Nickamedes flipped over the piece of paper he'd been clutching, and I realized that it was actually a photo-one of my mom, Metis, and Nickamedes sitting on the library steps, laughing about something.
My breath caught in my throat. "Where-where did you get that?"
"It slipped out of your mother's diary when you dropped your bag in the library a few nights ago," he said. "The photo slid underneath one of the tables. I tried to give it back to you then, but you'd already left."
So that's what he'd been calling out to me about that night. I'd thought he'd just wanted to gloat about Logan's dumping me.
"You were friends with my mom?" I asked. "Really?"
He nodded, and a smile curved his lips. "Really. Grace, Aurora, and I were as thick as thieves. We had big dreams back then, you see, of how we were going to take on the Reapers and change the world, how we were going to make it safe for all the other warriors out there, so that maybe we wouldn't have to be warriors anymore."
"What happened?" I asked, sensing the story didn't have a happy ending.
Nickamedes shrugged. "We did fight Reapers, the whole time we were at Mythos, and Grace and Aurora were chosen as Champions. But then, things started to change. We all started to change. By the time graduation rolled around, we weren't the same people that we were in this photo. Your mother was ... tired. Tired of fighting Reapers, tired of being a Champion, tired of all the blood and death and responsibility."
I knew exactly how she had felt. I'd only been Nike's Champion for a few months, but it seemed that no matter what I did, no matter how hard I fought, the Reapers just kept coming and coming and coming. And now, with Loki free, it would only get worse-so much worse.
"Anyway, right before graduation, your mother and I ... argued," Nickamedes continued. "I wanted to join up with other members of the Pantheon. The Pantheon has its own police force, you see, with members stationed all over the world, dedicated to finding Reapers and putting them in prison where they belong. Joining their ranks had been my dream as long as I'd been at Mythos. It had been Grace's dream, too."
"But she changed," I said, picking up on his feelings. "And she didn't want to fight anymore, did she? After graduation."
Nickamedes shook his head. "No, and I couldn't understand why, since she was a Champion, since she had so much power, so much magic. I said some things to her... . Well, let's just say they weren't very nice. Basically, I called her a quitter and told her that she didn't deserve to be Nike's Champion."
I winced. "Sounds kind of harsh to me."
Nickamedes gave me a sad smile. "It was, and I regret it more than you'll ever know. We went our separate ways after graduation. Eventually, I decided to come back here and look after the artifacts in the library."
"And my mom became a cop in the mortal world."
"I guess she fulfilled our dream in a way after all," Nickamedes said. "I thought about her quite often, wondering where she was and what had become of her, if she was living the Reaper-free life she'd wanted. Then one day last spring, Aurora came to me and told me that Grace had been murdered. That she had a daughter and that you were going to start attending Mythos in the fall. I immediately told Aurora that I wanted you to work here in the library with me."
I frowned. "But why? Why would you do that?"
Especially given how you've treated me. I didn't say the words, but they hung in the air between us, angry and unspoken.
"Because you're Grace's daughter," Nickamedes said in a quiet voice. "And I loved your mother very much."
The revelation stunned me. Uptight, prissy Nickamedes and my-my-mom. Together? As a couple? In love? It didn't make any sense. Then again, I supposed Logan and I didn't make much sense either. The fierce Spartan warrior and the Gypsy girl who was just learning how to fight.
"I'm sorry I've acted the way I have toward you," Nickamedes said. "Our breakup was rather ... messy, as you can imagine. I'd thought I'd gotten over your mother, or at least gotten over my anger at her for leaving, but then you came to Mythos. And you look so much like her, especially when you smile. More than that, you're smart and strong, just like she was too."
The librarian's face softened, and for a moment, I got a glimpse of what he had been like when he was younger-of the guy my mom had fallen for all those years ago. Then, Nickamedes cleared his throat again, and the image vanished.
"I suppose I've been taking my anger at your mother out on you, Gwendolyn, and that's not fair. I wanted to apologize for that. It won't happen again."
I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. Nickamedes loving my mom; my mom wanting a normal life; my mom quitting as Nike's Champion. It was a lot to take in, and a thousand different questions filled my mind.
"Anyway," Nickamedes said. "I thought you should know why I've treated you the way I have, and I wanted you to have this."
He held out the picture, and my fingers trembled as I took it. My psychometry kicked in immediately, and I felt all the things my mom and Nickamedes had, since they'd both handled the photo. Mainly, I got flashes of my mom's fond memories and her aching regret over the way things had ended between the two of them. They were the same feelings Nickamedes had, although his were now mixed with the determination to do right by me-to protect me the same way Metis had sworn she would.
"Thank you for this, but I think you need it more than I do." I held the photo out to him. "Keep it as a reminder of my mom. I think she'd want that."
Nickamedes nodded and took back the picture. His fingers lingered on my mom's face, and I could tell he was thinking about her again and wishing things had been different between them. Finally, the librarian raised his gaze to mine once more, his blue eyes that were so much like Logan's.
"And now, for the last thing I wanted to say to you tonight. You can't give up, Gwendolyn," Nickamedes said. "You have to keep on fighting just like the rest of us do."
I sighed. "What's the point? Loki's free because of me. Because I failed to protect the Helheim Dagger, he and the other Reapers are going to kill people. You know, start another Chaos War, plunge the world into eternal darkness, that sort of thing."
I'd been kind of out of it back in the forest, but I knew that Oliver had found the dagger beside Preston's body. I had no idea what would happen to the artifact now. Maybe the Powers That Were would put it on display here in the Library of Antiquities as a reminder of my epic failure.