Midnight Frost

And neither are you.”
    Rory kept tugging at that loose thread on her jeans. “Yeah, Rachel’s great. She didn’t know about them being Reapers either, so she was just as clueless as I was. But word got out about them trying to steal the artifacts and killing those other students.”
    “And now all the other kids take it out on you—they hate you for it.”
    She shrugged. “I can handle it. I’m a Spartan.”
    Her words made me smile. “I know a Spartan guy who would say the exact same thing if he were here. His name is Logan.”
    Rory eyed me. “And why isn’t he here? Why isn’t he part of your adoring entourage?”
    “It’s complicated.”
    She snorted. “Isn’t it always?”
    “You have no idea.”
    We didn’t speak for a few moments. Finally, Rory turned to me again.
    “So what’s your story? The real story? Because I gotta say, I’ve heard some strange stuff about you.”
    I let out the same sort of harsh laugh that she had earlier. “Strange doesn’t even begin to cover it. One day, I’m just a girl going to public school who has no idea the mythological world even exists. Then, I have a freak-out with my magic, my mom gets murdered, and I get shipped off to Mythos Academy. I find out that I’m descended from a long line of Nike’s Champions and that I’m pretty much supposed to save the world from Loki. Only, I end up freeing Loki instead against my will, and now, I’ve got to figure out some way to stop him. Oh yeah, and the Reapers tried to put Loki’s soul into my boyfriend’s body, which made my boyfriend go all crazy, stab me in the chest, and almost kill me. Now, my boyfriend’s gone, but I still have nightmares about him trying to murder me.”
    Rory let out a low whistle. “And I thought my life sucked.”
    “Sucks isn’t a strong enough word,” I said. “Not by a long shot.”

Chapter 19
    Rory and I didn’t talk after that, but we didn’t get up and go our separate ways either. Instead, we sat there by Nike, both of us thinking about all of our problems. But it wasn’t an awkward silence. In fact, it felt kind of . . . nice to be with someone who was going through some of the same things I was.
    Yeah, I had my friends, and I knew I could talk to them—or Grandma Frost or Metis—about anything, but they’d all grown up in the mythological world. None of my friends had ever had their whole lives turned upside down by family secrets—not like Rory and I had. Well, none of them except for Logan, but he wasn’t here right now. Once again, I worried if the Reapers might have captured him, but I made myself push the thought aside. Oliver had assured me over and over again that Logan was okay, and there was nothing I could do but believe him.
    Finally, Rory spoke again. “So why are you and your friends really here?” she asked. “I know you didn’t come for some transfer visit like that coach of yours is claiming. And you wouldn’t believe some of the rumors that have been going around campus about you guys.”
    I looked at the Spartan girl, wondering if I could really trust her. But then, I thought of everything I’d seen when I’d flashed on Rachel. Rory was more like me than she realized.
    “We’re going up to the Eir Ruins tomorrow,” I said. “One of our friends has been poisoned. We have to find some ambrosia flowers to make an antidote for him, and the ruins are the only place where they grow. But of course, the Reapers know we’re coming. We think they poisoned our friend to lure us out here and that they’ll be waiting to ambush us up at the ruins, especially since they didn’t kill us on the train.”
    Rory snorted. “That sounds like Reapers, all right. Always up to something. But the ruins are actually cool.”
    “You’ve been up to the ruins? Aren’t they supposed to be haunted or something?”
    She shrugged. “It’s just a pile of rocks and lots of flowers, trees, and herbs everywhere. I don’t see what’s so creepy about them. Aunt Rachel and I go to the ruins all the time to pick fresh herbs for the dining hall kitchen. I like it because it’s quiet up there, you know? Someplace you can sit and think and be by yourself.”
    I knew exactly what she meant. That was the reason I wound up in the Library of Antiquities so often. The stacks were a great place to lose yourself and get away from everything—at least for a little while.
    But now it was time for me to go back to my friends. No doubt they were worried since I’d