Jennifer Estep - Kiss of Frost

Scarcely a minute had passed after I lowered the sword before shouts started echoing through the semidark construction site.

"Gwen! Logan! Oliver!"

"Over here!" Logan yelled back.

A few seconds later, a flashlight cut a bright path through

the gloom and landed on my face. I squinted against the harsh glare, keeping my sword and eyes trained on Preston, not daring to let myself be distracted by the fact that we were about to have company. I might not have killed Preston, but if the Reaper moved an inch now, I'd cut him and worry about the consequences later. He'd do the same to me, try to kill me any way he could, no matter what. Something else Daphne had been right about.

To my surprise, Nickamedes stepped out of the shadows, a sword clutched in one hand and a flashlight in the other. The librarian's black eyebrows shot up at the sight of me standing over Preston, the Reaper's blood covering both of us like we'd been playing paintball instead of fighting to the death.

"Are you two all right?" Nickamedes asked, looking at Logan.

"We're fine, more or less," Logan replied. "I've got a bad gash on my thigh, and Gypsy girl's got some bumps and bruises. What about Oliver?"

Oliver . My breath caught in my throat. I'd been so busy fighting Preston that I'd forgotten about the other injured Spartan-and the fact that we'd had to leave him behind at the mercy of the Reaper and the Fenrir wolf. Even though I knew it had been the only choice at the time, guilt and shame burned in my heart. If Preston had killed Oliver, I didn't know what I'd do.

"Ajax found Oliver and took him to Aurora in the infirmary," Nickamedes said. "He should be fine, once she gets that bolt out of his shoulder and stops the bleeding." I let out a breath I didn't even realize I'd been holding in. Relief filled Logan's face. "Good." He looked away from the librarian. "I didn't want to leave him. You have to believe me. I would never leave someone behind. Not again. I wanted to stand and fight."

Misery made Logan's shoulders sag, and his voice was so soft I had to strain to hear it.

"I know you didn't, and so does Oliver." Nickamedes stepped closer to the Spartan and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad you're okay. You had me worried, Logan."

I'd thought I was done being surprised for the day, but I didn't expect the casual, easy familiarity the two of them seemed to have with each other. The way they were talking, you'd think they were actually… friends or something.

Family even, a small voice whispered from the back of my mind. For the first time, I noticed how similar the two of them looked-and how they both had the same black hair and ice blue eyes.

Logan and Nickamedes? Family? That was a little hard to wrap my brain around, especially since I'd never heard one mention anything about the other. Besides, Nickamedes was just too prissy to be related to someone as easygoing as Logan.

As if to prove my point, Nickamedes turned to glare at me, his eyes sharp and narrowed in his pale face. "Two students severely injured, you yourself covered in blood, a Reaper on the premises, a Fenrir wolf running around loose somewhere, and extensive property damage to the resort. Well?" Nickamedes snapped. "What do you have to say for yourself, Gwendolyn?"

I thought for a second, then grinned at him. "I followed your directions exactly. I never set one foot outside the hotel."

I thought the librarian was going to reach over and strangle me right then and there.

An hour later, I sat on a bed in the resort infirmary watching Professor Metis finish healing Oliver. Metis had already fixed the gash in Logan's leg, and the Spartan was in the next room, telling Coach Ajax and Nickamedes what had happened for the tenth time. Like Logan had said, I'd only gotten a few bumps and bruises, and my injuries weren't severe enough to require healing. But I'd stayed behind in the infirmary anyway. I needed to talk to Oliver- about a lot of things.

"There," Metis said. "All done."

She dropped her hands from Oliver's shoulder, and the warm, healing, golden glow that had enveloped his body slowly disappeared. Metis had already pulled the bolt out of his shoulder, and the skin there was smooth, whole, and unbroken once more. Oliver's face was still pale and sweaty from all the pain he'd experienced, but if I hadn't seen the Spartan writhing on the floor in the construction site, I wouldn't have known anything much had even happened to him.

Metis looked first at me, then at Oliver. Her green eyes were dark and thoughtful behind her silver glasses. She could tell something was going on between the two of us, but I didn't volunteer any information, and neither did he.

"I'll leave the two of you alone for a few minutes," she finally said, after it became apparent Oliver and I weren't going to talk in front of her.

"Thanks, professor," I said in a soft voice. "I think we'd both appreciate that."

Metis nodded, then left the room and closed the door behind her. Oliver and I didn't speak for a few moments.

"So, here we are," I said, staring at the Spartan who was half lying, half sitting on the next bed over.

He sighed. "Yeah. Lucky us."

More seconds ticked by in silence. On the table against the wall, the miniature statue of Skadi stared at us, her features neutral for once.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" I finally asked in a soft voice.

Oliver winced. "I guess I owe you that much, don't I?"

I shrugged.

Oliver sighed again, then sat all the way up on the bed. He swung his legs over the side so that he was facing me. Then he straightened his shoulders and looked at me.

"So I'm gay, and I'm in love with my best friend, who is not gay and has no idea how I feel about him. But you know all that already. You have ever since you picked up my notebook in the gym."

I shook my head. "No, I didn't. I got a feeling you had a serious crush on somebody, but I didn't realize who it was. You yanked the notebook out of my hands before I could see that it was Kenzie."

Oliver frowned. "But I thought you knew. You said all that stuff about me not wanting anyone to know who I wanted to hook up with. And then on the bus ride over here, you said that I'd… contaminate your stuff if I so much as touched it. I thought you were talking about me being gay."

Pain filled his green eyes. Oliver dropped his gaze from mine and picked at a loose thread on one of the bed sheets.

You could contaminate it because you're you, my own cold, nasty voice whispered in my mind. I'd been talking about something else entirely, and I'd said the words without thinking, without realizing how Oliver would interpret them.

"I was talking about my comic books," I said, trying to explain. "Whenever people touch stuff, they can leave part of themselves behind-their thoughts, feelings, memories. My psychometry magic lets me see, feel, and experience those things like they're my own memories, my own emotions. That's why I don't like people touching my things — because they can leave bitter, ugly pieces of themselves behind. Plus, I thought you were teasing me or something. I just wanted you to go away."

I winced. "Shit. I was a complete bitch, wasn't I? You probably think I'm a total bigot."

This time, Oliver shrugged. We fell silent for a few seconds.

"So why did you try to run me down outside my grandma's house? Why shoot that arrow at me in the library?" I asked.

"It's complicated," he said. "My parents know I'm gay, and they've been great about it. Really, really supportive. Logan and Kenzie know, too, and they're cool with it. They wouldn't be my friends otherwise. Pretty much everyone at Mythos knows. I'm not trying to hide it, but I don't shout it from the rooftops either, you know? I figure it's nobody's business but mine."