The Helicon Muses Omnibus: Books 1-4

by V. J. Chambers

“Oh.” Jolie beamed. “Thank you so much. You two are the sweetest.” She set down her basket to give them both a hug.

  When she’d gone off, still waving at them and saying thank you, Sawyer turned back to Nora.

  “Nora,” said Sawyer, “why’d you tell her we’d do it? It’s our first Valentine’s Day together.”

  “Well, our Valentine’s Day plans were ruined,” said Nora. “I mean, I know that you want our first time to be perfect and everything, and it can’t be perfect if we can’t go into each other’s tents. So, I figured there wasn’t any point.”

  “Just because we’re not going to have sex doesn’t mean everything’s ruined, though. We could still have a really romantic evening together. We don’t need to do it, you know.”

  “I know,” said Nora. “But we can have a romantic evening anytime. Valentine’s Day at the babies and toddlers enclave is kind of a tradition. It’s what you do.”

  “It’s what I used to do because I was single.”

  “You took Jack last year,” said Nora.

  “I guess that’s true.” He took another drink of juice. “I should have realized I didn’t really like Jack. Otherwise, I never would have said we should spend Valentine’s Day babysitting.”

  “Oh come on, Sawyer, it’s not going to be that bad. It’ll be fun.” She smiled at him. “We’ll play hide and seek.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, okay. I guess it won’t be that bad.”

  “As long as we’re together,” said Nora. “And besides, they all go to sleep before any of the adult muses come back to the enclave. We’ll have tons of time to ourselves.”

  “Not tons,” said Sawyer.

  “Well, some, anyway.”

  “We’re exchanging Valentines beforehand,” said Sawyer. “You meet me early, got it?”

  She rolled her eyes. “It’s going to be fun. You’ll see.”

  * * *

  “Nora.” Sawyer was standing in the middle of the fire pit in the tweens and rebels enclave, his arms folded over his chest. “Where have you been?”

  Nora hurried over to him. “I’m sorry, Sawyer. It’s Valentine’s Day, and it’s crazy in the visual arts enclave. I tried to get away early, but I couldn’t. I’m really sorry.”

  He sighed. “We barely have time before we have to be at babies and toddlers.”

  She chewed on her lip. “You’re mad at me for volunteering us for that, aren’t you?”

  He unfolded his arms. “I’m not mad.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He smiled at her. “Yes, I’m sure. I guess I’m frustrated because nothing’s really going the way I hoped it would. I mean, first all that crap happened with Agler, and everything’s just been downhill since then.”

  She grabbed his hand. “It’s not going to be downhill. It’s going to be uphill from now on. You’ll see.”

  He caressed her cheek. “Okay.”

  She smiled at him. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Sawyer.” She got out her the Valentine she’d made for him. “Here.”

  He took it. It was a big heart. On the front of it, she’d put a silhouette of a girl and guy holding hands. Only both of them were wearing skirts, just like her and Sawyer.

  He grinned. “Awesome.”

  “It’s me and you, see?”

  “I do see.” He took out his own Valentine and handed it to her.

  It was made of the same fabric that Sawyer had used to make their dresses for the Winter Ball. It was in the shape of a heart, and in the middle, Sawyer had embroidered their initials entwined together.

  “Oh,” she said. “Sawyer, it’s beautiful. I love it.” She clutched it to her chest.

  He looked pleased. “I’m glad you like it.”

  She threw her arms around him.

  He wrapped his hand around her waist and gazed into her eyes.

  She felt herself melting as she peered up at him.

  He kissed her forehead, and then the tip of her nose. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Nora,” he whispered.

  Then his lips met hers.

  Nora lost herself in the kiss. It was so nice to be close to Sawyer like this. For a moment, she was a little sad that they wouldn’t be able to be completely alone tonight.

  He pulled back and rested his forehead against yours. “Do you have any idea how wonderful you are?”

  She giggled. “Mmm… Half as wonderful as you?”

  “Me? I am not wonderful.”

  “Yes you are,” she said. “I love you, and I say that you are the most amazing person in the whole of Helicon.”

