The Helicon Muses Omnibus: Books 1-4

by V. J. Chambers

  But as time wore on, she began to formulate a plan. If he was the problem, then she needed to stop him. She went over it in her head again and again, and one night, she sneaked into the tweens and rebels enclave in the darkness. She went to Sawyer’s tent, because she was convinced that Maddie was still under Owen’s thrall.

  She could hardly make out the shapes in Sawyer’s tent, but she thought she knew where his hammock was. She tiptoed forward. “Sawyer,” she whispered.

  “Nora?” came the response. “Nora, are you here?”

  “I’m here, Sawyer.”

  “Nora!” He threw his covers off, leaped out of his hammock, and flung his arms around her. “I’ve been so worried.”

  “I’m okay,” she said, “but I have to stay away, because Owen—”

  “I know,” said Sawyer.

  “You know?”

  Sawyer pulled her down on his hammock, so they sat together. “Look, when you disappeared a month ago, I was worried. But I was the only person who was worried. I went to Maddie and Agler, and they both acted like it wasn’t a big deal. That totally freaked me out, so I went to talk to Owen.”

  “Why’d you do that?”

  “I figured he was behind it somehow,” said Sawyer. “Anyway, he seemed pretty annoyed that you were missing, but he said he’d find you eventually, and I shouldn’t worry about it. Then he started mumbling stuff underneath his breath—”

  “He did that to Agler. It turned him into a zombie or something.”

  “Yeah,” said Sawyer. “I’ve seen it. Anyway, it didn’t work on me, something that really pisses him off. I tried to go to someone about it after that—Alexander. But Owen had already gotten to him, and he brushed it off. So I went to the head of the clothing and fabric enclave. At first she seemed really concerned, and she said we’d do something about it, but Owen showed up. And as soon as he talked to her...presto! She no longer cared.”

  Nora covered her mouth with her hand. “He’s awful.”

  “So at that point I stopped telling people,” said Sawyer, “because I figured that everyone I told would just end up brainwashed by Owen. I wanted to go to Phoebe, but what if he started controlling Phoebe’s mind? What would happen then?”

  Nora took Sawyer’s hand. “I’m so sorry about this.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “We have to get rid of him,” said Nora. “I came here to ask for your help.”

  “You know I’ll help. Since his mind tricks don’t work on us,” said Sawyer, “so there’s got to be something we can do.”

  “I wonder why he can’t control us,” said Nora.

  “Does it matter? We need to stop him.”

  “I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact we both lived in the mundane world for years,” said Nora. “Because when Agler got to the mundane world, it seemed to break Owen’s hold over him.”

  “Could be,” said Sawyer. “But who really cares?”

  “Well, if there were other muses who’d lived in the mundane world for a long time,” said Nora, “maybe we could get them to help us. Can you think of any?”

  Sawyer was quiet for a long time, an expression of intense concentration on his face. “Actually, I can’t. It’s not something that muses tend to talk about much. If there had been other muse babies with us in the babies and toddlers enclave that came from the mundane world, maybe I could think of them, but I don’t think there were.”

  Nora chewed on her lip. “It’s up to us, then. And I’ve got an idea. We need some rope. Can you get some from the fabric enclave?”

  Sawyer grinned. “I like the way you think, Nora.”

  * * *

  “The coast is clear,” Sawyer hissed. He and Nora were in the security enclave, hiding out of sight and scoping out Owen’s tent. Sawyer began to creep forward, a long rope coiled around one arm. Nora followed.

  Owen’s tent flap wasn’t tied closed. Sawyer pushed it out of the way, and the two eased themselves inside the tent.

  It was dark inside, and it took a moment for their eyes to adjust, but then Nora could see the sleeping form of Owen on his hammock. His chest rose and fell evenly with his breath. Nora tiptoed to him, gently pulling back his blankets and nudging his hands together.

  Sawyer didn’t waste a second. He whipped the rope out and tied Owen’s hands together.

  Owen stirred in his sleep, mumbling something.

  They both jumped.

  But he hadn’t woken. Quickly, Sawyer used the rest of the rope to bind Owen’s feet. They both tested the knots, making sure that they were secure.

