Touch of Sibyl

Chapter Seventeen

Zac, Danica, and I walked back down the hill to the lower quad.

The bonfire still burned, although by this point most of the students had plopped down into the chairs that surrounded the cheery blaze or crept up the stone steps for a bit more privacy. More than a few couples sat close together in the shadow-kissed upper levels, huddled underneath a comforter from someone's dorm room. The giggles, smacking sounds, and occasional squeals of laughter told me exactly what was happening underneath the covers.

More kids were drunk now, too, stumbling around so bad that Professor Tin and Coach Jack were herding a group of them back to their dorms before they did something stupid, like pass out and fall into the bonfire.

"Hey," I said. "Do you think we should tell Tin what happened? You know, about the falling statue and the Nemean panther being at the library?"

Maybe I should have gone straight to Tin in the first place, but I'd forgotten all about the professor even being at the bonfire in my rush to get Danica and drag her back to the library so the Valkyrie could heave the dead panther off Zac before it completely smothered him.

"Sure, if we had some proof," Danica said. "But the statue was smashed to bits and the panther evaporated, remember? Besides, do you really want to explain to Tin why you were spying on Morgan and Samson and what they were doing? She's sure to ask why you were at the library in the first place, since it closed early tonight because of the bonfire."

I bit my lip. Danica was right. I couldn't tell Professor Tin what had happened, not without getting into the whole weird story. Tin was cool, but I doubted that she'd think too kindly of me breaking into Jessy's room, swiping her laptop, and then spying on the dead Valkyrie's best friend and boyfriend because I had a weird vibe about the whole situation.

"Too bad about the panther, though," Zac mused. "I would have liked to have shown it to Coach Jack. He would have been so impressed."

"True," Danica agreed.

I looked at the two of them. "Geez. Do you guys really think killing a mythological monster is that cool?"

Danica and Zac looked at each other.

"Totally," Danica said.

"Absolutely," Zac agreed.

And they thought I was a freak. At least I had the good sense to be scared of things like panthers. Things with big, sharp, pointy teeth that could rip me to shreds. I shivered again at the memory of the creature stalking me.

"Well," Danica said. "I think I've had enough fun for one evening. I'm going back to my room. I still have that paper to write for English lit."

"Let me walk you to your room," Zac offered in a helpful voice. "You, me, and the Sibyl girl could have our own bonfire tonight."

Danica and I stared at each other. I rolled my eyes while Danica sniffed.

"Oh, please," she scoffed. "Like I need a guy to protect me. I'm a Valkyrie, remember? I could pick you up and break your back over my knee, Spartan. Like you were a pinata."

"Kinky," Zac said, smiling at her. "I like it."

She snorted. "Save the smarmy charm for Ava. We all know that she's the one you're really trying to impress anyway."

We did? Because I hadn't gotten that message at all.

My eyes flicked to Zac. Something that looked like a guilty flush crept up the side of his neck, but the flickering flames of the bonfire made it hard to tell for sure.

Danica snorted again and stomped off in the direction of her dorm, leaving the two of us standing there by the firelight.

"Don't forget to call Carlos," I called out in a helpful voice. "The two of you have a date tomorrow night, remember?"