Intrigue: The Night Muse Trilogy

By Stacey Rychener

Amid the 80,000 abandoned buildings in Detroit, a battle shrouded in secrecy is brewing. The Greek Olympian, Ares, runs the city as his own personal Coliseum while Apollo and Hermes struggle to shield teens from his deadly hobbies. Ares endless supply of gladiators is all the more accessible because the abandoned buildings of Detroit have become the flame for moths of ravers, vandals, scavengers, and urban explorers. The key to the entire conflict, Calliope, is just hoping for a fresh start now that her lifelong crush has finally noticed her. Although hoping for a fresh start in Detroit, is like saying you’re going to Las Vegas in search of true love. She soon catches the notice of one of the Immortals that recognizes her for what she is: a Night Muse. A Muse is a human that carries the soul of an Olympian within her, which gives the god immense power. Until Calliope reaches adulthood and awakens as a Bright Muse, there is no way to determine who her soul mate is. The Immortals start to draw Calliope and the people she loves into a deadly chess match. With her best friend’s life at stake, Calliope must seize control of her destiny and eliminate the deadly threat herself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stacey Rychener
• Release date: Jul 20, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466099340

Stacey Rychener

When I was about 12, one of my plane friends (I am talking about you Mindy) and I put pen to paper and created our very first story. Unfortunately, we buried it in a time capsule that I have never been able to find again:( But I loved creating and going to places that I hadn't gotten to experience in my small town. This is what also attracted to me to my life long passion for reading.

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Intrigue: The Night Muse Trilogy

By Stacey Rychener

Copyright 2011 Stacey Rychener

Smashwords Edition

Discover more about the Night Muse Trilogy at:

http://www.nightmusetrilogy.com

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Prologue

I fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts. —Virgil

My dad always said, Wars are usually fought by the young and written in history books by the old. So the world might not be ready for the history of a war to be written by a sixteen-year-old girl from Detroit, but my generation deserves to be recognized for the sacrifices we made. The only time society has taken a teenage girl’s thoughts seriously in times of war is the Diary of Anne Frank, and Anne died at a concentration camp at fifteen—long before her diary was ever published!

In mythology, Calliope was the most powerful Muse in the Greek Pantheon. Muses provided the entertainment kinda like modern day soap operas with some musical numbers for the Greek gods and goddesses. I am the modern day Calliope, so it makes sense that I am the one that gets to tell you the tale of the battles, betrayal, intrigue, and some sappy love stuff during the War for Detroit. I have chronicled all the behind the scenes scoops and dirt that you never see or hear about in those dry old history books, and I even included field logs from an actual Greek god!

I am writing this history in present day Detroit where the War has come to an end for now. But in the summer of 2007, I was drawn into the battle between the three most powerful Olympians in Greek Mythology—Apollo (God of Truth and Prophecy), Hermes (Messenger of the Gods and Protector of Humans), and Ares (God of Warfare and Bloodlust). And now I am giving you a front row seat to history.

Battleground

Most people think the crash of the American auto industry caused Detroit and its economy to come grinding to a halt. In the 1990’s, President Clinton gave 1.5 billion to the American auto industry (Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles). GM, Ford, and Chrysler all created cars that got over 70 mpg (GM: 80 mpg Precept, Ford: 72 mpg Prodigy, and Chrysler: 72 mpg ESX-3). The Big 3 chose not to make the cars because only granola eating hippies would buy them. Instead, they decided to make bigger, more gas guzzling SUVs--some of which couldn’t even fit into your average garage! So Japan beat Detroit to the market, oil became expensive, and the Big 3 and Detroit started their descent into chaos.

In 2007, Detroit had over 80,000 abandoned lots and buildings that were the palaces, playgrounds, and cathedrals for its immortals. And its prey, humans, all the more accessible because these abandoned buildings had become the flame for its moths of ravers, vandals, scavengers, and urban explorers. You would think that the frontline in a war between the immortals and humans would happen in a place a lot more glamorous like Paris or vital like New York, but the chaos, gloom, and the indoor abandoned reality of Detroit was like a lodestone for these creatures…. kinda like an IMAX for immortals.

Immortal Lore

Most of what I thought I knew about immortals and vampires was learned through books and movies. So I am going to clarify some basic facts about immortals and vampyre (not vampire) before we get started.

Several books and movies actually got a few detail right like:

-Most immortals are hot and somewhat arrogant with a clique-like hierarchy.

Sometimes they got details sorta right:

-Vampyre do not need to kill to drink blood, usually they only need to take about 1 pint of blood about once a week.