  It had worked. Nora couldn’t believe it had been that easy. She and Sawyer sat down, waiting for Owen to wake up. They’d decided that once he did, they’d tell him that they’d keep him tied up forever unless he took himself to the mundane world and stayed there.

  They didn’t have to wait long. Within fifteen minutes or so, Owen tried to roll over in his hammock and found himself unable to move easily. His eyes fluttered open, and he looked at his bound hands and feet.

  Sawyer and Nora leapt to their feet, standing over him.

  “Good morning, Owen,” said Sawyer. “Maybe you shouldn’t leave your tent flap untied. Anyone can get inside and do whatever they want to you.”

  Owen struggled against his bonds. He looked at Nora. “You tied me up?”

  “It’s for your own good,” said Nora. “And for the good of everyone else in Helicon. We had to stop you, Owen. You’re out of control.”

  Owen struggled a little again. Then he relaxed into his hammock. He started to laugh. “Stop me? What makes you think you’ve stopped me?”

  “You’re tied up, aren’t you?” said Sawyer. “How are you going to look into people’s eyes and brainwash them if you can’t leave this tent?”

  Owen laughed harder. “You two are really something. It worried me when I couldn’t seem to get through to Sawyer in the same way that I got through to the others, but now I realize that I shouldn’t have worried at all.”

  “You can say whatever you want,” said Nora. “We’ve got you, whether you admit it or not.”

  “Now, Nora running off like that,” said Owen. “That, I wasn’t expecting. That was a pretty good idea. I didn’t think you had any creativity left.”

  “It came back,” said Nora. “All I need was a jolt coming back to Helicon.”

  Owen snorted. “It can’t have come back.”

  Nora furrowed her brow. The red cylinders in her tent. “You did it, didn’t you? You stole my creativity. You put the red circles in my tent.”

  “Finally figured that out, huh?” Owen said. “It’s for your own good. Creating stuff was only distracting you from our relationship.”

  “I can’t believe you’d do that to me,” said Nora. “I thought you loved me.”

  “It’s not important anymore anyway,” said Owen. “Now you’re in my tent, and I’ve got an even better idea to get you back.” He smiled. “Really, you’re making this too easy for me.” He looked towards the opening of his tent. “Oh, and we’ve got company.”

  Maddie pushed her way in. She was out of breath and a little sweaty.

  “Good,” said Owen. He grinned at Nora. “I made her run the whole way here.”

  “You made her?” said Nora.

  Owen jerked his head at Sawyer. “He’s the one who used the word brainwash, wasn’t he?” He chuckled. “The thing is, what I’m doing now, it’s really better than brainwashing. I’m deep inside Maddie’s mind, you see. I can make her do anything I want her to do. Isn’t that right, Maddie?”

  “Oh, yes,” said Maddie. Her voice sounded hollow and strange, and she stared through Nora and Sawyer rather than at them.

  “So, you see,” said Owen, “it really doesn’t matter if I’m tied up or not.” He grinned widely. “What should Maddie do to entertain us? Let’s see... Did you bring what I told you to bring, Maddie?”

  “Yes,” said Maddie. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a car
ving knife from the kitchens.

  Nora dove for it, trying to wrest it from her hand, but Maddie pushed her off, sending Nora stumbling backwards. Before Nora could lunge again, or Sawyer could help her, Maddie had the knife to her own throat.

  “It’s always terribly sad when a muse commits suicide,” said Owen. “Poor Maddie. She wanted to be a thin, pretty dancer, but she was fat and stupid.”

  “Stop it,” said Nora.

  “You asshole,” growled Sawyer.

  “Maybe if her friend Nora hadn’t run off like that, she wouldn’t have done it. All she wanted was for Nora to come home.”

  Nora turned to him. “Why are you doing this?”

  “You don’t like it?” asked Owen. “Well, then, make it stop. Come back to me, Nora. Be my girlfriend again, and your little friend will live.”

  “Fine,” said Nora. “Just have her put down the knife.”

  “No,” said Sawyer, “don’t let him push you around like that, Nora.”

  “I’ll do it, Owen. I’ll come back to you. Don’t hurt Maddie,” said Nora.

