The Helicon Muses Omnibus: Books 1-4

by V. J. Chambers

  “Inspiration threads,” said Sawyer. “Didn’t Mack say they came through here?”

  Maddie was kneeling on the floor. She held up a handful of shiny black rocks. “Did Jack’s rock look like this?”

  Sawyer wasn’t listening. He was walking deeper into the cave, following the inspiration threads. Nora glanced from Maddie to Sawyer and then followed him.

  “We’ve got enough stones here to make twenty necklaces,” said Maddie. “Let’s get out of here.”

  After walking about five feet, Sawyer found the source of the inspiration threads. It was an old wooden spinning wheel, seemingly spinning on its own. Behind the spinning wheel was a tangle of threads. These didn’t glow. They were dull and dirty. They were covered in dingy brown, but as the tangled threads were fed into the spinning wheel, they became bright and clean.

  “What do you think those are?” said Sawyer.

  Nora knelt down next to the tangled threads. “They’ve got to be inspiration threads, right? Didn’t Mack say something about them being purified here?”

  “Guys,” said Maddie from behind them, “is there some reason we’re not taking the stones and leaving?”

  “Come on, Maddie. Don’t you want to check this out?” Sawyer knelt next to the tangles as well.

  Maddie sighed. “We’re not supposed to be here. Muses can’t mess with inspiration threads until they come of age.”

  “We’re not going to mess with them,” said Nora. “We’re just looking.” Nora found the whole idea of inspiration threads intriguing. They were the most important thing in Helicon, but she’d never seen one, considering only muses that were older than twenty-five were allowed to make their own. The younger muses’ creativity contributed to the threads, but that was all. “Why do you think they’re dirty like this?”

  Sawyer picked up a tangled thread. His eyes rolled back in his head and his jaw went slack.

  “Sawyer!” Nora grabbed him by the shoulders. As soon as she made contact with his body, she felt a jerking sensation, as if someone had grabbed her feet and pulled her straight down. She wasn’t in the cave anymore. She’d been transported somewhere else. She was still holding Sawyer’s shoulder. He gazed into her eyes, alarmed, and they peered at their new surroundings.

  They were in the food enclave. Right next to them were two older muses, both in aprons, hands on their hips. Neither seemed to notice Nora or Sawyer. “We’re going to use flour for a thickening agent and that’s the end of it,” said one.

  “Cornstarch!” declared the other.

  “This is my inspiration thread.”

  “No, it’s ours. You want my input, and I say cornstarch.”

  Abruptly, Nora found herself back in the cave. Maddie had pried Sawyer’s fingers off the threads he’d been holding.

  “What the hell?” said Sawyer.

  “Are you guys okay?” Maddie looked terrified.

  “We’re fine,” said Nora.

  “I told you that we were going to get ourselves killed,” said Maddie.

  “Near as I can tell, we’re alive.” Sawyer grinned, waving his hands in front of Maddie’s face. “Yep. Breathing. Talking. Moving. Totally alive.”

  Maddie rolled her eyes. “Don’t joke about it. You both got super scary a minute ago. What happened?”

  What had happened? Had they traveled in space to the food enclave?

  “I think we were inside the impure inspiration thread,” said Sawyer. He turned to Maddie.”We saw two cooks arguing about a recipe.”

  “Wait,” said Nora. “You mean you think that was something that happened in the past? While they were making the inspiration thread?”

  “Well, they didn’t see us did they?” said Sawyer. “It was like we weren’t there.”

  “Who cares what they are?” said Maddie. “Let’s get the stone for Jack and get out of here.”

  “So that part was cut out,” said Nora. “Because it was conflict, not pure inspiration.”

  “Yeah, I think so,” said Sawyer.

  “Neat,” said Nora.

  Maddie folded her arms over her chest. “I don’t care how neat it was. I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be down here.”

  “You’re just upset because you’re missing quality time with Daryl.” Sawyer winked at her.

  “We found the stones, didn’t we?” Maddie held them up in Sawyer’s face.

  “Yeah, I guess these are it, so we could go back.”

