The Helicon Muses Omnibus: Books 1-4

by V. J. Chambers

  Nora, who was leading them as they walked, shot a glance over her shoulder at Sawyer. “Well, she stays in my tent mostly. And I haven’t been here that long. There’s no way you could know everything about me.”

  “You’d be surprised.” Sawyer hopped over the tracks in the snow so that he was on the side opposite Nora, just behind Maddie. “You’re the buzz of the tweens and rebels enclave. Everyone knows that you and that Owen guy are a couple, for one thing, even though you apparently grew up like brother and sister in the mundane world.”

  Nora halted, turning on Sawyer. “We did not grow up like brother and sister.” That made the whole thing sound disgusting. They were together a lot, and Owen had always looked after her and taken care of her, but she had never thought of him as a brother. It had always been quite clear that they weren’t related.

  Sawyer made a hands-off gesture. “It’s only what people are saying. I didn’t say I thought it was true. You’ll realize that people around here talk behind each other’s backs a lot.”

  Nora started walking again, focusing on the tracks. “No one around here seems to like Owen.”

  “They don’t really mean it in a nasty way,” said Maddie. “Not exactly. Sometimes it feels nasty, but it’s just the way people are.”

  “Do you talk about me behind my back?” Nora asked Maddie pointedly.

  “Of course not,” said Maddie.

  “I think it’s nasty,” said Sawyer.

  “That’s only because people think you’re transgendered or something,” said Maddie.

  “Well, it’s not like they do sex-change operations in Helicon is it, anyway?” said Sawyer. “So whether I am or I’m not, it barely makes any difference. And besides, how is that not nasty to say stuff like that about someone?”

  Maddie shrugged. “I think people do it because they care, in a weird way. You know, they worry about someone, so they ask other people if there’s anything to be worried about. Overall, I think it’s done from a good place.”

  “Whatever,” said Sawyer. “I don’t see why wearing skirts is such a big worrying issue.”

  Nora chewed on her lip, unsure of how to put what she was thinking of saying. “Are there many, um, gay muses?”

  “Sure,” said Sawyer. “Tons. Well, maybe not tons. There are more straight people, I guess. But Helicon’s really accepting of that stuff.”

  “And are you...?” Nora didn’t finish.

  “Am I gay?” asked Sawyer. “Yeah, totally.”

  “So you don’t think you’re actually a girl trapped in a boy’s body?” asked Maddie.

  “See, that’s what I’m talking about,” said Sawyer. “People talk behind your back. You make an offhand comment once when you’re like thirteen years old, and no one lets it go.”

  “So it’s not true?” said Maddie.

  “I’m a guy,” said Sawyer. “I’m always going to be a guy. There’s no point in thinking anything else, is there?”

  Sawyer seemed to be getting a little bit touchy. Nora decided it was best to let the thing go. “I promise not to talk about you behind your back, Sawyer,” she said. “Or you, Maddie.” The wooded area they were walking through was beginning to thin out. The trees had more and more space between them. Ahead, Nora could see nothing but a huge snow-covered field, tall stalks of grass poking through it. It stretched as far as she could see. Was the edge of Helicon at the end? She looked back in the direction of the tween and rebels enclave, but it was obscured by trees at this point and impossible to see. “Why did Catling walk out this far? And shouldn’t we be able to see her by now?”

  “I don’t know,” said Maddie.

  “How big is she?” said Sawyer. “Maybe the snow’s so deep that it covers her up.”

  “Maybe,” said Nora. She looked at the tracks stretching in front of her. It looked like Catling had simply walked on the top layer of snow, because it wasn’t as if she’d plowed a little path through it. Still, maybe she’d fallen in somewhere and was stuck. She raised her voice. “Catling! Where are you, little one?”

  Maddie and Sawyer began calling for Catling as well, making little clicking noises with their tongues, as the three kept following the tracks.

  “Nora?” called a voice.

  They all turned in the direction of it. Owen was walking up over the field, from the direction that Catling’s tracks were headed. He waved.

  “Owen?” said Nora.

  “What are you doing out here?” Owen asked as he approached.

