Part 11 (1/2)

Apparently, Linus had decided to question Logan first, because he was standing beside his son, with Agrona hovering nearby. From the tense expression on Logan's face, I knew they were talking about me. Metis was speaking with Sergei, Nickamedes, Daphne, and Oliver. She waved at Inari, and the Ninja moved over to join them. I didn't see Raven anywhere. She must have left with the workers and bodies already.

That left me alone-until Alexei came over to me. I'd thought that he would just silently watch me like he'd been doing all day, but instead, he reached out and touched my arm.

Alexei hesitated. ”I wanted to thank you-for saving my life tonight. Oliver's too. If you hadn't warned us when you did . . .”

”It was nothing.”

”It wasn't nothing,” he protested. ”My first a.s.signment from the Protectorate, and I let myself be . . . distracted by Oliver when I was supposed to be watching you. I failed the Protectorate, and I failed my father.”

”Your dad seems okay with how you handled yourself,” I said. ”Besides, everyone makes mistakes. Trust me. I've made some gigantic ones recently. You know, getting tricked into finding the Helheim Dagger, being forced to free Loki, dooming the entire world.”

I winced. I'd tried to make my voice light, but even I could hear the darkness in my words. They were nothing to joke about. Especially not now.

”Yes, but you jumped into the middle of the fight,” Alexei said. ”And you made sure that Oliver and I had the weapons we needed to defend ourselves.”

”You would have done the same for me, for any warrior.”

He shook his head. ”I don't know about that. My orders were to watch you-nothing else.”

”Is that why you didn't do anything in the dining hall this morning? And when those guys threw their sodas at me outside the library? Because Linus told you not to interfere?”

He nodded.

”And now?”

He shrugged. ”Now, I don't know what to think.”

Sergei gestured at his son, and Alexei walked over to him. Well, it wasn't quite an apology for standing by while I'd been threatened, but it was a start. Right now, I'd take what I could get. Because I had a feeling things were going to get a lot worse before they got better-if they ever could.

Finally, an hour later, everyone had given their statements to the Protectorate, and we were all free to leave the library.

”Go straight back to your dorm room, Miss Frost,” Linus warned me. ”Alexei, make sure she gets there.”

Alexei nodded, relief on his face at the fact that he was being given a second chance to watch me.

”I'm going too,” Logan said.

Linus opened his mouth to argue, but he saw the stubborn set of Logan's jaw. ”Fine. I'll see you at breakfast in the morning, just as we planned. Don't be late.”

Logan sighed, but he nodded at his father. I said my good-byes to Daphne and Oliver, then left the library with Logan and Alexei.

It had grown bitterly cold while we'd been inside, and more snow had covered the ground since I'd stepped onto the balcony looking for the Reaper. I s.h.i.+vered and wrapped my gray scarf a little tighter around my neck to help keep out the chill. It was almost ten o'clock, and all the other students were already safe and snug inside their dorms for the night. The three of us made it over to Styx Hall without seeing anyone else. We stopped at the bottom of the steps, and Logan turned to Alexei.

”Can you give us a few minutes alone, please?” the Spartan asked.

I thought Alexei would say no, given what Linus had said to him in the library, but the Bogatyr nodded and drifted off to stand underneath one of the trees that ringed the dorm. Logan stared at me, his blue eyes somehow bright, despite the shadows around us.

”How are you holding up, Gypsy girl?” he asked in a soft voice.

”Oh, you know. Another day, another night, another battle to the death with Reapers in the library,” I joked. ”It's the Mythos Academy special.”

Logan smiled a little, but we could both hear how hollow my words really were.

”Why do you think the Reaper took that box?” he asked. ”I know you said you didn't get any big flashes off the case with your magic.”

I shook my head. ”No, nothing useful. Just the Reaper smas.h.i.+ng the gla.s.s and taking the artifacts. I'm going to go back tomorrow and try again, just in case I missed anything.”

Logan nodded, and we were quiet for a few seconds.

”I'm sorry about my dad,” he said.

”It's okay. He's just doing his job. I'd rather he be here and worried about you than not around at all, wouldn't you?”

Logan shook his head. ”Maybe. But I'd rather he not dis my girlfriend every chance he gets. He started in on you again tonight in the library before Agrona distracted him by changing the subject.”

My breath caught in my throat at the word Logan had just said. ”Girlfriend?” I whispered.

Logan gave me a crooked grin. ”Well, yeah. That's what we are now, right? Together? As in a real couple?”

Despite all the horrible things that had happened over the past few days, happiness erupted in my heart like fireworks streaking up into the sky and exploding in a hundred happy colors. If I'd had a Valkyrie's magic, sparks would have been shooting out of my fingertips like lightning. For a moment, everything was bright, beautiful, and perfect-simply perfect.

Then, Logan frowned, as if another thought had just occurred to him. ”Unless you sneak back into the stacks and make out with just any guy who saves your life a few times.”

I rolled my eyes and lightly punched him in the shoulder. ”And there you go again, ruining the moment.”

The Spartan laughed and drew me into his arms. The heat of his body washed over me, driving away the cold and awakening all the feelings I had for him-feelings that made me wish Alexei wasn't standing a few feet away.

”I'm glad you're okay,” I whispered, gazing up at him.

”You too.”

”When I saw the Reapers in the library, I was so worried that maybe they'd already killed you and Daphne-” My throat closed up, and I couldn't get the words out to tell him how scared I'd been of losing him.

”But I made it through another battle and so did you, Gypsy girl,” he said in a gentle voice. ”No matter what happens, I'll always come back to you.”

”Promise?” I asked in a shaky voice.

Logan's eyes burned with icy determination. ”Promise.”

He leaned forward, resting his forehead against mine. I stood up on my tiptoes and kissed him once, softly, before putting my head on his chest. Logan's arms tightened around my back, and he pulled me even closer. And we stayed like that, just holding each other in the cold dark for as long as we could.

Chapter 15.

I hadn't thought it was possible, but the next day was even worse than the one before.