It was a thick book, old, dusty, and worn. Probably some obscure reference volume that got pulled off the shelf once a year when some kid needed a source for a term paper. Not exactly helpful, since there were hundreds of thousands of those in the library. I could search for a year and not come across the book.
The next time he glanced at the book, I noticed that the corner of the top right page had been turned back and that a few sentences on that page had been highlighted with a red marker. My eyes narrowed. Nickamedes would so not like that. I'd heard him give more than one student an ear-blistering lecture about dog-earing pages and marking passages.
My heart squeezed at the thought of Nickamedes, but I kept concentrating. Jason turned back to the book again, and I spotted some sort of plant on the left page, although I had no idea what kind of flower, herb, or weed it might be.
Jason's heart quickened that much more, and he snapped the book shut, wincing at the loud crack it made. His hand was splayed across the cover, hiding the title, although I managed to pick out two words printed in dull gold foil on the worn brown leather - Plants and Poison.
No big shock there. What was a surprise was the next image that popped into my mind - one of my own face.
The sight startled me so much that I almost lost the rest of the memory, but I managed to hold on to it. I was pushing one of the squeaky metal carts down the main aisle, heading into the stacks so I could shelve some more books. Jason got to his feet, walked over, and held the book out to me.
"Would you mind putting this away?" he asked.
"Sure," I heard myself say. "Just add it to the pile."
More anger exploded in me. It was bad enough that Jason had tried to poison me and had succeeded in sickening Nickamedes instead. But to actually ask me to shelve the book that he'd used to plot my murder? That was cold, even for the Reapers.
In the memory, Jason smiled at me. I pushed the cart past him, but he kept watching me. After a moment, he went back to his chair, happy at the thought that I'd be hurting before the night was through . . .
The memory flickered and faded away. I kept reaching out with my psychometry, trying to go even further back into Jason's thoughts, but there was nothing left but darkness. So I went forward, sorting through all of the images and feelings again, but there was nothing new. Just the same memories I'd seen before of me and Oliver chasing him; his last, awful act of poisoning himself; and the blaze of hot, pulsing, agonizing pain that had followed. After a few more seconds, even those thoughts and feelings faded, and I knew I wouldn't learn anything else from the dead boy.
I opened my eyes, dropped Jason's cold hand, got to my feet, and stalked back toward the steps. By this point, Daphne, Carson, and Alexei had joined Oliver, and the four of them followed me as I hurried up the steps, toward the side door, and back into the library.
"Gwen?" Daphne asked. "Slow down and talk to us. You're acting like a crazy person."
I let out a hard, brittle laugh. "Crazy? You haven't even seen my crazy yet. And neither have the Reapers."
Pink sparks of magic exploded out of the Valkyrie's fingertips like fireworks, letting me know how worried she was about me. She bit her lip and fell in step beside me.
"You took a big risk touching the Reaper like that," Oliver said, his voice cold, clipped, and angry. "I told you before that we didn't know what other kind of poison he might have on him. But you went ahead and did it anyway, Gwen, just like you always do. And for what?"
I stopped and whirled around so that I was face-to-face with him. "For Nickamedes. That's who I did it for. Just like I would do the same thing if it had been any one of you lying poisoned on the floor instead of him."
Oliver winced, but he wasn't done arguing with me. "Your killing yourself by being reckless isn't going to help Nickamedes."
"I'm not killing myself," I snapped. "I am trying to figure out what sort of poison the Reaper used. And if I have to be reckless to do it, well, so be it. All that matters to me right now is saving Nickamedes. So you can either help me, or you can stay the hell out of my way. Which is it going to be, Spartan?"
Oliver took in my tight, balled fists, my stiff shoulders, my narrowed eyes, my flushed face. After a moment, his gaze softened with understanding.
"All right," he said, holding his hands out to his sides in a placating gesture. "All right. You win. You just - you worry me, Gwen. You worry us all."
I looked at my friends. Daphne and her crackling shower of pink sparks. Alexei and his stoic, impassive features. Carson and the concern that blackened his dark eyes. Oliver and the tension that tightened his face.
I drew in a deep breath to calm my anger and slowly let it out. "You're right. It was reckless. I'm sorry I scared you, but it was the only way I could think of to figure out what kind of poison the Reaper used."
"And did you figure it out?" Carson asked, peering through the snowflakes that had stuck to the lenses of his black glasses.
"Not yet," I said. "But I'm going to. Now, come on. We've got work to do."
Chapter 8
My friends and I went back to the main part of the library. By this point, the Protectorate guards had moved Nickamedes out from behind the counter and laid him down on top of one of the study tables. The librarian's eyes were still closed, and his face was peaceful, like he was taking a nap - but I knew better. Metis was standing by his side, holding his hand in hers. Once again, the golden glow of her healing magic enveloped them both. I watched them for a second longer, then moved past them.
I went back around the checkout counter, plopped onto my stool, and logged on to the library's computer system. Vic was still propped up next to Nyx's basket. The sword's purplish eye snapped open, and he regard me with a serious expression, but he didn't say anything. Nyx had curled up in her basket once again, and she raised her head and let out a worried growl, picking up on the tension in the air.
"Gwen?" Alexei asked, his Russian accent a bit more pronounced than usual. His hazel eyes fixed on my face. "You want to tell us what you're doing now?"
"What Nickamedes taught me to do," I murmured, turning away from him to stare at the computer screen.
"And what would that be exactly?"
"The Reaper had a book in the library earlier tonight," I said. "Before he poisoned the water bottles. I'm going to find that book and see what he was looking at."
"How can we help?" Carson asked.
The band geek's soft voice penetrated some of my anger, fear, and concern. I looked up and realized that all of my friends were standing in a row in front of the counter. Daphne. Carson. Oliver. Alexei. All of them ready and willing to do whatever I asked of them. And I realized that they were as worried about Nickamedes as I was - and that I didn't have to do this alone.