  Nora had wandered further back in the cave, where piles of the discarded, dirty parts of the threads were everywhere. “I wonder if anyone ever cleans this place up. There could be discarded parts of threads going back hundreds of years.”

  Sawyer started after her. “Whoa. Think of the dirt we could dig up on the older muses. There’s probably tons of fights and arguments we could watch.”

  “We don’t even know if that’s what these things are,” said Maddie.

  “We should experiment then,” said Nora. “All together, we should touch one of these things and see what happens.”

  “I don’t know,” Maddie said. “Sounds dangerous.”

  “You pulled us out last time,” said Nora. “If you don’t want to try it, then just watch. After five minutes, you can pull us out again.”

  “Hey, I already told you we were in this together.” Maddie shook her head. “But let’s hurry this up, okay?”

  Nora grinned. “I knew you wouldn’t back out. Come over here.”

  Maddie joined the other two. She gestured at a coil of ancient, brown thread. “What about that one?”

  “Looks good to me,” said Sawyer. He bent down to touch it, and the other three followed his lead. The minute Nora’s fingers made contact, she felt the same downward jerk she’d felt before. She winced and squeezed her eyes shut.

  When she opened them, she was inside a tent. It was pretty big, bigger than the tent she lived in. She turned to see Phoebe Rain—a much younger Phoebe Rain, whose hair was not yet white, but instead close-cropped ebony curls. Another woman stood next to her. This woman was tall, with waist-length black hair. Her skin was porcelain white, and she had smoldering blue eyes. Nora tried to whisper something to her friends, but no sound came out of her mouth. Unable to speak, she turned her attention back to Phoebe and the strange woman.

  “You must honor my request!” said the strange woman, her voice shaking with anger. “After all, it is your fault that magic has fled from the world. Your deal with the Greek gods sucked it all away. Those monsters ate every spare bit of power left in the world.” Last year, Nora and her friends had learned about Phoebe’s deal with the gods. She’d wanted to allow the gods to protect the humans, but instead she’d only managed to drain the mundane world of creative energy, plunging it into the Dark Ages.

  Despite the other woman’s anger, Phoebe was quite calm. “What you ask is out of the question.”

  “But you allow your muses to dump their children in that throwaway enclave all the time. Certainly you could spare one of them.”

  “Muse children belong in Helicon.” Phoebe pressed her lips into a firm line.

  “Just one child. Give me one child. It’s all I need.”

  “The answer is no. Do not ask again.” Phoebe’s severe voice brooked no argument.

  The woman seethed for a moment. Then her lips curved into a nasty smile. “I shall have to make my own muse child then, I suppose.”

  Phoebe’s face turned stormy. She said something else, but Nora couldn’t hear what it was. The sound seemed to have gone out. All Nora could hear was the roar of the waterfall. It grew louder and louder until it hurt. Searing pain shot through her temple. Nora shrieked. She put her fingers into her ears and as she did so, she stopped touching the thread. Right away, the loud noise cut off. The pain stopped. But next to her, Sawyer and Maddie were both screaming.

  “Let go!” Nora yelled at them.

  They couldn’t hear her. Nora forcibly pulled her friends’ hands away from the thread, and they both tumbl
ed backwards, gasping.

  “Okay,” said Sawyer. “So maybe it wasn’t a great idea to grab those threads.”

  “You think?” Maddie was rubbing her temple.

  “What was that?” whispered Nora. “Who was that woman with Phoebe? Why do you think she wanted a muse child?” Nora took a step back toward the thread. “Maybe if we touched it again, we could get back inside.”

  Sawyer held Nora back. “No way. We’re not touching those things again.”

  “I’m glad you guys are finally growing a brain,” said Maddie.

  Nora stared longingly back at the thread. There was something about the woman. Something about her blue, blue eyes. They were familiar. She wanted to know who that woman was. But her head still ached. She guessed Sawyer was right. They shouldn’t touch them. Who knew what kind of damage they could do to themselves if they did? “Okay. I won’t touch it. But I want to know who that woman was.”

