Daphne was plucking the golden strings on her onyx bow over and over again, listening to the faint, thwangy chimes they made, almost as if they were some sort of harp that she was playing. Meanwhile, Carson was studying his own artifact, the Horn of Roland, which looked like a small, handheld tuba. He kept turning it over and over in his hands, peering at the ivory surface, and studying the onyx keys, as though he was using his Celt warrior bard instincts to try to figure out how to get it to work.
I sat down with them, but none of us spoke. There was nothing left to say.
Logan, Oliver, and Alexei had been practicing with their weapons, but they came over to the table too. Logan sat down beside me and threaded his fingers through mine. He put his arm around me, and I leaned my head on his shoulder.
We’d only been sitting like that for about five minutes when Metis stepped out of the office complex and walked over to us, her phone in her hand. Nickamedes appeared in the door of the office complex, cradling Nyx in the crook of his arm. Everyone slowly hushed as Metis approached me.
She stopped and touched my shoulder. “I just got off the phone with Linus. The guards down by the main gate have spotted the Reapers. They’re here, and Loki is leading them, along with Agrona and Vivian.”
I nodded and got to my feet. Everyone turned to stare at me. I stared out over the faces, so many of them strangers to me, kids and professors and staff members I’d only seen from a distance. One by one, I looked at them, then focused my attention on the people who were so very familiar—my friends, my family, all the people I loved.
Logan. Daphne. Carson. Oliver. Alexei. Metis. Nickamedes. Grandma Frost. Rory. Rachel. Nyx. Vic.
I wondered if this would be the last time I ever saw them, but I couldn’t let myself think about that right now. For a moment, I focused on my breathing—in and out, in and out—letting each inhalation and exhalation ground me and prepare me for what was to come.
“It’s time,” I finally said.
Chapter 23
Everyone grabbed their weapons and started trickling outside, except for a few folks like Grandma Frost, who were staying here to protect the library from any Reapers who might try to sneak inside. Those armed with bows and arrows, including Rory and Rachel, climbed to the upper levels of the library to head out onto the balconies and serve as archers from those vantage points.
I also stayed behind to talk with Nickamedes. He put Nyx down on a nearby table and leaned on his cane. The battle hadn’t even begun yet, but he already looked tired, which told me how much he needed what I was about to give him.
I grabbed what was left of Sol’s candle out of my jeans pocket and put it down on the table where Nyx was. She came over and started sniffing it out of curiosity. Then, I reached down, pushed up my sweater sleeve, and plucked the last silver laurel leaf off the mistletoe bracelet around my wrist. I held it out to him.
“What’s this?” he asked, staring at the leaf, which glinted underneath the library lights.
“It’s for you. I saved the last one for you, so you can use it to heal your legs. You should hold on to the candle too.”
Nickamedes shook his head. “You don’t have to do
that, Gwendolyn. It’s not your fault that I was poisoned, and it’s not your fault that my legs haven’t fully recovered.”
“Yes, it is,” I insisted. “And there’s a very real chance I won’t make it through the battle today. So I want you to have this. Just in case.”
Nickamedes stared at me. “You should keep it. You need it more than I do.”
“I can’t see the future like Grandma Frost, but whatever happens today, this is the end for me. But it doesn’t have to be for you. Besides, if we fail, if I fail, someone will have to pick up the pieces. Someone will have to go on, will have to keep fighting the Reapers for as long as possible, and I know that someone is you.”
He opened his mouth like he wanted to argue with me, but he clamped his lips shut. I held out the leaf again, and he finally, reluctantly, took it.
“All right,” he grumbled. “But I’m just holding on to it for you. That’s all.”
He slipped the leaf into his pants pocket. Nickamedes stared at me, his blue eyes bright. Then, he did something I never imagined he would do in a million years. He stepped forward, reached out, and hugged me tight with one arm.
“If I am ever lucky enough to have a daughter, I hope that she’s just like you, Gwendolyn,” he whispered.
Emotion clogged my throat, and I nodded and tried to blink back the tears from my eyes. That was one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to me.
“And you’ve been more of a dad to me than anyone else ever has,” I whispered back.
He hugged me even tighter.
Slowly, I drew back, and Nickamedes and I both dropped our eyes, not quite looking at each other.
Nyx let out a soft whine from her position on the table, and I went over and rubbed her ears between my fingers, the way I had a hundred times before. She gave a contented sigh, and I let my emotions flow into her, trying to show her how much I loved her. Her tail thumped against my side in response, and I petted her one final time before forcing myself to step away.
“Keep an eye on Nyx for me, okay?”
“Don’t you worry, Gwendolyn,” Nickamedes said, straightening up as much as he could. “I will protect her with my life.”
I nodded. I knew he would.
There was nothing left for me to do but draw Vic out of his scabbard. He’d been quiet the last few hours, resting up for what was to come. I held the sword up so that we were eyes-to-eye.
“Are you ready for this?” I asked.
His mouth split into a wide grin, and his purplish eye gleamed with anticipation. “I was made for this, Gwen. And you too. You’ll see. We’ll come through this battle just fine. With dead Reapers all around! And Loki cringing at our feet!”
The sword went off on another one of his rants. I let his loud, quick, excited words wash over me, but I kept staring at him, memorizing his features, in case this was the last time that we ever went into battle together.
“Well, then,” I said, when he finally wound down. “I
guess we should get on with things then.”
I saluted Nickamedes and Nyx with Vic, then hurried outside to join the others.
* * *
I left the library and headed down the main steps, stopping at the two gryphon statues. I wasn’t the only one. Carson was also there, crouched down beside them, still rubbing his hands over the Horn of Roland. He kept glancing at the horn, then at the statues, as though the two were somehow connected.