Crimson Frost

Morgan nodded. I started to leave, but Alexei stepped in front of me.

"I'm sorry I ever doubted you," he said.

"I know," I said in a soft voice.

I touched his arm, then gripped Vic a little tighter, and went down to meet the Reapers.

I went back the way we'd come, walking all the way around the catwalk, down the stairs, through the control room, and backtracking through the hallways until I reached the main entrance. The two Reapers stationed there snapped to attention as soon as they saw me, but they didn't try to stop me as I walked past them. I tensed, half-expecting them to ram their swords into my back, but they didn't.

"Here goes nothing," I muttered, pushing through one of the doors.

"Don't worry, Gwen," Vic said. "I'm right here with you. We'll get through this battle just like we have all the others. You can't lose with me by your side."

The sword's bravado helped calm my jagged nerves. I nodded at him, unable to speak.

The doors led out to the top tier of seats ringing the concert hall, and it was a long, slow, agonizing walk down to the bottom row and then across the floor. My heart picked up speed with every step, but I forced myself to keep breathing-in and out, in and out, in and out.

I stopped about fifty feet in front of the stage. My gaze locked with Metis's, and the professor shook her head.

"No, Gwen," she said. "No! Turn around and run! While you still can-"

A Reaper stepped forward and punched her in the face.

Some of the students screamed. I started forward, determined to help Metis before the Reaper could hit her again-

"Stop!" Agrona snarled.

I froze in my tracks and looked up at her. She pressed her sword a little deeper into Nickamedes's neck, turning the trickle of blood into a steady stream. The librarian winced, but that was his only reaction.

"If you try to escape, Gypsy," Agrona said. "I'll run the librarian through and then do the same thing to Metis. Your choice."

I straightened up. "I'm not going to run."

"Good," Agrona said. "Then come up here with the rest of us."

I headed toward the left side of the stage, keeping my steps slow and steady, as though I knew I was marching to my own funeral. Really, I was, but I wanted to give Morgan and Alexei as much time as I could to find Grandma Frost and get into position.

I climbed the stairs and stepped onto the stage. Metis had pushed herself up into a sitting position. Blood trickled down the corner of her mouth from where the Reaper had hit her. The professor stared at me, her green eyes full of worry and fear, but she didn't tell me to run again. We both knew there was no point in it-not now.

So I turned away from her and headed toward the center of the stage, my sneakers squeaking against the wood. I looked over at the students huddled together. Daphne, Carson, Oliver, and Kenzie all stared back at me, as worried and upset as Metis was. Daphne kept jerking her head toward the front of the stage, like she was trying to tell me something, but I couldn't figure out what it was. And I still couldn't see Logan's face, just his bowed head. He hadn't moved a muscle this whole time.

Agrona held up her hand when I was about fifteen feet away from her. "That's close enough, Gypsy."

I stopped where I was, glaring at her. "I'm here. You got what you wanted. So let Nickamedes go. Right now."

I thought she wouldn't do it, but Agrona dropped her sword from the librarian's neck and stepped away from him. Vivian crossed her arms over her chest and smirked at me.

"You're such an idiot, Gwen," the Reaper girl said. "Because now, we're going to kill you and your friends."

"I know that," I replied. "I just thought it would be fun to watch Agrona slap you around some more from up close this time. You know, a couple of weeks ago, I thought you were the one in charge of everything. But you're just another little Reaper underling, aren't you, Viv? You don't give the orders. You take them."

Fury reddened the Reaper girl's cheeks, and her knuckles went white around Lucretia's hilt. Vivian started forward, but Agrona held out her sword, stopping Vivian.

"Let me kill her now," Vivian snarled. "So we can finally be done with this."

Agrona shook her head. "You've had your chance twice now, and you've failed miserably both times. Besides, we need a blood sacrifice for the next part of the ritual, and I think Gwen will do quite nicely. You know how much power a Champion's blood has, especially Nike's Champion. It will make transferring Loki's soul that much easier."

