Midnight Frost

into my thoughts.
    “Of course I want you to come along,” I said, finally answering his question. “I never said I didn’t.”
    I just don’t want you to leave and break my heart all over again.
    That’s what I really wanted to tell him, but I kept my mouth shut. I might be hurt and angry, but I didn’t want to add to Logan’s guilt. He had enough of that already.
    He opened his mouth, but Ajax stuck his head out of the plane’s door.
    “Come on, you two,” the coach said. “We need to get in the air as soon as possible.”
    Logan hesitated again, then held out his hand. “After you.”
    I climbed up the steps to the plane with him behind me. I sat down next to Daphne, while Logan moved past me and took a seat next to Oliver, keeping his distance from me yet again.
    I could feel Logan’s eyes on me, but I put my head down and pretended to look for something in my messenger bag so he wouldn’t see me blink back the tears scalding my eyes.
    I hadn’t asked Logan what he would do after we got back to the academy and gave the ambrosia flower to Nickamedes. I didn’t have to because I already knew the answer.
    Logan was planning on leaving the academy, on leaving me—again.

Chapter 35
    It was late that afternoon when we finally got back to North Carolina. The others had managed to sleep on the plane, but I couldn’t. Oh, I wasn’t worried about having any more nightmares. Not now, when I knew Logan was safe from the Reapers. But too much had happened the past few days—and too much was still on my mind.
    We all kept an eye out for Reapers, but, for once, we managed to make it to our destination without getting attacked.
    Metis and Grandma Frost were pacing back and forth in the waiting room of the infirmary. Grandma looked tired, the wrinkles on her face deeper and more pronounced than usual, the colorful scarves drooping off her body. Metis also seemed exhausted, and much thinner than I remembered, but her face brightened when Ajax handed her the tube containing the ambrosia flower. Metis and Ajax disappeared into the back of the infirmary without another word, leaving the rest of us to sit and wait—just wait.
    I hugged Grandma and pulled her away from the others. “How is Nickamedes?”
    She smiled, but it was a tight, weary expression. “The poison progressed faster than Metis thought it would and faster than her healing magic could handle. She’s been using her magic on Nickamedes pretty much nonstop for the last six hours now, and all she’s been able to do is keep him alive. It’s a good thing you got back when you did, pumpkin. Now, we’ll just have to wait and see.”
    I let out a breath. We sat down at the far end of the infirmary, away from the others, and I told Grandma Frost everything that had happened—including what I’d found out about my dad and Rory’s parents.
    “Why didn’t you tell me anything about my dad? And Rory and her family?”
    Grandma shifted in her chair, and her violet eyes took on a distant look, almost as if she was peering back into the past. “After your father was killed by Reapers, Tyson finally managed to track down me, you, and your mom. Tyson told Grace he was sorry for what had happened, and he also told her to keep you as far away from him and the mythological world as possible. He said that he had a daughter too, and that he was trying to figure out some way to keep her safe from the Reapers. I guess he never did.”
    We fell silent for several minutes.
    Finally, I looked at her again. “So is this it? Or are there any more deep, dark, horrible skeletons in our family closet that I need to know about?”
    Grandma shook her head. “As far as I know, this is it, pumpkin. No more secrets.”
    I grimaced. “Well, I wouldn’t say that. Because I have one to share with you.”
    I turned to the side so my friends wouldn’t see what I was doing and showed her the silver laurel and mistletoe bracelet that Eir had given me. I also told Grandma what the goddess had said about how the laurels could be used to heal—or destroy.
    “What do you think I’m supposed to do with them?” I asked. “Do you think—do you really think that I can kill Loki with the laurels?”
    Grandma reached out and ran her finger across one of the silver leaves. “I don’t know, pumpkin. But Eir and Nike wanted you to have them for a reason. You’ll figure out what it is when it’s time. I know you will. You always do.”
    I wanted to tell her that I was sick of