“Today,” said Nimue, “you’ll drink it.”
“No,” said Maddie.
Nimue sat down opposite her, smiling a horrible smile. “Why not just give it a little sip, Maddie? It won’t hurt you.”
“What is it?” said Maddie.
“Nothing important,” said Nimue.
Maddie glared at her. Nimue was never really very forthcoming with answers.
“It would just make me very happy if you’d drink it, that’s all.” Nimue’s voice was sickly sweet—too sweet.
Maddie shivered. “I don’t get it. You got shot with a gun. You fell off a tall tower. You’ve been alive for thousands of years. Shouldn’t you be dead already?”
Nimue laughed. “Well, it did take me quite a long time to heal after that brat Nora and my horrible son pushed me out of the window. I wasn’t going to let the gunshots set me back for nearly as long. They did weaken me, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I had to use so much of my magic to heal myself that I drained my energy signature. No one could track me, not even Phoebe Rain.”
Maddie swallowed. “If Phoebe was tracking you, that means you were in Helicon.”
“Yes, I got back in,” said Nimue. “I managed it during the winter there. A boy was very nice to help me out, and I made sure he was rewarded. I had a little bauble I gave him.”
Maddie gasped. “Colin Oak!”
“Yes, that was his name. He distracted everyone for me while I replenished my energy. I got as much as I could before my energy signature got bloated again. Then the exile magic of Helicon kicked me right back out again.”
“But how did you get energy?”
“Well, I took it directly from your inspiration threads, of course. That’s where the pure energy is.” Nimue gave her a withering look. “Really, you muses have always been quite easy to manipulate. The only barrier that’s ever stopped me was my inability to get into Helicon. Other than that, I’ve been able to do whatever I pleased.”
Maddie’s mind was reeling. She and Agler had seen something the night of the Winter Ball. There had been someone near the waterfall, inside that cave, and it had been Nimue. After all this time, she’d forgotten about it completely.
Nimue chuckled. “I bet you muses never even had any idea I was there, or that I stole your precious energy.”
Maddie looked away. She was right, that was the hell of it. No one in Helicon had even suspected that Nimue was in Helicon or that she was stealing their power. The muses were far too trusting, far too preoccupied with creating and having fun. Against a real threat, they were useless. Maddie felt sick with fear. She didn’t know how she was going to stop Nimue, and she was terrified that Nimue would come back to Helicon and hurt everyone she cared about.
“I took it from under your noses.”
“But you can’t go back, right?” said Maddie. “Now that you have energy, you’re blocked from Helicon again.”
“A minor problem, I assure you,” said Nimue. “It’s not about Helicon anyway. It’s about your magic. Your pure, powerful creative magic. Everyone else in the world lost theirs. The gods disappeared. The Fae retreated to their own worlds. The wizards and witches all died. It used to be that every stick of grass in the mundane world was imbued with power. All I had to do was reach inside and take it. And then it all went away. All the magic was swallowed up by the Influence, and it was gone from the world. I barely had enough to keep myself alive, but I’ve never stopped searching for it.”
“I don’t have magic,” Maddie said. “I’m not even a full-fledged muse. I’m a tween, and I can’t even create inspiration threads.”
“No, I know this. That’s why I can use you. I had wanted a child, a young child, but you’ll do. I will use you. I will drain you. I will drain all of Helicon if I have to. And together, we will bring back magic to the world.” Nimue smiled, looking demented.
“I’ll never help you,” said Maddie.
“You will. The nymphs will protect you as long as they can, but they’ll fade away. You’ll see. They are much like you muses. Muses need creativity to feed them. Nymphs need people to give in to their desires. But I’ve blocked that, so they can’t feel any of that hedonistic pleasure from the mundane world. And so, they will wither and die. The last of them will all be dead by the end of the fall, by Halloween. And once they’re gone, nothing will stop me from forcing you to be used however I need you.”