I tensed, ready to counter any attack she made against me. But instead of raising her sword and trying to kill me, Agrona strolled toward Logan. I still couldn't see the Spartan's face, but surely he knew that I was here-that I was trying to save him.

A flicker of movement caught my eye. I turned my head and realized that Daphne was giving off more and more pink sparks of magic. The Valkryie had a stricken look on her pretty face.

"Run!" she mouthed to me.

But I couldn't run. I had to save Logan. I had to save them all, and that meant buying Morgan, Alexei, and Grandma Frost as much time as possible. Surely, they were almost in position now. All I had to do was hold out another minute or two-

"Logan," Agrona said in a sweet voice. "Do me a favor. Take this sword, and kill Gwen with it, please."

My head snapped around at her words. Logan? Kill me? He would never, ever do that. I didn't care what kind of creepy ritual Agrona and the other Reapers had performed on him. I didn't care what kind of mind-controlled zombie they'd turned him into. I knew the Spartan. I loved him, and he loved me. He would never hurt me-never.

Logan's hand jerked forward, and he took the weapon from Agrona. Worry surged through me, but I stood my ground.

"Come on, now," Agrona cooed. "That's a good boy."

The Spartan slowly got to his feet, his back still to me. Agrona stepped away from him, and I noticed that the jewels she wore were burning even brighter now. I could feel a force emanating from the gems-the same malevolent force I'd felt when Loki had stared at me with his burning red eye. My dread increased that much more, especially when Logan started twirling the sword in his hand, getting a feel for the weapon the way I'd seen him do so many times before in gym class.

After a few seconds, he lowered the sword to his side, adjusting his grip on it.

"Go on," Agrona commanded. "She's right there behind you. Kill her. Now."

The Spartan paused, then slowly turned to face me. I drew in a horrified gasp.

Logan's eyes were completely, utterly Reaper red.

Chapter 27

"Logan?" I whispered. "Logan?"

Agrona let out a pleased laugh. "He can't hear you, Gypsy. He can't hear anything but what I tell him, thanks to these lovely jewels we're both wearing."

"What are you talking about-"

For the first time, I noticed that Logan was wearing a necklace, just like Agrona was. Actually, it was more like a collar. Rubies, emeralds, and topaz gleamed around a wide gold band that circled the Spartan's neck.

Once again, I thought of the ID card I'd found in the library, the one that described the magic attached to Apate's jewels. I'd wondered what the Reapers were going to do with the other gems-now, I knew. They'd needed them for the transformation ritual, along with the book.

"No," I whispered again. "No."

I looked at Logan, who stared back at me with his crimson eyes. For a moment, I flashed back to that night in the forest when Loki had been freed. It was almost like I was looking into the evil god's face again. That's how horrible it was, that's how wrong it was, for Logan's eyes to be Reaper red instead of their normal, icy blue. It was like I was staring into a stranger's face.

The Spartan took a step forward, then another one, and another, once again twirling the sword Agrona had given him.

"Logan, it's me," I said, pleading with him. "You don't want to hurt me. I know you don't, deep down inside. Please, please don't do this. You're a Spartan. You can fight anyone, you can beat anything. I know you can fight back against whatever it is they've done to you. Please, please try. For me. For us."

The Spartan paused. He frowned, and for a moment his eyes were clear and blue once again.

"Kill her!" Agrona ordered, the jewels she wore burning even brighter than before. "Kill the Gypsy! Now!"

The blue in Logan's eyes vanished, drowned by that Reaper red again, and I knew I'd lost him. Logan let out a roar, raised his sword over his head, and charged at me.

CLANG!

Logan tried to kill me with that first strike, and it took all the strength I had to keep him from cutting through my defense and chopping my head off my shoulders.

"Logan," I said again. "Stop! It's me! Your Gypsy girl!"

He backed away and raised his sword for another strike. I had no choice but to defend myself, although I ended up pulling my counterattack, not wanting to hurt the Spartan.

Logan had other ideas, though. Our swords locked together, and we seesawed back and forth for a moment. Then, the Spartan smiled and punched me in the face.

