Crimson Frost Part 2

I'd thought that we would start up the hill to the main quad so that the Protectorate could march me over to the math-science building and then down to the academy prison located there. But instead we veered left onto another path, heading toward the amphitheater that lay at the bottom of the hill next to the Library of Antiquities. I frowned. Why would we be going there? Surely, they weren't going to make me sit through some stupid a.s.sembly before they locked me away. Then again, maybe this was just another part of my impending punishment.

We stopped at the edge of the path, where it opened up into the amphitheater. Unlike the dark gray of the other buildings, the open-air theater was made out of bone-white stone that contained a rainbow of colors-sky blue, pearl pink, soft lilac. Those shades and more shimmered throughout the structure, as though a thousand Valkyries had given off sparks of magic that had somehow seeped into the stone.

The amphitheater was made out of a series of long, flat shallow steps that had been stacked on top of each other. The steps, which also served as seats, formed an enormous semicircle as they spiraled up the hill, and they all faced a stage that had been erected at the very bottom of the amphitheater. Four columns loomed over the stage, but my gaze flicked up to the tops of the columns, where stone chimeras crouched on round globes. Instead of glaring out at the crowd like usual, the chimeras' heads were lowered, and they were staring down at their curved claws, just like the sphinxes had. My unease cranked up another notch.

I dragged my gaze away from the chimeras and stared out into the amphitheater. Students, professors, and staff members had already gathered on the stone steps, all bundled up in heavy coats and gloves, their breath steaming in the sharp winter air until it looked like a thick fog had blanketed the whole area. No matter how cold it got, all the a.s.semblies took place out here, instead of in the warmer, more comfortable gym. I wasn't sure why. The Powers That Were probably thought the amphitheater was more official or something.

Despite the fact that we were on the edge of the area, worried murmurs still drifted over to me, as the students wondered what was going on.

"What do you think the a.s.sembly is about?"

"Maybe the Pantheon's managed to imprison Loki again."

"Maybe not. Maybe Reapers are on their way here right now to kill us all."

And on and on the rumors went, leaping from one mouth and one phone to another. Mutters, whispers, chirps, and beeps floated through the air, creating a strange symphony of sound.

I spotted Daphne Cruz, my best friend, and Carson Callahan, her band geek boyfriend, sitting on the steps about halfway up the hill. They had their heads close together, looking at something on Daphne's phone-probably my arrest at the coffee shop, judging from the shocked expression on the Valkyrie's face and the pink sparks of magic that were streaking out of her fingertips like lightning. Daphne always gave off more magic whenever she was surprised, worried, or upset. I was willing to bet she was all those things right now-and so was I.

I'd thought that we would stay on the edge of the amphitheater until the a.s.sembly was over, but instead Linus jerked his head at Sergei and Inari, who stepped even closer to me. My dread ballooned up in my stomach and rose into my throat, threatening to choke me from the inside out.

Logan noticed the men's movements, and he quit arguing with his dad long enough to turn around. Alexei stepped in front of the Spartan, holding up his hands.

"I don't want to fight you, Logan," Alexei said. "But you know I will."

Logan looked at me, panic flaring in his blue eyes. Apparently, he knew what was about to happen-and that it wasn't anything good.

"Dad," he said. "Gwen hasn't done anything wrong. You have to believe me. Don't do this. Please."

Linus stared at his son, his face expressionless. Then, he turned away from Logan.

"Make sure that she stays still and quiet through this," Linus said. "I don't want any interruptions."

Inari and Sergei clamped their hands on my arms and dragged me forward, heading toward the steps that led up onto the stage. And I suddenly realized what the mysterious a.s.sembly was about-me and my supposed crimes against the Pantheon.

Chapter 3.

Inari and Sergei marched me across the amphitheater, up the steps, and onto the stage, with Linus following along behind us. The three men's heavy boots slapped against the wooden boards, and the dull sounds almost seemed to chant to me. Doom, doom, doom . . .