  “I lost Catling,” said Nora. “She wandered out of my tent out here. We’ve been following her tracks.”

  “She walked all the way out here by herself?” said Owen.

  It was strange, wasn’t it? Was something wrong with Catling? Maybe the fact that she was a chimera had made her go completely insane. Maybe you couldn’t really mix up two different animals like that without completely ruining them.

  “What are you doing out here?” asked Sawyer, eyeing Owen.

  “Going on a walk in the snow,” said Owen. He stopped right in front of Sawyer. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

  “Sawyer.” Sawyer stuck out his hand. Owen shook it. But they were both glaring at each other. “I already know your name. Everyone does.”

  “Right,” said Owen. “My fame precedes me.”

  “Sawyer’s helping us look for Catling,” said Nora, feeling compelled to explain to Owen exactly why Sawyer was there in the first place.

  “Right,” said Owen. He snapped his gaze away from Sawyer to Nora. He smiled. “You like the snow? Feels like we just got away from it, right?”

  Nora had to smile back. It was nice to be with Owen, given their shared experiences. “Well, it’s pretty. And the snow clothes they have here are completely awesome. Maddie and I were going to make a snow sculpture.”

  “I went looking for you earlier,” Owen said. “I thought maybe you’d want to walk with me. But I guess you and Maddie had already left your tents.”

  “You were in my tent?” said Nora. “Was Catling in there then?”

  Owen thought about it. “I don’t remember.”

  “When was this?”

  “I don’t know,” said Owen. “Before I started walking. An hour ago? How long ago did you leave your tent?”

  “Where is she?” Nora was starting to get worried. “Catling!”

  “Let’s keep following the tracks,” said Sawyer.

  Nora nodded. She called for the cat-duck again.

  And there was an answering mewling squawk.

  “Did you hear that?” said Maddie.

  They all started yelling for Catling, taking off into the snow after her tracks. Catling quacked back at them. They fanned out, calling the chimera.

  “There she is!” yelled Sawyer.

  Nora stopped and turned to look at Sawyer, who was scooping a little black furball up out of the snow. “Catling!”

  Catling was twisting in Sawyer’s arms hissing and wailing. If she’d actually been a cat, she probably would have been digging her claws into him. It was strange, because Nora had never seen her act that way before. Usually Catling was very sweet tempered. She started across the snow to take the animal from Sawyer. Maybe once she was back with Nora, Catling would calm down.

  Behind Sawyer, Nora noticed something else strange. The snow was glowing. There was a definite purple light emanating up through the white crust. She faltered. “Sawyer, behind you.” She pointed.

  Sawyer half-turned. “Holy shit!” He leapt forward, at the same moment as a gigantic purple fork of lightning ripped up through the snow, crackling and sparking. Sawyer screamed in pain and landed face down in the snow. He didn’t move.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “Sawyer!” yelled Nora, running for him.

  But Owen was next to her, tackling her, knocking her down. Snow smacked her in the face—an icy punch. Owen’s voice was in her ear. “It’s another portal. The Influence is getting through again.”

  And as Nora lifted her face,
she noticed that it did definitely look the same as before. The brilliant beam of energy went straight up, forking into tiny sparks which writhed and reached. As the branches of purple lightning made contact, they shriveled into the same red circular things as before. One skittered across the snow to Nora, like a red hockey puck.

  Within a few seconds, the branches had all shriveled, and there was only a mound of purple light coming from the ground. The snow all around had melted, so the light was sunken against the white blanket that surrounded it. Only then did Owen let Nora up.

  As she got to her feet, she noticed that Maddie was doing the same. She’d taken cover as well. Owen picked up one of the red circles and pocketed it. “We should pick these up.”

  But Nora was rushing to Sawyer, who’d been right next to the blast. She knelt next to him, shaking his shoulder. “Sawyer?”

  Sawyer groaned. He lifted his face to look at her, and it was the color of ash. “I think it hit me.”

  Nora looked back at Owen and Maddie, panicking. If the Influence touched a muse, didn’t it kill them?

