Dark Frost (Mythos Academy 3)

Vic huffed and snapped his eye shut. Discussion over. I sighed again. Now the sword was in one of his moods, and he probably wouldn't speak to me again until I coaxed him to-or bribed him by turning the television to some action-movie marathon. Maybe it was his bloodthirsty nature, but Vic absolutely loved watching bad guys getting beaten, bloodied, and blown up. The James Bond marathons were his favorites.

But the good thing about Vic's not speaking to me was he couldn't back talk me, or worse, tell me what a colossal mistake I was making, trusting a creature the Reapers had trained to kill warriors like me. But I knew the wolf wasn't like that anymore. My Gypsy gift had shown me what was in her heart-relief at finally being free of the Reapers. She wouldn't hurt me now.

I went into the bathroom, filled a bowl with water, and put it at the foot of my bed so the wolf could get a drink if she wanted to. Then, I hunkered down on the floor beside her.

"You stay here. I have to go out for a few hours, but I'll get you something to eat and bring it back, okay?"

The wolf let out a little grumble of pleasure as I rubbed her ears.

"You know, I really need to think of a name for you if you're going to be hanging around for a while," I said. "Would you like that? A name?"

Her ear, the one with the ragged V in it, twitched. I took that as a yes. I stared at the wolf, wondering exactly what kind of name you gave to a mythological creature. Somehow I didn't think Fido or Fluffy would cut it.

"How about Nott?" I finally said, remembering a name from one of my myth-history books. "She's the Norse goddess of the night, and your fur makes you look all dark, shadowy, and mysterious."

The wolf sat there a second, then her face split into a happy grin, and her tongue lolled out of the side of her mouth. It was the same rusty red as her eyes were, instead of the bright crimson I remembered it being.

"Nott, it is," I said.

The wolf leaned forward and licked me on the cheek. I laughed and playfully pushed her head away, before getting to my feet and heading out.

The first thing I did was go over to the dining hall, grab a tray, and pile it high with every single meat dish on the dinner menu. Tonight's offerings included seared lamb chops, grilled filet mignon, and mounds of spaghetti topped with spicy veal meatballs. I know, I know, you aren't supposed to give animals people food. But Nott was a mythological creature, one that could actually eat people. So I figured the meat would be okay. Besides, it was the best I could do tonight.

The chef who packed my food into a brown paper bag looked at me a little strangely, apparently wondering how much I thought I could eat at one time, but I gave him a bland smile. I just hoped Nott liked veal better than I did. Yucko.

I'd been so busy with the wolf that I'd lost track of time, and I had to hustle to make it over to the Library of Antiquities for my shift. The library sat at the head of the upper quad, the top point in the star formation, and dwarfed all the other buildings. It just had the most of everything-the most windows, the most balconies, the most towers.

The most statues.

According to Metis's lecture, more statues could be found on the library than on any other building on campus. Mythological creatures covered the structure, from the bottom, open-air balcony that wrapped all the way around the building to the spear-like points on the towers on the seventh and topmost floor. My steps slowed, and I stopped at the bottom of the library stairs, staring at the two gryphons perched on either side.

The statues looked the same as they did in my myth-history book. Eagle heads, lion bodies, killer claws, curved beaks. They loomed over me, their outlines sharp and crisp against the gray, gloomy, winter sky, their lidless eyes locked onto me, tracking my steps.

I flashed back to the image of my mom that I'd seen when I'd picked up her diary, of how she'd been sitting on the library steps in between the two gryphons. I wondered what my mom had thought of the statues-and if she'd been as creeped out by them as I was. Even more than the sphinxes who guarded the gates, it always seemed to me that the gryphons were seconds away from coming to life, shaking off their stone shells, and ripping me into bloody pieces.

I pushed that disturbing thought away and headed up the stairs, through a door, and down a hallway before stepping inside a pair of open double doors. An aisle unrolled like a marble carpet down the center of the library, before spreading out into an open space that featured tables where students could sit and study, as well as the glassed-in offices of the librarians.

