The Helicon Muses Omnibus: Books 1-4

by V. J. Chambers

  May Day was coming up, but Sawyer had no intention of seeing Himeros this year. There was no reason for him to be a Maypole dancer considering that he and and Nora weren’t close to Maddie anymore, and it had always been Maddie’s thing. Sawyer hadn’t intended to spend any time near Himeros at all.

  So, he didn’t keep walking and show himself.

  But he didn’t leave either. He was a little bit interested in what was going on.

  “Ever since January,” said the first voice. “You’ve been completely cold. You don’t even seem like yourself anymore.”

  “Ren,” said Himeros’ voice, “you’re being melodramatic. As usual.”

  So Himeros was having an argument with his boyfriend Ren, then. Sawyer knew of Ren, and he’d seen him around, but he’d never really met him. Himeros and Ren had a longstanding relationship—hundreds of years. But it sounded like there was trouble in paradise now.

  “You shouldn’t say that to me,” said Ren. “I’m having a genuine feeling now, and I’m expressing it to you. And you aren’t taking me seriously. The old Himeros always took me seriously.”

  “The old Himeros? That’s a funny way to put it, don’t you think, considering the circumstances?”

  “Why are you treating me this way?”

  A heavy sigh. “You know what, Ren, perhaps our relationship has run its course.”

  “What?” said Ren.

  “You’re dissatisfied with me, aren’t you?” said Himeros. “It seems like whenever we’re together, all we do is argue. Surely, you’ve thought about ending it?”

  Ren was quiet.

  “I can see from your expression that you have,” said Himeros.

  “But not seriously. I don’t want to lose you. We’ve been together for so long.”

  “I know.” Himeros sounded devoid of emotion. “Perhaps that’s the problem. Perhaps we’ve been together for too long.”

  “You can’t be serious.”

  “Ren,” said Himeros, “we’re muses. We don’t have to die until we’re ready. And we often choose mates for very long periods of time. But we have to recognize that in the end, we’re individuals, not halves of a pair. If we spend some time apart, perhaps we’ll both start to remember who we are without the other person. Maybe that would be best for us.”

  “I don’t know,” said Ren. “I can’t even imagine what it would be like not to be with you.”

  “That’s probably not a good thing,” said Himeros. “We should take some time. It doesn’t have to be permanent, but we should probably try it, don’t you think?”

  “Himeros, this isn’t why I asked you to come to the baths with me. I thought that we could…”

  “I know why you asked me to come here. And we did try, didn’t we?”

  “Not hard enough, perhaps?”

  “It turned into an argument. You’re unhappy with me. I do care about you, Ren. I don’t want you to be unhappy. I have no choice but to set you free.”

  “What if that isn’t what I want?” said Ren.

  “Maybe it is, and you just don’t know it,” said Himeros.

  “Himeros, wait.”

  Sawyer could hear some splashing noises, as if someone was getting out of the water.

  Crap. He had to get out of there before Himeros saw him. He scurried back out of the baths. When he got outside, he ran back a few paces and then began to walk forward nonchalantly, as if he’d just arrived.

  Himeros emerged out of the baths. “Oh, hello, Sawyer,” he said.

  “Hi,” said Sawyer.

  Himeros didn’t seem to be looking at him the way he usually did. There was no attraction on the man’s face.

  Himeros walked on past Sawyer without a backwards glance.

  A few minutes later, Ren tore out of the baths. “Himeros, please, wait!” He was crying.

  Ren didn’t even acknowledge Sawyer.

  * * *

  “I’m telling you, it was weird,” said Sawyer. He and Nora were in the tree house, both sprawled out together in a big squishy chair. Their limbs were entwined. Nora liked the way it felt to be close to him. It was casual and comfortable, and she felt like she belonged.

  “What was weird about it?” said Nora.

  “Well, Himeros didn’t really seem like himself,” said Sawyer. “Ren was right. He was really cold and emotionless. And Himeros isn’t usually like that. Plus, he saw me, and he didn’t even seem attracted to me.”