  He blushed. “I love you too.”

  She grabbed both of his hands.

  He sighed.

  They stood like that for several minutes, their foreheads touching, their hands clasped, simply enjoying being close.

  Then Sawyer moved away. “I guess we need to go to the babies and toddlers enclave, don’t we?”

  She wrinkled up her nose. “It was a bad idea, wasn’t it?”

  He wound an arm around her, pulling her close. “Eh. We’ll tell them all to hide. Then we’ll take our time seeking.”

  She laughed. “You’re bad. You wouldn’t really do that.”

  He nuzzled her neck. “I don’t know. I might.”

  “All those poor little kids hiding, waiting for you to find them and you’re not even looking.”

  “They’d feel neglected, I guess.”

  “You bet they would.” She leaned against him. “We’ll just have to wait until they go to sleep, like I said. Then it will be just me and you. No one else.”

  Sawyer smiled. They walked out of the tweens and rebels enclave, arm in arm. They spent the rest of the walk across Helicon close, giggling to each other. And they blended in with everyone else. All of Helicon was coupled up. They passed other muses, also in pairs, as they made their way there.

  But when they got there, they were stunned at the person who met them.

  Maddie.

  She was inside the playground, kneeling down and talking to several of the little kids.

  Jolie rushed over to them. “Oh, you two are here now. Maddie beat you here, as you can see.”

  “Beat us here?” said Nora.

  “Yes,” said Jolie. “I just know that the three of you are going to have a wonderful time tonight with the children.”

  “Maddie’s watching the kids with us?” said Sawyer.

  “Yes,” said Jolie. “Didn’t you know? Aren’t the three of you friends? Didn’t you plan to do it together?”

  “Uh…” Nora fumbled to explain.

  At that moment, Maddie turned around.

  Nora and Sawyer let go of each other, putting a whole foot of space between them.

  Maddie’s jaw fell open.

  Nora tried a hesitant wave.

  “Well,” said Jolie, “I better be going. You guys have fun. I’ll see you later on this evening.” She swept out of the enclave, all smiles.

  “So much for it being you and me, huh?” said Sawyer.

  Nora chewed on her lip. “Guess we better go say hi.”

  She and Sawyer made their way over to Maddie, careful to maintain their distance from each other.

  “What are you doing here?” Maddie greeted them.

  “We’re, um, going to be watching the kids too,” said Nora.

  “Why?” Maddie crossed her arms over her chest. “I mean, don’t you guys have big plans together for Valentine’s Day?”

  “We like hanging out with the kids.” Sawyer seemed overly defensive, considering that he hadn’t exactly been gung-ho about it before.

  “Well, I don’t have anything else to do tonight,” said Maddie, “so if you think you guys are going to chase me off, you’re wrong. I’m staying.”

  “We want you to stay,” said Nora. “No one’s trying to chase you off.” She tried a smile.

  Maddie scowled. “Good.”

  Nora chewed on her lip again. Now what?

  * * *

  Maddie couldn’t believe that Nora
and Sawyer were in the babies and toddler’s enclave. She would have expected them to be together somewhere. She thought back the way they had been at the Winter Ball, and they’d looked pretty into each other. Why wouldn’t they want Valentine’s Day to be alone?

  Maddie hadn’t even wanted to babysit this evening. As usual, her mother had volunteered her. Trust her mother to not understand anything. But once she’d shown up, and the kids had seemed excited to see her, she’d started to think that maybe things wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe it would even be fun. Kids weren’t like everybody else. They were straightforward. If it seemed like they were happy to see her, then she knew that it was actually true. They did believe it. They weren’t faking. Not like other people.

  She couldn’t be sure about Nora, for instance. Nora was acting like she was glad to see Maddie, but Maddie didn’t know if Nora was just being polite or not.

  Luckily, she hadn’t needed to interact with Nora and Sawyer that much. Sawyer had started the game of hide and seek. He set the perimeters pretty widely. The kids could hide anywhere within the tents or the playground. The whole enclave was fair game. Maddie had volunteered to be “it” first, which meant that everyone else was hiding, and she had time to collect her thoughts.

