“Yeah, it’s true that he isn’t in the security enclave anymore,” Sawyer said. “Last time he was here he lived there and everything. This time he’s in the tweens and rebels enclave.”
“But where has he been?” Agler said. “He’s not creative. What enclave would even take him?”
“I heard he was with Mack,” Lute said.
“Mack?” Maddie said. “Really?”
“When did you hear this?” Sawyer said.
Lute shrugged. “I don’t know. I hear things. You’re not around, especially since you’ve been off planting and stuff.”
Sawyer looked away, almost guiltily. “You didn’t even tell me about it?”
“I might have,” Lute said. “It’s not like you listen to me these days.”
Sawyer looked even more guilty.
“Well, we should talk to Mack,” Maddie said. “I think that’s where we should start.”
“I did have this other theory,” Sawyer said.
“Oh, that’s right,” Maddie said. “I remember you saying something about that.”
Inwardly, Lute groaned. This whole idea that Sawyer had about something else looking like Nora was completely crazy. Sawyer was paranoid. Grasping at straws. But he couldn’t stop him from telling the others. He simply hoped that they would think that it was as crazy as it was.
“Well, we thought that Nora was under some kind of spell, right?” said Sawyer. “And that was why she was doing what Owen wanted. That he was using magic to control her brain. But then we got that potion from Hecate, and it didn’t work on her.”
“Right,” said Maddie. “So?”
“I guess I’m wondering if we were way off base. Maybe it isn’t Nora under a magic spell. Maybe the person who looks like Nora isn’t Nora at all.”
“What?” said Agler.
“Remember when Loki was here. First, he looked like Roth, and then he pretended to be Mack for the entire year, and none of us could tell,” said Sawyer.
“You think Loki is Nora,” said Agler.
“No, probably not,” said Sawyer. “Maybe, I guess. But maybe it’s something else.”
“Like who?” said Maddie. “You don’t think it’s Nimue, do you? That would fit. Because we thought she died, but maybe she sort of possessed Nora. Of course, if that’s true, then the fact that Owen and Nora are making out is really gross.”
“I don’t know,” said Sawyer. “I’m thinking that’s maybe why the potion didn’t work.”
“But if it was someone shapeshifting,” said Agler, “wouldn’t they be using magic? Shouldn’t the potion have revealed who it really was?”
“I don’t know,” said Sawyer, “did Loki need to use magic to change his appearance? That was just one of his natural abilities, right?”
“But you just said you don’t think it’s Loki,” said Agler.
“Look, this is only a theory,” said Sawyer. “I don’t have all the details worked out yet.”
“So… if you’re right, what should we do?” said Lute, who wanted to get past all this silliness. He had really hoped that Agler and Maddie would shoot Sawyer down, which they hadn’t done. He couldn’t do the shooting, not if he wanted to avoid an enormous argument, and there was enough friction between him and Sawyer these days.
“I guess,” said Sawyer, “that we should try to find out if Nora’s been acting different. If we’re going to do some asking around about Owen, then we should do some asking around about Nora too.”
“Okay,” said Maddie, “that makes sense. So, we’ll ask around, and then we’ll meet back up here and decide our next course of action.”
“Here?” said Agler. “Really? We have to hike all the way back out here?”
* * *
Mack was out back, behind his house, feeding some funny looking chimeras. They were a mixture of turtles, doves, and fish, which meant that they could fly, but that they could also swim. Currently, they were diving in and out of a pool out back. Making chimeras was what Mack did. Unlike other muses, who were part of an enclave, Mack was solitary. He lived in his own tent here, and he spent his time mixing animals together.
Mack seemed happy to see them.
“How are you doing? Don’t get too many visitors out here,” he said. “Where’s your friend? The one with the red hair? I saw her a little bit lately. She was with that Owen boy. I didn’t think the two of them were seeing each other anymore, but I guess I was wrong.”
“Nora?” said Maddie. “Yeah, she isn’t with us.”
“But we came to ask you about Owen, actually,” Sawyer said.
“I heard that he’d been here,” Lute said. “That he was working with you, helping to make chimeras.”
“Working with me?” Mack said. “Well, I don’t know that he did much work. He did come by here for a few days. He wanted to know how I did what I did. He asked me lots of questions. You know, if I use magic to do it.”
Agler spoke up. “How do you do it?”
“Magic, of course,” Mack said. “I suppose you want to know the same thing that he did. He wanted to know why I’m allowed to use magic to do everything that I do, when so many of the other muses have to do things from scratch. Why is Phoebe tolerant of me?”
“I guess I never thought of it,” Agler said. “But now that you mention it, why?”
“Because I’m being creative,” Mack said. “I use magic, but I create inspiration threads as well. It balances out.”
Agler nodded, thinking about this.
“So that’s what Owen asked you about?” Lute asked.
“Oh, he wanted me to get into a lot more detail than that. You know exactly how I’m using the magic, what exactly I’m doing. He got really technical,” Mack said. “If you’re interested, I can walk you through it as well. But it did take me quite a long time to convey all the information to him. Like I said, he came by for a few days.”
“Well, that’s okay,” Sawyer said. “I think what you told us should be enough.”
