I'd thought I was done being surprised for the day, but I didn't expect the casual, easy familiarity the two of them seemed to have with each other. The way they were talking, you'd think they were actuAll y ... friends or something.
Family even, a smAll voice whispered from the back of my mind. For the first time, I noticed how similar the two of them looked-and how they both had the same black hair and ice blue eyes.
Logan and Nickamedes? Family? That was a little hard to wrap my brain around, especiAll y since I'd never heard one mention anything about the other. Besides, Nickamedes was just too prissy to be related to someone as easygoing as Logan.
As if to prove my point, Nickamedes turned to glare at me, his eyes sharp and narrowed in his pale face.
"Two students severely injured, you yourself covered in blood, a Reaper on the premises, a Fenrir wolf running around loose somewhere, and extensive property damage to the resort.
Wel ?" Nickamedes snapped. "What do you have to say for yourself, Gwendolyn?"
I thought for a second, then grinned at him. "I fol owed your directions exactly. I never set one foot outside the hotel."
I thought the librarian was going to reach over and strangle me right then and there.
An hour later, I sat on a bed in the resort infirmary watching Professor Metis finish healing Oliver. Metis had already fixed the gash in Logan's leg, and the Spartan was in the next room, tel ing Coach Ajax and Nickamedes what had happened for the tenth time. Like Logan had said, I'd only gotten a few bumps and bruises, and my injuries weren't severe enough to require healing.
But I'd stayed behind in the infirmary anyway. I needed to talk to Oliver-
about a lot of things.
"There," Metis said. "All done."
She dropped her hands from Oliver's shoulder, and the warm, healing, golden glow that had enveloped his body slowly disappeared. Metis had already pul ed the bolt out of his shoulder, and the skin there was smooth, whole, and unbroken once more.
Oliver's face was stil pale and sweaty from All the pain he'd experienced, but if I hadn't seen the Spartan writhing on the floor in the construction site, I wouldn't have known anything much had even happened to him.
Metis looked first at me, then at Oliver. Her green eyes were dark and thoughtful behind her silver glasses. She could tel something was going on between the two of us, but I didn't volunteer any information, and neither did he.
"I'l leave the two of you alone for a few minutes," she finAll y said, after it became apparent Oliver and I weren't going to talk in front of her.
"Thanks, professor," I said in a soft voice. "I think we'd both appreciate that."
Metis nodded, then left the room and closed the door behind her. Oliver and I didn't speak for a few moments.
"So, here we are," I said, staring at the Spartan who was half lying, half sitting on the next bed over.
He sighed. "Yeah. Lucky us."
More seconds ticked by in silence. On the table against the wAll , the miniature statue of Skadi stared at us, her features neutrAll for once.
"Do you want to tel me about it?" I finAll y asked in a soft voice.
Oliver winced. "I guess I owe you that much, don't I?" I shrugged.
Oliver sighed again, then sat All the way up on the bed.
He swung his legs over the side so that he was facing me.
Then he straightened his shoulders and looked at me.
"So I'm g*y, and I'm in love with my best friend, who is not g*y and has no idea how I feel about him. But you know All that already. You have ever since you picked up my notebook in the gym."
I shook my head. "No, I didn't. I got a feeling you had a serious crush on somebody, but I didn't realize who it was.
You yanked the notebook out of my hands before I could see that it was Kenzie."
Oliver frowned. "But I thought you knew. You said All that stuff about me not wanting anyone to know who I wanted to hook up with. And then on the bus ride over here, you said that I'd ...
contaminate your stuff if I so much as touched it. I thought you were talking about me being g*y." Pain fil ed his green eyes.
Oliver dropped his gaze from mine and picked at a loose thread on one of the bed sheets.
You could contaminate it because you're you, my own cold, nasty voice whispered in my mind. I'd been talking about something else entirely, and I'd said the words without thinking, without realizing how Oliver would interpret them.
"I was talking about my comic books," I said, trying to explain. "Whenever people touch stuff, they can leave part of themselves behind-their thoughts, feelings, memories.
My psychometry magic lets me see, feel, and experience those things like they're my own memories, my own emotions.
That's why I don't like people touching my things
-because they can leave bitter, ugly pieces of themselves behind. Plus, I thought you were teasing me or something. I just wanted you to go away."
I winced. "Shit. I was a complete bitch, wasn't I? You probably think I'm a totAll bigot."
This time, Oliver shrugged. We fel silent for a few seconds.
"So why did you try to run me down outside my grandma's house? Why shoot that arrow at me in the library?" I asked.
"It's complicated," he said. "My parents know I'm g*y, and they've been great about it. ReAll y, reAll y supportive.
Logan and Kenzie know, too, and they're cool with it. They wouldn't be my friends otherwise. Pretty much everyone at Mythos knows. I'm not trying to hide it, but I don't shout it from the rooftops either, you know? I figure it's nobody's business but mine."
I nodded. I understood what he was talking about. I did the same thing with my Gypsy gift. Yeah, the other Mythos kids knew I had the power to find lost items, but I didn't stand out on the quad and brag about it between classes either.
I thought about that strange look Morgan had given me in the lobby when I'd told the clerk that I wanted to know what room Oliver was in. The Valkyrie knew Oliver was g*y-
that's why Morgan had thought it was weird that I'd go to his room or that I'd said that she'd hooked up with him.
Oliver drew in a breath. "But Kenzie doesn't know how I feel about him. I think Logan suspects, but he'd never say anything to Kenzie. Logan's too good a friend to do that.
But I didn't know what you would do, Gwen. I didn't want you to tel anyone, especiAll y not Kenzie."
"But why not just tel Kenzie how you feel?" I asked in a soft tone, even though I already knew what his answer would be.
Oliver shook his head. "Because Kenzie's my best friend, and I don't want to ruin our friendship. It's one of the best things in my life. Kenzie's not g*y, so he's never going to feel the same way about me that I do about him. When I realized you knew about my feelings for him, I just ...