We stopped in the middle of the stage, and I stared out at everyone who made up Mythos Academy-students, professors, staff members. I looked at Daphne, who had her hands up over her mouth in horror. Carson had a similar stunned expression on his face. Oliver Hector, Morgan McDougall, Savannah Warren. My gaze went from one familiar face to another. All the kids in my second-year cla.s.s were here, along with the ones who'd apparently rushed back from the coffee shop for the a.s.sembly. Kenzie Tanaka, Talia Pizarro, Helena Paxton and her mean-girl friends. They must have raced up to the library, then hurried down the hill so they could get the last remaining seats at the very top of the amphitheater.

"Those guys have on Protectorate robes!"

"Hey, isn't that Gwen Frost? That weird Gypsy girl?"

"What's she doing on stage? What's going on? Why are they guarding her like that?"

More murmurs and questions rippled through the crowd, louder and sharper than before, but I shut them out of my mind and kept scanning the faces. Finally, I spotted Professor Aurora Metis standing off to the left side of the stage, along with Nickamedes, Coach Ajax, and Raven. The four of them made up the academy's security council and were responsible for keeping students safe at Mythos. I thought that had included me too, but it didn't look like that was the case-at least not anymore.

I stared at Metis, wondering if she'd known this was going to happen, if she'd tried to stop it. Worry filled her green eyes behind her silver gla.s.ses. Her face was tight with tension, and the tendons in her neck stood out against her bronze skin, like bowstrings about to snap. Beside her, Nickamedes was frowning, his black eyebrows furrowed together in thought. Ajax had his arms crossed over his big, burly chest. Only Raven seemed unconcerned, letting out a wide yawn and fiddling with her white hair, as though she was bored by the whole spectacle.

"Stay quiet through this, and it will go a lot easier on you," Linus murmured to me.

I glared at him, but he was already striding over to a podium topped with a microphone that had been set up in the middle of the stage. He stood there, waiting for the crowd to quiet down, before leaning forward and speaking into the microphone.

"h.e.l.lo," he said, his voice rolling out like thunder from the bottom to the top of the amphitheater. "My name is Linus Quinn. Some of you may know me as the head of the Protectorate, the group charged with hunting down Reapers of Chaos. I'm also on the academy board of directors."

So Linus was one of the Powers That Were at Mythos. I knew there were folks who watched over the academy, some group of people responsible for running things, some board that came up with the rules, regulations, and even the froufrou lunch menus. I'd always jokingly referred to them as the Powers That Were. Now, I had a feeling I was going to find out just how appropriate my nickname for them was.

"I know you've all had a lot of questions and concerns ever since Loki escaped a few weeks ago," Linus continued. "Rest a.s.sured that the Protectorate has been investigating the incident and doing everything we can to track down Loki and his Reapers before anyone else gets hurt, like your fellow students who were recently killed at the Crius Coliseum."

Images flooded my mind at his words. Reapers storming into the coliseum, their curved swords flashing, their black robes billowing out like clouds of death. Kids fighting, running, and trying to get away. Kids screaming as the Reapers rammed their weapons into them. A Reaper plunging his sword into Carson's chest. Blood, so much blood splashing everywhere, like scarlet teardrops raining down on everything in sight- Linus cleared his throat, snapping me out of my horrible memories. "Some serious accusations have come to light about what happened the night Loki was freed," he said. "That is why I and the other members of the Protectorate are here. To get to the bottom of these accusations, determine what really happened, and punish those involved accordingly."

Somehow, I knew what he was going to say next.

"It appears that a Mythos Academy student actually helped Loki escape from Helheim, the prison realm where the other G.o.ds trapped him centuries ago." Linus paused, then leaned forward even closer to the microphone. "That student is Gwendolyn Frost, the girl you see on stage before you."

Yeah, that was pretty much what I'd expected-and so was the crowd's reaction.

Shocked gasps rippled through the amphitheater, and just like at Kaldi's that emotion turned to horror, then anger. It seemed as if everyone drew in a breath, and then the surprised mutters exploded into a deafening roar. In seconds, everyone was on their feet screaming for my blood. A wave of collective rage and hate surged off the crowd, slamming into my stomach like a red-hot sword. Every angry shout, every enraged scream, every bitter word twisted the invisible blade in that much deeper, making me want to vomit from the phantom pain.