Instead of going down the aisle to my usual post behind the checkout counter, I turned and walked back into the stacks until I came to a certain spot. Once, a glass case had stood here, the one that I'd grabbed Vic out of during my desperate fight to the death with Jasmine. Of course, the case was long gone, since the evil Valkyrie had smashed it to pieces, but that wasn't what I was here to see anyway.

No, I was here to visit a goddess.

I tilted my head up and stared at a figure above me. A balcony wrapped all the way around the second floor of the library, and slender columns separated statues of all the gods and goddesses from all the cultures of the world. Greek gods like Psyche and Persephone. Native American deities like Coyote and Badger. Celtic gods like Balor and Branwen. All the members of the Pantheon could be seen, except for a single empty spot. That's where the statue of Loki would have stood, but there were no statues of the Norse god of chaos anywhere on the Mythos campus. Not hard to figure out why, since the evil god had tried to take over the world and his Reapers of Chaos enjoyed killing warriors more than anything else.

I pulled my eyes away from the empty spot and stared up at the figure directly above me-Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. The goddess's statue looked exactly like she did in real life. Hair falling past her shoulders, a toga-like gown flowing around her body, wings peeking up from behind her back. To me, the goddess was cold, beautiful, strong, and terrible all at the same time. That's what I felt whenever I was in her presence-the raw power that rolled off her in fierce, frosty waves.

I supposed she seemed that way to me because Nike was the embodiment of victory, something that could be a bitter, bitter thing in the end. That's how I felt about what had happened at the coliseum. Sure, my friends and I had survived-but other kids had died. I would never, ever forget that.

It had certainly been that way as well for the members of the Pantheon when they'd battled Loki. Sister had turned against sister, warrior against warrior, god against god, until the whole world had been on the brink of destruction. If Loki ever got free, that's what would take place again-another long, bloody Chaos War. But that wasn't going to happen, I vowed. Now that I knew where to look, now that I knew the Helheim Dagger was hidden in the library, I was determined to find it-no matter what.

"Well, in case you didn't notice, it looks like I have a new, um, pet, for lack of a better word," I said . "You want to give me a clue about why Nott decided to track me down?"

The statue didn't move, didn't blink, didn't twitch, didn't do anything to indicate that Nike was in there somewhere-or that the goddess was actually listening to me in the first place. Still, saying hello to Nike and talking to her, even if she didn't talk back, always made me feel a little better. Like maybe she really was up there on Mount Olympus or wherever the gods hung out these days, looking down and watching over me.

"I know, I know," I said. "You can't really tell me anything because of the pact the gods made not to interfere with mortal affairs. Still, if you ever wanted to slip me a clue on the sly, I'd be more than happy to listen."

The statue didn't move, but for a moment, it seemed like Nike's lips curved up into a smile. Well, I supposed there were worse things than amusing a goddess.

I left the statue behind, stepped out of the stacks, and headed for the checkout counter. The main space in the Library of Antiquities was a huge room with a dome-shaped ceiling that arched all the way up to the top of the seventh floor. It always seemed to me like the library was taller than that, though, like it just kept going up and up and up.

I craned my neck back, trying to get a glimpse of the frescoes painted on the curved ceiling, the ones adorned with the millions in gold, silver, and jewels that Metis had mentioned during her myth-history lecture, but all I could see were shadows. Maybe that was for the best. No doubt the frescoes were just as creepy and lifelike as the stone statues that decorated the rest of campus. There was only so much weird I could handle in one day.

The checkout counter stood in the middle of the library in front of the offices that split the domed room in two. Students huddled at the study tables near the counter. Despite the fact that this was only the first day back from the winter break, every single table was packed-and not because we all had so much homework to do already.

The library was one of the main places to Hang Out and Be Seen at Mythos. Kids were here to study, sure, but they were also eyeing everyone who came and went, talking, texting, and gossiping as fast as their fingers and mouths would move. I supposed the library was so crowded tonight because everyone wanted to get caught up with his or her friends about everything that had happened over winter break. Not to mention all the rumors still flying around about the Reaper attack-and my part in it. Once again, more than one kid stared at me before he turned and whispered something to his friends. Great. Just great.

