Oliver drifted over to me. Alexei watched us both from his spot against the wall of the office complex.
"Logan told us what happened this morning," Oliver said in a low voice only I could hear. "I'm sorry that Alexei didn't help you. He seemed so cool when I met him over winter break. But now that I know he just stood by while you were facing down those other kids . . ."
Sad longing made his shoulders droop, and the same miserable expression was on Alexei's face as well. I knew that if I asked him to, Oliver would ignore Alexei and pretend they'd never met. But Oliver had been there for me when I'd needed him, and I wanted my friend to be happy, even if it was with Alexei.
"Go," I said, giving the Spartan a little push. "Go talk to him. This trouble that I'm in doesn't have anything to do with the two of you. If you like him, that's good enough for me. I just hope he's good enough for you. Because if he hurts you, Protectorate or not, I will totally kick his ass."
I paused. "Or maybe get Daphne and Logan to help me kick his ass. Not sure I could do it by myself. Either way, his ass will definitely be kicked."
Oliver flashed me a grin. "Did I ever tell you what a good friend you are?"
I grinned back at him. "Well, this good friend thing doesn't last very long. So you'd better get over there and talk to him before I change my mind."
Oliver's grin widened. He straightened his shoulders and walked over to Alexei. The two of them started talking in low voices, and it was like Alexei suddenly changed into a completely different person. He was so serious when he was watching me, so remote, so reserved, but with Oliver, warmth filled his face, his eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled, and his whole body was totally relaxed. It made my spirits lift a little to see the two of them together.
While I'd been back in the stacks, Nickamedes had set out one more cart of books that needed to be shelved. Since everyone else was busy talking, I grabbed the cart. I'd just started to roll it around the counter when a loud yawn caught my ear. I looked down and noticed Vic staring up at me out of the top of my messenger bag.
"Finally waking up from your latest nap?" I asked.
The sword blinked. "Well, it's not like I have anything else to do, you know. Not until you find us some more Reapers to kill. I was just dreaming about Lucretia and how I plan to cleave her in two the next time we meet."
Lucretia was Vivian's sword, which talked just like Vic did. From what I'd gathered, Vic and Lucretia were old enemies, since Lucretia had been passed down through Loki's Champions over the years, just like Vic had been handed from one of my Frost ancestors to the next. The swords were just another way in which Vivian and I were eerily similar, along with the fact that we were both Gypsies gifted with magic from our respective gods. While I'd been given psychometry, or touch magic, Vivian had what she called chaos magic, although really it was more like telepathy. Either way, the Reaper girl's power let her make people see and hear things that weren't actually there. Sometimes, I thought that Vivian and I were like the opposite sides of the same coin-so alike in some ways and so very different in others.
"I don't have any idea where Vivian or Lucretia are," I told the sword. "You know if I had the slightest clue where they were hiding, I'd be out there leading the charge against them."
"I know, I know," Vic grumbled. "And more's the pity that you don't know. Because I would be happy to cut them to pieces for you."
His half of a mouth turned down into a sullen pout, as if he'd just lost out on his favorite treat. I sighed. I knew if I didn't do something to cheer him up, Vic would be in one of his moods for the rest of the night. And people thought teenagers were temperamental. Please. They should spend some time with Vic.
"Wanna go for a ride?" I asked.
Vic rolled his eye. "Well, it would certainly beat staring at the bottom of the bloody counter for another hour or taking yet another nap. Even I can only sleep for so long."
I grabbed the sword, pulled the blade out of his scabbard, and propped Vic up on top of the metal cart so he could see where we were going. Then, I pushed the cart back into the stacks and started shelving the rest of the books.
Vic kept up a steady stream of conversation while I worked, going on and on and on about all the horrible things he was going to do to Lucretia the next time the two swords met in battle. Every once in a while, I chimed in with an uh-huh or an of course you will or even a really? But Vic didn't need me to keep the conversation going. Sometimes, I thought the sword would have talked forever-whether or not he had an audience.
Finally, I shelved the last book, turned the cart around, and headed toward the checkout counter. The library was closing in ten minutes, and I was more than ready to grab my bag and go back to my room for the night.
I steered the cart down an aisle until I came to a crossway in the stacks. A movement caught my eye, and I turned my head just in time to see someone duck behind a bookcase several feet away.
I froze, wondering if I'd only imagined the movement, if perhaps my eyes were playing tricks on me. I squinted and looked through a gap in the bookshelves. Sure enough, a second later, I saw someone moving through the stacks up ahead and to my right. The figure had its back to me, so I couldn't make out who it might be through the shadows that cloaked this part of the library.
I sighed. One of the reasons the library was so popular was because kids loved to sneak into the stacks and hook up with their latest crush-and we weren't talking about just a little kissing, like Logan and I had done. Oh no. Lots of the Mythos students thought that going All the Way in the library was a supercool thing to do. Whatever. I always hated it whenever Nickamedes made me clean back here because I'd always find lots of disgusting things, including used condoms. Yucko.
No doubt the mystery figure was one of the warrior whiz kids who'd just made out with his current honey. Or maybe one of my classmates just wanted to mess with me a final time tonight. Stacking up books so they'd eventually tip over and scare me when I was working late was another game some students loved to play. And given what had happened in the dining hall, I wouldn't put it past Helena or someone else to be lurking around, waiting to jump me and beat the stuffing out of me like they'd wanted to this morning-or worse.
Wary now, I pushed the cart forward, moving parallel to the shadowy figure. Apparently, for once I'd eased all the squeak-squeak-squeaks out of the wheels because they barely made a sound as I rolled the cart across the floor.
I'd just stepped into another crossway, trying to catch up to the figure, when the edge of a black robe whipped around a bookcase twenty feet ahead of me.