The Helicon Muses Omnibus: Books 1-4

by V. J. Chambers

  “Why not?” said Mack. “Just felt like dancing.” He grinned.

  And Sawyer thought the grin was a little too wide. There was something about it that looked sinister. And Mack’s face had gone a bit gaunt, the light of the moon illuminating the hollows of his face. His eyes were hooded in deep shadow. It looked as if they were sinking into his face.

  Sawyer froze. “Mack, what’s wrong?”

  But before Mack could say anything else, someone else came running over the bridge. “Sawyer, don’t listen to him. He’s not me! He’s had me tied up in the woods since January.”

  The other person who was running over the bridge was Mack.

  Too.

  They were both Mack.

  Sawyer shook his head, trying to clear his vision. He must be seeing things.

  But no. There were two Macks. One the grinning gaunt man, the other—the one who was running—looked tattered and dirty and afraid.

  “How…?”

  “I’m the real Mack,” said the tattered Mack.

  “Don’t be silly,” said grinning Mack. “I’m the real Mack. Shall I tell you the story you read to me last week while you were at my sickbed?”

  * * *

  Nora watched Roth and Maddie dance together. The music had changed when a new group of musicians had taken over for the first players, but Roth and Maddie hadn’t left the dance floor. Nora didn’t mind them dancing together. She even mused that they might make a cute couple.

  Then she remembered suggesting it to Sawyer at the beginning of the year. If Roth was going to leave, then it probably wouldn’t work.

  Then she remembered that Roth only wanted to get laid, and she considered going to interfere. To protect Maddie.

  Truthfully, she was bored. She was beginning to think Sawyer was taking too long.

  Agler wasn’t playing music anymore. He sauntered across the room to her. “Hi, Nora. Happy Harvest.”

  She looked him up and down. “Oh, you’ve got some nerve, you do.”

  “I do?”

  “I can’t believe you were such a jerk to Maddie. You know, she might have actually liked you. And you treated her like garbage. Pretending you didn’t sleep with her. You dick.”

  Agler pressed his lips together. He nodded slowly. And, without a word, he walked off.

  Nora sighed. Where the heck was Sawyer?

  She was going after him.

  * * *

  Sawyer took shaky steps backwards, trying to get away from the Macks.

  “Sawyer,” said grinning Mack. “Take it easy.”

  “No,” said dirty Mack, “kill him. Hit him. He’s not me, Sawyer. He’s—”

  “Loki,” said Sawyer. “You’ve been here all this time. You didn’t leave after all.”

  “Yes,” said grinning Mack. He pointed at his twin. “That’s Loki.”

  Dirty Mack shook his head. “No, Sawyer. He’s Loki. Look at us. Why would I make myself look like this if I were Loki?” He gestured to his torn clothes.

  “Because Loki’s quite clever,” said grinning Mack, who wasn’t grinning anymore. Now he looked worried. “And he knew you wouldn’t suspect him if he made himself look dirty.”

  Sawyer didn’t know who was who. He glanced back and forth between the two identical men, and then he took off running.

  A sharp pain at the back of his skull stopped him.

  He fell to the ground, the world swimming.

  Loki looked down at him, holding a large stone hammer. “Borrowed it from Thor,” he giggled. “Comes in handy, I must say.” Loki was still wearing the clothes that grinning Mack had been. They were clean and new.

  “It was you,” Sawyer whispered.

  And then everything went black.

  * * *

  “What are you guys doing out here?” demanded Nora. The cold air nipped at her back, the place where the fabric didn’t cover her skin.

  “We saw you leave,” said Maddie.

  “We were just coming to say goodbye,” said Roth.

  “And you?” Nora said, turning around.

  Agler looked at the ground. “I wanted to try to explain. About Maddie.”

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

  “Explain how?” said Maddie.

  “Look, I’m going to see where Sawyer got off to,” said Nora. “If you guys want to have a heart-to-heart, then go for it.”

  “Oh, not it,” said Roth. “I’ll come with you, Nora.”

  “I’m not talking to him,” said Maddie. “I’ll come too.”