Pain exploded in my jaw. I stumbled away, but Logan came after me. He slammed his sword into mine, knocking Vic out of my grasp. I elbowed the Spartan in the stomach as hard as I could, forcing him back. Then, I dove after the sword, just managing to snag Vic before he went sailing off the stage.

"Get into the fight, Gwen," Vic snapped at me as I lurched to my feet. "He's going to kill you if you don't fight back."

"No," I insisted in a stubborn tone. "It's Logan. He won't hurt me. He would never hurt me."

"That's not Logan right now," Vic said, sadness filling his purplish eye. "And he won't stop until one of you is dead. Do the Spartan a favor, Gwen. Put him out of his misery. You know Logan. You know he'd rather be dead than to have this happen to him, than to be twisted into some new version of Loki. Champions have to make sacrifices, Gwen. And this one is yours."

I wanted to argue with the sword some more, but I couldn't because Logan charged at me again.

I parried his attack, then lashed out with Vic, forcing the Spartan to jump back. I was at the very front of the stage, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the doors on the floor level slowly open. Morgan and Alexei eased inside, followed by Grandma Frost. They crept up behind the Reaper who was standing at the top of the steps. I knew I had to give my friends as much time as I could, so I threw myself at Logan.

Clash-clash-clang!

Our weapons crossed and crossed and crossed again, each one of us trying to get the advantage. I managed to kick out and catch Logan in the knee, and the Spartan staggered away from me. I risked another glance to the left just in time to see Grandma Frost ram her sword into the Reaper's back, and Morgan and Alexei surge past her and into the Reapers guarding the members of the Protectorate.

Surprised screams and shouts rang out. Agrona and Vivian's heads snapped around, and they realized that they were in danger of losing control of the situation.

"Kill the Gypsy, Logan!" Agrona screamed. "Kill them all!"

After that, it was just utter chaos on stage, with everyone fighting everyone else. Morgan managed to free Ajax and Metis, while Grandma Frost protected her back, and Alexei worked at cutting Sergei and Inari loose. Nickamedes rammed his shoulder into the Reaper closest to him, sending the man crashing into Vivian and Agrona. Daphne, Carson, Oliver, and Kenzie surged to their feet, lashing out at the guards who surrounded them, and Linus did the same.

But Logan didn't seem to notice the battle around us-he had his orders to kill me, and he was determined to carry them out no matter what. We'd only been fighting for two minutes before I knew that I was going to lose.

Logan Quinn was the best warrior at Mythos Academy, the best warrior of his generation. Even though the Spartan had been training me for the past few months, I was nowhere near his league, and I doubted that I ever would be. It was all I could do to keep him from chopping me into little pieces.

Desperate, I called up all the memories I had of Logan, all the memories I'd absorbed when I'd first kissed the Spartan. I focused on those feelings and images, and then I did something I'd vowed never to do-I used the Spartan's own skills, tricks, and fighting techniques against him.

It slowed him down, but it didn't stop him-and I knew nothing short of death would.

By the three-minute mark, I was almost out of breath, and my heart was beating as hard as it could and not pop out of my chest. And still, I couldn't break through Logan's defenses. But I wasn't going to give up. There had to be another way to get the Spartan to come back to himself-to come back to me.

A flash of Reaper red caught my eye, and I noticed Agrona struggling with Nickamedes. She pushed him back, and Vivian tossed a sword at her before turning to fight Sergei. Agrona caught the weapon and swung it at Nickamedes. The motion made the gems in her necklace and ring gleam with a sinister light. Suddenly, I had an idea of how I could save Logan.

The next time the Spartan came at me, I shoved him away, then turned and ran through the fight toward Agrona. The Reaper knocked Nickamedes down and raised her sword high, ready to bring it down on his neck. I lowered my shoulder and tackled her, driving her to the ground.

I landed on top of Agrona, and her head snapped against the stage, stunning her. That gave me enough time to reach down and yank the gold chain from around her neck. The rubies and emeralds burned as bright as stars, but I tossed the necklace down onto the stage, raised up Vic, and snapped his hilt down on top of each and every one of the stones. ns class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true">