Killer Frost (Mythos Academy #6)(57)

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.

But Rory had noticed that something was going on, and she gave my grandma a suspicious look. Then again, Rory was almost always suspicious about everything, and with good reason, since her parents had been Reapers and had hidden that truth from her for years.

“Gwen!” A faint voice drifted over to me. “Gwen!”

I whirled around. To my surprise, Carson was running toward me as fast as he could, his boots slapping against the cobblestone path and his arms pumping in time with his long strides. He’d barely come into view when I realized that several other people were running along behind them—and that most of them were wearing gray Protectorate robes.

I sighed. They’d gotten here sooner than I’d thought they would.

I turned to the leader of the gryphons. “You might want to leave now. This isn’t going to be pleasant for me. Or you either, if you stick around.”

The gryphon bowed his head. He let out a fierce screech, and he and the other two creatures flapped their wings and soared up into the air. But they didn’t go far, perching in the tops of the trees above our heads, watching over us as best they could.

“Gwen! Gwen!” Carson kept shouting at me.

I sighed again and turned to face the music. “Whatever happens, I’m so grateful to you for rescu—

ing me, pumpkin,” Grandma Frost murmured, reaching over and giving my hand a gentle squeeze. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Me too,” Vic piped up from his spot in his scabbard. “And I’m sure the fuzzball will be as well.”

I looked at Grandma. “No matter what happens to me, make sure Nyx is taken care of. Please?”

She squeezed my hand again. “Consider it done.” Carson finally sputtered to a stop in front of us. His

brown eyes were wide behind his black glasses, and he bent down and put his hands on his knees as he tried to suck down some much-needed oxygen.

“Daphne . . . and . . . Oliver . . .” he rasped, panting for breath. “Just . . . texted me. They’re almost back . . . to the academy.”

The last tight knot of worry loosened in my chest. I hadn’t been able to text my friends while we’d been flying back, and I was so glad that they were okay, that they’d gotten away from the Reapers who’d gone into the woods after them.

“Good. Tell them thanks for everything they did,” I said. “For everything you all did. I couldn’t have done it without you, even if I didn’t realize it at the time.”

Carson managed to grin in between sucking down more giant gulps of air.

I stepped in front of the others, making sure they were behind me. This had been my idea, not theirs, and I was going to be the one to take full responsibility for it—along with the brunt of the punishment.

So I lifted my chin and waited.

Linus Quinn came striding down the path toward me, his gray Protectorate robe snapping around his legs, as though it was trying to show me exactly how angry he was with me. In fact, I thought I could see a vein throbbing in his temple from here.

Linus finally reached me, and his eyes locked with mine. Oh yeah. I could definitely see that vein throbbing in his temple now. His cold blue gaze met mine for a moment before he looked past me at the others. He carefully examined Grandma Frost, Rory, Rachel, and the gryphons in turn before he stared at me again.