Killer Frost (Mythos Academy #6)(14)

It was like stepping into a war zone.

Screams, snarls, shrieks, and shouts ripped through the air all around me, along with the constant clashclash-clang of swords smashing together and the occasional, high-pitched caw-caw-caw from one of the Black rocs. The coppery stench of blood mixed with the smell of burned rubber from where the Reapers had spun their tires, building up enough speed to ram the artifacts van and the SUV that I’d been riding in.

I staggered forward, my head spinning and my body aching, a little more shaken up from the crash than I’d realized, but I shoved the feelings away and concentrated on the van in front of me. Vivian and Agrona were standing off to one side of the road, next to a Black roc, while the other Reapers clustered around the van. Apparently, the back doors of the vehicle were locked because one of the Reapers drew a crowbar out from the folds of his black robe and went to work trying to pry open one of the doors. The left side of the van had been smushed in, just like with our SUV, but there was no sign of Linus, Inari, Oliver, or Alexei, so I had no idea how badly they might have been injured in the crash.

I risked a quick glance back over my shoulder. Reapers surrounded the other two SUVs that had been at the rear of the convoy and were fighting the members of the Protectorate who had hopped out of those vehicles. Aiko moved through the Reapers, spinning this way and that, like a leaf dancing in the wind. She seemed to be trying to break through the line of Reapers to get to the artifacts van. So did all the other members of the Protectorate, but there were too many Reapers between them and the van, and I knew they wouldn’t be able to defeat the other warriors in time.

Up to me, then.

“Reapers,” Vic said in a low, bloodthirsty voice. “Finally, finally, some Reapers to kill. What are you waiting for, Gwen? Charge! Charge! Charge!”

I knew exactly how he felt. “With pleasure,” I muttered back to him.

I tightened my grip on the sword and sprinted forward. Vivian, Agrona, and the other Reapers remained focused on the back of the artifacts van. Apparently, they’d thought that the hard crash had incapacitated everyone in my SUV, so they didn’t even glance in my direction.

“Get that door open!” Agrona shouted above the commotion. “Quickly! Before the Protectorate calls for reinforcements!”

The van was about fifty feet away from me, and I’d just stepped past the front of our smashed SUV when I spotted a swirl of black out of the corner of my eye. One of the Reapers had been standing on the other side of the vehicle, watching to make sure that no one got out of it. He raised his sword high, ready to bring it down on top of my head, but I darted forward and slashed Vic across his chest. The Reaper crumpled to the ground.

“That’s my girl!” Vic crowed. “Let’s fight another one!” I would have preferred not to, but another Reaper had noticed me battling her friend and came running over as well. But once again, I managed to get the better of the other warrior, and she crumpled to the ground as well, moaning and clutching at the stomach wound I’d given her. But fighting the two warriors had cost me precious seconds, and I wasn’t any closer to the van

than when I’d started—

SCREECH!

The Reaper with the crowbar finally managed to wrench open one of the van’s back doors. He must have been a Viking and used his strength to help him get inside the vehicle. He reached through the gap, unlocked the second door, and threw it open as well. Any second now, the Reapers would get their hands on the wooden crates containing the artifacts, load them onto the rocs, and disappear into the woods with them—

Oliver and Alexei erupted out of the back of the van and jumped down into the group of Reapers closest to the open vehicle doors. Alexei clutched the twin Swords of Ruslan in his hands, swinging the weapons at every single Reaper who came near him. Meanwhile, Oliver punched the Reaper closest to him, plucked the other man’s sword out of his hand, flipped it around, and stabbed the other warrior in the chest with his own weapon. Spartans had freaky magic like that, the ability to pick up any weapon—or any object—and automatically know how to kill someone with it.

But despite Oliver’s Spartan skill and Alexei’s Bogatyr bravery, they were still going to lose.

Reapers surrounded them on three sides, severely outnumbering Oliver and Alexei and pinning them back against the van, and I knew it was only a matter of time before they overwhelmed my friends. Even if I stepped up and joined the battle, it wouldn’t be enough to save them. There were just too many Reapers for that. Desperate, I looked around, trying to figure out some way to help Oliver and Alexei and at least give them a fighting chance. But all I saw were the smashed vehicles, Reapers, and the Black rocs they’d brought along with them—My gaze locked on to the flock of birds. The Reapers had left them at the edge of the road, where the pavement gave way to the woods. The Reapers who had been watching the rocs had joined the fight against Oliver and Alexei, so the creatures stood by patiently, waiting for the warriors to climb onto their backs so they could fly off to parts unknown.

I didn’t know all that much about Black rocs, just that they were big, strong, and deadly, like Nemean prowlers, Fenrir wolves, and Eir gryphons. But a crazy idea popped into my mind. Maybe . . . maybe if I could startle the rocs into flying off, it would at least draw some of the Reapers away from Oliver and Alexei.

It was a hasty plan at best, but it was the only chance

I had—and my friends too.