Sometimes they were way off:

-Immortals and vampyre do not burn up in the sun; Their skills and entertainment are best cloaked in night so they generally like to sleep during the day, kinda like college students.

The rest of what I have learned about the immortals will be shared through my narrative, so you are just going to have to read on.

Hermes Field Log: July 2007

I have been observing my new Aegis, Calli, for over a month now, and I am still unclear as to why Apollo wants me guarding her. Her father is a fireman; she has a black belt in karate; she has only engaged a one high-risk behavior that I have observed. She attended an Urban Underground Rave that our kind sponsors, which has to be where Apollo saw her. The chaos and strife in Detroit has dramatically increased since Ares has turned the abandoned Tiger Stadium into his own personal Coliseum. The body count for the young adults of Detroit is climbing and soon Detroit’s citizens will start to take notice. As the Protector of Humans, I have done all I can to shield them, but it has not been nearly enough with Ares as ruler. Apollo is the only one strong enough to stop the human wrecking ball that Ares has become. That is why I am granting him this personal favor and the only reason a god, such as myself, would follow around a red-haired teenage Siren. Luckily, I have only had to follow her to the mall once. My duty ends at being a mall cop. My sacred duty might be to protect her, but you can be sure it’s also to find out why she’s so important to Apollo. And determine if somehow, she can further my mission to protect all humans from Ares.

Chapter 1: Tics and Rattlesnakes

August 2007

My grandma always said, You’re more likely to get bit by a tic than a rattlesnake, Calli, so watch out. I just nodded at her for years like I knew exactly what she was saying. I lived in Detroit, Michigan, so we really don’t have any rattlers around here. I asked her once what she meant and she said, "It’s the little things, that we are not scared of that are more likely to bite you in the ass and cause major problems down the road." My tic bite happened on an ordinary Tuesday when the sensei of our dojo announced that we needed to welcome a new student to our karate class. He introduced him as Rafe Something-I-Didn’t-Catch because I was too busy: 1) staring at a fantabulous model of the male species and 2) letting my mouth drop open. Unfortunately, the next moment I was actually coherent, I heard my boyfriend, Thrace, remark on my drooling. I had to admit that Rafe sent my eyesight into overload, which must have disabled my hearing. He was 6 feet tall with golden brown hair, piercing hazel eyes, and even white teeth when he finally gave us a mischievous smile. He was a hottie tottie with a naughty karate body (I actually learned that one from the Urban Dictionary). It was only when Thrace not so subtly stepped on my foot that I regained my senses, and I realized that I should be starting my warm-ups.

Sensei Magisawa put us through our paces as Rafe quietly observed us, throwing in a small smile for the females in the class. As the lesson progressed, I could almost feel every time his eyes were on me. It took massive concentration to execute my kihon (basic techniques) and kata (form) with my typical precision. My sensei has always remarked that much like a chess player—I have a gift for anticipating my opponent’s attack and countering it with the perfect move(s). It helped that I run three miles every day to keep my endurance up. Also, so I could eat chocolate and drink Mt. Dew without resorting to Plan A (Anorexia) or Plan B (Bulimia).

As class let out and we executed our traditional bow to our sensei, there was a slight change from the norm because students either wanted to meet the new guy or talk about the new guy. I was stopped as I headed to the locker room by my friends who wanted to gossip over this unexpected turn of events that led us to such interesting eye candy. Jazmine (Jazz), also a junior at my school, remarked that she was going to offer to practice with Rafe; whereas Keyana (Key) believed that asking for private tutoring from Rafe might be within her budget. I noticed both girls and myself chose to talk about Rafe rather than going to meet him as we headed to the locker room.

I just smiled at their remarks as I changed in the locker room until they asked me a direct question, So Calli, what do you think?

I responded in my typical dry manner by saying, I think I have a boyfriend that is pretty much going to be watching me like a hawk after my gawking today.

We finished packing up and headed out of the locker room. There stood Thrace ready to escort me out of class. Key smirked and instead of saying goodbye remarked, I see what you mean.

Thrace looked perplexed and of course asked, What was that about? But before I could answer, Rafe approached us and announced that the sensei suggested he set up a time to spar with each of us. Both Key and Jazz looked delighted and immediately asked for the time directly after our next 2 practices. I, on the other hand, quietly asked Rafe if he could do a morning time.

He set our time for the next morning at 7am and said in a charming tone, See you tomorrow morning Calli. He walked away amid Jazz and Key fanning themselves while Thrace frowned at Rafe’s back as he left.

Jazz remarked, The back view is almost as good as the front view.

Thrace said with a slight snarl, Respect yourself much?