  Maddie held up a handful of stones again. “We’re here for these.”

  “You’re right,” said Sawyer. “And thank you for finding them.”

  * * *

  When the three of them returned to the tweens and rebels enclave they were all dirty, sweaty, and wet. They hadn’t been as lucky avoiding the waterfall on the way out, and they had gotten soaked. They were bedraggled and weary, but they each had pockets stuffed full of shiny black stones. They considered the venture a success. The plan was to drop off the stones in their tents and then head up to the public baths, where the warm water would both cleanse and soothe them.

  But as they trooped under the archway at the opening of the enclave, they were intercepted by Agler. He ran up to them, worry all over his face, and nearly knocked Nora over with the force of his hug. “Where have you been?”

  Nora pushed Agler away. “Nowhere. It’s none of your business.”

  Agler looked hurt. “I was worried about you.”

  “I’m fine.”

  Agler folded his arms over his chest. “No one knew where you were. I was waiting for you at dinner. You never showed. I was freaked.”

  “I was with Maddie and Sawyer.”

  “Yeah, I see that. You couldn’t let me know that before dinner?”

  Nora suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe. “You don’t own me. I don’t have to clear my actions with you. We’re not even dating. Back off.” She pushed past Agler. Maddie and Sawyer were a few paces ahead. They’d stopped to wait for Nora and were awkwardly pretending not to be listening to her argument. Nora caught up to them. “Let’s hurry up and get to the baths.”

  Maddie cast a glance back at Agler. “Maybe you should talk to him.”

  Nora shook her head. “No way. He’s overly possessive.”

  “I think he really was just worried,” said Sawyer.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” said Nora.

  * * *

  Nora refused to talk to Agler for the next two days no matter what he did. He sat with them at breakfast, but she ignored him. She refused to sit near him at the main fire pit at dinner. She spent the time in between at the visual arts enclave, where she did not make him a Valentine. In the evenings, she was lonely because Maddie and Sawyer were busy with their own boyfriends, but she wouldn’t talk to him then either, even though he once stood outside her tent begging her to for over an hour.

  She’d known it was going to happen. She’d known that if she kept up whatever was going on with Agler for long enough, he’d get possessive. It was too much like Owen. She remembered how Owen had needed to keep tabs on her constantly. He hadn’t liked it when Nora spent time with her friends. Agler was turning out to be the same way. Sure, he wasn’t as bad as Owen, but he was bad enough to make Nora realize that she was starting to get in over her head. She absolutely didn’t need any guy, no matter how nice he might seem, telling her what to do. She was going to nip this in the bud, before things got worse.

  She was so sure of her decision that she didn’t even feel bad about the fact it meant she would be spending Valentine’s Day alone.

  When the day arrived, she didn’t waste time going to breakfast, where she knew she’d only see Agler. Instead she went straight to the visual arts enclave. It would be a crunch day here, trying to help muses with last-minute Valentines and working on making some for muses who weren’t inclined to make them themselves. She planned to stay so busy that she didn’t even think about Agler. And in the evening, when everyone was off in pairs... Well, to be honest she wasn’t sure how she was going to deal with that. Maybe she’d help Sawyer and Jack with the babies and toddlers.

  And so, staying busy, the day passed quickly for Nora. She stayed late at the visual arts enclave to make sure everything was taken care of. When she finally made it back to her tent, it was starting to grow dark outside.

  Agler was waiting for her, holding a basket of food for two.

  She almost ran the other way, but Agler dropped the basket, ran to her, and grasped her by the shoulders. “No, Nora, we are going to talk. You can’t run away from me this time.”

  “Agler, please.”

  “At least explain to me why you’re mad at me.” He looked like a lost puppy.

  Nora sighed. “It’s not that I’m mad. It’s like I told you before. I don’t want a boyfriend. I don’t want to be tied down.”

  “I’m not trying to tie you down.”

  “You got pissed at me when I didn’t show up to meet you at dinner the other night,” she said.

  “Pissed? Do you think I was angry at you? I was worried.”

