I thought of all the things I hadn’t told him, all the secrets I’d been keeping from him, all the pressure I felt to find some way to save us all from the unending horror that was Loki.
I let go of his hand, not wanting to accidentally let him feel any of my turbulent emotions since my skin had been touching his. “Nothing’s wrong.” I tried to smile. “At least, nothing more so than usual.”
Perhaps the biggest secret I was keeping was the fact that I hadn’t told Logan that I was the one who was supposed to kill Loki. I’d especially kept quiet about that because I knew exactly what he would say. That it was impossible. That no one could do it. That it was a suicide mission. But even worse was my fear that Logan might try to do the job for me, in order to try to protect me. Because that was one fight I knew he wouldn’t win, much less survive.
I didn’t think I would survive it, either, but I was determined not to take the Spartan or any of my other friends down with me.
“Everything will work out,” Logan insisted, still trying to reassure me. “You’ll see.”
I wished I could have shared in his confidence, but I didn’t—I just didn’t. I’d already lost too many battles to Vivian and Agrona to think that they wouldn’t win this one too. But I knew Logan and his dad were trying to work things out, trying to fix their relationship, so I kept my mouth shut. Arguing with him and undermining his new fragile trust in Linus wouldn’t solve anything, and it certainly wouldn’t stop the Reapers from striking.
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” I said, forcing myself to smile at him.
Logan grinned back at me. “Of course, I’m right. I’m
always right.”
I rolled my eyes, leaned over, and lightly punched him in the shoulder. “And now you sound like Vic.”
“No, he doesn’t,” Vic piped up from his spot in the chair I’d propped him up in. “I am much more confident than the Spartan is.” He sniffed. “And with good reason.”
Logan and I both laughed, and the tension between us eased.
We ate our food in silence for the next several minutes. Despite all of the whipped cream, I had to admit that the peach Belgian waffles were surprisingly good. The batter was light and airy, with thick chunks of fresh, ripe peaches sprinkled throughout it, and the peach syrup drizzled over everything added even more sweetness to the dish. I’d also gotten a stack of bacon, which was perfectly crispy, while the hash browns were oozing with sharp cheddar cheese, just the way I liked them. I washed everything down with a glass of fresh-squeezed apple juice, enjoying the cool fruity concoction.
I had finished eating and had pushed my plate away when Logan reached over and grabbed my hand again, threading his fingers through mine. A soft, lighthearted sensation surged through me at the contact, and I sighed, enjoying this rare moment of peaceful happiness.
“So,” he said. “Do you think we can talk about the
Valentine’s Day dance now?” “What’s there to talk about?”
“What time you want me to pick you up, what color dress you’re wearing so I can get the right kind of corsage, where you want to go to make out after the dance is over with.” Logan gave me a wink. “You know. All the usual stuff.”
I laughed. “You must be feeling pretty confident to say something like that.”
His grin widened. “Always.”
I arched my eyebrow, then leaned forward and crooked my finger at him. Logan leaned in as well, as though we were conspiring about something terribly important.
“Well,” I said in a husky voice, staring into his blue, blue eyes. “The answers to your questions are seven o’clock, silver, and anywhere you want to take me. How do you like that?”
Logan’s grin widened. “I like those answers just fine.” He kissed me, his lips just barely brushing mine, although the soft, feathery touch still sent a wave of heat scorching through my veins. With everything that had been going on, we hadn’t had a lot of time to focus on us, and I knew Logan was trying to take my mind off things by asking me about the dance, by trying to pretend, at least for a few minutes, that we were a normal couple, eagerly planning our big night out. But instead, he only made me think about how far I’d come from that naïve, clueless girl who’d fallen in love with him at the homecoming dance last year—and how far I still had to go before things were settled.
One way or the other.
Logan drew back, grinned again, and opened his mouth, like he was going to tease me some more, but I didn’t give him the chance. I leaned in and kissed him again, wrapping my arms around his neck and desperately trying to ignore the little voice in the back of my mind that whispered that if the Reapers had their way, the dance would never take place.
And I probably would be dead soon, regardless of anything else that happened in the meantime.
Logan and I finished breakfast, and I schlepped to my first class, trailed as usual by Alexei. To my surprise, the rest of the day passed by in a completely normal and utterly boring fashion. Morning classes. Lunch with Daphne, Carson, Oliver, and Alexei in the dining hall. More classes in the afternoon. And then, finally, it was time for me to go visit Grandma Frost, as I’d promised her I would.
When I’d first come to Mythos, I’d snuck off campus to go see my grandma a few times every week before coming back to work my shifts at the Library of Antiquities, even though students weren’t supposed to leave campus during the week. But Linus Quinn and the rest of the Powers That Were at the academy had eventually realized they couldn’t stop me from going to visit my grandma; nobody batted an eye at my off-campus trips anymore.
But today, instead of riding the public bus down the mountain to the nearby town of Asheville where my grandma lived, I was in the back of another black SUV owned by the Protectorate. Alexei sat beside me in the back seat, while Sergei was driving. Nyx was nestled on the floorboard at my feet, napping, and I had Vic laid out flat across my lap, while I stared out the windows, waiting for Vivian and a group of Reapers to appear at any second and attack us.
“Relax, Gwen,” Alexei said. “Nothing’s going to happen today.”
I looked at him. “Really? Because that’s exactly what Linus said to me yesterday, right before the Reapers ambushed the Protectorate convoy. Funny, how you’ve forgotten about that already, especially since you were in the van that they smashed up.”
“I haven’t forgotten,” Alexei said. “But you’re overlooking the obvious.”