Midnight Frost

goddess—and her faith in me.
    Nike straightened up and stepped back, and the snow began to swirl around her once more. “Be well, Gwendolyn.”
    She bowed her head and clasped her hands together once more. She stood in front of me for a moment longer. Then, she was gone, swallowed up by the snow, as if she’d never even been there to start with.

Chapter 33
    I woke with a start.
    One second, I was outside by myself in the snow. The next, I was in the middle of the gryphons’ cavern. I sat up, yawned, and rubbed the crusty sleep out of the corners of my eyes. I glanced to my left to see that Logan was sitting up and staring at me.
    “You’re awake,” I said in a soft voice so I wouldn’t disturb the still-sleeping gryphons.
    He gave me a wan smile. “You didn’t think I’d miss the rest of our trip, did you, Gypsy girl?”
    I snorted. “Oh no. Why should I get to have all the fun?”
    He laughed, then gestured at the creatures that were sprawled around us. “You, um, want to tell me how we wound up here? And why we’re both not a pile of bones yet?”
    I told him how Daphne, Rory, and I had helped the baby gryphon on our way up the mountain and how the creatures had returned the favor by saving us from the storm.
    When I finished, Logan nodded, but then his face turned serious. “Well, gryphons or not, I want to thank you—for taking care of me. I know it would have been easier if you’d left me behind on the trail.”
    “I couldn’t leave you behind. I would never do that.”
    His mouth flattened out. “Maybe you should have.”
    I stared at him. Ink-black hair, ice-blue eyes, muscled body. On the outside, Logan looked the same as always, but I could see the difference in him—in the droop of his shoulders, in the shadows that haunted his eyes, and most especially in his smile. It wasn’t the fun, confident, teasing grin I remembered. No, now his smile just seemed . . . sad. The same sort of sad smile that Rory’s parents had had in their photos—and my dad in his. I was so sick of seeing those sad, defeated smiles.
    I knew Logan was hurting, but I was too. Maybe it was my frustrating conversation with Nike, maybe it was all the nightmares, or maybe it was simply everything that had happened over the past few weeks, but once again, that mix of hurt and anger bubbled up inside me—and this time the anger won.
    “Oh, quit feeling sorry for yourself.”
    Logan blinked. “Excuse me?”
    “You heard me,” I said, my voice growing harsh. “Quit feeling sorry for yourself. Yeah, something horrible happened to you, and the Reapers tried to turn you into Loki’s little soul puppet. But you know what, Spartan? Horrible things have happened to all of us now—and more terrible things are in store. So suck it up and get back in the fight.”
    “I don’t understand,” Logan said, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion. “I thought you weren’t mad at me.”
    I let out a breath. “I’m not mad at you because you attacked me. I’m mad at you because you’re giving up—because you’re quitting . I thought Spartans never quit.”
    Logan sighed. “But you don’t understand. I could be a danger to you and the others. Loki . . . I could still be connected to him. I don’t want to risk hurting you again.”
    I couldn’t stop the tears from filling my eyes or the words from tumbling off my lips. “You’ve already hurt me. You broke my heart by leaving, by going back on your promise to me. You said you’d always be there for me, fighting right by my side against the Reapers, and you left—you just left . Without even giving me a chance to say good-bye, or to tell you that I understood.”
    “I was afraid you’d try to convince me to stay,” he whispered. “And that I’d let you.”
    “I know,” I whispered back. “I know that you just wanted to get away after what Agrona and the Reapers did to you, but it hurt all the same. It still hurts, knowing that you’ll be leaving again the second we get back to the academy and Nickamedes is okay.”
    Logan didn’t say anything. I got to my feet and turned away so he wouldn’t see me brushing the tears from my eyes. I’d just finished wiping the last of them away when I realized I could see daylight through the cavern entrance—real daylight and not the twilight world I’d been in with Nike and Eir.
    I drew in a breath, lifted my chin, and faced Logan once more. Because no matter how much I would have liked to find someplace to