I rammed the cart into the Reaper as hard as I could. He cursed and stumbled back. He tried to regain his balance, but he tripped over his own feet and sprawled to a stop in the middle of the open floor-right in front of Oliver and Alexei. The guys stared at the Reaper, then at me, with shocked expressions.
"Reapers!" I screamed. "Reapers in the library!"
As if my words had magically summoned them, Reapers suddenly surrounded us, erupting out of the stacks like a swarm of killer bees. Black-robed figures darted here, there, everywhere. In front of me, the Reaper I'd hit with the cart started to get onto his feet, so I rammed the metal cart into him again. He fell back to the floor.
The cart didn't hurt the Reaper, not really-but Vic did.
I shoved the cart out of the way, stepped forward, and brought the sword up, then down into the center of the Reaper's chest. Blood sprayed everywhere, the warm, wet, metallic stench of it stinging my nose. The man screamed once, and then he was still. Maybe I should have felt bad about stabbing him when he was on the ground, but I didn't because I knew that he would have done the same thing to me if he'd had the chance.
I whirled around. Oliver and Alexei stood back to back, their fists up and ready, as the Reapers crept closer and closer to them.
"Oh, look," one of the Reapers said in a low, throaty voice. "Two little warriors without a sword between them. This is going to be fun."
The Reaper who'd spoken was the leader, the one I'd first noticed. A man, judging by the deep voice, although something about his tone seemed a little . . . off. Like he was pitching his voice lower than it really was for some reason.
The leader laughed, and all the others joined in, the chuckling sounds full of sly, deadly malice. My heart sank because I realized that the Reaper was right. No matter how brave or skilled they were, without weapons, Oliver and Alexei would be easy targets, since all the Reapers carried long, curved swords. Sure, Oliver was a Spartan and didn't really need a weapon to fight, but he couldn't sidestep all those Reapers and all their swords-not for long.
I looked around, wondering how I could save them, and a gleam of glass caught my attention. My gaze locked onto the artifact case that Alexei had been looking at earlier-the one with two swords in it.
A Reaper broke away from the circle around Oliver and Alexei and rushed toward me. I waited until the figure was in range, then spun around him and ran toward the artifact case.
I skidded to a halt in front of the case. Something glimmered on the black velvet next to the swords, and I realized that it was the silver foil on the card that identified the weapons. The Swords of Ruslan. That was all I read before I raised Vic up high, then turned my head and brought the sword down as hard as I could. The glass shattered with a roar, and I felt pieces zip through the air, stinging my hands and arms, but I didn't care. The pain was small compared to what would happen to Oliver and Alexei if I didn't help them.
The two swords were crisscrossed over each other and sheathed in a double scabbard made of gray leather, so I was able to grab everything with one hand-
Images flooded my mind as soon as I touched the scabbard.
I wasn't surprised that my psychometry kicked in, but the intensity of the memories and feelings associated with the scabbard and swords took my breath away. In an instant, the library was gone, and I was standing in the middle of a fierce blizzard, frozen to the bone, screams ringing in my ears as a fight raged all around me.
Panicked, I turned this way and that, trying to push the memories away. I didn't have time for this, not when Oliver and Alexei were in danger and a Reaper was racing after me. But the faster I turned, the more the scene sharpened, as though I was zooming in on it with a camera. My gaze snagged on a man in the heart of the battle. It took me a moment to realize that he was fighting with two swords, probably the two swords I was holding right now. But there was something familiar about him, something about the way he moved, as though he was dancing with his enemies instead of fighting them-
"Gwen!" I heard Vic say, although the sword's voice seemed distant and far away. "The Reaper's coming after you! Snap out of it! Right now!"
I shook my head, and the images and memories vanished, although my teeth still chattered from the cold and it seemed as though my breath frosted in the air. But how was that possible? It was warm in the library-
"Gwen!" Vic screamed again.
On instinct, I ducked to the right.
CLANG!
The Reaper I'd sidestepped earlier brought his sword down where I'd been standing a second before. His weapon got stuck in the wooden base of the artifact case, and he cursed, trying to pull it free. What was it with people always trying to kill me in the library? Nickamedes so needed to put up warning signs. Danger: Working here could be hazardous to your health.
Since my hands were full with Vic and the other swords, I kicked out and managed to catch the Reaper in the knee. Something popped under my sneaker, and he howled with pain as his leg buckled and he went down to the floor.
"That's my girl!" Vic yelled. "Kick him again!"
So I kicked him again, slamming my sneaker into the Reaper's rubber mask as hard as I could. He moaned and rolled away from me, trying to get under the artifact case so I couldn't kick him a third time. But I was already turning away and running toward the circle of Reapers.
The other Reapers were so focused on Oliver and Alexei that they didn't realize I'd gotten back into the fight. I put my shoulder down and barreled into the one closest to me, shoving the Reaper out of the way, and breaking through the ring.
"Oliver! Alexei! Weapons!" I yelled and shoved the scabbard into Alexei's hands.
Alexei smoothly drew one of the swords out before offering the other one to Oliver, who shook his head.
"You take the second sword. Give me the scabbard instead!" Oliver barked.
Alexei held the leather out to him. Oliver pulled the double scabbard away, leaving Alexei to wield the two swords. Oliver hefted the empty scabbard in his hand, and then he actually smiled. I didn't know why or what Oliver thought he could possibly do with a piece of leather-
The Spartan ducked a Reaper's blow, then spun around so that he was behind his attacker. In an instant, Oliver had wrapped the straps of the scabbard around the Reaper's throat like some sort of leather vise. Oliver twisted the pieces of leather, and the Reaper's neck snapped with an audible crack.
Oh. So that's what he was going to do with it. I should have known he had something in mind, that his Spartan killer instinct would prompt him to do something clever and deadly. Oliver noticed me staring at him with wide eyes. He grinned at me and stepped up to fight the next Reaper.