“He doesn’t come by anymore?” Lute said.
“No,” Mack said. “Not for quite some time.”
“Any idea what he’s been doing with himself then?” Lute said.
“I haven’t talked to him since,” Mack said. “But I do know that he mentioned something about going to see the healers.”
* * *
“Yeah, he was here,” said Janet, one of the healers. She wasn’t the person that Maddie had spoken to weeks ago. This healer was younger and a little on the plump side. She had freckles all over her face. “He followed me around for the day. I was the only person who could handle him.”
“Handle him?” Maddie said. “Why? What did he do?”
“Oh, nothing,” Janet said. “He was really polite to me actually. But I guess you might say that his fame precedes him. No one around here trusts them. So, when he showed up, they weren’t too keen on talking to him.”
“You were?” Sawyer said.
“I was,” Janet said, grinning. “I’m just a daredevil, I guess.”
“And he followed you around?” Lute said.
“Well, yeah and asked questions,” Janet said. “He was curious about what goes on here.”
“Here as in the healing enclave?” Agler said.
Janet nodded. “He was pretty curious. He wanted to know how we did what we do. How we heal muses.”
Agler made a face. “I guess I never thought about this either.”
“Either?” Janet said.
Agler shook his head. “Never mind. How do you do what you do here? How do you heal people?”
“Muse magic, of course,” she said. “Owen was really curious about that, because we are one of the only places in Helicon that leaves a deficit in terms of what we do. Not a lot of what we do here is creative. Some of it is, of course. But a lot of times, we just patch people together as best we can. We really do provide a service here. And we don’t necessarily send out enough inspiration threads to make up for all the magic that we use.”
Maddie nodded slowly. “Right. That doesn’t seem like something that Phoebe would like.”
“That’s exactly what Owen said,” Janet said. “He wanted to know why Phoebe allows us to exist when we’re a drain on the resources of Helicon. I told him that Phoebe doesn’t see us as a drain. She thinks that it’s important for the muses to remain healthy. She doesn’t think that sick people can create well. So, she thinks it’s worth it for us to use magic to keep them healthy and happy. It’s similar, in some ways, to the way muses halt their aging. That uses muse magic. But Phoebe doesn’t forbid it. She even takes advantage of it herself. And it helps muses to create better.”
“So, that’s it,” Sawyer said. “He asked you those questions and followed you around?”
Janet nodded. “Basically.”
“And you didn’t find it suspicious that he was coming and asking you all those questions?” Maddie said.
“Suspicious?” Janet shrugged. “I was curious as to why he wanted to know. He said that he finds Helicon fascinating. He says that he really does consider this place his home. I believe him. I remember, back when he first got here, he gave that speech at the council meeting. Talked about how much he always wanted to be here and how this was the only place that anybody had ever been good to him. I think all that’s true. I think he lost his way, but the kid’s had a bad go of it. Terrible mother. Absent father. Had to have been hard on him, you know.”
Sawyer made a face.
Lute spoke up. “So, you think Owen’s changed?”
“I think he wants to be a better man,” Janet said. “I really do.”
“Uh huh,” Maddie said slowly, a fake smile on her face. “Did he give you any idea about where he wanted to be a better man?”
“I don’t understand what you mean,” Janet said.
“Where was he planning on going after he finished his time here at the healing enclave?”
“I haven’t the foggiest,” Janet said. “I suppose I assume that he’d go to the security enclave. That’s where he was before, right?”
* * *
“Here?” Alexander Night shook his head firmly. “No, he’s not welcome. I’ve made that perfectly clear. He may have worked with us before, but not anymore. I know Phoebe says that we’re meant to welcome him with open arms and all of that, but there are limits.”
“I knew he wouldn’t be here,” Sawyer said, sighing.
“Why are you asking about him, anyway?” Alexander wanted to know.
“No reason, really,” Maddie said.
“You’re suspicious, aren’t you?” Alexander said. “I am too. I don’t know what he’s doing here, but it’s not a good thing. Other people may not remember, but I worked closely with him when he was here last time. And there’s something about that guy… well, he’s not right.”
“Not right?” Lute said. “What do you mean?”
“He’s…” Alexander considered. “In the beginning, he always seemed okay. He would always be very polite, always wanted to help, try to do his best. He seemed like a model citizen. But then, towards the end, after he was taking over everyone’s minds, that’s when I really got to see who he really was. He doesn’t care about other people. He only cares about himself. All that nice-boy business is just an act. Deep down, he’s monstrous. He may not have killed my son, but I blame him for Dirk’s death. I blame him, and I always will.”
Everyone was quiet. They couldn’t think of anything to say.
“You were there,” Alexander said to Sawyer. “You know what happened.”
Sawyer looked at his shoes. “I’m very sorry for your loss, Mr. Night. If there was any way that we could have… I’m just… I’m sorry.”
“Me too,” Alexander said.
There was another long silence.
“You know, it’s funny,” Alexander said. “Last year, right before he showed up, Phoebe was here, asking me questions about him.”
“She was?” Agler said. “What kind of questions?”
“She wanted to know if I’d seen demonstrations of his power,” Alexander said. “She wanted to know what things he’d done while working in the security enclave—what he could do.”
