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 god'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 snatched 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 shield 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 pass 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.