Spartan Heart (Mythos Academy: Colorado #1)(9)

I stood in the doorway, studying everything. I had always loved books and artifacts and history, and the Library of Antiquities was full of those things. The library used to be my favorite place on campus, and I had spent hours wandering the aisles, finding books to read, and examining the artifacts on display. There was always something new and wonderful to discover.

But now I was torn, just like I was about so many other things at the academy. On one hand, I still loved the library. The quiet stacks, the interesting artifacts, even the faint musty scent of paper that filled the air. But on the other hand, I hated the library for one simple reason.

My parents had been murdered here.

I stared at a spot in front of the checkout counter. That’s where Covington, the former head librarian, had stabbed my parents in the back, and that’s where they had been lying when I raced into the library that awful, awful day. I didn’t get vibes off objects, not like Gwen did with her psychometry magic, but the memories were so strong that they rose up in my mind and blotted out everything else.

In an instant, all I could see was my mom and dad crumpled on the floor, their eyes open wide with shock and pain. All I could hear was the faint whisper of their black Reaper cloaks fluttering back and forth in the air-conditioning, looking like death shrouds draped over their bodies. All I could smell was the coppery stench of their blood oozing across the floor, staining the stone a sickening scarlet…

A Roman guy hurried past me, and his backpack accidentally clipped my shoulder. The faint nudge snapped me out of my trance, and the images faded away, although not the pain they left behind.

Nothing ever took away that heartache.

These same memories haunted me every single time I set foot in here. And I wondered, like I always did, if I could really go over, sit down at a study table, open my books, and pretend everything was fine. That my parents hadn’t died a few feet away.

More hurt and loss stabbed through my heart, while more of that sick dread twisted my stomach. Not for the first time, I wanted to whirl around, run out the door, and never set foot in the library again, but I forced myself to take in slow, deep breaths and hold my ground. I couldn’t avoid the library, not even for a few days, given the massive amounts of homework my professors dished out on a weekly basis. Besides, Covington and my parents had already taken so much from me. They weren’t taking the library too. I wouldn’t let them take that too. So I pushed the memories back down to the bottom of my brain, squared my shoulders, and strode forward.

“What’s she doing here?” A snide voice caught my ear.

I glanced over at the fireplace, and I realized that all the other kids were staring at me again.

“Isn’t it bad enough that we have to sit through classes with her?” Kylie, the blond Valkyrie from lunch, continued. “Does she have to come to the library too?”

In an instant, everyone started whispering about me, and once again, I wanted to turn around, leave the library, and never come back. But Spartans never ran away from a fight, not even one like this that I could never, ever win, so I gritted my teeth and walked down the center aisle, as though I didn’t hear any of the cruel taunts. Besides, I really did need to do some research and get started on my term-paper outline. I took pride in getting good grades, and I wasn’t going to flunk my first myth-history assignment of the semester because of some stupid gossip.

So I went over to one of the computer stations close to the checkout counter, typed in the titles of the books the professor had given us as starting points, and printed out their locations. But the other students had beaten me to them, and all the copies of the first few books on the list had already been checked out. Still, I trudged from one side of the library to the other, trying to find something that would help me. Every time I left the stacks and walked by the fireplace, a fresh round of whispers rippled through the groups of kids, but I ignored the harsh murmurs and marched on.

Since all the books on the first floor were already gone, I pushed through a door, climbed the stairs, and stepped out onto the second floor. Like all the other Libraries of Antiquities, the second floor featured a balcony that wrapped all the way around the library, boasting a pantheon of statues of the gods and goddesses of all the cultures of the world, everything from Greek to Norse to Egyptian and all the others in between.

Zeus, the ruler of the Greek gods, with his lightning bolt clutched in his hand. Odin, the ruler of the Norse gods, with his two ravens perched on his shoulders. Bastet, the Egyptian cat goddess, with her claw-tipped fingers. I moved past those deities and dozens more. Just like the stone gryphons outside, these statues also studied me, although none of them gave me a friendly wink or an encouraging smile. But I didn’t mind their silent scrutiny. At least I couldn’t hear their thoughts about me, whatever they might be.

All the other students were lounging around the fireplace, so it was much quieter up here, and I was the only one on this floor. I sighed with relief. Now that no one was watching me, maybe I could relax and focus on my homework. Besides, up here, I didn’t have to keep walking by the spot where I had seen my parents’ bodies.

A few minutes later, I finally found one of the myth-history books on my list and slid it out of its spot on the shelf along one of the walls. I grabbed a couple of other volumes, enough to get started on my outline, and headed toward the exit so that I could go downstairs, check out the books, and take them home.

I was almost to the door when a bright gleam of metal caught my eye.