Midnight Frost

said. “The change in altitude is killing me, I tell you. Killing me!”
    I wanted to point out that the sword was the one who killed things, not the other way around, but I kept quiet. Finally, a minute later, something squeaked deep inside the metal, and Vic’s face relaxed.
    “There,” he said. “All better. Now, time to take care of the jet lag. Wake me when there are Reapers to kill.”
    His purplish eye snapped shut. I thought about shaking him awake, so he’d be as cranky and sleep-deprived as I was, but I decided against it. I didn’t want to listen to him complain all the way to . . . wherever it was we were going next.
    I slid Vic back into my messenger bag, looped it across my chest, grabbed my duffel bag full of clothes, and plodded down the plane’s stairs with the others.
    The sun was just creeping up over the tops of the mountains, banishing the gray and lavender twilight that streaked across the sky. A bluish haze colored the Rockies themselves, softening the sharp edges of the tall, rugged peaks, before giving way to the snow that crowned the very tops of the mountains. My breath frosted in the air like a cloud of diamonds, and I suddenly realized how frigid it was, but the landscape was so beautiful that I didn’t mind the cold.
    “Come on,” Daphne said. “Quit gawking. We need to get moving.”
    I shouldered my bags and followed the others across the tarmac. We stepped into a hangar, and heat blasted over my face, chasing away the chill. We all trailed after Coach Ajax, who was leading the way. Right before we got to the door that would let us enter the rest of the airport, Ajax turned and held his hands out wide.
    “We all know the Reapers are probably already tracking us,” Ajax rumbled in his deep voice. “What we don’t know is how many spies the Reapers have, who they might be, or when they might decide to attack. So watch each other’s backs—now more than ever. I want at least two of you together at all times with your weapons handy. Don’t let yourselves get separated from each other.”
    “Why do they think we’re here?” I asked. “And who is they and where exactly is here?”
    “We’re going to the Denver branch of Mythos Academy,” Ajax said. “It’s located higher up in the Rockies, in a suburb called Snowline Ridge. We should arrive as classes are starting. We’ll take the day to prepare, then set out for the Eir Ruins tomorrow.”
    “And what are you telling the people at the academy about why we’ve suddenly shown up?” Alexei asked.
    Ajax shrugged. “That this is a special field trip for students who are interested in transferring to the Denver branch. We do these on occasion.”
    “In the middle of the winter semester?” Oliver asked. “Don’t you think that’s a little weak as far as excuses go?”
    The coach shrugged again. “It was the best excuse Metis and I could come up with on such short notice. Besides, the Reapers know why we’re here. There’s nothing we can do about that.”
    He was right. The Reapers had wanted us to come here, and now, all that was left to do was to see how things played out—and try to survive whatever trap the Reapers had in mind.
     
    We walked through the airport and stepped outside to a car rental station. Ajax must have called ahead, because a black Cadillac Escalade was waiting by the curb. Ajax signed some paperwork, took the keys from one of the workers, and got behind the wheel. Alexei slipped into the front passenger seat. Oliver and I sat in the middle row, with Daphne and Carson in the back.
    Nobody spoke as Ajax drove away from the airport—we were all too busy staring out the windows, already looking for the Reapers we knew were coming. But all we saw were modest homes and quiet streets.
    We’d been driving for about ten minutes when Oliver’s phone beeped, and he pulled it out of his pants pocket and stared at the screen.
    “Who’s that?” I asked.
    He typed out a quick message. “Just Kenzie, wondering if we’d landed yet.”
    Kenzie Tanaka was another one of our Spartan friends at Mythos. He’d stayed behind to help Metis with Nickamedes, so it made sense that he’d texted Oliver, wanting an update.
    “How’s Nickamedes?”
    Oliver hit some more buttons on his phone, sending my question. It beeped again a minute later. “No change, according to Kenzie. Everything’s quiet there, so far.”
    I let out a breath. Well, at least he hadn’t gotten any worse. If everything went