Jazz laughingly replied, Oh, I’ll show him plenty of respect.

Thrace just rolled his eyes and asked if I was ready to go. Jazz smirked at him and said, Good luck with that one on the way home and have a nice practice tomorrow morning—we want details!

Thrace hustled me out to his car in silence. Once he started his old Mustang, his interrogation began. So it appears I might have some competition…

I raised exactly one eyebrow at him and remarked innocently, For what?

Thrace snorted and replied, Your favorite eye candy.

I smirked and stated with absolute truth, Babe, you know my favorite eye candy has always been Shemar Moore!

Thrace rolled his eyes and laughed then revised his claim to be my 2nd favorite and most accessible eye candy. As far as my most accessible eye candy goes, Thrace was speaking the gospel truth. Thrace was definitely a hottie in the prep school boy way with his curly blonde hair, blue eyes, and athletic frame. I had a huge crush on Thrace for pretty much my whole life. But, I was always like his little sister until about six months ago when the rest of my body caught up to my giraffe like legs. He had just broken up with his girl of the month when Jazz and Key helped me form a game plan. Key took me to her hair stylist that managed to tame and straighten my auburn locks. Jazz took me shopping for clothes that didn’t hide the fact that I had boobs. And mom pitched in with contacts, so Thrace could actually see my blue-green eyes without my retro glasses. Miraculously, my transformation prompted Thrace to ask me out, which delighted both our families. The awkward girl got the fairy tale, but they don’t ever tell you what happens after Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel, and Belle got the Prince.

I was distracted as Thrace fired his next question, So I take it you and the other tarts are warm for Hermes form?

My mouth dropped opened as I said, Who?

Thrace just shook his head and said, The new guy!

Oh, I didn’t catch his last name, I stuttered out.

Luckily, we were about to my house, so I only had to listen to a short tirade on the unknown skill of ‘the new guy.’

Unfortunately at that moment, I suffered from Foot-in-Mouth Disease as I commented, Well, I guess I will find out how good he is tomorrow.

Thrace’s eyes widened as he pulled into my drive, and his mouth hung open as he stammered, Maybe I should drive you to your practice tomorrow morning.

I kindly reminded him that my dad always took me to the gym before heading to work. It was our father-daughter bonding thing.

Plus, you love your extra beauty sleep, I teased.

He slowly leaned over to my seat and nuzzled my neck while he remarked, Hey, a guy can only get so hot.

He seemed more possessive than usual, so I announced, You know my dad’s watchin us from his rifle scope, right? He quickly scanned my house as I pulled the car door open and blew him a kiss good-bye.

I safely entered my house where my dad was calmly sitting on the couch watching ESPN. How’s my ninja today? Kick some ass, take some names?

My mom scowled and said "Lethe Edonides, language! How can we stop Calli from swearing like a sailor if you keep using profanity in front of her?"

You knew my dad was in trouble when my mom called him by his full name. I had to admit my mom’s concern was valid. I followed in dad’s footsteps on the salty language. But I found a compromise that was inspired by my need to mock our school mascot. We’re the Fighting Falcons. So, my favorite swear words were Flock and Eyas (Falcon). It’s much more amusing when combined with other phrases like Flock Off….Flock You…. Flocker…. Eyasholes…. Jackeyas…. Eyashats and although it still annoyed my mom, she saw it as a vast improvement over my other salty vocab.

I will admit I appreciate her attempt at creative swear words, but mostly because it keeps you from yelling at me, Mimsy, dad laughed.

I thought I had it bad with Calliope. My poor mom’s given name was Mnemosyne, hence the shortened version of Mimsy. Mom just shook her head and grumbled, There is pot roast still in the slow cooker if your dad hasn’t already ate it. Mom was a huge fan of slower cookers—just throw some food in it before you leave for work, and magically it turns into a meal by the time you come home. I walked into our kitchen to pull out a paper plate and plastic wear to put my pot roast on. Since I was the one that does the dishes, I tended to use disposable dining wear as much as possible. I took my pot roast back to the living room to recount my day as I ate, which was the requirement in my family. I had mastered the art of only giving enough information to my parents, so they felt like they were informed. It was a fine line--too much information led to more interrogation and too little information leads to major snooping. Thrace believed that I had developed the rare ability to express something while revealing nothing. However, I couldn’t shake the feeling that a sorcerer with laughing hazel eyes might have the ability to see beyond all my fine lines. I smiled at that whimsical thought as I finished my pot roast and parental interrogation.

