"Oh, Gwendolyn," Nike said, moving forward. "It's not your fault. This was what was always going to happen."

I frowned. "I don't understand. How is Loki's getting free what was always going to happen? Did you-did you know about all this? That the Reapers would find the dagger and free him in the end?"

The goddess slowly nodded her head, her eyes steady on mine.

Confusion filled me. "But-but why? Why would you let that happen? If you knew that I was going to fail, then why would you tell me to look for the dagger? Why not let it stay hidden? If you knew I wouldn't succeed, why didn't you pick someone else to be your Champion?"

Instead of answering my questions, Nike settled herself on the stone steps, right in between the two gryphon statues. She arranged her gown over her knees, then patted the step beside her, her fingers leaving faint marks in the dark frost that had already gathered there. Bewildered, I sank down next to the goddess, careful not to touch her. Nike might claim that she wasn't going to strip me of my magic or incinerate me on the spot, but she could always change her mind.

"What your myth-history books don't tell you is that Loki's prison was always meant to be a temporary solution," Nike said. "But time has a different meaning to mortals than it does to gods, and as the centuries passed, and Loki remained imprisoned, most members of the Pantheon thought that meant he was gone for good-that he would stay imprisoned until the end of time itself."

"Okay," I said, trying to understand. "So the other gods' trapping Loki wasn't meant to last forever but was more like putting duct tape on something until you can get it fixed for good. But why tell me to find the dagger? What good did that do?"

"It was a necessary part of the chain of events," Nike said.

I stared at the goddess. "Necessary? What was necessary about all this? I almost died, and I killed someone in the process, using the magic you gave me. And Samson and the other kids at the coliseum and Nott did die. What was the point of all that? Of all that pain?"

Nike gave me a sad look. "Pain is a part of life, Gwendolyn, for mortals and gods alike."

"We're all just game pieces to you, aren't we?" I muttered in a bitter voice. "Little dolls you can move around and play with however you like."

Suddenly, I knew why my mom had quit being Nike's Champion. I could imagine exactly how she felt, day after day, year after year, fighting against the Reapers, trying to do the right thing but having no clue as to what the gods where really up to behind her back or how it would impact her. No wonder my mom had left Mythos Academy and the mythological world it represented far behind. No freaking wonder.

"Your mother felt that way, too," Nike said, almost like she could hear my thoughts. "She felt as though I was using her to reach certain ends."

"Were you?"

The goddess gave me a wry smile. "It is a difficult business, trying to save the world. Some people must make sacrifices so that others can live and prosper."

"But why me? Why do I have to be the one to make sacrifices?"

"Because you're strong enough to make them, Gwendolyn," Nike said. "You're strong enough to keep going no matter how dark and hopeless things get, even if you don't think you are. You could have given up when the Reaper stabbed you. Most people would have. But instead, you figured out a way to save yourself. That makes you very smart and very, very strong. That's why the Reapers fear you-that's why Loki himself fears you."

I seriously doubted that Loki feared anything, especially me, but I didn't argue with the goddess. We sat there in silence for several moments, watching the moon and clouds wisp across the night sky. Finally, Nike spoke again.

"Now, you have a decision to make, Gwendolyn-whether or not you wish to continue on as my Champion."

I eyed the goddess. "You'd actually let me quit? Just like that? Why? You're a goddess. I can feel the power you have. I imagine you could make me do anything you wanted me to."

"I could make you carry on as my Champion, but your heart wouldn't be in it, and you would soon come to hate me for it. You have free will, Gwendolyn, just like every creature, mortal, and god does. Remember that, because it's the most important thing I'll ever tell you. Never forget that, because it's the very thing Loki and his Reapers are trying to take away from you-your right to choose your own fate."

Nike hesitated. "I know you've lost much already, that you've suffered much already, and if you wish to be released as my Champion, then I will do that for you."

