Killer Frost (Mythos Academy #6)(70)
“I’m not really sure,” he mumbled. “I feel . . . weird.” He looked at me, and I realized that his eyes had darkened to an absolute black and had the same odd sheen that the bits of onyx on his horn did. The strange, unrelenting color of his eyes seemed to bleed into his glasses, making it look like the lenses were completely black and yet somehow glowing faintly at the same time. Carson turned away from me and walked farther out into the quad, into the very heart of the battle. I cursed and went after him. I had to protect Carson. He was going to get himself killed, and Daphne would never
forgive me if that happened.
“Gwen!” I heard Logan scream behind me. “Watch out!”
I whirled around. Too late, I saw the Reaper who had snuck up on my blind side. I raised my sword, blocking the brutal blow that would have split my skull open, but the Reaper kicked out with his foot, catching me in the leg and making me stumble to the ground. Still on my knees, I lifted Vic, desperately trying to get him into position to counter the deadly blow that was coming my way—
CLASH!
Suddenly, Logan was there, darting in between me and the Reaper, and saving my life the way he had so many times before.
Logan banged his weapon against the Reaper’s, taking the blow meant for me, before spinning around and attacking the other warrior. The Sword of Thanatos gleamed a ghostly silver in his hand, the edges seeming to blur, as though the entire weapon were made out of mist. The sword didn’t seem to cut into the Reaper so much as it passed right through him, like a cloud of death. That’s what it was in Logan’s hand.
The Reaper collapsed without a sound, and Logan spun the sword around in his hand. I blinked, and the illusion was gone, the weapon solid metal again.
Logan stretched out a hand and helped me to my feet. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Thanks to you—again.” He grinned. “Anytime.”
“Carson!” Daphne shouted from the library balcony. A golden arrow zipped past us and buried itself in the back of a Reaper who’d been about to bring his sword down on top of Carson’s head. But the band geek walked on, completely unconcerned by the bloody chaos raging around him. His steps were slow and measured, and I had a feeling that if I could see his face, his features would be completely slack and blank. The Horn of Roland must have turned him into some sort of zombie, like the Bowl of Tears had once done to Morgan. That’s why Carson was walking into the middle of the fight instead of staying with me and my friends. I didn’t know what sort of power the artifact had, but it was obvious that it
had taken control of Carson.
Logan looked at me and nodded, his blue eyes blazing with the same determination that I felt. I gripped Vic a little tighter and nodded back. Now, the two of us had to make sure that Carson lived long enough to use his artifact.
Together, Logan and I hurried after the band geek, trying to keep close enough to protect him. He was like a calm little bunny hopping into a den of angry, hungry lions. The Reapers realized that Carson didn’t have a weapon and that he wasn’t fighting back, and they all scrambled to try to take down such an easy target.
“Faster, Gwen, faster!” Vic shouted, his mouth moving underneath my palm. “You can’t let the Reapers get in between the two of you or the Celt is dead!”
“Don’t you think I know that!” I yelled back at the sword, although I had no idea if he or Logan could hear me over the sounds of the fight.
A Reaper stepped in front of me, but I slashed Vic across his chest, shoved the other warrior out of the way, and hurried after Carson.
Ducking and dodging, sidestepping and leaping, whirling and twirling, Logan and I managed to keep up with the band geek as he moved from the library steps all the way over to the center of the quad.
Carson finally stopped, and I almost slammed into his back. Another Reaper came at us, but before he could attack, Daphne put an arrow into his chest. The Reaper crashed to a stop at our feet. But Carson continued to stand there, staring down at the horn in his hands as if nothing else mattered. I bit my lip. I wanted nothing more than to reach out and shake him, but I didn’t want to ruin his concentration . . . or whatever he was doing.
The Celt will know what to do with the horn when the time comes, Nike’s voice whispered in my mind. That’s what the goddess had said to me when I’d questioned her about why my friends had the artifacts they did.
I cut down another Reaper charging at us. Logan did the same. Whatever it was, I hoped that Carson figured it out soon. Otherwise, the three of us were dead.
Another Reaper fell at my feet, thanks to Daphne and her arrows, and I looked over at the far edge of the quad, where Vivian, Agrona, and Loki were still standing, out of the main part of the fight. Vivian spotted me, then her golden gaze flicked to Carson. She frowned and pointed us out to Agrona. Loki followed Vivian’s finger, but instead of staring at me with hate in his eyes as usual, his angry gaze locked onto Carson instead. His eyes bulged in surprise, then his face mottled with red rage.
“Kill him!” Loki screamed at the Reapers. “Don’t let him blow that horn—”
But it was too late. Carson slowly brought the Horn of Roland up to his lips, closed his eyes, and started to play.
Chapter 26
One sweet, simple note drifted out of the horn, so soft that I thought I had only imagined it at first. Carson opened his eyes, drew back, and frowned, staring at the horn as if he was confused, as if it hadn’t done what he’d thought it would or what he wanted it to.