Chapter 2: Mortal Combat

I woke up groggy because I set my alarm for a half hour earlier than usual to get ready to work out. I don’t know why I did that. Ok. I might know why I did that, but 6:00am was too early for rational thought. I kept my outfit simple with black yoga pants and a retro Offspring tee. It was much more difficult to get my thick auburn hair to calm down after a night of restless sleep. Luckily, I didn’t get any zits overnight which would have been just my luck. After some leave-in conditioner and some shine spray, I hoped my hair no longer looked like a bird’s nest.

I headed downstairs just in time to see my dad coming from the kitchen with his coffee, my Mt. Dew, and Zone bar. Hello, my name is Calliope, and I am an addict. My drug is caffeine. I like my caffeine cold usually in the fountain pop variety—Mt. Dew in the morning and Diet Dr. Pepper in the afternoon. I like the ice and carbonation, but in the morning on the way to work out, I’ll take what I can get. I thanked my dad for my version of breakfast as we walked to the car. He only grunted his reply. We slid into the white Taurus and headed to the YMCA. I actually started to get nervous, as we got closer. We were at the Y before I was mentally prepared. I sighed and lumbered out of the car. As we walked in and headed toward opposite locker rooms, dad announced, Meet you back here in an hour, Calli.

I dropped my bag in any empty locker then headed to the room where we had our karate lessons. Rafe was leaning against the door looking relaxed and refreshed. I hated him. How could he look that good this early? It was not natural. I tried to reign in my resentment and grumbled, Morning.

An amused expression crossed his face as he replied, Morning, Sunshine.

My surliness returned as I accused, "Please tell me you’re not a morning person."

His wicked laugh flustered me, as he replied, Definitely not I’m a night owl usually, but I have already run a bit this morning to get my blood flowing. Since we’re probably on the clock, let the mortal combat commence.

I hope you don’t mind me taking a couple of minutes to stretch. I can’t properly kick your eyas if I’m not loose, I snarked with false bravado.

He unleashed his hypnotic laugh again as I lowered myself to the floor, Stretch all you want. I don’t mind the view, he replied with amusement.

I immediately became self-conscious as he watched me closely while I warmed up. He was leaning on the wall beside the door with his arms crossed and a slight smile on his face. I got the sense that he was evaluating me as an opponent as I stretched—looking for weaknesses and areas to exploit. I think that made me more uncomfortable than if he had been checking me out. I quickly finished my warm-up, so I could get some control back. I jumped up and turned to face him. Would you like to keep staring at me, or would you like to spar?

He strode towards me as he remarked, I think the Siren has a little bit of a temper. Would you like to take that aggression out on me?

I curtly replied, Done and done, as I executed my traditional bow. I then did something that was totally out of my usual sparring style. I attacked first.

He seemed momentarily surprised at my front kick aimed at his waist, but he deftly jammed my kick and said, No need to attack the family jewels.

Sorry, based on your behavior, I thought I was aiming for the brains of the operation, I snarked as I recovered my balance.

I had very little time to taunt after that because he immediately went on the offensive with a roundhouse kick that I avoided. For the next 30 minutes, I found myself in unfamiliar territory. Since we hadn’t sparred before, he was much harder to anticipate as well as being a much more skilled partner than I was used to. Typically, when I sparred with my partners like Thrace, it’s kinda like a choreographed dance routine with each person executing familiar controlled movements and patterns. For me, this was much more like a street fight. His offense constantly kept me on defense with almost no opportunity to counter or anticipate. Attack—react… Attack—react… Attack—react… Attack—react…

Rafe sensed my exasperation. He purposely eased up his attacks and let me take the offensive lead. He seemed to want to learn both how I defended and attacked. He superbly defended the whole bag of tricks in my arsenal. He avoided, blocked, and countered, making it virtually impossible for me to land any of my moves. He was by far the best opponent I had ever faced off against; I even got the sense that he was holding back which pissed me off even more.

I was happy when I saw that it was time for this little session to come to an end. I alerted Rafe to the need for me to bolt, then executed a much more respectful bow to my talented partner, which he returned. I was a little out of breath and bright red at the end of our session, whereas Rafe barely broke a sweat—Flock! I went to grab my towel as Rafe went for his bag. He pulled out two waters and threw me one. I deftly caught it and said thanks. I wiped my bright red face, which was the norm after any physical activity. What was not usual was me being self-conscious about my bright red complexion. Now that I had my caffeine and exercise, I could properly come to the realization that I might be crushin on the new guy. FLOCK….... FLOCK…..…. FLOCK……… !!

As I was regretting this new revelation, Rafe was watching me curiously, Wanna try this again same time tomorrow?

Without even thinking, I said Sure, then immediately wanted to kick my own eyas.