Maddie swallowed. She remembered last year, when the muses had all gotten sick. It had been because they were blocked from receiving creativity from the mundane world. They’d managed to change all that before anyone died, but the older muses had been very, very sick last year. Was that what was going to happen to the nymphs?
“If I’m not back in Helicon sooner than that, they’ll worry about me,” said Maddie.
“No, they won’t,” said Nimue, laughing.
Maddie knew it was true, but she lifted her chin anyway. “They’ll come for me. They’ll stop you.”
“They couldn’t stop me. Your muses are helpless, my dear. They’ll never save you. They don’t know how.”
She was right. Oh gods, she was right. Maddie didn’t know what to do, but she had to do something. She couldn’t let Nimue carry out her plan.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Psst. Maddie. Wake up,” a voice was saying next to Maddie’s ear. “Psst. Wake up, Maddie.”
Maddie opened her eyes. It was dark outside. She was lying in the bed in her little house, and she couldn’t see anything.
“Psst,” said the voice. “Wake up.”
“I’m awake,” Maddie said, her voice a whisper. “Who is that?”
“It’s Dakaste.” A small green light appeared, illuminating Dakaste’s face. She was holding the light. “Others are with me.” She held up the light to show other nymphs behind her.
Maddie sat up. “What’s going on? Are we escaping?”
Dakaste shook her head sadly. “I’m afraid we can’t do anything of the kind. Nimue has trapped us here. We cannot leave.”
“And your magic? She blocked that too? Is it true that you’re all going to wither away and die?”
“That’s why we’re here. We need your help.”
“My help?”
“What Nimue told you before is accurate, yes,” said Dakaste. “Some of us were listening in, and we heard it. It is a vile plan. She’s horrible.” The nymph shivered.
“She is horrible. But I don’t see how I can help. I can’t do anything. I’m trapped here just like you guys. And I don’t have any magic or power at all.”
“Perhaps not, but you can help us get power,” said Dakaste.
“How?”
“Well, as Nimue explained, we nymphs get our power from the mundane world. It’s a symbiotic relationship, like the muses. Your kind sends out inspiration threads, and then the resulting creativity comes back to Helicon to feed further inspiration. You understand that, yes?”
“I do,” said Maddie.
“Well, we nymphs work similarly, except what we are sending out into the mundane world is desire. We send out urges to give in and indulge—in drink, in spirits, in fun and laughter, and even in food. And when they indulge, energy comes back to us, which sustains us. Our power is why you were sent to us. We were meant to convince you to yield to your hunger.”
“Yeah,” said Maddie, her face falling. “I’m sorry I was such a brat.” She couldn’t believe that she’d refused to eat and been so rude to all these nymphs. Now that they were all under attack, she thought they were very sweet and good. She couldn’t remember how deeply she’d hated them before.
“It’s all right,” said Dakaste. “You see, we are glad that you are here. Because Nimue can not block you from us.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. You can give in to your desires, Maddie. You can give us power.”
Maddie shook her head. She was confused.
“We don’t have people giving in to their desires to rejuvenate us,
but we do have you. If you can indulge yourself, Maddie, then you can save us.”
Oh. She was beginning to understand now. She could recharge the nymphs by giving herself over to her desires.
Dakaste reached behind her and she brought forward a silver platter. It was topped with a big, fat sandwich, covered in cheese and mayonnaise. “Eat this, Maddie. Give us back our power.”
Maddie gulped. Eat? That whole sandwich? She looked around at the nymphs.
“You’re our only hope,” said Dakaste.
Maddie seized the sandwich and took a big bite.
All of the nymphs sighed in relief and pleasure.
Maddie chewed and swallowed. Panic was rising in her chest, because she was thinking about how fattening this kind of food was. Even the meat was fatty. The mayo was all fat, and the bread would go straight to her hips. The cheese too. She hadn’t eaten this kind of food—or this much of any kind of food—in a very long time, and it scared her.
But she took another bite.
And another.
And another.
The sandwich was very, very delicious, she had to admit.
When she was finished, her stomach felt bloated, and she was still terrified. But all around her the nymphs were beaming.