  She twisted to get a better look at him. She adopted a teasing tone. “Well, he must be crazy. Everyone who looks at you can see how gorgeous you are.”

  He nudged her playfully. “You know that wasn’t what I meant. He usually checks me out is all.”

  “I do think you’re gorgeous, you know.” She kissed him.

  He twined his fingers with hers. “And I think you are the most beautiful girl in all of Helicon.”

  She grinned. She liked it when he said things like that.

  “But seriously, Nora, Ren and Himeros have been together for a really long time. It doesn’t make sense for them to break up like that,” he said.

  “Well, it sucks,” she said. “I feel bad for Ren. But people do grow apart sometimes. And the muses do seem to end up alone, you know? Think about old Ned Willow. He doesn’t have a girlfriend or a boyfriend or anything.”

  “What if,” said Sawyer, “Himeros really isn’t himself?”

  “What do you mean?” said Nora.

  “Well, you remember how you had a theory last year that Owen could get into other people’s bodies? You thought he was Agler, remember?”

  Nora looked away, embarrassed. “Yeah, but that was only because Owen dosed me with something that made me paranoid. I was seeing things. It wasn’t true.”

  “Yeah, and who told you that?” said Sawyer.

  Nora sat up straighter. “Owen did.”

  “And he never lies, right?”

  She put her hand to her mouth. “Oh my god, Sawyer, do you really think that Owen could have been inside someone? Do you think he was really in Agler?”

  “I don’t know about Agler,” said Sawyer. “He says he wasn’t, doesn’t he?”

  “Yeah,” said Nora.

  “But you suspected someone else, didn’t you?”

  She felt it ripple through her in cold shocks. “Himeros. Sawyer, I saw his eyes. They were blue, like Owen’s. Right before that paranoia set in last year.”

  “That’s what I thought,” said Sawyer. “What if Owen really was controlling him back then? What if Owen can control Himeros whenever he wants? What if that’s why Himeros is acting so strangely?”

  “That could be the way that Owen is causing the sickness,” said Nora. “Through Himeros.”

  “We need to watch him,” said Sawyer.

  “Oh,” said Nora. “Does that mean we have to be Maypole dancers again?”

  Sawyer made a face. “I’m afraid so. It’s the best way to get close to Himeros.”

  * * *

  Natalia Rowan gave the gathered group of muses a harried smile. “Well, hello there, everyone. Can I just say I’m really glad to be around grown-ups for an hour?”

  Maddie was among the girls who were volunteering to be Maypole dancers that year. Natalia choreographed the dance every year, and she was traditionally the May Queen. She hadn’t done it last year because she’d been pregnant.

  The muses tittered appreciatively.

  “Wow,” said Natalia, “it’s good to see some familiar faces.” She beamed at Maddie. “And some new faces too.” She nodded at the girls at the front, who were young tweens. “I’m just so excited not to be dealing with diapers.”

  Whatever. Maddie knew that Natalia adored the baby. She’d been showing him off at every gathering for months. She wished that Natalia would just get on with telling them how the dance was going to work this year.

  “Oh,” said Natalia, waving. “Looks like we’ve got some stragglers. Good to have the two of you back.”

  Maddie turned. No freaki
ng way. Nora and Sawyer were here?

  She stalked back to the two of them. “Come with me.”

  “But—” said Nora, gesturing to Natalia.

  Maddie seized each of them by one wrist and dragged them away from the pavilion where the dancers were meeting. When they were out of earshot, she let go of them.

  “Nice to see you too,” said Sawyer, massaging his wrist.

  Maddie glared at both of them. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “We’re going to be Maypole dancers,” said Nora.

  “You can’t,” said Maddie. “You only ever did it because I wanted you to. And I don’t want you to anymore. So back off and go do something else.”

  “We would, but we can’t,” said Sawyer. “We need to be close to Himeros. We need to keep an eye on him.”

  “What?” said Maddie. “You hate Himeros.”

  “He just broke up with Ren,” said Sawyer.

  “And you want to dump Nora and go back to guys? Please say that’s it. You guys together makes me sick and you know it.”

