“There’s nothing else we can do here. We both know Vivian is long gone. So let’s go back inside, find Nickamedes, and tell him what happened.”
Oliver was right, but that didn’t keep me from searching the quad a final time for the Reaper girl before sighing and following him up the steps and back inside.
Oliver and I made it back to the main part of the library. Coach Ajax, Aiko, and a few other Protectorate guards had converged in the center of the room and were examining the part of the aisle where I’d fought the Reaper. Nickamedes stood behind the counter, talking on his phone. Ajax nodded his head at me and Oliver. We waved back at the big, burly coach.
Most of the students had cleared out, and the few who remained were gathering up their things. Helena Paxton shot me a pointed, nasty look as she picked up her book—the one I’d hit the Reaper with—from where I’d dropped it on the floor. I ignored her. I had other things to worry about right now—like why Jason had tried to poison me.
Okay, okay, so I knew why . Well, sort of. The Reapers wanted me dead because they had this strange idea that I was going to kill Loki—something that Nike believed, as well. If I was dead, then obviously I wouldn’t even get the chance to try to kill Loki—as if I even knew how I was supposed to do that in the first place.
No, what I really wondered was why now ? Why here, tonight, in the library? Why had it suddenly become so important to murder me? But in the end, I supposed it didn’t really matter. Jason wasn’t the first Reaper who’d tried to kill me, and he wouldn’t be the last.
Still, I eyed my poisoned water bottle. It was sitting on the counter where Jason had left it. If I hadn’t been upset, if I hadn’t gone up to the second-floor balcony, if I hadn’t seen what he was doing, I might have picked up the bottle and chugged down the rest of the water before my psychometry kicked in. Then, I would have been as dead as Jason was. This wasn’t the first time I’d escaped death, but the knowledge that it could have just as easily been me lying outside on the quad made me shiver all the same.
Vic’s eye snapped open at the shuddering motion that swept through my body. I was still clutching the sword, and he looked at me, then at the water bottle.
“You fought well tonight, Gwen,” he said, picking up on my dark thoughts. “You did what you had to in order to survive—that’s all. And there was nothing you could have done to change that boy’s mind.”
“Vic’s right,” Oliver chimed in. “The Reaper made his choice—not you.”
Nyx let out a low, serious yip, agreeing with them. The wolf pup was still secure in the Spartan’s arms.
I shrugged. Maybe that was true, but it didn’t feel that way. Yes, I’d wanted to kill Jason, but now that he was gone, I just felt hollow and empty inside. A boy was dead because of me—but not in the way I’d expected.
Oh, I’d killed Reapers before in battle, and I’d even used my psychometry to pull all of the magic, all of the life, out of Preston Ashton so I could heal the mortal wound he’d given me. I’d done those things in the heat of the moment, because it had been them or me, and I’d just wanted to survive, like Vic had said. But this—this was different. Jason had free will, the same free will we all had, the same free will that Nike and Metis were always going on and on and on about. But I’d forced him to make a choice between surrendering or death—and he’d chosen death. I didn’t know if that made things better or worse, but right now, it felt like worse.
“Gwendolyn,” Nickamedes said, waving his hand at me. “Come here, please.”
I sighed and looked at Vic, then Oliver, then Nyx. “Great. Not only is that boy dead, but now I’m probably going to get another lecture from Nickamedes about ruining the peace and quiet of his precious library.”
Oliver grinned at me. “That does sort of seem to be your thing,
Oliver was right, but that didn’t keep me from searching the quad a final time for the Reaper girl before sighing and following him up the steps and back inside.
Oliver and I made it back to the main part of the library. Coach Ajax, Aiko, and a few other Protectorate guards had converged in the center of the room and were examining the part of the aisle where I’d fought the Reaper. Nickamedes stood behind the counter, talking on his phone. Ajax nodded his head at me and Oliver. We waved back at the big, burly coach.
Most of the students had cleared out, and the few who remained were gathering up their things. Helena Paxton shot me a pointed, nasty look as she picked up her book—the one I’d hit the Reaper with—from where I’d dropped it on the floor. I ignored her. I had other things to worry about right now—like why Jason had tried to poison me.
Okay, okay, so I knew why . Well, sort of. The Reapers wanted me dead because they had this strange idea that I was going to kill Loki—something that Nike believed, as well. If I was dead, then obviously I wouldn’t even get the chance to try to kill Loki—as if I even knew how I was supposed to do that in the first place.
No, what I really wondered was why now ? Why here, tonight, in the library? Why had it suddenly become so important to murder me? But in the end, I supposed it didn’t really matter. Jason wasn’t the first Reaper who’d tried to kill me, and he wouldn’t be the last.
Still, I eyed my poisoned water bottle. It was sitting on the counter where Jason had left it. If I hadn’t been upset, if I hadn’t gone up to the second-floor balcony, if I hadn’t seen what he was doing, I might have picked up the bottle and chugged down the rest of the water before my psychometry kicked in. Then, I would have been as dead as Jason was. This wasn’t the first time I’d escaped death, but the knowledge that it could have just as easily been me lying outside on the quad made me shiver all the same.
Vic’s eye snapped open at the shuddering motion that swept through my body. I was still clutching the sword, and he looked at me, then at the water bottle.
“You fought well tonight, Gwen,” he said, picking up on my dark thoughts. “You did what you had to in order to survive—that’s all. And there was nothing you could have done to change that boy’s mind.”
“Vic’s right,” Oliver chimed in. “The Reaper made his choice—not you.”
Nyx let out a low, serious yip, agreeing with them. The wolf pup was still secure in the Spartan’s arms.
I shrugged. Maybe that was true, but it didn’t feel that way. Yes, I’d wanted to kill Jason, but now that he was gone, I just felt hollow and empty inside. A boy was dead because of me—but not in the way I’d expected.
Oh, I’d killed Reapers before in battle, and I’d even used my psychometry to pull all of the magic, all of the life, out of Preston Ashton so I could heal the mortal wound he’d given me. I’d done those things in the heat of the moment, because it had been them or me, and I’d just wanted to survive, like Vic had said. But this—this was different. Jason had free will, the same free will we all had, the same free will that Nike and Metis were always going on and on and on about. But I’d forced him to make a choice between surrendering or death—and he’d chosen death. I didn’t know if that made things better or worse, but right now, it felt like worse.
“Gwendolyn,” Nickamedes said, waving his hand at me. “Come here, please.”
I sighed and looked at Vic, then Oliver, then Nyx. “Great. Not only is that boy dead, but now I’m probably going to get another lecture from Nickamedes about ruining the peace and quiet of his precious library.”
Oliver grinned at me. “That does sort of seem to be your thing,
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