I wanted to say yes so badly. To pretend I'd never heard of Nike, Loki, or any of the rest of it, just like my mom had. To go back to just being Gwen Frost, that weird Gypsy girl who touched stuff and saw things. But I couldn't stop myself from asking the inevitable question.

"And what would happen if I quit?" I asked. "To the academy? To my friends?"

Nike shrugged. "The academy will be overrun by the Reapers and eventually destroyed-and so will your friends."

She said it calmly, coldly, as if it were a foregone conclusion, as if there was a giant hourglass somewhere and the sand had already started to trickle out of it to seal the fate of my friends and everyone else at Mythos.

"And if I continue on as your Champion? What do you want me to do now that Loki is free? How can I stop him and the Reapers?"

"There is only one way to finally end the conflict between Loki, the Reapers, and the members of the Pantheon," Nike said in an ominous voice. "Someone must kill Loki, and that someone is you, Gwendolyn."

Vivian had said the same thing to me back in the mansion, but hearing it from Nike made it sound even more impossible than before.

"But-but how am I supposed to do that?" I sputtered. "I couldn't keep the Reapers from freeing Loki in the first place. How am I supposed to kill him? He's a god, in case you haven't noticed."

Nike arched a delicate eyebrow at my harsh tone, but I didn't back down and I didn't look away from her. Kill a god. She actually expected me to kill a freaking god. I'd seen Loki, and I'd felt exactly how powerful he was, even though he'd been trapped in his mythological prison for centuries. I didn't think I could just walk up to him and stab him in the heart with Vic.

"Why can't you do it?" I asked, a pleading note creeping into my voice. "You defeated him once. Surely you can do it again."

Nike shook her head. "After Loki's actions led to the death of Balder, the other gods all banded together and made a pact that no god would be able to kill another. That's why I didn't kill Loki at the end of the Chaos War. That's why he was imprisoned instead."

The goddess looked at me. "But we never said anything about mortals, you see. If a mortal Champion is strong enough, if a mortal Champion is clever enough, then she can kill a god-even one as powerful as Loki. But you must act quickly, Gwendolyn. Right now, he is still weak from his imprisonment, but it won't be long before he starts gaining power-and still more followers."

"But I don't even know where he is, and neither does Metis or the other members of the Pantheon," I said. "How am I even supposed to find him?"

"You won't have to," Nike said. "His spies are everywhere, and he'll come to the academy sooner or later. There are many artifacts here that he wants, many powerful things and people here that he needs in order to finally defeat us."

I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to ward off the chill I felt at her words, but it didn't work. My eyes swept over the quad, with its cluster of old buildings, iron benches, and towering trees. When I'd first come to Mythos, I'd hated the academy, but now, I couldn't imagine myself going to school anywhere else. Somehow, over the past few months, it had become like a second home to me, a place where I was slowly learning to fit in, a place where I was slowly learning to be strong.

And it would all be destroyed if Loki wasn't stopped-if I didn't figure out some way to kill the evil god.

"Now, Gwendolyn, I must have your answer. Will you continue to help me fight against Loki? Will you do what you can, what you must, to save us all?"

I thought of Logan, Daphne, and all my other friends. I thought of the academy grounds being overrun by Reapers, of Reapers killing everyone they could get their hands on. I thought of all the academy's statues and buildings crumbling to dust. I thought of darkness falling over the world the way it had in the clearing in the forest last night. And I knew what my answer would be-what it would always be, as long as I had breath left to fight.

"I'll do it. I'll continue on as your Champion." I looked at the goddess. "Just don't blame me if you end up being disappointed. You know, having the fate of the entire world on my shoulders is a lot of freaking pressure."

"I could never be disappointed in you, Gwendolyn," Nike said in a soft voice. "You're everything that is good about mortals. Your heart is pure, and you do the best you can, no matter how difficult a situation is. You always try, and that's all anyone can ask of a Champion."

I didn't know about the good and pure parts, but I wasn't going to argue with her. Not now.