“And when was she asking this?” Sawyer asked.
“Like I said, November of last year. She was here, asking questions. And then I turn around, and he’s back in Helicon. And Phoebe seems to have done an about-face, acting like she’s not worried about him at all. But I could swear, when she talked to me in November, she was terrified.”
All three of the younger muses exchanged a glance. That didn’t sound good.
Alexander leaned forward. “Something changed between now and then. I don’t know what it was. But something changed.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“I really think it’s stupid we had to walk way out here,” Agler said. “There is no way that Owen can read our thoughts.”
The four of them were out in the tunnel underneath the crooked tree again. Maddie had to admit that it had been a pretty long trek all the way out there. She thought Agler was complaining about it a little over much, though. Of course, Agler had been in a bad mood for a long time. Pretty much ever since she told him that they weren’t having sex anymore. But she didn’t care. If it was that important to him, then he didn’t care about her, he only cared about sex.
“Coeus told us about these tunnels for a reason,” Sawyer said. “That’s why we’re out here. And I don’t know why Coeus told us, but I trust him.”
“If Owen could hear our thoughts,” Maddie said, “then wouldn’t he have acted suspicious or done something when he realized we were asking questions about him?”
“Just imagine what it would be like to be able to read everyone’s thoughts anyway,” Agler said. “I think it would be a big loud mess. How would you pick out an individual thought from anyone else’s thoughts?”
“Besides,” Maddie said, “isn’t it true that the only reason Owen could do all that mind control stuff in Helicon last time was because he had the power of Dionysus?”
“Now you sound like Nora,” Sawyer said. “She used that same argument to say that Owen wasn’t even dangerous.”
“It is kind of a long walk out here,” Lute said. “Don’t get me wrong, babe. These tunnels are really nifty. I’m totally digging it out here. But you know, maybe it’s not necessary?”
Sawyer sighed. “Okay, maybe you’re right. Maybe we don’t need to come all the way out here. From now on, we’ll meet at the tree house, like we always have.”
“Good,” Maddie said. “So, should we get down to it?”
“Definitely,” Agler said.”
“I think it’s clear that Owen’s up to something,” she said.
“Yeah, it’s got something to do with all of those other enclaves,” Agler said. “Something to do with the fact that certain places use muse magic.”
“He’s trying to figure out where the leaks are,” Sawyer said. “He wants to know which places use more magic than they send out.”
“But why?” Lute said.
“No idea,” Sawyer said. “No idea at all.”
“Does anyone think that it really is true that he’s maybe just curious?” Lute said.
Maddie shook her head at him. “No offense, Lute. I know that you didn’t really get to know Owen the way we did. But that thing that Janet said about him? That he was trying to be a better man? There’s no way. He’s horrible. He’s through-and-through terrible.”
“Yeah, agreed,” Agler said. “He’s planning something. We have to figure out what it is.”
“Well, how are we going to do that?” Lute said.
“I think we have to watch him,” Maddie said. “Maybe we don’t have to be as hard-core about it as we were the first year he was here, but we should take turns, and someone should always be keeping an eye on him.”
“Great,” Sawyer said. “I’ll make up a schedule.”
They all nodded.
“We’re following him
around?” Lute said. “What happens if he notices?”
“Don’t let him notice,” Sawyer said.
* * *
“Hey Theia,” Sawyer called. It was after dinner, right before the council meeting. Sawyer saw that Theia Spring, head of the visual art enclave, was heading out. Heads of enclaves were supposed to stay for the council meetings, but they didn’t always.
Theia turned. “Yes?”
Sawyer hurried over. “I wonder if I could ask you a few questions.”
“Walk with me,” she said, heading off towards the visual arts enclave.
Sawyer fell into step beside her.
“What’s this about? Is it about Mellinoe?”
“Oh, no, of course not,” Sawyer said. Mellinoe Spring was Theia’s daughter. She was the head of the clothing enclave.
“I thought that might be the reason you would want to talk to me,” Theia said. “You spend time in the clothing enclave, don’t you?”
“Oh, yes,” Sawyer said. “But this isn’t about clothing.”
“What’s it about?”
“It’s about Nora,” Sawyer said. “Nora Sparrow. You know her, right?”
“Of course,” she said. “She’s really lovely. We love having her in visual art.”
“I’m basically just wondering if you’ve noticed anything about her lately.”
Theia sighed. “You mean since that Owen came back.”
“You did notice something, then.”
“Well, she’s distracted. She’s—she’s not herself. Usually she’s so focused on everything that she does, but I feel like she’s only sort of giving lip service to everything. She hasn’t start a serious project in… months.”
Sawyer couldn’t believe this. Here it was, a little bit of proof that possibly he was right. Possibly Nora wasn’t Nora.
“And her work? Is there difference in her work?”
“Definitely,” Theia said. “You know, sometimes I look at some of the things that she did two years ago, three years ago, and then I look at what she’s doing now, and I don’t even feel like the same person did it. All people grow, of course. And I know that she’s tried other things. Maybe visual art isn’t where she really wants to end up. Maybe she’s just growing out of it.”
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