Logan chowed down on the vanilla cheesecake he’d gotten for himself, while Carson nibbled on a blackberry scone.
A few minutes later, a Viking who played the tuba in the marching band came over to talk to Carson and Daphne, and the three of them started chatting, leaving me and Logan to face each other again.
“I’m glad we did this today,” Logan said in a quiet voice. “It’s been nice to get away from the academy for a while.”
Since it was Saturday, we’d spent the afternoon browsing through the shops in Cypress Mountain, the suburb where the academy was located. Well, really, Daphne dragged us all from one store to the next, but Logan was right. It had been a relief to leave campus and all the problems there behind for a few hours. Even if I had been secretly expecting Vivian, Agrona, and a group of Reapers to show up and attack us somewhere between the bookstore at one end of the main drag and the jewelry shop at the other.
“Yeah,” I said. “Me too.”
I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t see him grimace again, and leaned my head on his shoulder. The motion made bits of metal press against my throat, part of the six silver strands that wrapped around my neck and formed the diamond-tipped snowflake necklace that I always wore, the one Logan had given me.
Thinking about the necklace reminded me of everything we’d been through, and I scooted even closer to him, feeling the warmth of his body soak into my own. He let out a soft sigh, although I couldn’t tell what sort of emotion went along with it. Maybe happiness, or perhaps wariness again. But this time, Logan wrapped both of his arms around me and held me tight.
Even though I didn’t think it was possible, I actually found myself relaxing and enjoying the time with Logan and my friends. We quickly scarfed down our desserts, coffee, and hot chocolate and spent the next two hours laughing and talking. Finally, though, we decided to head back to the academy. Everyone put their dirty mugs and plates on an oversize tray, which I grabbed and took over to one of the trash cans. I’d just tossed the last used napkin away when I realized that people were whispering about me again—three Romans that I
recognized from my afternoon gym class.
“. . . you think the Gypsy girl will really keep something from happening?”
“Nah . . . the Reapers will strike no matter what she does . . .”
“I hope so, considering how much money I put down . . .”
Money? Money for what? I frowned and looked over my shoulder at the three guys, but they were all absorbed in their laptops again. They didn’t even look up as I walked past them. I peered at their computer screens, but they were all surfing the Internet and playing games. It didn’t look like they were up to anything suspicious. Still, I knew from past experience that anyone could be a Reaper—no matter how nice and harmless he might seem.
“What’s wrong?” Logan asked when I sat down beside him again. “You look upset.”
I jerked my head in the direction of the three guys. “Them. For some reason, they were talking about me and Reapers and money. It was weird.”
Logan exchanged a knowing, guilty look with Daphne and Carson.
“What?” I asked, my stomach clenching with dread again. “What’s wrong? What are those guys up to?”
“There’s a pool that the Reapers will do something at the Valentine’s Day dance,” Logan said. “Kids are betting on what they’ll do and how bad the damage will be this time around.”
The Valentine’s Day dance was Friday night. According to Daphne, it was one of the biggest social events of the year at the academy, as big as prom at other schools.
So big, in fact, that she’d made me go shopping in Ashland last weekend too, so she could find the perfect dress to wear, and she’d made me buy something new as well. Logan had already asked me to the dance, but I hadn’t thought too much about it. The way things had been going lately, I was just trying to get through one day at a time without being attacked by another Reaper. “They’re betting about Reapers ruining the dance? You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said. “Why would they
want to bet on something like that?” Logan shrugged.
My good mood vanished. Because the three guys were right. The Reapers probably would crash and ruin the dance like they did everything else at the academy. Maybe the dance was exactly what they were waiting for, and that’s why we hadn’t heard anything about Vivian and Agrona since the battle at the Eir Ruins out in Colorado.
I stood up. “C’mon,” I snapped. “Let’s get out of here.”
Logan got to his feet and threaded his fingers through mine. I squeezed his hand back, trying to calm my sudden anger—and worry.
We left Kaldi Coffee, with Daphne and Carson trailing along behind us. The four of us didn’t talk much as we walked back toward campus. For once, it wasn’t snowing, and the sun was shining brightly overhead, although it was still bitterly cold, even for February. Or maybe that was the fear seeping through my body at the thought of what the Reapers might do at the Valentine’s Day dance—and how many people they might kill this time.
I was so busy brooding that I didn’t notice Logan’s steps slow and then stop. I looked up, thinking he was waiting at the crosswalk. Then I realized that three black SUVs were parked outside the main gate to Mythos Academy.
I tensed, pulling my hand out of Logan’s and dropping it down onto Vic’s hilt, ready to grab the sword in case Vivian, Agrona, or any other Reapers decided to storm out of the vehicles and attack us.
But it wasn’t a Reaper who opened the driver’s door of the lead SUV—it was a tall, thin man with blond hair and blue eyes. His winter clothes were covered by a gray robe, embroidered with the logo of a hand holding a set of balanced scales. I recognized him at once.
Linus Quinn. Logan’s dad. And, more important, the head of the Protectorate, the police force for the mythological world.
That dread I’d been feeling all day intensified, my stomach clenching tight once more. Because I doubted that Linus was here simply to visit his son. No, something was up, and I had a feeling that the quiet of the last two weeks had come to an end.
Still, I couldn’t help looking at Daphne in morbid satisfaction. “What did I tell you? Our first double date? Officially ruined.”
Chapter 2
Linus wasn’t the only one who got out of the first SUV. The doors opened, and two more men appeared, both wearing gray robes.
One of the men was short and stocky, with brown hair, hazel eyes, tan skin, and a face that always seemed to be smiling, while the other man was tall and slender, with black hair, dark eyes, and a far more serious expression. Sergei Sokolov and Inari Sato, Linus’s friends and two more important members of the Protectorate. My unease increased. If all three of them were here, that meant something major was going down.