Practically everyone at Mythos had lost someone to the Reapers-a mother, a sister, a close friend-so the reaction was understandable. I wanted nothing more than to close my eyes, drop my head, and whimper at the feel of all the raging hate directed at me, but I forced myself to stand up tall and stare back at the people shouting curses at me.

"Quiet! Quiet!" Linus roared into the microphone.

It took several minutes for the crowd to finally calm down and for everyone to take their seats again. But they all kept staring at me, rage burning in their eyes. The phantom emotion kept stabbing me in the stomach again and again, until I had to grit my teeth to keep from screaming from the sensation.

"At this point, we have more questions than answers," Linus said. "To that end, we have arrested Miss Frost and will be conducting a trial and a full investigation into her actions. In the meantime, we will continue to search for Loki and his Reapers so we can deal with them accordingly. Rest a.s.sured, we will get to the bottom of this, and Loki will be imprisoned once more."

Linus's mouth twisted, and he looked at Metis, who lifted her chin in defiance. "In the meantime, in accordance with academy bylaws, Miss Frost will remain at Mythos until she is either acquitted or convicted of the many charges against her."

A series of harsh boo-boo-boos erupted at his words, and he had to stop speaking once more.

Linus looked at Metis again, as if this was all her fault, giving me a clue as to what had happened. The professor must have found out what was going down and had somehow managed to keep me here at the academy instead of being taken away and thrown in some Protectorate prison.

I could have told her not to bother. Everyone hated me now because of what they thought I'd done-and maybe they weren't wrong to do so. After all, I was the one who'd found the Helheim Dagger, the last remaining seal on Loki's prison. But instead of keeping the dagger safe, I'd practically handed it over to Vivian Holler, the Reaper girl who was Loki's Champion, and she'd been all too happy to use the weapon and my blood to finally free the evil G.o.d. Sure, Vivian had tricked me, but the cold hard fact was that because of my actions Loki was out there somewhere, plotting with his Reapers about how to topple the Pantheon, about how to finally defeat Nike and plunge the world into eternal darkness.

Maybe everyone had a right to blame me.

Maybe everyone had a right to hate me.

Finally, after several minutes, the crowd quieted down again.

"Miss Frost has not been found guilty of anything yet, but in order for you to feel safe, I've arranged for her to be under close supervision while she is awaiting trial," Linus said. "Rest a.s.sured that a member of the Protectorate will accompany Miss Frost wherever she goes. In order to keep things as un.o.btrusive as possible, we've a.s.signed a third-year student from the London academy to help watch over Miss Frost as she goes about her daily schedule."

Linus glanced at Alexei, who was standing at the bottom of the steps that led up to the stage, but he didn't point him out. So that's why Alexei was here-to watch me.

"This matter will be resolved in a few days," Linus continued. "Until then, know that members of the Protectorate are here on campus keeping you safe. That is all."

A few polite claps sounded at his words, but everyone kept glaring at me, shock, pain, fear, and hate in their eyes-so much hate. Once more, their collective rage slammed into me, and I couldn't keep quiet any longer.

"I didn't do anything wrong!" I screamed. "It was Vivian! It was Vivian Holler! She's Loki's Champion! She freed him, not me! You have to believe me!"

"Get her out of here," Linus hissed. "Now!"

Inari and Sergei easily lifted me off my feet and carried me toward the edge of the stage, but I kept yelling the whole time.

"I didn't do anything wrong! I didn't do anything wrong!"

My screams echoed through the amphitheater and then rattled up into the sky and the heavens themselves, but no one cared, and no one came to my defense or rescue-not even the G.o.ddess who'd chosen me to be her Champion in the first place.

Inari and Sergei hustled me off stage, out of the amphitheater, and up the hill to the main quad. Students scrambled after us, everyone talking, yelling, and snapping photos with their phones. Eventually, my screams died down, and all I could do was just squint against the flashing lights. Inari and Sergei were still carrying me, so my feet weren't even touching the ground. I knew better than to try to struggle. I didn't know what kind of warriors the two men were, but they were easily stronger than I was.