  “Maybe we should talk,” said Agler.

  Nora started walking. They all came after her.

  The fog was thick and the air was cold. She strode over the frost-covered grass as quickly as she could. They crested over a hill and passed the greenhouses.

  And then she saw a figure kneeling over something.

  “Dad?” said Roth. He took off into a run.

  The thing on the ground was a person with blond hair.

  Nora picked up her feet too. “Sawyer!”

  “Roth,” said Mack, turning. “Stay back.”

  “Too late!” said another voice.

  Loki danced into view. He bowed low in front of them. “Nora. Roth. So good to see you both. Are you working at being less serious, Nora?”

  “Loki,” she said. “What did you do?”

  “He hit Sawyer with Thor’s hammer,” said Mack. “Sawyer isn’t breathing.”

  “What?” Nora dove to the ground next to Sawyer, her hands fluttering over him.

  He was motionless. Still. She grabbed his wrist, feeling around desperately. His pulse. Where was his pulse? “No,” she breathed. “No. No.”

  Loki knelt down next to her. “Oh, Nora. Still so serious. He’s only dead.”

  Nora covered her mouth with a hand, a strange noise bursting out of her. Something almost a sob and almost a cry of rage. “He’s not.”

  “Oh relax,” said Loki. “I killed him with Thor’s hammer. It’s a Norse death. Now, he won’t go to Valhalla, of course.” He peered down at him. “Not much of a warrior, that Sawyer. Which means my daughter has him.”

  “What?” said Nora.

  “I know the way,” said Loki. “Come on, Nora. It’ll be an adventure. Let’s go to Hel. I’ve got nothing better to do.”

  Nora’s heart was beating out of her chest. She was terrified and confused. “Go to what?”

  “Hel,” said Roth, coming up behind her. “She’s the goddess of the Norse underworld, Niflhel.”

  “Exactly,” said Loki. “I’ll run. You chase me. I’ll lead you to Niflhel. Then you can try to get Hel to give Sawyer back to you. What do you say?”

  “Is he dead or not?” Nora wasn’t sure if she should be crying. She was too confused.

  “In the stories,” said Roth, “people sometimes go to Niflhel to get people back. Like Balder, right?”

  “I know that story,” Nora murmured. “But Ned didn’t tell us about the underworld.”

  Loki waved his hand. A large rainbow appeared on the ground in front of them. It was wide, like a highway, and substantial. Nora was sure she could reach out and touch it.

  Loki jumped up onto the rainbow. It held his weight. It really was like a road. It stretched up high into the dark night sky. “Follow me. Come to Asgard. Come to Hel.”

  Nora looked at Roth. What was she supposed to say?

  “Oh,” said Loki. “Are you still worried about all the sick muses?” He fished something out of his pocket and tossed it to Mack. “There. Take it. It’s what I used to cut them off from the energy from the mundane world. You can use it to fix everyone.”

  Agler ran to Mack and took the thing that Loki had tossed. It was a smooth, round object with several different levers of various sizes sticking out of it. “I’ve seen this. When I was a little kid here in Helicon.”

  “Well, yes, that boy gave it to me,” said Loki. “Owen Asher. I ran into him in Asgard before I came by in January.”

  “Ow
en…?” Nora was even more confused.

  “There,” said Loki. “All your precious muses will be saved now.”

  “You did it,” said Nora. “You caused the sickness. But why?”

  Loki laughed. “Oh, don’t drive yourself crazy on that one. Who knows why I do what I do?”

  “He caused the sickness?” said Maddie. “But we never saw him.”

  “He looked like me,” said Mack. “He kept me tied up in the woods, and he took my place. He pretended to be sick.”

  Roth turned to his dad. “You mean you haven’t been you all this time?”

  Mack shook his head. “I’m sorry, son, I—”

  Roth cut him off by throwing his arms around his father. “I knew something was wrong. I knew it. But I kept telling myself it was only because you were sick. I missed you so much.”

  Mack hugged him back. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. To protect you.”