  “No,” said Sawyer, looking furious. “Look, we don’t have to explain ourselves to you. We’ve been Maypole dancers every year, and if you don’t want us to be here, that’s your problem, not ours.”

  Maddie narrowed her eyes.

  “Wait,” said Nora. “We didn’t come here to argue with you, Maddie. We think that Owen might be possessing Himeros, because Himeros is behaving strangely. You know that Owen’s capable of doing that Maddie, because he did that to you.”

  Maddie swallowed, thinking of the strange blank floating feeling that had come over her mind whenever Owen had taken control over her. It made her feel terrified.

  “If he’s doing it then he might be making all the muses sick,” said Nora, “and we have to find out. And we have to stop him.”

  Maddie nodded. She got it. “Okay, I can see what you guys are saying.”

  “Really?” Sawyer seemed surprised. “Cool. Then, let’s get back to the pavilion.”

  “Not so fast,” said Maddie.

  “But you just said—”

  “I can watch him,” said Maddie. “You guys don’t need to be there. We’ll meet up every day after dinner, and I’ll tell you all about whatever he did. You don’t even have to be there.”

  Nora and Sawyer exchanged a glance. Maddie hated the way it seemed like they could communicate with each other without even speaking. She wanted to slap them both and tell them to stop it. They weren’t supposed to be a couple. They were supposed to be her friends. They should never have abandoned her like this.

  Nora looked at Maddie with hurt in her eyes. “You really don’t want us around at all, then?”

  Maddie looked down at the ground. “No.”

  “We need to be dancers anyway,” said Sawyer. “All of us need to watch Himeros, not just Maddie.”

  Nora shook her head. “No, if she doesn’t want us there, Sawyer, then we won’t be there. We’ll do it her way.”

  Maddie was surprised. “You will?”

  Nora nodded.

  “Thanks,” said Maddie. “I appreciate that.”

  Sawyer sighed. He didn’t like it.

  Maddie liked that too. She liked the two of them arguing. They didn’t need to be perfectly happy all the time. She smiled in satisfaction. “Well, this is just great, then. I’ll see you guys after dinner.”

  * * *

  Nora’s hands were inside Sawyer’s shirt. Her fingertips traced fervid trails over his chest, making his skin tighten and contract, making him shiver.

  It was dark outside, and they were out beyond the woods, lying under the moon on a blanket she’d brought from her tent. He wouldn’t have even thought to bring something like that. But now that they were lying on it, the warm night air blowing the tall grass around them, he was glad that she had.

  He was kissing her. Recently, whenever he kissed her, everything got intense pretty quickly. He liked it, but it frightened him. Nora’s body was uncharted territory, a confusing, mysterious set of soft clefts and valleys, and he didn’t know what to do with any of it.

  When he’d been with Jack, everything had seemed fairly straightforward. He wasn’t sure if that was because guys were easier or because he was just better acquainted with the equipment. With Nora, he was flying blind, feeling around, listening to the sounds she made, paying attention to the way her body responded, and trying to do something that she didn’t hate.

  She always said that she liked what he did. But maybe she was only saying that to be nice. Sawyer wasn’t sure. He only knew that making out with her was incredibly stressful.

  He pulled her closer, threading his hands through her hair and kissing her deeply, the way she seemed to like it. Her body pressed into him, soft and supple. When they were together like this, she seemed so fragile. Before he got so familiar with her body, he’d never noticed how small her wrists were, how narrow her waist seemed. She was small. Pretty. He liked it. But it was different being with her. Different than Jack.

  Stressful.

  She grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and pulled it over his head.

  He was startled. He hadn’t expected that. He started to protest.

  But she kissed him again, and her fingers danced over his bare skin, and it felt amazing, and he groaned and surrendered to her, smashing her into him, trying to get her even closer.

  Being so into it was what made it stressful. He couldn’t concentrate on anything other than how good it felt. But then he was always having to yank himself out of the good feeling and try to concentrate on pleasing her. And he was never sure if he was succeeding or not. Partly because he was only half paying attention to it at any time.