  It was easy to find most of the kids. Even if they didn’t hide in obvious places, they tended to have very little ability to keep quiet, meaning that she would hear them giggling or talking. Sometimes, they’d even get so frustrated with her for not finding them that they’d yell out, “Here I am, Maddie.”

  All of that put her in a good mood. So when the game of hide and seek was over, and she was left with Nora and Sawyer while the kids chased each other in the fields, she found herself smiling and happy. The sun was sinking in the horizon, and the kids were rolling and laughing in the grass. They were tiring out, like little sparks ready to burn out.

  She beamed at the two of them. “Aren’t the kids great?”

  Nora nodded, also smiling. “They’re awesome.”

  “Yeah,” said Sawyer, looking at them wistfully.

  Nora nudged him. “Oh, really? I thought you were all pissy about the fact I volunteered us to do this.”

  That surprised Maddie. “Sawyer, you love watching the kids at Valentine’s. It’s practically a tradition.”

  “Yeah, I was being stupid,” said Sawyer. “Doesn’t happen very often, so look now while you can.”

  Maddie laughed. Nora did too. Sawyer grinned at the both of them.

  And it felt like things were the way they used to be between the three of them.

  Nora chewed on her lip. “Maddie…”

  Maddie looked back out at the children playing. “We should start rounding them up for bed, don’t you think?”

  Nora sighed.

  Maddie hurried away and began herding the kids together.

  Sawyer told them not one, but two stories around the fire pit. And then they bundled everyone up to sleep. They had more kids than the enclave usually supported because it was a holiday. Some muse children lived in the babies and toddlers enclave full time, because their parents felt that they would be more creative without children underfoot. The muses in the babies and toddlers enclave welcomed the children happily because they were their most creative with small children.

  But it wasn’t only those children on a day like Valentine’s Day. On a day like that, it was more kids, because everyone dropped off their kids to go on dates. So the enclave was full to bursting. There were extra hammocks set up everywhere, and little beds made on the ground of bundles of blankets.

  It took quite a long time to get everyone settled.

  But eventually, it was quiet.

  Maddie saw Nora coming out of one of the tents. Sawyer took her hand and the two kissed. But when they saw Maddie, they broke apart quickly.

  Maddie felt a stab of guilt. She didn’t mean to ruin everything for them. It was only that it was hard to see them like that.

  Still, she wasn’t exactly sure why she was angry with them anymore.

  Maybe she wasn’t angry. Not exactly. Maybe she was hurt more than anything. They were supposed to be her best friends. And they’d abandoned her. She could never be as close to them as she’d been before.

  She went to them. “Look, the kids are asleep, and I’m sure that you guys want to be alone, so I’ll just go.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” said Nora. “We could all hang out again. You know, like we used to. Maddie, I’m sorry for whatever I did that made you so mad at me.”

  Maddie sighed. “It’s not your fault, Nora.” She looked over at Sawyer to include him. “It’s not either of your faults.”

  Nora looked at her with eyes full of hope. “So, stay, then. We’re best friends, Maddie. All of us. We don’t want to lose you.”

  Sawyer nodded. “Stay.”

  She shook her head. “I wish I could. Believe me. But…” She hugged herself.

  “But what?” said Nora.

  “Maybe I’ll be able to handle it at some point. I want to try to handle it. I do.” Maddie took a deep breath. “But right now, whenever I see you guys together, I feel like something is reaching inside me and tearing open my insides. It hurts too much.” She turned and began to walk away. “You guys have fun. It’s Valentine’s Day, and you should have some time alone.”

  “Wait,” Sawyer called after her.

  “Maddie, don’t go,” said Nora.

  Maddie didn’t turn around. She kept walking. “Maybe after a little more time has passed, I can try again. But for now, I really can’t. I’m sorry.” And then she was crying. She picked up her feet and began to run. She ran all the way back to the tweens and rebels enclave, and threw herself back into her tent.