  Loki rolled his eyes. “This is touching, really, but time’s a-wasting.” He danced further up the rainbow. “Come on, now, Nora. Catch me if you can. You want to save your lover, don’t you?”

  Nora looked back at the others.

  “Let’s go,” said Angler, handing the round object back to Mack.

  Maddie nodded at Nora. “We’ve got to save him.”

  Roth let go of his father. “I got to help them.”

  “Be careful,” said Mack.

  Nora took a deep breath and stepped onto the rainbow after Mack.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  The rainbow ascended higher and higher. Loki was several feet ahead of them, capering and leaping, looking back at them to see if they still followed him.

  Nora bunched the skirts of her dress up to free her legs. She pushed herself to go after Loki as quickly as she could.

  The others kept pace with her.

  At the apex of the rainbow, Loki turned to look at them. “It’s going to have to be a chase to be any fun. You’ll have to catch me.” He giggled. “I’ve got a hiding place that fooled all the gods for such a long time.” Then he sat down and pushed off, like he was at the top of a slide in a playground.

  Loki’s body darted down the rainbow, disappearing out of sight.

  “Damn it,” said Nora, sitting down the way Loki had. She pushed off.

  And she was hurtling down fast. Too fast. It was like being on a water slide at warp speed. The night sky streamed fast her. Then she plunged into a layer of fluffy clouds. Then, suddenly, there was brilliant sunlight. She squinted, covered her eyes.

  And then she landed on the ground on her bottom.

  Ouch.

  She stood up, rubbing her backside.

  Only to be run into by Roth, who’d come down the rainbow after her. He collided with her legs, knocking her over.

  “Sorry,” said Roth.

  She pushed him away.

  By the time she and Roth got themselves to their feet, Agler and Maddie had arrived at the bottom of the rainbow as well.

  The air was golden. Everything looked as if it had been filtered through a shimmering lens. Everything sparkled.

  They were standing outside a massive building. It had walls that were twenty stories high, dotted with rectangular slits for windows. There were numerous doors leading inside. And it was golden, a huge, shining beacon glowing where it stood.

  An enormous golden tree grew in front. Its branches were tall and reaching, its leaves green-gold.

  “Valhalla,” whispered Roth.

  Nora turned to him. “Right. You’ve been here, haven’t you? You and your mother were chasing Owen around in Asgard before you came to Helicon.”

  Roth was still gaping. “I’ve never been here. Asgard’s a big place.”

  “Where’s Loki?” said Agler.

  “I didn’t see him when I ended up at the bottom of the rainbow,” said Nora. She turned to look at it, but it had disappeared. “It’s gone.”

  “The Bifrost rainbow,” said Roth. “It’s supposed to take you to the mundane world. Loki seems to have done something to it. Who knows what he’s been up to.”

  “It’s never anything good, though, is it?” Nora chewed on her lip. “Well, he said we were going to have to chase him.”

  “He said he had a place to hide,” said Maddie. “I think we have to find him.”

  “How are we going to do that?” said Agler. “He could be anywhere.”

  Nora turned in a circle. Besides the big, golden building, there was no sign of civilization. Instead, there were only rolling hills and bright, sparkling streams. It was idyllic and beautiful, and it stretched as far as she could see.

  “He could have changed shape,” said Roth. “He’s a shape-shifter. He could be a bird or a tree or an insect.”

  Nora felt like everything that was going on suddenly hit her. She took a breath, and abruptly, she was sobbing.

  “Whoa,” said Roth.

  Maddie slid her arm around Nora’s shoulders. Her arm was bony and frail. “Nora, it’s okay.”

  “It’s not okay,” said Nora. “The rainbow’s gone. We’re probably stuck here. We don’t know where Loki is. And Sawyer is…” She was too choked with tears to continue.

  Maddie squeezed her close, rubbing her back. “We’re going to get him back.”

  “How?” said Nora. “How are we going to do that?”

  No one said anything.

  Nora buried her face in Maddie’s bony shoulder and cried until she had no tears.

  Maddie held her.

  * * *

  When she stopped crying, she discovered that the guys had gone off exploring. Also, the air was turning rosy, a pink tinge mixing with the gold.