I stepped behind the checkout counter and put my messenger bag in a slot underneath the long counter. I'd barely had time to sit down on the stool next to one of the computers when a door in the office complex squeaked open.

"You're late, Gwendolyn," a low voice said. "Yet again."

I rolled my eyes and swiveled around on the stool. Sure enough, Nickamedes stood behind me. The librarian had his arms crossed over his chest, and he was tapping his right fingers against his left elbow, a clear sign he was upset with me-again. But really, when wasn't he upset with me? I couldn't do anything right as far as Nickamedes was concerned, and I had no idea why.

I looked at the sundial-shaped clock that hung on the outermost glass wall. "No, I'm not. I'm right on time."

Nickamedes pushed back the sleeve of his black sweater and looked at his own watch. "No, you're not. It's one minute past the top of the hour, which means that you are late."

I rolled my eyes again. "One minute? Seriously? You're going to yell at me for being one minute late?"

The librarian's blue eyes narrowed. "It doesn't matter if it's one minute or one hour. Late is late, Gwendolyn. I suppose you were busy sneaking off campus so you could go see your grandmother, even though you know students aren't supposed to leave the academy grounds during the week."

His snide tone grated on my nerves. Yeah, maybe that's what I usually did, but today I'd stayed at the academy, just like Grandma Frost had wanted me to. Even when I did what I was supposed to, I just couldn't catch a break where the librarian was concerned.

"Actually, I was walking around campus like a good little girl," I snapped at him. "I didn't set one foot outside the walls today."

A hand, yes. A foot, no. Although I wasn't about to mention that or Nott to the librarian.

Nickamedes arched his black eyebrows and gave me a sour look. He obviously didn't believe me.

I wanted to growl just like Nott. First, Daphne had gone off during lunch in her weird mood, then Professor Metis had bolted before I could talk to her, and now, Nickamedes was giving me grief over being one lousy minute late. I was so tired of people and their attitudes today, especially Nickamedes, who'd openly despised me from the first moment I'd stepped into the library.

All of my anger and frustration bubbled up, burning like acid in my chest, and I opened my mouth without really thinking about what I was doing.

"Why do you hate me so much?" I asked. "What did I ever do to you that was so terrible? I'd really like to know."

For a moment, Nickamedes seemed shocked, like I wasn't supposed to notice how much he disliked me or how he went out of his way to needle me about every little thing. Please. Even if I didn't have my Gypsy gift, I still would have felt the cold anger that blasted off him whenever he set eyes on me, and it seemed like the librarian's hatred of me had only gotten worse since he'd seen me with Logan at the coliseum. It was like Logan's and my being friends-or whatever we were-made Nickamedes even more upset with me, for whatever reason. Like I'd gone out of my way to personally offend him or something.

Nickamedes stood there, staring at me, his lips pressed into a tight, thin line.

"Well?" I snapped. "Are you going to answer me? Or are you going to yell at me some more? Because I've got work to do, and I really don't have time for your mind games today."

An angry flush blossomed in Nickamedes's pasty cheeks, but I saw something flicker in his cold eyes-something that looked a lot like sorrow. Like he'd lost something once upon a time and could never get it back, so he took his anger out on everyone else as a result. The librarian opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but at the last second, he clamped his lips shut. Nickamedes pivoted on his heel, stalked into the office complex, and slammed the door behind him so hard the glass rattled.

I sat there and watched him go into his office, sit down at his desk, and start shuffling papers around, pointedly ignoring me. It seemed like I'd actually gotten the best of the uptight librarian. For some reason, though, it didn't make me as happy as I'd thought it would.

Chapter 11

I put Nickamedes out of my mind and spent the next hour working. Checking out books, looking up info for other kids, helping them find the reference materials they needed to do their homework.