Nike rose to her feet. "And now, I have a gift for you, Gwendolyn. A visit from an old friend."

Toenails clicked on the balcony above our heads, and I turned around, wondering at the sound. A moment later, Nott stepped into view.

"Nott," I whispered.

I raced up the steps and threw my arms around the wolf's neck. "Oh, Nott!"

Tears ran down my cheeks, and I started rubbing the wolf's ears. They felt real enough under my fingers. Nott let out a little grumble of happiness.

"I'm so, so sorry, Nott," I said through my tears. "I tried my best to save you."

The wolf licked my face, and I felt her gentle understanding and forgiveness fill my mind, along with another thought. With my arms still around the wolf, I turned to look at Nike. The goddess walked up the steps to where we were standing.

"You sent her to me, didn't you? But why? And how? I didn't think you could help me like that." Another thought popped into my head. "Is that why Nott had her pup so soon? Did you help her with that too?"

Nike nodded. "Yes, on both counts. I knew you would need aid in the forest when Loki was freed, and you had saved Nott before when you freed her from the Reaper boy. So I went to her and asked for her help. She agreed to trade her life for yours. And you're right. The gods can't interfere with mortals, but Nott isn't quite a mortal, now is she?"

A small, satisfied smile curved her lips, and I knew what she was really talking about-another loophole. Just like picking a Champion was a god's way of seeing that his or her instructions were carried out here in the mortal realm. Sometimes I wondered why the gods had bothered with rules in the first place since they were always looking for ways around them.

"But she died," I whispered. "Why would she want to die?"

"Nott was sick, Gwendolyn," Nike said. "Very few members of the Pantheon know this, but the Reapers use a potent drug, a poison really, to train the Fenrir wolves and other creatures. It's what turns their fur and eyes that eerie red color. The Reapers start feeding it to them the day they're born so they can control them. That's why so many of the wolves and other creatures obey the Reapers and don't try to fight against them-because the creatures need that daily dose of the drug to keep on living. Without it, the creatures slowly, painfully die."

I'd thought there was something wrong with Nott, given how tired she had seemed. I'd thought maybe it was because she was about to have a pup, but really, it had been the poisonous drug working on her the whole time, slowly eating away at her body.

"But surely there's an antidote," I said. "Some way to reverse the poison."

Nike shook her head. "Not in Nott's case. She'd been fed the poison for too long."

Another horrible thought filled my mind. "But what about Nyx? Will she be all right?"

"The wolf pup will be just fine," Nike said.

Relief filled me, and I stroked Nott's ears some more.

"But now, I'm afraid it's time for us to go," Nike said in a gentle voice. "Even now, Loki is starting to move against the other members of the Pantheon. I have preparations to make, old friends and allies to call upon."

I nodded and swiped the tears from my cheeks. "I'm going to miss you so much," I whispered to the wolf. "So much. But I'm going to take good care of Nyx for you. I promise."

Nott licked my hand, then moved away.

I got to my feet, and Nike approached me once more. The goddess leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. As soon as she touched me, I felt her power wash over me like waves of ice rippling against my skin. But it wasn't a bad feeling. If anything, I almost felt like I was sharing in her strength, if only for a moment. That sensation, the immense feel of her power, gave me the courage I needed to carry on, knowing what she expected of me, knowing what I had to do to save us all-find a way to kill Loki.

"Take care, Gwendolyn Frost," Nike said. "Be well and stay strong until we meet again, for you will be tested-sooner than you think."

Then, the two of them stepped back, melting into the moonlight, until there were only shadows and frost gathered around me once more.

Chapter 29

I didn't think that they would, I didn't think that they could, but slowly, things went back to normal. I went to class, took care of Nyx, and snuck off campus to go see my Grandma Frost. I even kept working my regular shifts at the Library of Antiquities. I wouldn't say that Nickamedes and I were besties now, but we didn't snap at each other every chance we got, either. That was an improvement, I supposed.