Before I could think of a way to back out of my premature articulation, he asked, So what does one do around here for fun? I’m an Air Force base brat, but my dad just retired here after being stationed at Selfridge. Since it’s summer, I haven’t been able to meet a lot of friends my age. I can’t believe I’m actually admitting this, but I will be glad when school starts.

I wanted to ask him a thousand questions right now, but I knew that my dad would be waiting for me, so I asked the most important question, Where did you enroll?

Rafe answered in a disgusted voice, After much research, my dad chose Detroit Academy of Innovation. I’m sure the mascot has to be an atom or something. But he wants me to go into the Air Force Academy, so math and science are important. And it’s suppose to be the best.

My chest tightened, and I barely found my voice as I said, We’re not the Atoms; We’re the Fighting Falcons, so Fear the Bird. I go to DAI, so no mocking it until after you try it.

He seemed pleased at this turn of events and said, You look like you have to go. Do you mind if I call you later to pick your brain?

Ummm…ok, I said hesitantly as I gave him my number.

He sensed my hesitation and gave me a wicked smile as he assured me, I promise it won’t be painful.

I just nodded and bolted from the room before I could get in more trouble. Dad was looking at his watch impatiently as I reached him, and he remarked, You must have run farther than usual if you’re this late and this red.

I immediately apologized and said it wouldn’t happen again, as we walked to the car. He turned on his favorite morning radio show and all conversation became unnecessary. However, his words reminded me what a sweaty, red hose beast I must look like. I mentally scolded myself that I have a boyfriend that loves me red faced and all, so I really didn’t need to impress anyone else.

Dad quickly dropped me off at the house, Enjoy one of your last days of freedom. I punched him on the arm before I jumped out of the car, Don’t keep reminding me!

I went for a run since I missed out this morning, then I headed up to the shower. As usual, I let the strong water pressure of the shower wash away all the drama of the day so far. By the time I was actually human again, it was about 10am, and I was ready for a nap. I had the house to myself because mom was at work. I snuggled under my cool cotton sheets and down comforter. Unfortunately, I should have hidden the spare key because not even an hour later, I was awoken by my boyfriend sitting on my bed already shooting questions at me, Why is your phone off the hook?

His question startled me awake, and I sat up in a sudden motion. I stared at Thrace for a second with a confused expression as I tried to process his question. Thrace seemed to understand the error of his ways and stroked my hair to calm me.

Thrace, what part of breakin into my house, wakin me up, then asking why I wasn’t answering your call seemed like the smart move? I grouched, still sleepy. I laid back down and went back to my happy place where rude boyfriends do not mess with my slumber. Thrace tried a much more effective tactic with me this time, which was laying on his side with his back to me so I could snuggle up against him. Now, had dad come home and caught him, it would have been a much more painful tactic. But dad was at work and dreamland was calling me back to sleep. I woke up on my own an hour later in a much better mood, but not with better breath, so I snuck out of bed and headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth again.

I headed downstairs to make lunch for us. As I was pulling the tuna and egg salad out of the fridge to make sandwiches, I was slightly frightened at the level of happy homemaker I was displaying right now. Once I dropped the food off in the den, I went to wake up sleeping beauty. I snuck back into my room to verify that Thrace was still sleeping soundly. Then, it was time for payback. I opened my door half way then slammed my bathroom door down the hall as loud as I could, saying in my best impersonation of dad, What the hell is Thrace doing in Calli’s bed! I’m going to find my rifle!

By the time I got into the room, Thrace was at the window ready to use my emergency exit. I smiled and said, What the flock are you doing, Eyashat!

There was real panic in his befuddled voice when he said, Your dad is coming for me with a rifle.

Payback, sweetie, I remarked as I put his hand in mine, drew him away from the window, and walked him downstairs to where lunch awaited us.

We both flopped down on the couch next to each other. Before I could grab my sandwich from the coffee table, Thrace had wrapped his arms around me from behind and positioned us both on our sides stretched out on the couch. This time he got to hold me. He seemed ready to resume his nap, but instead he said, How did the match go this morning?

I hesitated trying to think of the answer that would get me the least amount of hassle, He is definitely on a whole different level than we are. I hoped by making this a we vs. him thing Thrace would feel a little more secure and a little less territorial.

How many times did you make contact?

I described the frustrating sparring match in detail to satisfy my slightly jealous suitor. However, I left out the exchange of phone numbers, sparring again tomorrow, and the going to our school. Parental evasion had become as natural as breathing to me, but keeping that information from Thrace didn’t feel right.

Thrace gave me the best lead in. "I can’t wait until it is my turn. We haven’t set anything