“So, you’ll go and get her now, right?” said Maddie. “You’ll stop her?”
“Now?” said Dakaste.
“Yeah, I ate the sandwich, I gave you the power—”
“I’m afraid you don’t understand, Maddie,” said Dakaste. “It took all of our power combined to summon that sandwich for you. You have replenished that power, even given us a bit more. But it will take time to build up enough to fight Nimue. There is only one of you and many of us. And we cannot tempt you all day long, only when Nimue is asleep, when she isn’t watching us. We don’t want her to discover what we are doing.”
“So… then what are you saying?”
“We will be back tomorrow,” said Dakaste. “And we will tempt you again, and you will give into the temptation again. And we will keep doing this until we have enough power to fight Nimue.”
Maddie felt blind terror rise up in her. “You mean I have to… keep eating? Every day? That much food?”
“Yes,” said Dakaste.
“For how long?”
“For however long it takes. Until we have enough magic to stop her.”
“But… weeks? Months?”
“You can do this, can’t you?”
Maddie sucked in a low breath. “I…”
“You must do this.”
Maddie nodded. “I can do this.” She hoped that she wasn’t lying.
* * *
Sawyer was sitting around the campfire in the tweens and rebels enclave with Lute, Agler, and Nora. Nora was drunk—really drunk. She’d been up stumbling around, attempting to dance, but Agler and Sawyer had taken pity on her, and helped her sit down. Lute had gotten her some water. Now, she was sitting between Agler and Sawyer, sipping the water and staring into the fire.
“I may not have a boyfriend, but my exes still take care of me,” she slurred.
Sawyer felt guilty. It was his fault she was alone, and that probably meant it was his fault that she was so drunk. He wanted to do something for her, but he didn’t know what to do. He put his arm around her. “I’ll always take care of you, Nora. But maybe it’s time for you to go to bed.”
She looked up at him with drunken eyes. “I don’t want to.”
“How do you know that?” said Sawyer. “Maybe by the time we walk over to your tent, you’ll feel differently. You can see Catling, you know.”
“I like Catling,” she said. She laid her head on his shoulder. “I miss you. I wish we still had our tent together.”
Sawyer didn’t know what to say. “Come on, let’s walk you to your hammock.”
“Um,” said Lute.
Sawyer turned to him.
“Maybe you should let Agler do that,” said Lute, raising his eyebrows.
“Why?” said Sawyer. “What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is that she’s your ex, and you’re all over her.” Lute’s voice was sharp.
Nora laughed. “No, no, Lute, don’t be mad. Sawyer doesn’t like me that way. He only likes you. When Sawyer and I had sex, there wasn’t any passion. At least I don’t think so.” She turned to Agler. “Maddie says that you want her so bad that you have to stop yourself from taking her too hard. I don’t even know what that’s like.”
Agler choked. “Okay, Nora. Definitely bedtime for you.” He took her from Sawyer.
She went willingly enough, draping herself on Agler. “You never wanted me like that, either. No one ever wanted me like that. Even Owen. He wanted me bad, but he didn’t care about me.”
“Shh,” said Agler.
Sawyer stood up. “She’s upset. I should be the one to take her.”
“I got her,” said Agler, scooping her up under the knees like a little girl.
It was true that Agler was bigger and stronger than Sawyer. He made a face. Then he turned to face Lute, who was furious. He could see it all over the other’s face.
“What?” said Sawyer. “Why are you so mad?”
Lute shook his head. “Seriously?” He got up and started walking away from the fire.
Sawyer went after him. “Don’t walk away. Talk to me.”
Lute just walked faster.
Sawyer chased him all the way back to their tents. Finally, he caught up to Lute enough to catch him by the shoulder and turn him around. “Hey. What’s going on?”
“She says she misses you, and you’re like, ‘I’ll take you back to your tent.’”
“She’s trashed drunk,” said Sawyer. “She can’t get there on her own.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Lute threw open the flap to his tent and went inside.
