Too late, I realized that Nickamedes had noticed me staring at the key. He frowned, then stepped forward and read the index card inside the case.
“Janus’s Master Key,” he murmured. “A very unusual artifact with some very unusual magic. Not the sort of thing most warriors would look at for more than a few seconds. They’re far more interested in weapons that kill people, rather than simple objects like keys.”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say to get him to go away and not think about what I was really doing here.
“But then again, you are not most warriors, are you, Gwendolyn?”
Nickamedes looked straight into my eyes, and I could see the knowledge of my own scheme reflected back in his icy blue gaze.
My breath caught in my throat. He knew exactly what I was up to. Of course he would. Nickamedes knew everything that went on in the library, from the kids hooking up in the stacks to the professors who always returned their books late to why I would suddenly be so interested in an artifact that opened locks.
I sighed, fully expecting him to tear into me for even thinking about taking the key out of its case and using it to help me steal the candle. But to my surprise, Nickamedes kept staring at me. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he reached into his pants pocket and drew out a ring of keys.
My breath caught in my throat again because I recognized these keys too—they were the ones to the library doors, as well as the artifact cases. Nickamedes flipped through the ring until he found the right sort of key, then inserted it in the lock on the case, and opened it.
He reached inside and pulled out the Janus key. I expected him to walk away with the artifact, saying that he was going to move it somewhere else for safekeeping. In other words, far, far away from me and my thieving hands. But instead, Nickamedes shut the case and slowly placed the key down on top of the smooth glass. “You should take that downstairs and make sure it gets a good cleaning,” he said. “It needs polishing. Take
your time, though. There’s no rush—no rush at all.”
I couldn’t keep my mouth from gaping open. Of all the things that I thought might happen, Nickamedes actually giving me the key had never crossed my mind.
“Why do you think that it needs polishing?” I asked in a careful, but curious tone. “It looks fine to me the way it is right now. You know how . . . clumsy I can be with things, especially artifacts. Who knows? I might . . . lose it or something.”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take, Gwendolyn,” Nickamedes replied in a soft voice. “Even if others are not.” The librarian stared at me again, and I saw the certainty blazing in his eyes, along with his faith—in me. Once again, my mouth gaped open, but Nickamedes didn’t seem to notice my surprise. Instead, he nodded at me, gathered up his books, including the ones I was still holding, then turned and walked away, his cane tapping
softly on the marble floor.
After a few seconds, I shook off my shocked daze and carefully picked up the key, waiting for my psychometry to kick in and show me all of the feelings, emotions, and memories that were attached to it. But all I got from the key was a sense of smoothness, as if it would slide into any lock it encountered and easily open it. Hopefully that’s exactly what it would do.
I tucked the key into the front pocket of my jeans, then went back down to the first floor. I grabbed the empty book cart from where I had left it in the stacks and pushed it back to the checkout counter, still wondering about my encounter with Nickamedes. But for the first time, I actually felt hopeful about my chances of rescuing Grandma Frost.
Alexei was in the same spot as before, sitting on his stool against the glass wall of the office complex, although his tense features relaxed a bit when he saw me—and realized that I didn’t appear to have gotten into any trouble while I’d been gone.
If only he knew.
“What took you so long?” he asked.
I shrugged, then parked the cart next to him. “I ran into Nickamedes, and he gave me some more books to shelve. You know, the usual.”
It wasn’t exactly the truth, but it seemed to satisfy Alexei. He relaxed back against the wall, and I slid onto my own stool and busied myself with more chores.
Another hour passed. All the while, though, I was aware of Janus’s key in my pocket, but I didn’t dare reach for it while Alexei was with me. He’d ask too many questions about what it was and why I had it.
Eventually, Alexei got up and wandered over to Raven’s coffee cart to get a snack. He’d barely been gone a minute when my phone rang. Odd, but not unexpected. In fact, I’d been anxiously waiting for this particular call all day. I looked out over the sea of students still studying at the tables in front of me, but no one paid me any attention. However, I was willing to bet that at least one of the students was a Reaper—and that they’d been waiting for precisely this moment so they could signal their bosses. The screen said the number was blocked, although I
knew exactly who was calling and what she wanted. “What’s up, Viv?” I drawled into the phone.
“How did you know it was me?” Her voice flooded the line. “I’m the one who’s telepathic, not you.”
“I had a hunch,” I retorted. “Besides, it seemed like it was about time for you to call and threaten me some more. You’d said that you’d be in touch yesterday at the park, remember?”
“Well, the next time I see you, they won’t be threats,” Vivian replied in a syrupy sweet tone. “Because you’ll be dead. You and your grandma. Unless you get me what I want—Sol’s candle.”
“I heard you before at the park.” My hand tightened around the phone. “Don’t worry. I’m going to deliver. I just need another day, maybe two. That’s all.”
“Really? You’re giving in? Just like that?”
“Just like that,” I snapped. “You kidnapping my grandma and holding her hostage doesn’t give me a lot of options, now, does it?”
“Well, no,” Vivian chirped in a cheerful voice. “But I at least thought you’d hem and haw a little more about it. You know, try to reconcile such a bad, bad deed with your do-gooder conscience and your hero complex and all that.”
“My hero complex will be just fine once I kill you,” I snapped back. “But I’m not simply handing the candle over to you. I want some assurances first.”
“Like what?”