found some way to beat the snake's magic, I realized. Some way to tell huge, whopping, horrible lies without it biting her like it was supposed to. Another b.l.o.o.d.y loophole, as Vic would say.

So I ignored her words and focused on Vivian herself. If I could figure out how she was fooling the snake, maybe I could stop it. I studied the other girl, but Vivian looked the same as I remembered, and there was nothing special about the black cashmere sweater and designer jeans she had on. The only jewelry she wore was a gold ring on her right hand.

I eyed the band. It was actually quite plain, compared to some of the oversized bling the other kids had. Instead of diamonds, the ring sported two small faces, one turned left and crying, the other turned right and laughing. Vivian had once told me that it was a Ja.n.u.s ring, in honor of the Roman G.o.d of beginnings and endings who had two faces, one looking back into the past and the other peering ahead into the future. The two faces also symbolized Vivian's secret loyalty to Loki.

The longer I looked at the ring, the more the faces seemed to move and change, until they were both turned and grinning hideously at me, the ruby chips of their eyes gleaming Reaper red- Wait a second. Ruby chips? I didn't remember there being any gems on the ring before. I pulled up all the memories I had of the ring. Creepy faces, yes. Rubies, no. No diamonds, no emeralds, no jewels of any sort. I frowned. So why would there be gems on it now?

Maybe it was the rubies' red flash, but I thought of the box that the Reaper had stolen from the library-the one that had belonged to Apate. The Reaper had lifted the box up, and the jewels on the surface had sparkled, along with smaller bits of gemstones-just like the chips on Vivian's ring.

My eyes narrowed. So that's why the Reaper had wanted the box. Apate was the Greek G.o.ddess of deception, so it only made sense that her box and all the jewels on it would have some sort of magic, some sort of power that was letting Vivian lie to the Maat asp without being bitten.

I opened my mouth to shout out my theory when another thought occurred to me. According to what Linus had said, Vivian had been in Protectorate custody for weeks now. Even if they really believed that she was Nike's Champion, there was no way they would have let her out of their sight, not even for a minute, which meant that she couldn't have been in the library last night with the other Reapers. No, someone else must have stolen the box and given the ruby chips to Vivian, so she could pull off all her elaborate lies today. Vivian had to be working with someone, most likely a member of the Protectorate-someone who was probably in this very room.

Linus, Inari, Sergei, Agrona. My gaze went from one face to another, but they were all looking at Vivian, listening to her story, and scribbling down notes. Nothing out of the ordinary there, and none of them did anything remotely incriminating, like give the Reaper girl a sly wink. The same thing went for Alexei and the other guards. They were just doing their jobs and standing watch.

Frustration and anger surged through me once again, but there was nothing I could do but sit still and keep my mouth shut. I doubted the Protectorate would believe that one of their own was working with Vivian, and my accusation would only tip off the Reaper that I was on to him or her. So how was I going to get out of this situation? Because, Reaper or not, if enough members of the jury believed Vivian, it was going to be lights out for me-permanently.

"And I've been on the run ever since Loki was freed," Vivian said, finishing her ridiculous story. "Wrongly accused of being his Champion when I've been serving Nike this whole time. I was just lucky that I was able to get a message to the Protectorate, to all of you, so I could come here today and finally clear my name."

"You couldn't clear your name with a bucket of bleach," I snapped.

Vivian just gave me a sad, wounded look, like she couldn't believe I would say something so hurtful. Her poor, pitiful me act only made me that much more disgusted.

The asp tightened its grip around my wrist, almost as if it agreed with my anger. I looked at the small, jewel-toned snake. It was really the only impartial creature here. At least, it would have been if Vivian hadn't found a way to fool it. Stupid magic loopholes- Magic loopholes . . . magic loopholes . . .

The words bounced around in my mind. Sure, Vivian had used the jewels' magic to fool the asp, but she wasn't the only one here with power. Maybe there was a way I could prove my innocence-and Vivian's guilt once and for all.

Linus stared at Vivian, then me. "You both tell a convincing story. But what I find most interesting is that the asp hasn't attacked either one of you, yet obviously one of you must be lying. At the very least, you can't both be Nike's Champion."

Everyone's eyes focused on the asp on the table. The creature flicked out its tongue, almost like it realized we were all staring at it, but it made no move to bite either one of us.

"You should go ahead and confess, Gwen," Vivian said. "Make things easier on yourself."

She smirked at me. I glared back at her.

"And that concludes the interrogation," Linus said. "Rest a.s.sured that we will carefully review everything you've both said today . . ."

He started talking about exactly how the Protectorate would make its decision. It was all very blah, blah, blah, so I ignored him. It was obvious that the Protectorate didn't want to believe me, but I didn't think they'd wholeheartedly swallowed Vivian's story either. I could see the doubt in even Linus's face about what she'd told them. But I was determined to show everyone just what a liar Vivian really was.

Professor Metis had once told me that there was more to my psychometry than just touching objects and seeing things. That was the mental aspect of my power, but Metis had said that there was a physical component to my magic as well. That I could touch people and actually influence them, get them to see what I wanted them to see, feel what I wanted them to feel. I'd done it once before with Nott, when I'd showed her memories of my Grandma Frost. Those memories and my love for my grandma had convinced the wolf to go protect her when Vivian and Preston had been on their way to kill her.