Five buildings made up the main quad at Mythos-the Library of Antiquities, the gym, the dining hall, English-history, and math-science. Inari and Sergei headed for the math-science building. So they were taking me to the academy prison after all. The two men hurried inside the structure and then down, down, down we went, going through a series of locked doors and other security measures until we reached the bottom floor, deep underground.

The men finally put me back down on my feet, and I jerked away from them, rubbing my upper arms where they'd held them so tightly. We stood in a shadow-filled hallway in front of a door that was made out of the same dark gray stone as the rest of the building. Iron bars crisscrossed over the door, and two sphinxes had been carved into the surface. Once again, the sphinxes stared down at their feet instead of turning their heads and looking at me.

I'd never thought I'd miss the creepy stares from all the statues and carvings, but I was starting to. Somehow, they'd become part of my everyday routine, and I felt their absence, especially since it seemed like they couldn't even stand to look at me now. Maybe they hated me too, just like everyone else did. Bitterness filled me, burning like acid in my chest.

Sergei drew a skeleton key out from one of the pockets of his robe, while Inari kept his eyes on me. Please. As if I had the slightest chance of getting away from them. Sergei stepped forward, put the key in the lock, and turned it. Even though I knew it was coming, the loud screech still made me wince. Sergei pulled open the heavy door and gestured for me to step through. Like I had a choice.

I walked past him and stopped inside the doorway, staring out at the prison. The enormous circular room was shaped like a dome, just like the Library of Antiquities. Gla.s.s cells were stacked up three stories high to form the walls, while a hand holding a set of balanced scales was carved into the stone ceiling-the same symbol that was embroidered on the collars of the Protectorate's robes.

A stone table with a couple of chairs stood in the middle of the room, right under the hand-and-scales carving. That's where Preston Ashton had sat whenever I'd come down here to use to my psychometry to peer into his mind, to sort through his memories so I could tell Metis and the others what Preston's Reaper friends were planning. Something else I'd failed at, since I was the one in prison now.

A rustle sounded, and I looked over at a desk just inside the door. I wasn't sure how she'd managed it, but Raven had somehow beaten us here. She sat in her usual spot, flipping through one of the celebrity gossip magazines she always seemed to be reading. Raven was an old woman, even older than my Grandma Frost. Her hair was as white as it could be and matched the long, flowing gown she always wore, while wrinkles streaked her face, looking as deep and dark as the black greasepaint that football players swiped across their features. More wrinkles and brown liver spots covered her hands and arms, along with old, faded scars.

Raven leaned back in her chair and propped her black combat boots up on the desk. Her black eyes met mine for a moment before she went back to her magazine. Standing guard in the academy prison was one of the many odd jobs that Raven had at Mythos. Well, at least she had actually looked at me, if only for a few seconds. That made me feel slightly better, even if all the statues were ignoring me.

"Go on," Sergei said. "Go sit down."

I walked across the floor, with the warrior following along behind me. I started to drop into my usual seat, but Sergei touched my arm.

"Not on this side," he said. "You need to sit on the other side."

That's where Preston had sat, where I a.s.sumed all prisoners sat while they were being questioned. Some small part of me had still hoped that this was just a big misunderstanding, a giant mistake that could somehow be corrected. That hope immediately withered away and broke apart like a dead, brittle rose, although more cold worry, fear, and dread blossomed in its place.

I did as he asked, walking around and slipping into the seat on the far side of the table-the side with the chains. Thick metal chains lay on top of the table, along with a pair of handcuffs, and still more chains rested on the floor underneath, so that a prisoner's hands and legs could all be secured at the same time.

Sergei reached for the chains on top of the table, and I shrank back in the chair, the rough stone pressing into my spine. Preston had been the last person to wear those chains, and I knew what I'd see and feel if they were slipped onto my skin-the Reaper's unending hatred of me. I'd felt enough of that emotion already in the amphitheater. I didn't want to feel anymore.

"Don't put those on me," I whispered. "Please."

