Midnight Frost Read Free

had gone to the Crius Coliseum a few days earlier, and I really did have Ran’s net draped over my desk chair. In fact, I’d talked about the net and how useless it seemed with Alexei and Daphne Cruz, my best friend, when we’d had dinner in the dining hall earlier. We’d come back to my dorm room to hang out for a while, and after they’d left, I’d decided to lie down on my bed to rest for a few minutes before taking a shower and getting ready for bed. Instead, I’d fallen asleep, and the image of the net had somehow led to my recurring nightmare of Logan stabbing me in the chest.
    Just like he’d done for real a few weeks ago.
    “Well, obviously, you still have some issues with the Spartan and what he did to you,” Vic finally said. “And who wouldn’t? Do you want to talk about it?”
    He’d been asking me that ever since I’d had the first nightmare a couple of weeks ago, but once again, I shook my head. I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t even want to think about it, even though my refusal to deal was probably causing some of my nightmares. After a moment, I sighed, suddenly tired—of Reapers, of fighting, and most especially of all the horrible memories that I could never, ever forget, not even when I went to sleep.
    “Gwen?” Vic asked again.
    “I’m fine now,” I said. “It was just a dream. It wasn’t real.”
    This time.
    Vic gave me a sympathetic look, which I ignored. The sword had been extra nice to me ever since Logan left. All of my friends had, which only reminded me all the more that he was gone.
    Still, despite my words, the nightmare had shaken me, and once again, I felt that desperate need to escape, to go someplace where no one was watching me, to go someplace where no one would think to look for me or try to hurt me. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. Just after eight. I still had some time before the dorms locked down for the night at ten.
    I gave Nyx one more hug, carried her back over to her basket, and helped her settle down inside it. Then, I shrugged into my jacket and grabbed my gloves and scarf. I also plucked Vic off the wall and belted the sword and his scabbard around my waist. Unlike in my dream, I wasn’t going to be so stupid as to not take a weapon with me, even if my destination wasn’t that far away and campus was supposedly safer these days.
    “Where are we going?” Vic asked.
    “You’ll see.”
    I opened the door and left my dorm room.
    For real, this time.

Chapter 2
    I’d told Alexei I was staying put in my room for the rest of the night, so he’d gone back to his own dorm instead of standing guard outside my door. Good. I didn’t want him to know where I was going. I didn’t want anyone to know. Seriously, it was that sad and pathetic.
    I didn’t bother crawling out a window like I had in my dream. Instead, I walked down the steps and right out the front door of Styx Hall.
    One thing that was the same in real life as in my nightmare was the weather. Because of the cold, snow, and blustering winds, campus was as deserted as I’d imagined it had been—except for the members of the Protectorate.
    Men and women of all shapes, sizes, and ethnicities could be seen patrolling the academy grounds, standing guard under trees and peering into the shadows that had spread out over the landscape. After the Reaper attack at the band concert, security on campus had been seriously beefed up, and members of the Protectorate could be seen here twenty-four-seven now. I doubted it would help, though. Try as they might, the Protectorate couldn’t be everywhere at once. Sooner or later, the Reapers would strike here again, and all I could do was to wait for it to happen—and try to survive.
    Another thing that was the same was Aiko, who was standing below my windows, just as she had in my dream. I waved at the Ninja, and she lifted her hand and waved back. I liked Aiko. She read comic books and graphic novels, just like I did.
    I stepped onto the path