Dark Frost (Mythos Academy #3)(27)
Author: Jennifer Estep

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.

After about an hour, things slowed down enough for me to do what I really wanted to do tonight-start searching for the Helheim Dagger. I pulled the Reaper girl’s map of the library out of my bag and spread it out on a shelf below the checkout counter, out of sight of any students walking by. I didn’t want anyone to get too interested in what I was doing, especially since the other kids kept staring at me. That made me feel uncomfortable enough already. Besides, I was already something of a freak at Mythos. I didn’t want to be known as Gwen Frost, that weird Gypsy girl who studied maps in her spare time.

I hadn’t had much of a chance to look at the map since yesterday, so I spent about fifteen minutes just studying it, memorizing every single line, every little squiggle, every single smear of ink and odd, random crinkle. Thanks to my Gypsy gift, I never forgot anything I saw. Now, the map was in my head, and I’d be able to pull up the image of it whenever I wanted to, which would be way better than dragging the paper through the stacks as I searched for the dagger. Carrying a map around was a sure sign you were up to something, and I wanted to keep what I was doing under the radar.