Jennifer Estep - Killer Frost

She led Carson out onto the dance floor, and the two of them were soon rocking to the music.

Logan took my hand. “What do you say, Gypsy girl?”

he asked in a teasing voice. “Want to dance?”

I started to answer him when I noticed two people standing off to one side of the dining hall—Metis and Nickamedes. Metis looked lovely in a dark green gown, and she’d even worn her black hair down for a change, softening her features. Meanwhile, Nickamedes looked almost as handsome as Logan did in his tux. Nickamedes seemed to be trying to get Metis to go out onto the dance floor with him, but she kept shaking her head in refusal.

Nickamedes’s mouth pinched with frustration. Metis said something to him and started to turn and walk away, but he grabbed her hand, pulled her toward him, and kissed her soundly. She stiffened in his arms at first, clearly shocked by his bold action, but then, she slowly melted into his embrace. By the time he drew back, they were both blushing and flustered. This time, when Nickamedes tugged on Metis’s hand, she let him lead her out onto the dance floor.

Logan frowned, seeing exactly what I was looking at. “Metis and Nickamedes? What’s that all about?”

I laughed and grabbed his hand. “Well, I thought it would be obvious, but come and dance with me, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

He stopped, pulling me back toward him. “I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t we sneak off and go have that makeout session we talked about back at the dining hall?”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his head down toward mine. “Why not start now?” I whispered.

Logan grinned. A moment later, his lips met mine, and I forgot about everything else, including the dance.

I didn’t think it was possible, but things slowly went back to normal at Mythos Academy. Actually, they weren’t quite normal.

They were better than that.

With the threat of Loki gone, and the remaining Reapers in hiding, everyone was far more cheerful and relaxed than I’d ever seen them before. Professors, staff members, students. Everyone just seemed . . . happy. Laughing, talking, joking, out on the quad, in the dining hall, even in the classrooms. Of course, there was a lot of sorrow, sadness, and grief mixed in, especially for those who had lost friends and loved ones, but things were far more hopeful than they’d been in years. As for me, well, I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders, literally. For the first time in a long time, I felt . . . free .

And I loved it.

But that didn’t mean I didn’t have responsibilities. I was still a student, after all, which meant classes and more classes and tons of homework assignments from all the days we’d missed while the academy had been closed for repairs. I was busier with school than ever before, but I made time for the things I enjoyed most, the things that were truly important to me. Weapons training in the morning with my friends, lunch with Logan in the dining hall, afternoon visits to Grandma Frost’s house. I even worked my regular shifts in the Library of Antiquities, helping Nickamedes clean up, since the library had taken the brunt of the Reapers’ attacks.

Speaking of the library, I was late for my shift, as usual, but instead of hurrying inside the building, I stood at the bottom of the steps, staring at the two gryphons. They were the only statues left on any of the buildings on the quad, since Loki had destroyed all the others. I thought he had obliterated them too, but they’d been in their usual spots when we’d come outside after the battle, perched by the library steps as if they’d never even moved in the first place.

Whatever magic Carson had used to bring them to life had sustained them through the battle, and the gryphons loomed as large and fierce-looking as ever before. Sure, they were a little rough around the edges now, with scars embedded in their stone bodies from the wear and tear of the fight. But they were still here, still watching over me, and still protecting us all. Walking by the gryphons every single day was one of the things that had helped me cope with all the nightmares from the battle. I think that seeing them helped a lot of other folks deal with things too.

Metis said that all of the statues on all of the other buildings would be replaced, a project that Raven was overseeing, which didn’t surprise me in the least, given what I now knew about her real identity. I wondered if the new gargoyles, dragons, chimeras, and more would all have that same wary watchfulness as before.

I hoped so.

I patted first one gryphon’s head, then the other, whispering my thanks to them before entering the library.

An hour later, I was supposed to be looking something up on the computer for Nickamedes, but really, I was watching him whisper into Metis’s ear. Something perhaps a bit steamy, judging from the sly look she gave him in return. She leaned up and kissed his cheek before waving at me and leaving the library. The two of them were officially a couple now, and I couldn’t have been happier for them.

Nickamedes shuffled over to the checkout counter. He was still using his cane to get around, but he wasn’t leaning on it as heavily, and he said that some of the aches and pains in his legs had finally started to ease. I was hoping he’d make a full recovery after all.

“So,” I said, swiveling around on my stool and raising my eyebrows at him. “I take it that things with Metis are going well?”

A blush bloomed in Nickamedes’s cheeks, although he still managed to give me an utterly withering look. “Things are going just fine, not that it is any of your business, Gwendolyn.”

“Of course not,” I sniped. “I’m just the reason the two of you got together in the first place. It’s not like I’m going to be responsible for your lifelong happiness or future kids or anything.”

He gave me a sour look that melted into a smile before he disappeared back into his office.

“You should cut the librarian some slack,” Vic piped up from his spot behind the checkout counter. “Love can be a tricky thing, after all. Don’t you agree, fuzzball?”

Nyx was curled up in her basket, but she lifted her head up and barked out her agreement.

I laughed and went back to work.

My friends came and went as the evening wore on and turned into night. Daphne. Carson. Kenzie. Talia. Morgan. Savannah and her boyfriend, Doug. And Alexei and Oliver came by too, since they’d gotten back from Russia a few days ago. Some of the sadness had left Alexei’s eyes, although I knew it would take time for him to fully recover.

Finally, Logan came to the library, and I forgot about everything else. Despite everything that had happened with the candle, the Spartan and I had forgiven each other, and we were in a good place now—and stronger than we’d ever been before.

Logan hung out around the checkout counter while I went about my usual chores. Finally, though, I got caught up enough to take a break, and he flashed me a sexy, wicked grin.

“You know,” he drawled. “With all the time we’ve spent together the past few weeks, there’s one thing we haven’t done.”

“Oh really? What’s that?”

He jerked his head at the stacks and waggled his eyebrows. “We haven’t been back there in forever. Maybe it’s time we see what all the fuss is about for ourselves, huh?”

I leaned closer to him. “That sounds like a plan to me, Spartan.”

Logan laughed, and I headed around the counter. Together, and still laughing, we scurried toward the stacks. We’d almost reached them when the inevitable happened, and I heard the door in the glass office complex squeak open.

“Gwendolyn!” Nickamedes called out. “Where are you going? These books aren’t going to shelve themselves!”