Touch of Sibyl

Chapter Twenty.six

The remains of the Bowl of Death turned black, shriveled up, and started evaporating, just the way that the Nemean panther outside the library had when Zac had killed it-

Zac.

I turned around, but I didn't see the Spartan anywhere in the library. What I did see was Jessy coming at me once more, her sword still clutched in her hands.

"You've ruined everything!" she screamed. "My revenge, my sacrifice to Loki, everything!"

The Valkyrie kept coming at me, and I backed up. Only this time, my foot was the one that slipped on a fallen book. I hit the floor hard, and Nick, the sword, fell from my hand and skittered across the cold marble.

"Can't believe she bloody dropped me again ... ," I heard him mutter.

On my hands and knees, I scrambled after the weapon, but it just kept sliding farther and farther away from me. Finally, it stopped, and I saw Nick glaring at me in disapproval.

I'd just reached for the sword when two black stiletto boots planted themselves in front of me. Uh-oh. I looked up to find Jessy standing over me.

"Time to die, Sibyl," she muttered, and raised her sword high, ready to bring it down on my head and kill me for good this time-

A spear flew through the air and punched all the way through the middle of Jessy's chest. The Valkyrie's mouth opened in a perfect O, and surprise flashed in her eyes. Her sword slipped from her fingers, and she stumbled back against the table where Morgan was lying. Jessy stared at me, her beautiful face full of pain and disbelief, and she crumpled to the library floor. Dead. This time, I knew that the slick crimson blood rapidly pooling under her body was real.

It was awful.

"Now that's what I'm talking about," Nick crowed in a chipper voice.

"Shut up, Nick," I whispered.

I picked up the sword, got to my feet, and turned around.

Zac Quinn stood behind me.

Deep ugly red lines slashed down his cheek from where the Nemean Panther had clawed him, and his black tuxedo jacket and white shirt hung in tatters on his body. More claw marks covered his chest, and I could see blood dripping out of the wounds. The Spartan's metal shield was still strapped to his arm, although it had been torn into two separate pieces by the prowler. Still, despite his injuries, pride filled Zac's ice blue eyes, warming them.

In that moment, he was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

I ran over to him and held out my arms. I wanted to hug him, kiss him, touch him-and then I remembered that I couldn't. That my Sibyl gift, my psychometry, wouldn't let me. Not without flashing on him. Not without seeing what had just happened between him and the panther. Not without me learning all of Zac's secrets. And I didn't want to do that. Not now, not like this.

I stood there a moment, my arms outstretched. Then, I slowly dropped them to my sides.

"Are you okay?" I whispered. "Where's the panther?"

"Dead. Its body is back in the stacks. It didn't evaporate since it was the real deal this time and not just an illusion." Zac put his fingers up to the bloody wounds on his face and winced. "Well, since I'm alive and Jessy and the panther aren't, I'd say that qualifies as okay. You?"

I shrugged. There was no way to tell him all the crazy things that had happened in the library tonight and all the things that I was feeling, especially when I stared into his eyes.

"Thank you," I said in a quiet voice. "I don't know how you found me or why, but thank you. Jessy and her panther would have killed me, if it hadn't been for you."