Chapter Thirty
Gwen left to take a cab to the airport, while I went back inside the cottage, grabbed my messenger bag, and headed off to my first class of the morning.
I walked across the main quad, listening to the conversations around me. Of course, all the other kids were talking about the Fall Costume Ball, who had brought whom, who had hooked up, and who had broken up. A few of them mentioned seeing several guys in vampire and skeleton costumes running around the museum, but they’d thought those guys were just goofing off. Once again, the Protectorate had managed to keep everything quiet. As far as the other kids knew, nothing important had happened at the ball besides the usual teenage angst and drama. That was probably for the best.
I slogged through my morning classes and headed to the dining hall for lunch, but Zoe, Mateo, and Ian never came in to get something to eat. They were all probably in their dorm rooms, busy packing up their things to head back to the New York academy.
More sadness filled me at the thought, but I pushed it away as best I could and made it through the rest of my classes. Still, my heart was heavy as I headed over to the Library of Antiquities and rode the secret elevator down to the Bunker. The others had already gathered in the briefing room.
I stood in the doorway and watched them all. Takeda pacing back and forth, murmuring into his cell phone. Aunt Rachel sitting at the briefing table, flipping through one of her recipe books, working on the dining-hall menus. Zoe at her desk, fiddling with different-colored wires and attaching them to some new weapon she was creating. Mateo noshing on potato chips and typing away like mad on his laptop. Ian sharpening his battle ax.
Another wave of sadness washed over me. I was going to miss this. I was going to miss them.
But I plastered a smile on my face and stepped into the briefing room, throwing my messenger bag down on the table and propping up Babs in the chair next to mine.
“Hey, guys,” I drawled. “What’s up?”
“Oh, you know,” Zoe said, still working on her project. “Just sitting here being awesome.”
“Ditto,” Mateo called out, never taking his gaze from his laptop.
“Yep,” Ian chimed in, still sharpening his ax.
“Well, count me in on that,” I said, sitting down.
My charm bracelet clinked against the table, and the heart locket, the winterbloom, and the whistle tinkled together like tiny wind chimes. Ian looked up at the sound and grinned. I winked back at him. Oh, I knew Takeda would realize that I had Pan’s Whistle sooner or later. He might already know. But for now, I liked sharing this little secret with Ian.
It would be the last thing we would share before he and the others left for good.
Takeda finished his call and sat down at the table. The others all stopped what they were doing, moved over, and took their usual seats.
He cleared his throat. “Unfortunately, there haven’t been any sightings of Drake or Covington. We still have people out searching, but it looks like they’ve gone underground. Ian, Rory, I’m sorry I don’t have better news for you.”
Ian shrugged, and so did I. Drake and Covington were both experienced Reapers. I didn’t think it would be easy to catch them. Disappointment rippled through me, but I knew the members of the Protectorate were working as hard as possible to find them.
“I just got off the phone with Linus Quinn, and I do have a bit of good news for everyone,” Takeda said. “At least, I hope you will all think it’s good news. I certainly do.” He paused, looking at each of us in turn.
Zoe rolled her eyes. “What is it? Enough with the dramatic pause, already.”
Takeda’s lips curved up into a tiny smile. “Well, as you all know, we were going to go back to the New York academy after this mission.”
I sat up a little straighter in my chair, and so did everyone else. Even Babs perked up. Well, as much as she could.
“But now?” Ian asked.
“But the mission isn’t over. Given the situation with Drake and Covington, especially Covington’s interest in Rory, we’re staying here,” Takeda said. “Linus has given me permission to make this our home base for the foreseeable future. I hope you’re okay with that, Miss Forseti.”
He raised his eyebrows at me, and I grinned back at him.
“Does this mean I’m officially part of the Midgard?” I asked. “No more temporary status?”
“It does,” Takeda said. “If you’ll have us.”
I looked at Zoe and Mateo and finally at Ian. “I would be honored to fight alongside all of you.”
Zoe hooted and hollered, while Mateo gave me a shy smile. I nodded at them both, then turned to Ian. He grinned, his gray eyes glimmering like polished silver in his face.
“Welcome to the team, cupcake,” he murmured.
“That’s Spartan to you,” I replied. “And I’m happy to be here, Viking. Happy to be here.”
Takeda looked at all of us, including Aunt Rachel. His gaze lingered on her a moment, and she stared back at him. Takeda cleared his throat and passed out thick folders of papers and photos to everyone.
“We might not have found Drake and Covington yet, but we’ve started a database of all known artifacts. If we can pinpoint which items they are going after next, we might be able to catch them…”
Takeda ran down what he thought our next steps should be in our search for the Reapers, but I found myself staring at my friends again, then over at Babs. The runes carved into her blade glinted under the lights, and I read the words glimmering there.
Devotion is strength.
And I realized something. Friends were strength too, the best kind of strength there was—not to mention love, hope, and happiness.
Gwen was right. Sigyn had picked me to be her Champion for a reason, and I finally knew what that reason was. To protect my new friends from all the awful things the Reapers were going to throw at us.
This was my battle now, and it was one that I was happy to be a part of. Today, tomorrow, and as long as it took to defeat Drake, Covington, and all the other Reapers.
So I looked at my friends again, then settled in my seat and turned my attention back to Takeda.
I was ready to fight.
* * *
Want to learn more about Rory Forseti?
Keep reading for a sneak peak at the next Mythos Academy spinoff book, coming soon.