  Maddie was next to Sawyer as well, gripping his hand. “You’re okay,” she said. “If it hit you full on, you’d be dead.”

  “Must have grazed him,” said Owen.

  Catling mewled, tunneling out from one of Sawyer’s arms to rub against his face.

  “Can you move?” Nora asked Sawyer.

  “I don’t know.” Sawyer tried to push himself up and cried out in pain. He flopped back into the snow.

  Owen looked from Sawyer to Nora to Maddie. “Maddie,” he said, “you run back to the main part of Helicon and get help. We need Alexander for the portal, and we need someone to help Sawyer. Nora, you stay with Sawyer. I’m going into the portal to try to close it.”

  “Owen, should you do that alone?” Nora asked.

  “Okay,” said Maddie. She nodded at Nora. “I’ll be right back. Hang in there, Sawyer.” And she took off at a sprint back across the field towards the woods.

  Nora took one of Sawyer’s hands. “You’re going to be okay.” But she wasn’t sure that he would.

  Owen was standing at the edge of the portal.

  “Don’t go in there, Owen,” said Nora.

  “I’ll be fine,” said Owen.

  “You don’t know that,” said Nora.

  “I was before.”

  “But that was a portal you made. Maybe this one is different.”

  “Nora, it’s fine.”

  “Please stay with me.” She bit her lip.

  Owen cast one more glance at the portal, sighing. “Okay, fine.” He trudged away and sat down next to her and Sawyer in the snow. “You know, maybe it’s not such a good idea for you to be roaming around here all by yourself.”

  “I wasn’t all by myself,” said Nora.

  “Well, you know, without someone who could take care of you,” said Owen.

  “I wouldn’t have been,” said Nora. “It was just that Catling ran off, and I wanted to find her.”

  “Why didn’t you come looking for me?” Owen asked. “I would have helped you find her.”

  “You wouldn’t have been around anyway,” said Nora. “You were on a walk.”

  Owen picked up a handful of snow and began packing it into a ball. “I feel like we’re kind of drifting apart is all.”

  Nora thought this was a silly thing to be talking about when there was a portal that could kill people right next to them and when Sawyer was practically dying on the other side of them. “Don’t be silly.” She turned back to Sawyer. “How are you holding up?”

  “Hurts,” Sawyer groaned. His cheek was resting directly against the snow.

  Nora looked at Owen. “Do you think it would be bad to move him? Maybe if he were on his back, he’d be more comfortable.”

  Owen tossed the snowball he’d made onto the ground and stood up. “We can try, I guess.” He walked around behind Sawyer and grabbed his legs.

  Nora shifted so that she had Sawyer’s shoulders. Together, she and Owen rolled Sawyer over. Sawyer shrieked and swore.

  “Sorry,” said Nora.

  Now lying on his back, Sawyer grimaced, digging his hooded head into the snow. “No, it is better. Less cold.”

  Nora took his hand again and squeezed it. Catling rubbed up against their clasped hands. Owen glanced down at Nora’s hand in Sawyer’s and stood up. He walked away a few paces, putting his back to the two of them. Nora furrowed her brow. Was Owen...jealous? But that was ridiculous. He must know something about Sawyer. It was impossible to see him once and not realize that he wasn’t anything to be jealous of. There was the fact that they hadn’t seemed too happy to see each other earlier, of course. And she couldn’t very well ask Sawyer about it now, could she?

  And in any case, the time to be jealous of someone was not when he was lying on the ground in excruciating pain. Even if Sawyer hadn’t been gay, Owen had no right and no reason to think there was anything bad about her holding the hand of an injured man. Of course, she couldn’t very well tell Owen any of that now, either.

  So she simply stayed where she was, holding Sawyer’s hand and petting Catling with her other hand, not saying anything. She stayed that way, and Owen didn’t turn back around, until Maddie returned with Alexander Night, Phoebe Rain, and Coeus Dust.

  Alexander went immediately to the portal. He shook his head. “I don’t believe it. Another one. I’ll have to go get a team together to close it.”

  Phoebe and Coeus crouched down next to Sawyer. Phoebe cupped his chin, turning his face from side to side to get a good look at him.

