I used their distraction to reach into my other jeans pocket and pull out a wad of material that I’d looped over and over itself, making it resemble a small belt. I snapped the material open, and a length of gnarled, knotted, light gray seaweed unspooled in my hand. The net of Ran, the Norse goddess of storms, which had the unusual property of making whatever it was holding much lighter. I’d used it before to ride the gryphons, and I was going to use it now to get us out of here.
“Hurry, Gwen!” Vic urged. “They’re regrouping!” Sure enough, the Reapers were creeping toward the
adult gryphon again, but a couple of arrows from Daphne and Oliver in the woods took care of that. Grandma Frost and I raced over to the adult gryphon, and I threw the net over his back, looped it around his neck, and tied the whole thing together. Then, Grandma and I scrambled onto his broad back, both of us hooking our hands through the net so we wouldn’t fall off the creature.
“Get us out of here!” I yelled.
The adult gryphon let out another loud screech, pumped his wings once, and shot up into the air. So did the baby gryphon that was carrying Rory; a third gryphon had appeared to fly Rachel away as well. I knew that Daphne and Oliver would find their own way out of the woods and back to Oliver’s car and would meet up with us later at the academy. That was the plan we’d worked out before, and my friends should have no problem getting away from the Reapers and back to Oliver’s SUV.
Still, as the gryphon flew higher and higher, I leaned over the side of the creature’s back and stared down into the clearing below. Agrona was still hovering over Loki and screaming at the other Reapers, most of whom were staring up at the gryphons, their mouths open wide in utter shock.
And then there was Vivian.
For the first time ever, I had the supreme satisfaction of staring down at my nemesis and seeing the rage and frustration on her face as the gryphons carried me, Grandma Frost, Rory, and Rachel to safety.
Chapter 20
I couldn’t help but laugh as the gryphons flew higher and higher and faster and faster.
All sorts of emotions surged through me, but the main one was relief—relief that I’d actually been able to pull off my plan and save my grandma and the candle from the Reapers.
But that emotion was quickly tempered by another, darker realization—Loki was injured, but not dead.
And I still had no idea how to kill him.
I’d used up all the laurels but one. Sure, the leaves had hurt him and probably made his body even more twisted and broken than before, but they hadn’t killed him.
And I didn’t know what would.
But one thing was for certain—this wasn’t over. Because I still had Sol’s candle, and the Reapers still wanted it. Loki still wanted it. Because there was enough of it left to heal at least one more person, and I couldn’t let Loki get his hands on it, or we’d be right back where we’d started.
No, the Reapers would come after the candle again. It was just a matter of when and how many of them there would be.
Still, I was determined to enjoy this rare moment of triumph because I knew exactly how brief it would be. No doubt Linus had figured out by now that I’d taken the candle, and he’d be waiting at the academy, probably ready to clap me in chains and drag me down to the prison as soon as I showed my face there. But I didn’t care because I’d saved my grandma. At least for the moment. What the next few hours would bring, well, I couldn’t say, but I’d face the new troubles head-on, just like I had everything else so far.
Vivian’s mansion wasn’t all that far from the academy, and it didn’t take long before the town of Cypress Mountain came into sight, with its cluster of shops and streets.
I leaned down and pointed to the edge of campus and a spot behind the stone wall that ringed the grounds. I could have told the gryphon to land in the middle of the main quad, like he’d done the last time I’d ridden him out in Colorado, but I wanted at least a few minutes with Rory, Rachel, my grandma, and the gryphons before the Protectorate came and dragged me away.
“Put us down there,” I yelled above the roar of the wind in my ears. “Please.”
The gryphon nodded, and I felt a wave of understanding surge off him and into me. He let out a fierce screech, and the baby followed his father’s lead, as well as the third gryphon. The three of them dove toward the ground in unison, hovering in midair like helicopters, whipping up snow and leaves with the fierce beats of their broad bronze wings, before gently touching down. I let go of the net and slid off the gryphon’s back, and Grandma Frost did the same.
I turned toward her. “Are you okay?”
She nodded and grabbed my hands. “I’m better now that we’re away from that awful place.”
“Come on,” I said, untying the net from the gryphon, folding it up, and stuffing it back into my jeans pocket. “We don’t have a lot of time.”
I led her over to the others. Rachel was already on the ground, stroking the head of the gryphon she’d been riding, while Rory gracefully slid off the baby’s back and scratched behind his ears. They both turned to face me as I approached, and the gryphons gathered around the four of us.
“How was your trip out here?” I asked.
Rachel and Rory both grinned at each other, then at me.
“The plane ride was fine,” Rachel said. “And the gryphons met us exactly where you wanted them to.”
“Although it was a little freaky holing up at your grandma’s house with gryphons wandering around in the backyard and hiding out in that park on the other side of the hill,” Rory chimed in. “I thought for sure that the Protectorate was going to come in and bust us at any second, but they never did.”
That was the plan I’d worked out with Rory. I knew I’d need some way to get myself and Grandma away from the Reapers fast, and the gryphons had aided me once before at the Eir Ruins. So I’d asked Rory and Rachel to hike up the mountain, find the cavern where the gryphons made their home, and ask the creatures to come to North Carolina to help me battle the Reapers. And here they were—my plan had worked like the proverbial charm.
I introduced Rachel, Rory, and the gryphons to Grandma Frost, who nodded her head at them all in turn, then moved forward to shake Rachel’s hand, and then Rory’s. “Thank you for helping Gwen,” she said, still holding
on to Rory’s hand. “And me too.”
She looked at Rory, and her eyes grew glassy for a moment. I knew she was getting a glimpse of the Spartan girl’s future, but Grandma didn’t say anything about what she’d seen as her eyes cleared and she dropped Rory’s hand.