  Nora pushed him onto his back. She straddled him.

  Her skirt hiked up over her thighs. He looked at her bare skin, feeling light headed and confused.

  She touched his chest, leaning down to kiss him.

  He closed his eyes. What the hell did it matter? If she wasn’t feeling good, she wouldn’t be acting like this, would she?

  Or was she trying to tell him that she wished that things got to this level more often? Was she actually dissatisfied? Sawyer wasn’t sure.

  Nora pulled her shirt over her head.

  He made a strangled noise, completely shocked by that.

  She tossed the shirt aside and gave him a nervous smile.

  They hadn’t done this before. He hadn’t seen… His gaze traveled away from her face.

  And then… it was almost instinctual. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but he was sitting up, and he had his mouth on her, and she was breathing hard. Really hard. She made little moans and sighs. He liked making her do that.

  He ran his hand over the bare skin of her thighs. He buried his face in her soft, bare skin.

  She tangled her hand in his hair and pulled his face away.

  “What?” he asked, breathless. “Is it bad? Do you want—”

  She cut him off by kissing him.

  He kissed her back, his hands roaming over her. She suddenly seemed to be wearing so little. Her skin was uncovered everywhere.

  Their bare chests pressed against each other, and that was amazing.

  They fell back on the blanket together, their legs tangled up, both of their skirts askew.

  “Sawyer,” she moaned.

  He explored her breasts with his hands and mouth again. He was freakishly turned on at the moment and even more freakishly terrified that he was doing everything wrong. The terror seemed bad enough to paralyze him, but maybe he was so turned on that it was all canceling everything out. He could hardly think. Nora’s body was the entire world, and something inside him, something primal, something that he didn’t understand, knew exactly what he wanted to do with her body.

  He rolled on top of her, settling between her thighs.

  Gods, her skirt was pushed up so high, she was practically totally naked.

  He needed to move it a little more, uncover her…

  He
r lips were on his—eager, insistent. Her hands were at the drawstring of his skirt. She was undoing it.

  He groaned.

  He fumbled with her skirt, pushing it up higher, exposing more and more of her creamy, smooth legs.

  Nora’s hands were inside his skirt. She was searching for his—

  And he stopped her. He grabbed her hand. “Wait,” he managed. “What are we doing?”

  She flopped back on the blanket. Her breasts bounced.

  His groin tightened. Why had he stopped this again? There was no good reason to stop this, was there?

  “Sawyer, I want this,” Nora said. “You said you wanted it perfect, and it is perfect. The stars are above us, and the wind is warm, and we’re alone, and I love you, and—”

  He silenced her lips by putting his own against them. He kissed her thoroughly and then pulled back. “Okay. You’re right.”

  “I am? You’re not stopping me?”

  He shook his head.

  “Whoa,” she breathed.

  “I love you too,” he murmured. He kissed her again. He took her hand and guided it back inside his skirt.

  And when her hand wrapped around him, he felt like the world scattered into too many pieces. He couldn’t focus on all of them. All he knew was the place where she was touching him.

  “No way. I can’t back off on that rule,” said a voice.

  Sawyer had to struggle to understand what was happening. There was someone talking. It wasn’t Nora.

  Luckily, Nora figured it out more quickly than he did. She let go of him. “Shit,” she whispered.

  “It’s a stupid rule,” said another voice. “And you’re driving yourself crazy trying to enforce it.”

  Right. There were people coming. They weren’t alone. Those voices belonged to other people. And he and Nora were practically naked.

  He looked around for his shirt. But he only found Nora’s.

  “Yeah, but if I back off,” said the voice, “everyone will think I only made that rule because I don’t want Nora to get busy with Sawyer.”

  “Well, that is why you made it,” said the other voice.

  Sawyer thrust the shirt at Nora.

  Who didn’t have time to put it on. She only held it in front of her breasts.

  “Well, yeah, but—”

  And then Agler and Jack were practically on top of them, because, of course, that was who the voices belonged to. Sawyer could make sense of that now. His brain was starting to function again. At least sort of.