Jennifer Estep - Kiss of Frost

My footsteps finally slowed, then stopped, in front of Nike's statue. The Greek goddess of victory towered thirty feet tall, like all the other statues, her feathery wings just peeking out from behind her back, her proud gaze fixed on something only she could see.

"Why?" I whispered. "Why did they have to kill my mom?" Nike's face remained cold and impassive. I didn't know why I'd come here, what I'd thought would happen, but the grief overwhelmed me, weighing me down until I couldn't take another step.

I curled up into a ball at the goddess's feet and wept.

I don't know how long I cried-the eerie, still silence of the second floor swallowed up my sobs-but at some point, my exhaustion overpowered everything else, and I fell asleep right there in the library. I woke up, stiff and sore from my awkward position, my eyes crusty with dried tears, and my heart just-just sick with what I'd seen in Preston's mind. His awful, awful memories of my mother's murder.

It took me two minutes to realize the statue was gone. I'd collapsed in a heap at Nike's feet, but now only empty air filled the space where the goddess's statue had been. I jumped to my feet and looked around, but all the other statues were still in their places along the second floor balcony, all turned the same way, staring down into the first floor of the Library of Antiquities. Only Nike was missing. I took a few steps back from the spot where she'd been-

"Hello, Gwendolyn," a soft voice called out to me.

Somehow I managed not to scream. Instead, I slowly turned around, and there she was-Nike. She looked the same as she had the last time I'd seen her, the night Jasmine had tried to murder me in the library.

Nike might have been the Greek goddess of victory, but she was also the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. Her hair slipped past her shoulders, the soft brown waves shimmering with a metallic, bronze sheen. An elegant gown in a soft lilac color rippled around her body like water, while a thin silver belt looped around her waist. The belt matched the crown of silver flowers that ringed her head-laurels, the symbol for victory. Soft, feathery wings arched up from the goddess's back, making her look as if she could take flight at any moment.

Nike was pretty enough, but the thing that made her striking to me was the sheer power that radiated off her- cold, beautiful, and terrible all at the same time.

"Okay," I said. "We're doing that weird dream world thing again, aren't we? Where we're in the library but not really there at all? That's why there aren't any students studying on the first floor right now?"

It was the same thing that had happened the last time I'd spoken to the goddess. One minute I'd been in the library, fighting Jasmine. The next I'd still been in the library, but everyone and everything else had disappeared except for me, the goddess, and Vic.

Nike laughed and stepped closer to me. "Something like that."

The goddess's eyes met mine, and I felt I could stare into her gaze forever. Her eyes were a curious shade, not quite purple, but not quite gray either, just like Vic's eye was. Her gaze made me think of the soft color of twilight, that instant of time just before darkness came and covered the land in blackness for the night.

Maybe I should have been more humbled, maybe I should have been more respectful, but now that the goddess was here in front of me, I couldn't help asking the questions that burned in my heart.

"Why did the Reapers kill my mom? What did they want? What are they up to? How can I stop them? What am I supposed to do now?"

Nike's face was kind, but sadness tugged down her mouth. "Walk with me, Gwendolyn."

I fell in step beside the goddess, and we started strolling around the balcony, passing the other statues of the gods and goddesses from all the various cultures of the world. Maybe it was my Gypsy gift or maybe it was only my imagination, but it seemed that all the stone figures stared at me, their heads swiveling around one by one to watch us circle the balcony. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself, dropping my gaze from the statues. I didn't know what I'd see if I kept looking at them. Part of me didn't want to know.

Finally, Nike spoke. "Long ago, after Loki was defeated in the final battle of the Chaos War, the other gods and I combined our powers and locked Loki away from the mortal realm, trapping him in another realm, another dimension. In a sort of prison, if you will."

"Kind of like this library is a mirror image of the real one that I'm sleeping in right now… or whatever?"

She nodded. "The gods placed seven seals on Loki's prison, using various artifacts and other magical safeguards to keep him contained."

The goddess stopped and looked at me. "Six of those seals have been broken. And when the last one, the seventh seal breaks, Loki will be free once more."

The seals are all but broken, and it won't be much longer before we find the key to unlock the last one. Soon, Loki will be free, and his Chaos will reign once more. And when that happens, you will rue the day you were ever born, Gypsy. You and Nike and all the other members of the pathetic Pantheon.

Preston's words echoed in my head. Back at the ski resort, I'd wondered if the Reaper knew what he was talking about or if he was just crazy. I really, really wished he had just been crazy.

I drew in a ragged breath. "But-but how is that even possible? You're so strong . I can feel the power rolling off you in waves. Surely, you and the other gods together have enough magic to fix the seals."

Nike shook her head. "It took all the magic we had to create the artifacts and seals in the first place and trap Loki with them. Centuries have passed, and some of the gods still haven't recovered from the ordeal."

"But how did the seals even get broken in the first place?" I asked.

"By Loki's followers," Nike said. "They found the artifacts and other items we used, took them from the Champions who were guarding them, and destroyed them. They also weakened and eventually broke through some of the other safeguards with their blood sacrifices. Blood has great power you see, especially a Champion's blood, since she has been blessed by her god or goddess. Every time a Reaper kills and dedicates that spilled blood to Loki, the god of chaos becomes a little stronger and gets a little closer to breaking free of his prison."

Daphne and Grandma Frost had both told me that being a Champion was dangerous, that it was as good as having a target on your back, and that Reapers would do anything to kill Champions. Know I knew why. Because my blood had power-more power than I'd ever dreamed of. More power than I'd ever wanted. I shivered.

Nike walked on, passing a statue of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom. I thought about Metis then, about how the professor was Athena's Champion. I wondered if Metis knew about the broken seals-and the fact that Loki was thisfreakingclose to being free again.

"So what can I do?" I asked. "Is there any way to keep the last seal from being broken?"

"The last seal, the strongest seal, was an artifact that was entrusted to my Champion," Nike said, not quite answering my question. "Over the years, it has been passed down from one of my Champions to the other, from your first ancestor all the way down to your mother, Grace Frost."

Suddenly, the words Preston had said in his memories made perfect sense to me.

"A dagger," I whispered. "The artifact, the one that's the last seal on Loki's prison, is a dagger. That's why the Reapers killed my mom-because she hid the dagger and wouldn't tell them where it was, and they need it to free Loki."

Nike nodded. "Correct. It's called the Helheim Dagger, because it has the power to open a portal to Helheim, the underground netherworld where the other gods and I trapped Loki."