  Sure. And Owen had always been worried too. “Same difference.”

  “It’s nothing the same. Look, I wouldn’t have minded that you were hanging with Sawyer and Maddie. I want you to do whatever you want to do. I only wanted to be sure you were okay. And when you came back into the enclave, you didn’t look okay.”

  Nora chewed on her lip. “But it still amounts to the same thing, doesn’t it? I have to check in with you. I can’t just up and do whatever I want whenever I want. And that’s what I mean when I say I don’t want to be tied down.”

  Agler’s shoulders slumped. “But what if something bad had happened to you? I care about you. I can’t turn off my worry.”

  “I get that. And that’s why whatever this thing is between us needs to stop.” But it was harder to say that when she was looking at Agler. He was so adorable and freckled. She found herself wanting to reach out and touch his face. She turned away. It would be easier if she simply got away from him. “I’m going into my tent.”

  “This is stupid.”

  Nora raised her eyebrows. “Did you just call me stupid?”

  “No, that’s not what I meant.”

  “Because it sounded like you think my decision is stupid. So that means you think I’m stupid.” Nora made a beeline for her tent, yanking aside the opening flap.

  “Wait a second,” said Agler. “I only meant that you’re taking it all wrong.”

  Nora turned on Agler, one foot already inside her tent. “I’m not going to do what you want me to do just because you argue with me about it.” Owen used to wear her down with endless arguments. In the end, she’d always ended up agreeing with him mostly just to shut him up. She wasn’t going to let Agler do the same thing.

  Agler clenched his jaw. “I don’t get it. I like you. You like me. We have fun together. Why does it have to be more complicated than that?”

  It was more complicated. Nora wasn’t sure why exactly. Maybe if she were a cheery, sunny girl like Maddie, who’d never been hurt by someone like Owen, then it could be simple. “I guess I’m just complicated.”

  Agler picked up the food basket. He looked defeated. “You’re hungry aren’t you? Can’t we just eat together? As friends?”

  No. Because if she ate with Agler, he’d have more chances to convince her to do what he wanted. And she’d spend more time being close to him, remembering what it was like to stroke his dreads while they kissed. And she’d get weak. She shook her
head. “Go away, Agler.”

  “Seriously?”

  “I wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t serious. Now go.”

  Agler took several shaky breaths. It looked as if he were going to say something, but he didn’t. Instead, looking devastated, he gathered up the basket of food and trudged away.

  Nora watched him go, a lump growing in her throat. She would miss Agler. But this was better. Still, tears were forming in her eyes. Annoyed, she dashed them aside and went into her tent. Catling was in here. She’d cuddle with her pet and everything would be better.

  But as she moved further into her tent, her feet brushed something. It made a crunching sound when she stepped on it. She recoiled, hunting for the oil lamp she kept just inside the opening. She turned the knob on the side, and the flame licked up the wick. Now she could see what she’d stepped on.

  It was a bunch of flowers, tied together with a black ribbon. The flowers were old, withered, and dead. The petals were the color of rust, of dried blood.

  Nora made a small noise in the back of her throat and scrambled out of her tent. Was Agler still around? She scanned the enclave but didn’t see him anywhere. He hadn’t left the flowers there, had he? “Agler,” she called, but her voice shook.

  There was no answer.

  Nora knew who the flowers were from.

  Owen.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Nora knelt next to the flowers. Gingerly, she touched them with one finger. Dead leaves crumbled under her touch. There was no note attached, no way to know where they’d come from. But they had to be from Owen. He’d done it to get under her skin, to taunt her, just like with the note in the snow. But how had he gotten the flowers into her tent?

  She swung her oil lamp in a wide arc, illuminating every corner of her tent. Part of her expected to see Owen crouching somewhere in the darkness. She thought the light might reflect against his smoldering blue eyes, and he’d leap forward, sneering at her. She imagined him dragging her back to the edge of Helicon, just like he’d done last year. Last year on Valentine’s Day, Owen had taken her to the edge, and he’d dangled her over the cliff. Thinking of it now made her heart pound in her chest.