  Owen crowed triumphantly. “I knew you’d come around. Now, you understand that you can’t do this half-way. I don’t want a mopey girlfriend who refuses to be affectionate and sulks all the time. You’ll make me believe you’re happy to be with me, right?”

  Nora gulped. “Right. Of course. Have her put down the knife.”

  “And if at any point, you’re not living up to my expectations, you know I can make your little friend eviscerate herself.”

  “I know, Owen, please, stop it!”

  “Untie me, and I will.”

  “Nora,” said Sawyer.

  But she was already fumbling with the ropes. And as soon as Owen was free, Maddie put the knife down on the ground.

  She looked at it with a confused expression on her face. “What am I doing here?”

  “You came to see Nora,” said Owen, sitting up on the hammock. “She’s back. Aren’t you glad?”

  “Nora!” said Maddie, running to embrace her.

  Sawyer caught Nora’s eyes from behind her. He looked terrified. She held his gaze, unsure of what to say or do.

  * * *

  Nora sat on a bench around the main fire pit. The council meeting was over for the evening, and the drum circle had begun. They’d been discussing the arrangements for the Winter Solstice, which was the next day. Nora could hardly believe she’d been in Helicon for a year. Owen was chatting amiably with one of the members of the security enclave. Every now and then, he’d glance at her, so she didn’t dare move. As long as she stayed docile and agreeable, everything was fine. If she didn’t...

  A week ago, she’d been with Owen after one of the council meetings when Dirk had happened by. He saw the two of them together and had come over, scorn in his eyes. “You’re back with this dick?”

  Nora hadn’t said anything but had willed Dirk to go away and not make a big deal about it.

  “Why would you do that to yourself?” Dirk had continued. “He’s a jackass.”

  “Let it be,” Nora had whispered. “Everything’s fine.”

  Owen had glared at Dirk. “I don’t like the tone of voice you’re using, kid.”

  Dirk shrugged. “Well, it’s your business, I guess. But I found something in the woods, Nora, and I wanted to tell you about it.”

  Owen had looked at Nora. “Make your little friend go away, please.”

  “Let it go, Dirk,” Nora had said.

  “No,” he had said. “I know why you can’t create.”

  He’d found the red cylinders, then. Nora shook her head at Dirk. There was no reason to discuss this. Owen had lots of them, and now that she stayed in his tent, they were with them again, and her creativity had drained away. Owen said he didn’t want anything to distract her from him.

  “Nora,” Owen had said. “Make him go away.”

  “Please,” Nora had said. “I don’t want to talk to you, Dirk.”

  “Don’t let him do that to you,” Dirk had said.

  Owen had squeezed her arm. Across the fire pit, she’d seen Agler suddenly double over in pain, shrieking.

  “Shut up, Dirk!” Nora had nearly screamed. “Shut up and don’t ever talk to me again!”

  Dirk had stepped away, looking hurt. Across the fire pit, Agler had straightened.

  Owen hurt people if Nora didn’t cooperate. That was the way it was. So she cooperated. And generally, everything was fine. Since Owen was keeping her from being able to create anything, she was working with the security enclave. They were together most of the time. Usually, he was easy to get along with, as long as she did what he asked and stayed cheerful. Sometimes he even let her hang out with Maddie, as long as he was around to watch the two of them. Seeing Sawyer, of course, was out of the question.

  When Sawyer sat down behind her on the bench, she stiffened.

  “He can’t see me,” Sawyer said. “Stare straight ahead and don’t move your mouth too much when you talk. Are you okay?”

  They hadn’t spoken in weeks, not since the night she’d agreed to go back with Owen. “I’m fine.”

  “Is he making you do disgusting, perverted things?”

  “No. He doesn’t really seem interested, actually.” Nora was relieved about that. Given the way their relationship had ended, she’d been sure that one of the first things Owen was going to demand was that she sleep with him. But Owen had said that it wasn’t necessary anymore. He said before he’d been trying to get her to do it because he thought that would make them closer, but now, he had other things to keep Nora with him. They didn’t “need to fuck,” as he put it. She shivered. She was grateful, but in some ways, it made Owen even more disturbing. She realized that he really only did want to control her. Controlling her was more important than normal human drives.

