Killer Frost (Mythos Academy #6)(40)

“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?”

“Like the fact that my grandma is still alive. So why don’t you put her on the phone right now before I decide to hang up?”

“You do that, and your grandmother dies,” Vivian hissed.

“You kill her, and you die,” I hissed back. “And even worse for you, you won’t get the candle. I imagine that Loki wouldn’t be too happy about his Champion failing to get her hands on the one thing that can finally heal him. But if you want to take that chance, go ahead, Viv. Hurt my grandma. Because it will be the last thing you ever do—one way or the other.”

Silence. The seconds ticked by and turned into a minute. Worry flooded my body, and I started to wonder if I’d finally pushed Vivian too far.

“Fine,” she muttered. “But only because you asked so nicely.”

More silence. My fingers gripped the phone even tighter, wondering if Vivian was stalling or bluffing or simply messing with me. If maybe my Grandma Frost was already dead—

“Pumpkin?”

Grandma’s voice flooded the line, and I slumped over the counter in relief.

“Grandma? Is that really you?” I whispered.

“It’s really me, pumpkin,” she said, her voice a little stronger.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just want to say that I love you.” “I love you too.”