Sawyer went after him into the tent. “What are you trying to say? You’re not jealous of Nora, are you?”
“Did I say you could come into my tent?”
Sawyer let out a disbelieving laugh.
“Get out.”
“No.” Sawyer folded his arms over his chest. “You’re being ridiculous. You know that there’s nothing between Nora and me. You know that I would never be unfaithful to you. I left her for you.”
“I know that you had sex with her.”
Sawyer was taken aback. “This again?” They hadn’t talked about it since that night. The next day, Lute hadn’t even wanted to get into it when Sawyer tried to apologize. Sawyer hadn’t quite been sure what he was sorry about, but he didn’t want there to be friction between him and Lute, so he’d tried to smooth things over. But Lute had said to forget about it, and there had been no discussion since. “I told you, I feel like we are having sex.”
“Yeah, but it’s not the same.”
“Same as what? As being with a girl, which is the only thing either of us has ever done? Well, obviously, it’s different.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Lute massaged the bridge of his nose. “I just mean half the time, it’s like I can’t even kiss you when we’re doing it, because, you know, our mouths are busy.”
Sawyer felt uncomfortable all of the sudden, like his clothes were too tight. “Well,” he said, looking down at the ground, “if we were doing it the other way, there wouldn’t be kissing anyway, because we wouldn’t be facing each other.”
“Says who?” said Lute. “I think we could work it out so we were facing each other. Or… even if not, you know, I could turn around… And that’s not even it, anyway. It just… it doesn’t feel real between us. It feels like we’re just messing around. And that’s how I feel about you. I’m serious about you. This is a real thing for me, you know?”
“It’s real for me too. It feels real without—”
“Well, it doesn’t for me.”
Sawyer was at a loss for words. He still felt uncomfortable, and a little turned-on too, from talking about sex so much. But he didn’t know what to say to calm Lute do
wn.
Lute sighed. “I don’t want to fight about it. I don’t want to force you into something you don’t want to do. But I can’t deny that it hurts me that you don’t want to.”
“I…” Sawyer twisted his hands together. “You were right the other night when you said I was scared.”
“But I said that I would—”
“I’m scared of it both ways.” Sawyer ran his hands through his hair. “I’m afraid of being hurt or of hurting you. I’m afraid of it being messy and really gross…”
“Look, there are ways to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“It seems like such a big thing to do.”
Lute nodded. “I guess I have to drop it, then? Because if I keep bringing it up, I’m pressuring you. I’m the bad guy.”
Sawyer’s shoulders slumped. He didn’t know what to say.
“Whatever. I’m going to bed. Stay if you want. Or don’t. I don’t care.” Lute pulled his shirt over his head.
Sawyer sprang forward, on impulse. He wasn’t sure if this would work or not, but he thought… He pushed Lute back onto his hammock. He kissed him.
Lute kissed back, but Sawyer could feel restraint in his touch.
Sawyer tugged at Lute’s pants, pushing them off. He shed his own clothes as well.
And then they were in the hammock together, Lute beneath him, their chests pressed against each other, their limbs entangled, their mouths at the same level.
Sawyer broke their kiss. He thrust his hand between their bodies. He found Lute—hard and thick and perfect. He stroked him. And then he put both of them together, his rigidness rubbing against Lute’s rigidness. He took Lute’s hand and wrapped it around his hand. The sensation was intense. He could feel Lute against him, both of their hands encasing their sensitive flesh.
He looked into his lover’s eyes. “You can kiss me now,” he gasped.
Lute tugged him down with his free hand. Their lips met.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The days passed slowly for Maddie, and she felt like she was in the worst torment she’d ever experienced. She knew that she had to help the nymphs by eating food, but it was the most frightening thing that she’d ever done. Each day, as night approached, her anxiety grew greater. She was in a terrible anticipation of what she would have to do, eating foods that she’d forbidden herself to eat, eating portion sizes that were exorbitant.
The Helicon Muses Omnibus: Books 1-4 Page 107