  It was full of pies, cakes, and sweets that she’d hoarded in here. She’d been eating a lot of that stuff, and usually it looked so tempting. But not tonight. She wasn’t going to eat away all her problems again.

  Instead, she packed it all up and threw it away.

  She wasn’t better. Not yet. But she thought she might be making a little bit of progress.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Nora left Theia’s tent in the visual arts enclave feeling down. It was already March, and Theia wasn’t doing any better. In fact, she seemed to be worse. And it wasn’t just Theia. At least four of the muses in the visual arts enclave were affected, as well as some in other enclaves as well. No one understood what was going on. All the muses seemed to be completely exhausted. They didn’t have the energy to get out of bed, let alone create anything.

  Theia was in a tizzy about inspiration threads, worried that if she didn’t get moving soon, the amount of inspiration threads that could be sent back to the mundane world would suffer. It was a symbiotic relationship. The muses sent inspiration threads to the mundane world. The humans created, and that sent energy back to Helicon. If enough inspiration threads weren’t sent out, it could upset the balance.

  Nora had tried to calm her down. She thought that worrying about inspiration threads was the last thing that Theia should be doing. Theia needed to be concentrating on feeling better. That was all. There was no reason for her to make herself worse worrying about stuff she had no control over.

  But there did seem to be something going on. As usual, the muses strategy when things went wrong was to ignore it and hope it went away. Nora was starting to get frustrated. Someone needed to do something about all these muses feeling sickly. She wasn’t sure what but something.

  She walked across the fields towards the tweens and rebels enclave. Everything there was still a mess. Maddie hadn’t been openly hostile since Valentine’s Day. She even sat with them at breakfast every once and a while. But when she did, she was quiet and sullen. She wasn’t her old, bubbly self. She was losing the weight she’d gained back after Daryl left, though. Still, Nora wished things were better between them.

  And Agler was still enforcing the rule about no one being in each other’s tents. He seemed to be taking a lot of pleasure
in it. Nora really wanted to punch him.

  Between her lack of friends, the hostile environment in tweens and rebels, and Theia’s sickness, Nora thought she was going to lose it.

  “You’re Nora, right?”

  Nora whirled. There was Roth, standing outside Mack’s tent. She hadn’t seen him since Loki had left Helicon. “Um, hi?”

  “Hi,” said Roth. “You, uh, know what’s going on around here?”

  “What are you talking about?” Nora asked.

  “Well, there’s something wrong with my dad,” said Roth. “He won’t get out of bed, and he’s in, like, a constant bad mood.”

  “Oh, no,” said Nora. “It’s happening to Mack too?”

  “Too?” said Roth. “So this is happening to other people?”

  “Yeah,” said Nora. “A bunch of people in the visual arts enclave. They’re all too exhausted to get out of bed.”

  Roth shook his head. “You know, when I used to come to Helicon, everything was totally calm and peaceful around here. This year, however, things are crazy.”

  “Well, it’s not that crazy,” said Nora.

  “I was impersonated by a Norse god,” he said. “It’s crazy.”

  “Right.” Nora nodded. “Well, no one’s got any idea what’s wrong with everyone. But don’t expect anyone around here to fix anything. Muses are not very good in a crisis.”

  “Well, there usually aren’t crises around here,” said Roth. He raised an eyebrow at Nora. “I hear that things changed when you showed up.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, according to some people, everything was nice and normal, and then you arrived, and suddenly there were holes ripped in the fabric of Helicon, and then half of the community got mind-controlled by your boyfriend—”

  “Ex-boyfriend.”

  “And then he stole the dimension device. Plus, Nimue’s back?”

  “None of that was my fault.” Nora glared at him. “Are you sure you’re not Loki again?”

  Roth laughed. “Oh? Just ‘cause I’m not kissing up to you, I must not be myself? You don’t know anything about me.”

  “Sawyer said you were his friend.”

  Roth shrugged.

  “Did you like have a crush on Sawyer?” Maybe Roth was gay. “Are you annoyed because you’ve come back to find him taken?”