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Gin’s grimace deepened, and lines of pain bracketed her mouth. “My uncle. Mason Mitchell. Several months ago, I found out that he was the head of the Circle, a secret society that did a lot of bad things in Ashland. I also found out that he killed his twin brother, Tristan, my father, when I was a kid. He also ordered my mother’s and my older sister’s murders, and he was threatening me and my friends.”
Those lines of pain smoothed out. Gin’s face hardened, and her eyes glittered like bits of gray ice in her face. “So I killed him.”
Her tone was cold, flat, and matter-of-fact, but her words didn’t bother me. I’d felt her overwhelming relief when she’d killed Mason, and I knew that she’d taken him down to protect herself and her loved ones—the same way I had battled Loki, Agrona Quinn, Vivian Holler, and all the other Reapers who had tried to hurt me and my friends.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a low voice. “Watching that must have been difficult for you.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, seeing the battles and everything you went through was terrible, but those memories also helped me—saved me. I wouldn’t have been able to beat Brayden and Minerva’s Dagger without your assassin skill and prowess.”
“So you’re saying that I know more about fighting than some ancient wisdom and war goddess?” A wry smile curved her lips. “Well, that’s certainly good for my ego.”
Gin glanced over at Vic, who was still napping. “What will happen to Minerva’s Dagger and the other artifacts?”
“Hopefully, my friends will be waiting at the Cypress Mountain station, and we’ll take the artifacts to the academy. They’ll be cleaned up, cataloged, and put in storage for a while, and then eventually some of them will be displayed in the Library of Antiquities.”
“Your library sounds really cool.”
A smile spread across my face. “It is. You should come see it sometime.”
Gin grinned at me. “It’s a deal—but only if you come to the Pork Pit, along with your friends. I especially want to meet Logan, the Spartan boyfriend.”
A blush burned in my cheeks at her teasing, but I grinned back at her. “It’s definitely a deal.”
About thirty minutes later, the train finally slowed and pulled into the Cypress Mountain station. I grabbed Vic and my messenger bag, and Gin and I got off the train along with everyone else.
I scanned the wooden platform, but I didn’t see my friends. I checked my phone, but no one had texted me, and I still had no idea what had happened during the rockslide or if Logan and the others were okay.
Gin laid a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry. If Logan is as good a fighter as you said, then I’m sure he’s fine. Just like I’m sure my folks are fine. Let’s go see if they’re waiting inside the station.”
I bit my lip, worry churning in my stomach, but I followed her inside. Even though Gin was acting perfectly normal and natural, she walked with a smooth, strong, confident stride, and people instinctively scrambled back to get out of her way. I felt like a guppy trailing along behind a shark.
We ended up standing in a corner, staring out over the sea of people moving through the main lobby. Most folks were heading outside, but a few were going against the flow and streaming inside to take the train back over to Pine Crest.
I stood on my tiptoes and scanned the crowd, but I still didn’t see Logan, Daphne, or anyone else from Mythos Academy.
Gin must have sensed my worry, because she jerked her thumb toward the doors. “Let’s check outside. They might be waiting in the parking lot.”
By this point, my stomach had tied itself into tight knots, but I nodded and followed her, trying not to think about what it would mean if the others weren’t outside.
We crossed the lobby, pushed through a set of double doors, and ended up at the edge of the paved lot that fronted the train station. I scanned the vehicles in front of me, but I didn’t see any of the black SUVs that had been used to transport the artifacts.
My heart sank, and my stomach tied itself into a few more knots. Maybe my friends hadn’t escaped the Reapers’ trap. Maybe the rockslide had crushed their vehicles. Maybe they had all died while I’d been fighting Brayden on the train—
“Hey there, goddess girl,” a familiar voice drawled behind me. “Did you miss me?”
I whirled around, and there he was—Logan freaking Quinn, with his black hair, pale skin, and ice-blue eyes. His face crinkled into a teasing smile, and he opened his arms.
I dropped my messenger bag, surged forward, and hugged him tight. “I was so worried about you,” I whispered in his ear.
“I was worried about you too,” Logan whispered back. “But we both made it through another battle, and that’s all that matters, right?”
“Right.”
I drew back and pressed my lips to his. My psychometry kicked in, and I reveled in the feel of Logan’s love for me, in the warm spark of emotion that burned so brightly and fiercely deep inside his heart. That spark perfectly matched the one burning in my own heart, and I knew those two flames would never be extinguished.
We broke apart, and Logan grinned at me, his hands still on my waist.
“Wow. If that’s how you’re going to kiss me every time you take a train ride and we have to fight a few Reapers, then we’ll have to do this more often.”