Now, I was wondering if I could do the same thing with the snake.

My gaze dropped to the Maat asp, which was still wound around my wrist. I wondered what the creature would do if I showed it what had really happened-if I showed it the truth about Vivian.

I had no illusions that I would be found innocent by the Protectorate. At the very least, I'd broken enough rules to get expelled from the academy. At the very worst, I'd be found guilty of conspiring with the Reapers, hauled off to prison, and eventually executed. Something that was a real possibility with one of the Protectorate members likely a Reaper in disguise. Either the snake would turn, bite me again, and trigger the poison in my veins that would kill me, or the Protectorate would find me guilty and chop my head off later. Either way, Vivian would win.

Using my magic on the asp was the only move I had left in this weird, twisted game Vivian had dragged me into, so I focused on all the memories I had of her, both as herself and when she'd been hiding behind a rubber mask as the Reaper girl. I called up all the images I had of that night at the Garm gate, when Vivian had freed Loki and then stabbed Nott. Rage pulsed through me, along with the memories, but I forced myself to be cold, calm, and keep my emotions under control. Finally, when I had all the images, all the memories, all the feelings, firmly fixed in my mind, I concentrated on the asp wrapped around my wrist, on the soft, smooth feel of its cool velvet skin against mine. Then, I pushed the memories at the creature, using my psychometry to show them to the asp-every single one.

I felt the asp tense, as the memories invaded its mind, the sights and sounds and feelings that weren't its own. It wasn't as easy as it had been with Nott, probably because the wolf had trusted me and this creature didn't. It was harder to show the images to the asp, harder than I'd thought it would be, and I was soon sweating from the effort. I could feel the asp pushing back, trying to shove me out of its mind, but I hung on until I got to the final image I had of Vivian-her riding up into the midnight sky on a Black roc with Loki strapped in a harness behind her. Me helpless to stop them, my life's blood draining from where Preston had stabbed me with the Helheim Dagger.

Come on, I thought to the snake. I'm the one telling the truth, not her. We both know it. So do your job, and bite her . . . bite her already . . . bite her right now!

The asp snapped at the Reaper girl.

Vivian must have sensed the change in the creature because she jerked her hand back at the last possible second, and the asp only ended up biting empty air.

Everyone froze.

But the snake wasn't done. It struck at her again and again, in a frenzy now, as though it wanted nothing more than to kill her. I knew the feeling because it was mine-one I'd also shown the asp. Vivian leaped to her feet and yanked on her handcuffs. They must not have been magically reinforced because she was able to use her Valkyrie strength to break the metal links, along with the chain that shackled her to the table. Vivian stumbled away from the table, making sure she was out of range of the writhing asp, before she stabbed her finger at me.

"It's Gwen! She's done something to the asp with her magic! I know she has!" Vivian shrieked.

This time, I smirked at the Reaper girl. "Why would you say that? Because the asp finally wised up and realized what a liar you are? It tried to bite you, Vivian. You-not me. At least someone here has finally seen through your lies."

Vivian's gaze flicked to the dais, as though she was looking to someone there for direction or possibly even help-as if someone there was a Reaper just like she was. My eyes narrowed, and I followed her gaze, but I couldn't tell exactly whom she was looking at. Sergei, Inari, Agrona, Linus. It could have been any one of them. I didn't think Logan's dad was a Reaper, but I hadn't thought that Vivian was Loki's Champion either. If there was one thing I'd learned since coming to Mythos, it was that appearances could be very, very deceiving, especially when it came time to decide who to trust-and who not to.

Apparently, the asp realized that Vivian was out of range because it stopped snapping. Instead, the snake decided to wind itself around and around my wrist before putting its head down onto the table. Its black tongue flicked against my skin, and a sense of understanding filled me. The asp knew the truth of what had happened. I just hoped this display would convince the Protectorate as well.

"Did you see that, Linus?" Nickamedes said, surging to his feet. "Clearly, the asp knows who is guilty and who is not. I demand that you release Gwendolyn and drop all the charges against her immediately."

"The trial is over, Nickamedes," Linus replied, eyeing the snake. "But we have not started our deliberations yet. The asp's actions are hardly conclusive in this case. We will decide who is telling the truth-Miss Frost or Miss Holler-and we will act accordingly."

Linus rapped his gavel a final time on the table, and everyone got to their feet. Nickamedes went over to Linus and started arguing with him, while the other members of the Protectorate looked on, along with Grandma Frost and Metis. Raven walked over, carefully uncurled the snake from my wrist, and put it back into its wicker basket, while Ajax stepped forward and unchained me. I stood, and the two of them moved off to the cell that Raven had gotten the basket out of earlier.

That left me standing across the table from Vivian. Although I wanted nothing more than to attack her, I knew I wouldn't even get a chance to reach for her before Alexei or one of the guards watching would drag me back. So I settled for glaring at her instead.

"I'm going to kill you," I said in a cold voice that only Vivian could hear. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday soon. For my mom and for Nott and for everyone else you've ever hurt in your miserable life."