Sergei looked at me, surprised by my low, raspy please, but he put down the chains. I kept my hands away from the metal and made sure that no part of my bare skin was touching either the stone table or chair. It had been bad enough going into Preston's mind and sorting through his horrible memories of all the people he'd hurt, tortured, and killed. I didn't want to flash on the Reaper glaring at me across the table too. I just couldn't handle it-not right now.

Sergei moved over to stand by Inari, who was talking to Raven in a low voice. I wondered what was going to happen now. Would the trial start immediately? Would I be given a chance to defend myself? How was I going to get out of this mess? How was I going to convince the Protectorate that I hadn't freed Loki on purpose? That Vivian had fooled me just like she had everyone else? Those questions and a hundred more whirled around and around my mind, but I didn't have the answers to them-not a single one.

I didn't have long to wait, worry, and wonder. Five minutes later, the prison door screeched opened again, and Linus stepped inside, followed by Alexei, Professor Metis, Nickamedes, and Coach Ajax.

The coach turned, held out his hands, and stopped someone else from coming through the door behind him. "Sorry, Logan. This is as far as you and your friends can come. Don't worry. This won't take long."

Behind Ajax, I saw Logan standing out in the hallway. A few pink sparks of magic crackled in the air beside him, telling me that Daphne and probably Carson were out there as well.

The Spartan stood on his tiptoes and looked over Ajax's shoulder at me. "Gypsy girl!"

"I'm okay!" I called out in a shaky voice. "I'm okay!"

Logan, Daphne, and Carson all started talking at once, yelling at me that things were going to be all right, but Ajax ignored them and shut the door, cutting off their protests.

For a moment, everything was silent.

Then, Linus shook his head and turned to Nickamedes. "I hoped by sending him to school here that you could keep him out of trouble. But apparently, that hasn't happened."

Nickamedes stiffened at his words. The librarian was Logan's uncle on his mom's side of the family. In fact, Nickamedes looked like an older, more serious version of Logan with his black hair and blue eyes.

Linus kept staring at him. "Larenta would be so disappointed in you for not protecting Logan better than you have."

Anger blazed in the librarian's eyes, his hands clenched into fists, and he took a menacing step forward, like he wanted to punch Linus. I knew the feeling.

"Don't you dare bring Larenta into this," Nickamedes snapped. "I still don't understand what my sister ever saw in you, you pompous, arrogant-"

"Enough." Metis stepped forward and put her hand on Nickamedes's shoulder. "That's enough. From both of you. Arguing amongst ourselves isn't going to solve anything."

"No, it won't," Linus agreed. "Glad to see you still have that level head on your shoulders, Aurora."

Metis grimaced, but she nodded, accepting his faint compliment. Still, unless I missed my guess, she didn't like Linus any more than Nickamedes did. I wondered why, what had happened between all of them, and if it had anything to do with my mom.

"But I still say that you're making an enormous error," Metis said. "Gwen is not working with the Reapers, and she certainly did not free Loki on purpose."

"Yes, it's the on purpose part that troubles me the most," Linus murmured. "That's what I'm here to get to the bottom of."

He started to walk over to me, but Metis planted herself in front of him.

"You march into my office this morning with no warning that you were coming to campus. Then, you tell me that you're here to arrest and put one of our students on trial for conspiring with the Reapers," she said, her hands on her hips. "You don't tell me who the student is, but leave me and the others to find out at the a.s.sembly along with everyone else."

"So?" he asked. "All of those things are within my right as head of the Protectorate. You know that, Aurora. As for why I didn't tell you who the student was, it's come to my attention that you've become quite . . . fond of Miss Frost. I didn't want you to do something foolish like warn her and give her a chance to escape justice."

Metis went completely tense and rigid, and it took her a moment to unclench her jaw. "So I want answers," she snapped. "Who made these accusations against Gwen? Why? What proof do they have?"

"You'll find all that out soon enough," Linus said. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to explain things to the girl so that she doesn't cause us any more trouble in the meantime."

Metis opened her mouth as though she was going to keep arguing, but after a moment she pressed her lips together and stepped aside. There was nothing she could do or say that would get him to change his mind. I knew it as well as she did.