  “We could close it together, Alexander,” Owen said. “We probably don’t need anyone else. Everyone’s enjoying the snow. There’s no reason to put others in danger.”

  Alexander considered.

  “I think you’re right, Maddie,” said Phoebe. “It wasn’t a direct hit. He’s been hurt, drained of his creativity and power, undoubtedly, but he’s intact.”

  “Well, Owen said it grazed him,” said Maddie.

  Phoebe nodded. “Absolutely right, Owen.”

  “Just the two of us then?” said Alexander. “All right. Let’s go, Owen.”

  Owen grinned, like Alexander saying that made up for all the awful things that had just happened.

  “Be careful,” Nora told him.

  Owen shrugged and followed Alexander. They leapt into the portal, disappearing from sight.

  Nora turned her attention back to Phoebe. “Can you help him?”

  Phoebe nodded. “Yes, we can. It’s going to take a bit of energy, though. I do have access to it, as the head of the council.” She wagged a finger in Sawyer’s face. “I’m going to give you a huge jolt here, Sawyer, and I need you to promise me you will be extra creative to make up for what you’re taking.”

  Sawyer moaned.

  “Phoebe,” said Coeus, “the boy’s hurt. Is this really the time to be worried about energy balances?”

  “The council—”

  “Will completely agree that a muse’s life is worth saving,” said Coeus.

  Phoebe let out a breath. “You’re right, of course.” She pointed at Nora and Maddie. “You two will need to stand back.”

  Nora picked up Catling and scrambled away from Sawyer. She and Maddie huddled close and watched as Phoebe and Coeus joined hands. They each took one of Sawyer’s hands as well so that the three of them were all linked. Phoebe and Coeus closed their eyes and let their heads sink down against their chests, almost as if they were falling asleep. There was a low humming sound that seemed to emanate from their bodies. All three of them vibrated a little, going blurry against the snow.

  It lasted only for a few moments, and then Phoebe and Coeus dropped their hands, breaking the circle. They stood up and stepped away from Sawyer.

  Sawyer shook himself. Then he pushed himself to his feet.

  “How do you feel?” Phoebe asked him.

  Sawyer’s face erupted into a huge smile. “I feel...totally amazing.” />
  “Good,” said Phoebe. “Well, use that.”

  “Phoebe,” said Coeus again, sighing. “He doesn’t have to be creative right this second.” He gestured toward the main area of Helicon. “Why don’t you three go on back and make some snow sculptures, huh? I think everything’s okay now.”

  But by the time they got back to the area where everyone was making the snow sculptures, news of the portal had spread, and it didn’t seem like anyone was in any mood to make anything. Instead, people grouped together, chatting anxiously about what this might mean. Maddie and Sawyer explained to Nora that the portal opening was very strange, especially so soon after the one that had been opened to let Nora and Owen in. In their lifetimes, there had only been two other portals that had opened, and Nora understood that one was same one that had coincided with the time she’d used her muse powers in the mundane world and the muses hadn’t been so distracted they couldn’t come to save her. The other had apparently been opened nearly a year ago, sometime in the spring. The other muses seemed to think that something very bad was beginning to happen. These holes in Helicon didn’t seem to be random. They were happening more frequently.

  They shot Nora furtive looks as they spoke to each other. Nora knew that they suspected her. After all, hadn’t the last portal opened to let her and Owen back into Helicon. The muses didn’t trust her. Or at least, they didn’t trust Owen.

  Finally, Nora couldn’t stand it anymore, and she insisted that they go ahead and try to make a snow sculpture. Sawyer, still flush with whatever Phoebe and Coeus had done to him, thought it was a great idea, and he got to work on it enthusiastically. Maddie wasn’t entirely feeling up to it, so they assigned her to Catling duty. Maddie made sure that their model didn’t run off while they were trying to sculpt her image. Once immersed in the work, Nora began to ignore everything around her. The hardest part of the sculpture was trying to figure out how they were going to make the body of Catling balance on spindly snow legs. They tried several times to get it to work, building the body separately from the legs. But every time they tried to get it on, the whole sculpture crumbled.