  She heard a snarling sound from overhead.

  She and Maddie both looked up.

  “Do you see that?” Maddie whispered.

  The sky had congealed on itself, taking shape. A wolf made of clouds and bits of sky was stalking across the horizon, his jaws wide and dripping. He growled.

  The sun quivered and took flight.

  The wolf chased the sun, and the sun quickened its pace.

  The sky turned purple, dark blue.

  The wolf growled again.

  The sun moved faster.

  Abruptly, it dipped over the horizon, plunging the world into darkness.

  Nora screamed.

  “It’s okay,” came Roth’s voice.

  She turned in the direction she’d heard him to see that he and Agler were walking over to Maddie and Nora, holding a flaming torch.

  “That happens every day,” said Roth. “The wolf chases the sun, but he never catches it. Well, not until Ragnarok, anyway. There’s another wolf that chases the moon.”

  “What’s Ragnarok?” said Maddie.

  “The final war of the gods,” said Roth.

  “How do you know so much stuff about this?” said Nora.

  “I read,” said Roth.

  Agler cleared his throat. “Um, the hall—”

  “Valhalla,” said Roth.

  “Valhalla is empty, and we figure we should stay there tonight,” said Agler.

  “But what about finding Sawyer?” said Nora.

  “We don’t know where Loki is,” said Roth. “We need to regroup and get ourselves together. Loki won’t let us wait around for too long, anyway. He’s having too much fun messing with us.”

  Nora did feel exhausted, possibly because of her epic crying jag.

  She followed Roth and Sawyer to the massive building, where a door was open to them.

  They stepped inside the largest room that Nora had ever seen. It was easily ten stories high, the ceiling far above her head. It was thatched with golden shields. A set of marble pillars on either side of the hall held it up. The hall contained three long tables, each big enough to seat hundreds of people. One sat on a raised dais in the front of the room. The others sat adjacent to it, forming a horseshoe pattern.

  As they walked inside, their footsteps echoed on the polished stone floor.

  N
ora felt afraid to breathe. The room was impressive and awe-inspiring. And she had a sense of entering a sacred place as she walked inside. This place was heavy, serious, and oppressive.

  “Visitors,” said a voice.

  They all whirled.

  A boar was making its way into the room. It was he that had spoken. He had blazing eyes and sharp tusks and a gravelly voice.

  “What brings you to the hall of heroes?”

  A talking boar, huh? Nora was afraid to talk to it.

  But Roth spoke up. “We’re looking for Loki.”

  The boar chuckled. “Loki. He is not welcome here. He has no respect for the Aesir, the gods of Valhalla.”

  “Right,” said Roth. “Well, we’re trying to get to Niflhel to bring back someone who died, and Loki says he knows the way.”

  “You are strange creatures indeed,” said the boar. “But far be it from me to question your presence. I have not been of use for some time now. It’s good to see you. I shall be happy to be of service.”

  The boar bowed low to them on his front legs.

  “Of service?” said Nora. “What will we need a boar for?”

  “You are hungry aren’t you?” said the boar.

  “Hungry?” said Maddie.

  “I am Saehrimnir,” said the boar. “Slaughter me and prepare my flesh in the cauldron Eldhrimnir. In the morning, I shall be brought back to life whole and well.”

  Nora was horrified. “You want us to eat you?”

  “It is my purpose,” said Saehrimnir. “I serve the Aesir in this way.”

  “But… but… you talk,” said Nora.

  “I’ve never had a conversation with dinner before,” said Maddie.

  “It’s okay,” said Roth. “What he says is true. He’ll come back to life tomorrow.”

  Nora made a face.

  “Follow me, you that would wield the knife to part the meat from my bones,” said Saehrimnir. “I shall lead you to the place of preparing.”

  * * *

  Agler wanted to help Roth kill the boar, but he found he didn’t quite have the stomach for it. It took Maddie, who’d grown up in the food enclave and had helped with the slaughtering of animals before, to do it. And even she needed help from Saehrimnir, who grumbled out instructions even as he was being flayed.