  “You would tell me, wouldn’t you?” Sawyer asked.

  “I’m really fine,” said Nora.

  “I’m going to Phoebe anyway.”

  She almost turned to look at him, but caught herself. “No!”

  “I have to, Nora. He can’t force you to do this. It’s horrible. Someone’s got to stop him. Phoebe’s the most powerful muse here. She’ll be able to do it.”

  “He’ll kill Maddie,” said Nora. “He’d do it in a heartbeat. You know he would. He’d do it out of spite. Even if Phoebe could stop him, he’d find some way to kill Maddie first. I couldn’t handle that. I don’t want to be free of Owen if it means Maddie’s dead.”

  Sawyer was quiet behind her. “If I could promise you Maddie would be safe?”

  “How can you promise me that? Owen’s inside her head,” said Nora.

  But before Sawyer could answer, Nora saw that Owen had turned away from his conversation and was walking back over to her.

  “Owen’s coming,” she whispered frantically, and she felt Sawyer slip off the bench behind her.

  Owen sat down next to Nora. “Were you talking to someone, sweetie?”

  She shook her head. “No. I was singing under my breath.”

  Owen laughed. “Yeah, it’s probably better if you don’t sing out loud anymore. Without muse abilities, you really can’t carry a tune.”

  Nora tried to smile. She knew Owen expected her to.

  “I love you, anyway, you tone-deaf songbird,” he said and kissed her.

  Nora shut her eyes and let him.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  The Solstice feast was huge and delicious, but Nora couldn’t bring herself to eat much, even if Owen kept nudging her and saying she needed to look happier. She did her best, but it was hard to pretend to be happy when she was actually constantly afraid that she’d do something or someone else would do something that would set Owen off. Earlier that night, she’d made an offhand comment about the dress she was wearing and how Sawyer had made it for her. Owen had flown into a rage. He refused to let her wear the dress. In fact, he’d made her change, and then he’d taken the dress and ripped it to shreds. Remembering him screamin
g at her like that did not put her in a good mood, and it did not make her want to look happy. But she was doing her best.

  A hand on her shoulder. Nora started, looking up.

  Phoebe Rain smiled down on her. “Nora, could I talk to you alone for a minute?”

  Nora shot a terrified glance at Owen. He wouldn’t want her to do that, would he? But he wouldn’t want her to make Phoebe suspicious either. “Um, after I finish dinner, maybe?”

  Phoebe looked at Nora’s mostly untouched plate. “Well, that might take a while. Come on. I’ll only need you for a minute.”

  “Well, can’t you talk to me about it here, then?” asked Nora.

  Phoebe shot a glance at Owen, who was glaring at her. “Well, if you want me to do that, I suppose. I just have to admit that I’m surprised to find out that you and Owen patched things up. The last time I talked to you, I got the impression that you didn’t want anything to do with him.”

  “Well, he’s Owen,” said Nora nervously. “We grew up together. He made me mad, but after a while, I realized I couldn’t stand being without him.”

  Phoebe raised her eyebrows. “I see. So, I shouldn’t be worried, then. Owen’s not—” She turned to face him again— “hurting you?”

  Owen stood up. “Where would you get an idea like that?”

  “No need to get defensive, Owen,” said Phoebe.

  Owen gripped Phoebe’s shoulder. His gaze bored into her eyes, and he began to mutter strange words. Phoebe’s body went stiff. She looked down at the ground, and then back at Nora, confusion all over her face. “What was I saying?”

  “You were saying goodbye,” said Owen.

  “Oh,” said Phoebe. “Okay, then. I’ll talk to the two of you later.” She smiled and wandered off.

  Nora’s mouth was dry. She was shaking all over. Owen had Phoebe now. Phoebe Rain, the head of the council. There was no stopping him. No stopping him at all.

  Owen sat down and took a big bite of food. “You’re looking less than cheerful, Nora dear. Do eat your food.”

  Nora got a forkful and shoveled it into her mouth like a robot. She was glad Maddie was okay, of course, but any tiny bit of hope she’d ever had was gone.